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We 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 Coomara-swamy 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', and which, while separating them, also unites them as a bridge (_setu_) and makes possible the passage from one to the other.^[1] 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^[2] 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' signifi-cance 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 (_karni-ka_) 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, more-over, 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 _stūpa_, is also in certain respects^[10] a repre-sentation 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.

Footnotes

[1]In the Far Eastern tradition, the comparison of Heaven and Earth to the two boards of a bellows corresponds exactly to this. In the Hebrew tradition, the _antariksha_ is also the 'firmament in the midst of the waters', separating the 'lower waters' from the 'upper waters' (Genesis 1:6). The idea expressed in Latin by the word _firmamentum_, corresponds, furthermore, to the 'adamantine' character frequently attributed to the World Axis.

[2]One finds here very clearly the two meanings of the _barzakh_ of the Islamic tradition.

[3]This difference of form is that which exists between the two shells of the turtle, the equivalent symbolism of which we have just indicated above [see note 5 of the previous chapter].

[4][Until Vatican Council II the umbrella was used in certain formal Eucharistic rituals in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. Tr.]

[5]We will recall that the very designation of Chakravarti is also related to the symbolism of the wheel.

[6]We have previously alluded to the cosmic function recognised in the Emperor by the Far Eastern tradition. It goes without saying that it is the same kind of thing that is in question here; and in connection with what we have just said about the meaning of the parasol we will also remark that in China the accomplishment of rites constituting the 'cult of Heaven' was exclusively the prerogative of the Emperor [cf., The Great Triad, ch. 17].

[7]In the Islamic tradition, the turban, considered more especially as the distinctive mark of a _shaikh_ (in either the exoteric or esoteric order) is currently designated as _tāj al-Islām_. It is, therefore, a crown which, in this case, is the sign not of temporal power, such as that of kings, but of a spiritual authority. Let us recall also the connection between the crown and the solar rays, and the close relationship that exists between this symbolism and that of horns, of which we have already spoken [see ch. 30 above].

[8]The throne, as seat, is in a sense the equivalent of the altar, this being the seat of _Agni_. The cosmic chariot is also driven by _Agni_, or by the Sun which then has the 'box' [of the chariot] for seat. As for the relationship of the World Axis with the _antariksha_, it can be again be noted that when the altar or hearth is placed beneath the central opening of the vault of an edifice, the 'column of smoke' of _Agni_ which rises and issues forth by this opening represents the World Axis.

[9]In this connection, we can also refer to the description of the 'macrocosmic' body of _Vaishvānara_, in which the luminous celestial spheres, taken as one whole, are assimilated to the upper part of the head, that is, to the cranial vault (see _Man and His Becoming according to the Vedānta_, ch. 12).

[10]Coomaraswamy has drawn our attention to the fact that the same remark applies to the prehistoric tumulus, the form of which often seems to have intentionally imitated that of the cranium; moreover, as the tumulus or mound is an artificial image of the mountain, the same meaning must also be attached to its symbolism. In this respect, it is not without interest to note that the name _Golgotha_ means precisely 'skull', just as does the word _Calvarium_ by which it is translated in Latin. According to a legend current during the Middle Ages but whose origin may go back much further, this designation would refer to the skull of Adam who, according to the legend, was buried in that place (or who, in a more esoteric sense, would be identified with the mountain itself); and this leads us again to the consideration of Universal Man; it is his skull which is represented at the foot of the cross—the cross which is yet another representation of the World Axis.

42 § The Dome and the Wheel

Footnotes