Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c8.s1.26

c8.s1.26

It is identified with the supreme moral order in the form of *Dharma-chakra* and *Sudarśana-chakra*, both having a thousand spokes (*Sahasrāra*). The number of spokes is variable as 3 (*Tryara*), 5 (*Pañchāra*), 6 (*Shaḍara*), 12 (*Dvādaśāra*), according to the varying divisions of Time units in the year. This elasticity is the quality of a symbol pointing to its exploding meaning at several levels. The year being conceived as *Kāla-chakra*, it is possible to look upon the seasons as 3, 4, 5 or 6. *Chakra* is also equal to *Ratha*, both signifying movement, the former being the source of word ‘circle’ and the latter of ‘rota’. The Sarnath Aśokan Pillar was a *Chakra-stambha*, the like of which also occurs in Jaina Art of Mathura. In the Rigveda it is called the perfect wheel (*Vṛitta-chakra* of *Viṣṇu*, RV. I. 155. 6), which later on was named the *Sudarśana-chakra* by the Bhāgavatas.