Dhammacakka: from Significant Word To Sacred Symbol

บทคัดย่อ

The three main objectives 1) to study the widespread of “Dhammacakka”s apprearance in the Buddha’s time, 2) to analize the discourse of comprehensible Dhammacakka to Sacred Symbol, and 3) to study the Development of Dhammacakka in Thai society.  The research reveals that Dhammacakka (the Wheel of Dhamma) was originated from the preaching of the Lord Buddha’s first sermon called Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta for the five ascetics at the deer park called  Isipatana near Varanasi in India. The Dhamma of the Lord Buddha was first set in motion, like wheels of a chariot move ahead. According to the history, the symbol of the Dhammacakka was first originated after the third council of the Tipitaka in the year 235 B.E. when King Asoka created the symbol of Dhammacakka containing 32 spokes with the objectives to praise the Dhamma and declare the Buddhism’s occurrence all over the world. The symbol of the Dhammacakka is compared to the symbol of the Dhamma Victory, which means the war abolition and  Role Model of the greatest Dhammaraja in the world  in Indian subcontinent. The symbol of Dhammacakka has been moved to establish the firm foundation  in Thailand since the Dvaravati period, evident from the discovery of the Dhammacakka stones containing a variety amount of spokes which could be interpreted as many principles of the Dhamma as well. For example, the wheel of the Dhammacakka with 8 spokes could be meant the Dhamma principle of the Noble Eightfold Path of the Magga. The idealism of the creation of the Dhammacakka wheel spreaded into Thailand and created the values in terms of history, archeology and Buddhist art on sculpture along with the Dhamma principles assimilated in the people’s ways of livings under the Dhammaraja administrative conception for a long time.  It is transferred along the culture and tradition and then becomes not only the Thai uniqueness but also the well known both sacred symbol and symbol of the valuable education and the preaching of moral and ethics to Thai society nowadays.