Elements of Hindu Iconography v1.c12.23

v1.c12.23

The *Varāha-purāṇa* says that the *śaṅkha* is the destroyer of *avidyā* or ignorance, the *khaḍga* is the sunderer of *ajñāna* or unwisdom, the *chakra* is the wheel of time, and lastly the *gadā* is the destroyer of *adharma* or unrighteousness. It is worthy of note that here the symbolism is made to be more markedly ethical than in the previous interpretations to which we have referred.