Quite another question is, why the sign [S] should have had an
auspicious meaning, and why in Sanskrit it should have been called
Svastika. The similarity between the group of letters _sv_ in the
ancient Indian alphabet and the sign of Svastika is not very striking,
and seems purely accidental.
A remark of yours [Schliemann] (Troy, p. 38.) that the Svastika
resembles a wheel in motion, the direction of the motion being
indicated by the crampons, contains a useful hint, which has been
confirmed by some important observations of Mr. Thomas, the
distinguished Oriental numismatist, who has called attention to the
fact that in the long list of the recognized devices of the
twenty-four Jaina Tirthankaras the sun is absent, but that while the
eighth Tirthankara has the sign of the half-moon, the seventh
Tirthankara is marked with the Svastika, i. e., the sun. Here, then,
we have clear indications that the Svastika, with the hands pointing
in the right direction, was originally a symbol of the sun, perhaps of
the vernal sun as opposed to the autumnal sun, the _Suavastika_, and,
therefore, a natural symbol of light, life, health, and wealth.
But, while from these indications we are justified in supposing that
among the Aryan nations the Svastika may have been an old emblem of
the sun, there are other indications to show that in other parts of
the world the same or a similar emblem was used to indicate the earth.
Mr. Beal * * * has shown * * * that the simple cross ([cross]) occurs
as a sign for earth in certain ideographic groups. It was probably
intended to indicate the four quarters--north, south, east, west--or,
it may be, more generally, extension in length and breadth.
That the cross is used as a sign for "four" in the Bactro-Pali
inscriptions (Max Müller, "Chips from a German Workshop," Vol. II, p.
298) is well known; but the fact that the same sign has the same power
elsewhere, as, for instance, in the Hieratic numerals, does not prove
by any means that the one figure was derived from the other. We forget
too easily that what was possible in one place was possible also in
other places; and the more we extend our researches, the more we shall
learn that the chapter of accidents is larger than we imagine.
The "Suavastika" which Max Müller names and believes was applied to the
Swastika sign, with the ends bent to the left (fig. 10), seems not to be
reported with that meaning by any other author except Burnouf.[17]
Therefore the normal Swastika would seem to be that with the ends bent to
the right. Burnouf says the word Suavastika may be a derivative or
development of the Svastikaya, and ought to signify "he who, or, that
which, bears or carries the Swastika or a species of Swastika." Greg,[18]
under the title Sôvastikaya, gives it as his opinion that there is no
difference between it and the Swastika. Colonel Low[19] mentions the word
Sawattheko, which, according to Burnouf[20] is only a variation of the
Pali word Sotthika or Suvatthika, the Pali translation of the Sanskrit
Swastika. Burnouf translates it as Svastikaya.
M. Eugene Burnouf[21] speaks of a third sign of the footprint of Çakya,
called Nandâvartaya, a good augury, the meaning being the "circle of
fortune," which is the Swastika inclosed within a square with avenues
radiating from the corners (fig. 14). Burnouf says the above sign has many
significations. It is a sacred temple or edifice, a species of labyrinth,
a garden of diamonds, a chain, a golden waist or shoulder belt, and a
conique with spires turning to the right.
Colonel Sykes[22] concludes that, according to the Chinese authorities
Fa-hian, Soung Young, Hiuan thsang, the "Doctors of reason," Tao-sse, or
followers of the mystic cross [S] were diffused in China and India before
the advent of Sakya in the sixth century B. C. (according to Chinese,
Japanese, and Buddhist authorities, the eleventh century B. C.),
continuing until Fa-hian's time; and that they were professors of a
qualified Buddhism, which, it is stated, was the universal religion of
Tibet before Sakya's advent,[23] and continued until the introduction of
orthodox Buddhism in the ninth century A. D.[24]
[Illustration: Fig. 14. NANDÂVARTAYA, A THIRD SIGN OF THE FOOTPRINT OF
BUDDHA. Burnouf, "Lotus de la Bonne Loi," Paris, 1852, p. 696.]
Klaproth[25] calls attention to the frequent mention by Fa-hian, of the
Tao-sse, sectaries of the mystic cross [S] (Sanskrit Swastika), and to
their existence in Central Asia and India; while he says they were
diffused over the countries to the west and southwest of China, and came
annually from all kingdoms and countries to adore Kassapo, Buddha's
predecessor.[26] Mr. James Burgess[27] mentions the Tirthankaras or Jainas
as being sectarians of the Mystic Cross, the Swastika.
The Cyclopædia of India (title Swastika), coinciding with Prof. Max
Müller, says:
The Swastika symbol is not to be confounded with the Swastika sect in
Tibet which took the symbol for its name as typical of the belief of
its members. They render the Sanskrit Swastika as composed of su
"well" and asti "it is," meaning, as Professor Wilson expresses it,
"so be it," and implying complete resignation under all circumstances.
They claimed the Swastika of Sanskrit as the _suti_ of Pali, and that
the Swastika cross was a combination of the two symbols _sutti-suti_.
They are rationalists, holding that contentment and peace of mind
should be the only objects of life. The sect has preserved its
existence in different localities and under different names,
Thirthankara, Tor, Musteg, Pon, the last name meaning purity, under
which a remnant are still in the farthest parts of the most eastern
province of Tibet.
General Cunningham[28] adds his assertion of the Swastika being the symbol
used by the Buddhist sect of that name. He says in a note:
The founder of this sect flourished about the year 604 to 523 B. C.,
and that the mystic cross is a symbol formed by the combination of the
two Sanskrit syllables _su_ and _ti-suti_.
Waring[29] proceeds to demolish these statements of a sect named Swastika
as pure inventions, and "consulting Professor Wilson's invaluable work on
the Hindoo religious sects in the 'Asiatic Researches,' we find no account
of any sect named Swastika."
Mr. V. R. Gandhi, a learned legal gentleman of Bombay, a representative of
the Jain sect of Buddhists to the World's Parliament of Religions at
Chicago, 1893, denies that there is in either India or Tibet a sect of
Buddhists named "Swastika." He suggests that these gentlemen probably mean
the sects of Jains (of which Mr. Gandhi is a member), because this sect
uses the Swastika as a sign of benediction and blessing. This will be
treated further on. (See p. 804.)
Zmigrodzki, commenting on the frequency of the Swastika on the objects
found by Dr. Schliemann at Hissarlik, gives it as his opinion[30] that
these representations of the Swastika have relation to a human cult
indicating a supreme being filled with goodness toward man. The sun,
stars, etc., indicate him as a god of light. This, in connection with the
idol of Venus, with its triangular shield engraved with a Swastika (fig.
125), and the growing trees and palms, with their increasing and
multiplying branches and leaves, represent to him the idea of fecundity,
multiplication, increase, and hence the god of life as well as of light.
The Swastika sign on funeral vases indicates to him a belief in a divine
spirit in man which lives after death, and hence he concludes that the
people of Hissarlik, in the "Burnt City" (the third of Schliemann), adored
a supreme being, the god of light and of life, and believed in the
immortality of the soul.