Elements of Buddhist Iconography c4.71

c4.71

The axle-tree is also the axis of the universe, as most clearly stated in *Ṛg Veda*, X, 89, 4, *yo akṣeṇeva cakriyā śacībhiḥ viśvak tastambha pṛthivīm uta dyām*, "by the axle of his wheeled-car indeed, by his abilities, he pillars-apart Heaven and Earth," cf. V, 29, 4, *rodasī vitaraṃ viṣkabhāyat*, and other passages cited above, p. 10, notes 15 and 139.