Elements of Buddhist Iconography c4.84

c4.84

This prepares us to understand that the Dharmacakra, like any other Buddha symbol, can properly be represented as supported by a lotus, of which very clear examples can be cited from Shingon mandaras (Figs. C, E, F).74 That the Wheel of Life was actually so thought of in a certainly pre-Buddhist time is clearly shown by Atharva Veda, X, 8, 34, a prayer for fullness of life, “I ask thee concerning that Flower of the Waters (apām puṣpa) wherein insist (śrita) Angels and Men, as it were spokes in the nave (nābhi) (of a wheel), the which was there infixed (hita) by Magic (māyā),” where the “flower of the waters” is of course the lotus.