Talk:Ashoka Chakra

24 spiritual principles
Can anyone recommend a place to look these up? So far, my only guess is that it's related to the 3 turnings of the 8-spoke wheel (24=8*3). But, even with that in mind, I can't (in Wikipedia) contrive a list of the principles - I can't even find 8 principles related to the standard 8-spoked chakra. The 8-fold path? Who knows? Thanks to anyone who can point out additional information. 68.124.22.249 17:49, 13 May 2007 (UTC)
 * For that matter, is it even true at all that each spoke represents a spiritual principle? If a mere citation can be provided for that statement, that will probably get me on the right track. Thanks again. 68.124.22.249 18:06, 13 May 2007 (UTC)
 * Since I cant very well ask the original contributor, I'm going to label the statement with Fact 68.124.22.249 18:10, 13 May 2007 (UTC)

The 24 principles are listed in the wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashoka_the_Great —Preceding unsigned comment added by 151.191.175.234 (talk) 14:47, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

The reference to Dependent Origination is anachronistic and the expression "12 Laws of Dependent Termination" does not appear elsewhere in Buddhist literature in English (e.g., https://www.google.nl/search?rlz=1C1GCEB_en&biw=1680&bih=939&tbm=bks&ei=M9AMXajLNNLUgQast7S4CQ&q=%22Dependent+Termination%22+buddhism&oq=%22Dependent+Termination%22+buddhism&gs_l=psy-ab.3...767.1935.0.2078.9.9.0.0.0.0.95.520.9.9.0....0...1c.1.64.psy-ab..0.0.0....0.woc-uviwjy4). It's just fancy, drawn from the speculations of a Sinhalese monk (http://www.sundaytimes.lk/110710/Plus/plus_10.html). — Preceding unsigned comment added by 132.229.187.56 (talk) 12:45, 21 June 2019 (UTC)

merge or split
the article as it stands is pointless, a random factoid in article form. discussion of the flag of India should go to flag of India, and discussion of the Buddhist symbol to Dharmachakra. --dab (𒁳) 10:20, 12 January 2010 (UTC)


 * The Ashoka chakra is a particularly notable dharmachakra, is it not? ??Mitsube (talk) 19:26, 13 January 2010 (UTC)
 * This is an interesting question. Was the term "Ashoka Chakra" used in medieval times, or did Ambedkar use it to separate the secular-political Indian flag from the Buddhist dharmacakra? Shii (tock) 21:56, 19 February 2010 (UTC)
 * This article should be kept separate. This is a political symbol not a religious symbol.  It was the symbol of the Mauryan Empire.  Keraunos (talk) 06:12, 3 June 2010 (UTC)


 * This article should be kept separate as this is a very important symbol and is a resemblance of Government of India and Indian Nationalism at various occasions.--MohitSingh (talk) 07:17, 26 January 2011 (UTC)

Hi original poster, yes, as you should know by now, the eight spoked wheel represents the eightfold path teached by the Buddha. By the way, the Buddha didn´t achive NIRVANA at Bodh-Gaya (India), but ENLIGTHMENT, wich is in intself the begining of the path that leads to Nirvana. Siddharta Gautama, the historical Buddha, passed the gate to that state of being when he died at Kushinagara on his way back to Kapalivastu (Nepal), the royal place where he was born. Both in the Pali (Theravada) Canon and in the Mahayana Sutras have recorded the words by which the Buddha gave his final teaching: the Parinibanna Sutta (Pali) and the Maha PariNirvana Sutra (Sanskrit). Be well.- El-Marianin (talk) 18:20, 14 April 2017 (UTC) El-Marianin

hiii 103.16.69.209 (talk) 11:23, 12 September 2021 (UTC)

Wheel of time
I'd like to find sources specifically on the intended meaning of the term "Wheel of Time" for Ashoka's Chakras. It's widely repeated about the chakra that the spokes can also represent hours of the day, and although the 24-hour day seems to have been widespread by late antiquity (along with 60 minutes and 60 seconds, though our articles on the history of time metrology have zero coverage of East and South Asia, or the Americas, or non-Romano-Hellenic Europe and Africa), my issue is that the kalachakra is widely used in Indian philosophy, and never simply as a 24-hour day clock (at least not in the canonical metaphors). Even though the kalachakra's use in Buddhism seems to likely postdate Ashoka, it was surely part of Jainism by this point. I have trouble believing, if indeed time was considered in the original intended symbolism of the wheel, that nobody among the intellectual circle in Ashoka's court wouldn't have discussed the kalachakra. If anyone has found any sources addressing this issue, please let me know. SamuelRiv (talk) 12:36, 25 July 2022 (UTC)

Spokes discussion
Editors of this article should be aware of a debate at Lion Capital of Ashoka about the credibility of sources that argue for a 32-spoke upper wheel. At the very least, many of the noncontroversial sources posted there can be used to help this article. SamuelRiv (talk) 12:54, 25 July 2022 (UTC)