Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c8.s1.18

c8.s1.18

*Svastika*, a solar symbol typifying the four-armed pattern of the cosmos spreading in the four directions. From this was developed the cult of Four Regions (*Chatur mahā-diśaḥ*). The doctrine is found in Ṛigveda; its followers in popular cult were known as *Diśā-vratika*. Each wheel or *Chakra* carries within its womb or centre a *Svastika* formed by combining four right angles of 90° each. The *Svastika* is the symbol par excellence of the four-fold divine principle (*Chatush-pād Brahma*), of which another significant form is four-faced Brahmā in art and mythology, the Tetradic Deity of the four basic types of manifestation. A chain of four-fold symbols as four Vedas, four Lokas, four Devas, four Quarters, four Varṇas, four Āśramas, four Priests, etc. is linked to this basic pattern of quadruplication.