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bhavacakra
bhavacakra (Skt., wheel of becoming). A wheel, commonly known as ‘the wheel of life’, represented pictorially in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition as a wheel divided into six sections depicting the nature of life in each of the six realms of rebirth (gati). The six realms are laid out around a central hub around which a cock (desire), pig (ignorance), and snake (hatred) chase one another. Around the circumference is a rim divided in twelve sections depicting in symbolic form the twelve links of Dependent Origination (pratītya-samutpāda). Behind the wheel and grasping it firmly (thus symbolizing that the whole of saṃsāra is within his power) stands Yama, the god of death. According to some accounts, the wheel represents a mirror that Yama holds up to a person at the moment of death. The mirror reflects the possible realms of rebirth, and the dying soul will be drawn to one of them in accordance with its karma.
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DAMIEN KEOWN. "bhavacakra." A Dictionary of Buddhism. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. DAMIEN KEOWN. "bhavacakra." A Dictionary of Buddhism. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O108-bhavacakra.html DAMIEN KEOWN. "bhavacakra." A Dictionary of Buddhism. 2004. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O108-bhavacakra.html |
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Bhavacakra
Bhavacakra (Skt., the ‘wheel of existence’). Buddhist, and especially Tibetan, painting which portrays the relentless process of recurrent birth, death, and rebirth, saṃsāra, as a wheel. Pictures on the wheel convey the conditions of saṃsāra together with the moral and mental factors which cause the individual to remain within saṃsāra. The wheel is shown clasped by the hands and feet and being devoured by a demon monster, Māra, symbolizing the all-pervasive nature of death and impermanence.
According to the Divyāvadāna, the Buddha himself instituted the drawing of the bhavacakra as a pedagogic device for the instruction of the non-literate in Buddhist truths. The earliest known example of the bhavacakra is a fresco (c.6th cent. CE) of Ajaṇṭā. |
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Cite this article
JOHN BOWKER. "Bhavacakra." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JOHN BOWKER. "Bhavacakra." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O101-Bhavacakra.html JOHN BOWKER. "Bhavacakra." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O101-Bhavacakra.html |
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