Elements of Buddhist Iconography c4.69

c4.69

The axle-tree of the twin wheels (which axle must be thought of analogically also as penetrating the third wheel) is the primary source of moving power (as noted incidentally in *Ṛg Veda*, I, 166, 9): not itself revolving, it is the unmoved mover in relation to the wheels. But to complete our understanding of the *pratīka* it must be realized that the revolution of the wheel requires the operation of an opposing force operative at the felly, where in actual experience contact with the ground supplies a fulcrum. In other words, revolution depends on the interaction of conjoint principles, which may be called Heaven and Earth, Puruṣa and Prakṛti, *sattva* and *tamas*, I and not-I, subject and object, etc. This is recognized in several passages in