The ashoka chakra is a depiction of the dharmachakra; represented with 24 spokes.
It is so called because it appears on a number of edicts of Ashoka, most prominent among
which is the Lion Capital of Sarnath.
The most visible use of the ashoka chakra today is at the centre of the national flag
of the Republic of India, where it is rendered in a navy-blue colour on a white background,
by replacing the symbol of charkha of the pre-independence versions of the flag.
When Buddha achieved nirvana at Gaya, he came to Sarnath on the outskirts of Varanasi.
There he found his five disciples Ashwajeet, Mahanaam, Kaundinya, Bhadrak and Kashyap,
who had earlier abandoned him.
He preached his first sermon to them, thereby promulgating the Dharmachakra.
This is the motif taken up by Ashoka and portrayed on top of his pillars.
However, the 12 out of 24 spokes represent the twelve causal links taught by the Buddha.
The twelve causal links, paired with their corresponding symbols, are:
Avidyā lack of knowledge - a blind person, often walking, or a person peering out
Sanskāra constructive volitional activity - a potter shaping a vessel or vessels
Vijñāna consciousness - a man or a monkey grasping a fruit
Nāmarūpa name and form - two men afloat in a boat
Ṣaḍāyatana six senses - a dwelling with six windows
Sparśa contact - lovers consorting, kissing, or entwined
Vedanā pain - an arrow to the eye Tahāna thirst - a drinker receiving drink
Upādāna grasping - a man or a monkey picking fruit
Bhava coming to be - a couple engaged in intercourse, a standing, leaping or reflective person
Jāti being born - woman giving birth Jarāmaraṇa old age and death - corpse being
carried These 12 in reverse represent a total 24 spokes
representing the Life-The Dhamma(Pali).
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, who later became India's first Vice President, described the
flag as follows:
Bhagwa or the saffron colour denotes courage, sacrifice, renunciation or disinterestedness.
Our leaders must be indifferent to material gains and dedicate themselves to their work.
The white in the centre is light, the path of truth to guide our conduct.
The green shows our relation to soil, our relation to the plant life here, on which
all other life depends.
The "Ashoka Chakra" in the centre of the white is the wheel of the law of dharma.
Truth or satya, dharma or virtue ought to be the controlling principle of those who
work under this flag.
Again, the wheel denotes motion.
There is death in stagnation.
There is life in movement.
India should no more resist change, it must move and go forward.
The wheel represents the dynamism of a peaceful change.
The real reason for having 24 spokes on the Chakra is: According to Hindu religion, Puranas
mentioned that only 24 Rishis wielded the whole power of the Gayatri Mantra.
These 24 rishi in Himalayas are represented through the 24 letters of Gayatri Mantra.
The all the 24 spokes of Dharmachakra are representation of all these 24 rishi of Himalayas
in which Vishvamitra is first and Yajnavalkya is last who governs the religion.
Ashok Chakra is symbol of Dharmchakra and also known as Samay Chakra in which all the
24 spokes represented 24 hours of the day and symbol of the movement of the time
The 24 Spokes of Ashok Chakra, according to Buddha:
1.
Love 2.
Courage 3.
Patience 4.
Peacefulness 5.
Magnanimity 6.
Goodness 7.
Faithfulness 8.
Gentleness 9.
Selflessness 10.
Self-Control 11.
Self Sacrifice 12.
Truthfulness 13.
Righteousness 14.
Justice 15.
Mercy 16.
Gracefulness 17.
Humility 18.
Empathy 19.
Sympathy 20.
Spiritual Knowledge 21.
Moral Values 22.
Spiritual Wisdom 23.
The Fear of God 24.
The Faith or Trust or belief.
See also
Chakravartin
Lion Capital of Ashoka National Emblem of India
National Flag of India Notes