Circles and wheels

Dharma wheel

The dharma wheel, or dharmachakra, the oldest symbol of Buddhism: what its eight spokes mean, how it recalls the Buddha’s first sermon and where you see it today, from temples to the flag of India.

Also called Dharmachakra · Wheel of the law · Dhammacakka

In brief

I.The dharma wheel stands for the teaching of the Buddha, set in motion at his first sermon.
II.Its eight spokes are usually read as the Noble Eightfold Path.
III.Early Buddhist art showed the wheel in place of the Buddha himself.
IV.A wheel of 24 spokes from the pillars of Ashoka is at the centre of India’s flag.

Chapter I

What it means

The wheel stands for the dharma Duty, law and the right order of things. For Hindus it is the moral order and one’s duties in life; for Buddhists, the teaching of the Buddha. Glossary, the teaching of the Buddha. Buddhists say that in his first sermon, at Sarnath, the Buddha “set the wheel of the dharma turning”: the truth he had found began to move through the world.

Its parts are given meanings. The eight spokes are the Noble Eightfold Path: right view, intention, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness and concentration. The hub is the discipline at the centre of practice, and the rim the concentration that holds it all together.

Chapter II

Where it comes from

In the earliest Buddhist art, from the 3rd to the 1st century BCE, the Buddha was not shown in human form. A wheel on a throne, an empty seat or footprints stood for him instead, and a wheel recalled the first sermon in particular.

The emperor Ashoka (3rd century BCE) set up stone pillars across his empire crowned with lions and wheels. His lion capital from Sarnath is now the emblem of India.

Chapter III

Where you see it today

The dharma wheel is the most widely used general symbol of Buddhism, on temples, books and flags. The 24-spoked Ashoka chakra is at the centre of the national flag of India. Golden wheels flanked by deer crown the roofs of Tibetan monasteries.

Questions people ask

Why a wheel?

In ancient India the wheel was a sign of the universal ruler, whose chariot wheels rolled everywhere unopposed. The Buddha’s teaching was described as a wheel that, once turned, could not be turned back.

Why do deer appear beside it?

The first sermon was given in the Deer Park at Sarnath, near Varanasi. Two deer facing the wheel recall that place and are seen on the roofs of many Tibetan temples.

Sources and further reading

Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Dharmachakra”
Peter Harvey, An Introduction to Buddhism (Cambridge University Press, 2nd ed. 2013)
Robert Beer, The Handbook of Tibetan Buddhist Symbols (Serindia, 2003)
Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Religious symbolism and iconography”

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