42 § The Dome and the Wheel
W E know that the wheel is, in a general way, a symbol of the world, the circumference representing manifestation, which is produced by the irradiation of the centre. This symbolism naturally admits of more or less particularised meanings, for instead of being applied to the whole of universal manifestation, it can be applied also to no more than a certain domain of it. A particularly important example is when two wheels are taken together to denote two different parts of the whole cosmos. This relates to the symbolism of the chariot, so often to be met with in the Hindu tradition. Ananda Coomaraswamy has explained this symbolism on several occasions, and has done so yet again, in connection with the chhatra and the ushnīsha, in an article in The Poona Orientalist (April 1938) from which we will borrow some of the considerations which follow.
By reason of this symbolism, the construction of a chariot amounts strictly to the 'artisanal' realisation of a cosmic model, as does the architectural construction of which we have just been speaking. We need hardly recall that it is in virtue of considerations of this order that crafts in a traditional civilisation possess a spiritual value and a truly sacred character, and that it is because of this that they can normally serve as supports for initiation. Moreover, there is an exact parallelism between the two constructions in question, as is to be seen at once from the fact that the fundamental element of the chariot is the axle (aksha, identical with 'axis'), which in this case represents the World Axis and which is thus the equivalent of the central pillar (skambha) of a building to which everything in the whole edifice must be referred. Moreover, it is of little importance, as we have said, whether or not this pillar is represented materially; certain texts have it that the axle of the cosmic chariot is only a 'separative breath' (vyāna) which, occupying the intermediate space (antariksha, explained as antaryaksha), maintains Heaven and Earth in their respective 'places', [1] and which, while separating them, also unites them as a bridge (setu) and makes possible the passage from one to the other. [2] The two wheels, which are placed at the extremities of the axle, then in fact represent Heaven and Earth; and the axle extends from one to the other, just as the central pillar reaches from the earth to the summit of the vault. Between these two wheels and supported by the axle is the 'box' (kosha) of the chariot, the flooring of which, from another point of view, also corresponds to the Earth; the body formed by the two sides corresponds to the intermediate space, and the roof corresponds to Heaven. The square or rectangular floor of the cosmic chariot
and its dome-shaped roof bring us back to the architectural structure that was the theme of the last chapter.
If the two wheels are taken to represent Heaven and Earth, it might be objected, since both are circular, that the difference of the geometric forms that most normally correspond to them is no longer in evidence in this case; but a certain change of viewpoint here is altogether admissible, inasmuch as the circular form is in any case justified as symbolising the cyclical revolutions to which all manifestation, 'terrestrial' as well as 'celestial', is subject. In a way, nevertheless, the above mentioned difference can be retrieved by supposing that while the 'terrestrial' wheel is a plane, the 'celestial' wheel, like the dome, has the form of a segment of a sphere. [3] At first glance this consideration may seem strange but in fact there exists a symbolical object which unites in itself the structure of the wheel and that of the dome. This object, the 'celestial' significance of which is beyond the slightest doubt, is the parasol (chhatra). Its ribs are manifestly similar to the spokes of the wheel; and just as the spokes meet together in the hub, so also the ribs are united in a central piece (karnika) which supports them and which is described as a 'perforated globe'. The axis, that is, the handle of the parasol, passes through this central piece just as the axle of the chariot penetrates the hub of the wheel; and the prolongation of this axis beyond the point of junction with the ribs or radii corresponds, moreover, to the axis of a stupa in the case where the stupa is raised in the form of a mast above the summit of the dome. Furthermore, it is obvious that the parasol itself, in virtue of its destined function, is nothing other than the 'portable' equivalent of a vaulted roof. [4]
It is by reason of its celestial symbolism that the parasol is one of the insignia of royalty. Strictly speaking, it is even an emblem of the Chakravarti or universal monarch [5] and, if it is attributed to ordinary sovereigns, it is only insofar as they represent him to a certain extent, each within his own domain, participating thus in his nature and being identified with him in his cosmic function. [6] It is important now to mention that by a strict application of the inverse sense of analogy, the parasol, in its ordinary use in 'this world below', is a protection against the light, while insofar as it represents Heaven its ribs on the contrary are the rays of light themselves; and of course it is in this higher sense that it must be seen when it is an attribute of royalty. A similar remark also applied to the ushnīsha, understood in its primitive sense
as a headress; this commonly has the role of protecting against the heat, but, when it is symbolically attributed to the sun, it inversely represents that which radiates the heat (and this double sense is contained in the very etymology of the word ushnīsha). Let us add that it is according to its solar symbolism that the ushnīsha, which is strictly a turban and which can also be a crown (which, moreover, amounts basically to the same thing) [7] is also, like the parasol, an insignia of royalty; both are thus associated with the character of 'glory' inherent therein, instead of answering to a mere practical need as is the case with the ordinary man.
On the other hand, while the ushnīsha envelops the head, the parasol is identified with the head itself. In fact, in its microcosmic correspondence, it represents the skull and hair; and in this connection it is to be noted that in the symbolism of different traditions, hair most often represents rays of light. In ancient Buddhist iconography, the combination of the footprints, the altar or the throne, [8] and the parasol, corresponding respectively to Earth, the intermediary space, and Heaven, represents in a complete way the cosmic body of the Mahāpurusha or 'Universal Man'. [9] Likewise the dome, in cases such as that of the stupa, is also in certain respects [10] a representation of the human skull, and this observation is particularly important by reason of the fact that the opening through which the axis passes, whether it be the dome or the parasol that is in question, corresponds in the human being to the brahma-randhra; but we shall have to return later to this last point in more detail.