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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 Ashoka. The most visible use of the Ashoka Chakra today is at the centre of the Flag of India (adopted on 22 July 1947), where it is rendered in a navy-blue colour on a white background, replacing the symbol of ''charkha'' (spinning wheel) of the pre-independence versions of the flag. ==Symbolic history== When Gautama Buddha achieved nirvana at Bodh Gaya, he came to Sarnath on the outskirts of Varanasi. There he found his five disciples Assaji, Mahānāma, Kondañña, Bhaddiya and Vappa, 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 and pratītyasamutpāda (conditional arising). The first 12 spokes represent 12 stages of suffering. Next 12 spokes represent no cause no effect. So, due to awareness of mind formation of mental conditioning stops. This process stops the process of birth and death i.e. nibbana. The twelve causal links, paired with their corresponding symbols, are: # Avidyā ''lack of awareness'' - # Sanskāra ''conditioning of mind unknowingly'' # Vijñāna ''consciousness'' # Nāmarūpa ''name and form'' (constituent elements of mental and physical existence) # Ṣaḍāyatana ''six senses'' (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind) - # Sparśa ''contact'' - # Vedanā ''sensation'' - # Tṛṣṇā ''thirst'' - # Upādāna ''grasping〔See, for example, Rhys Davids & Stede (1921-25), p. 149; and, Gombrich (2005).〕'' - # Bhava ''coming to be'' - # Jāti ''being born'' - # Jarāmaraṇa ''old age〔See Rhys Davids & Stede (1921-25), p. 279, entry for "Jarā," retrieved 19 Nov 2008 from "U. Chicago" at http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.1:1:1721.pali . More than simply "old age," the PED provides the additional meanings of "decay, decrepitude"; and, these additional translations are reflected in the Buddha's reputed words in the Jarā Sutta (below). However, for the sake of semantic conciseness, the compound term jarā-maraṇa is here represented as "old age and death."〕 and death〔See Rhys Davids & Stede (1921-25), p. 524, entry for "Maraṇa," retrieved 19 Nov 2008 from "U. Chicago" at http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.2:1:3896.pali . The PED further contextualizes maraṇa with "death, as ending this (visible) existence, physical death...." That is, in Buddhism, maraṇa does not refer to death of the conscious process or the end of the associated suffering.〕'' - ''corpse being carried''. These 12 in reverse represent a total 24 spokes representing the dharma. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ashoka Chakra」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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