The Return of Sanskrit

Swastika is widely used in India's various religious traditions. In prehistory, various civilizations and cultures of the world used the sign of Swastika since Neolithic period. Although, India maintained its tradition over thousands of years, other culture discontinued or never made Swastika as a permanent part of their religious tradition.

International Research Journal of Commerce , Arts and Science, 2024

Is the Swastika a symbol, as it has been depicted for so many years? Or is it a word from the long-lost script of Brahmi? In this current discussion, we try to understand what this single symbol could mean when identified as separate alphabets brought together by some ancient people. As we cover this quest step by step, we help develop an understanding about the word and the language of Brahmi in the process. If you wish to find out more of what the word could mean, you need to know its alphabets first. There are four to five alphabets making up the word, and it means 4^4 to 5^5 possibilities arising out of it. We have not solved the entire riddle behind this existing word, but we do prefer to know more about it. To understand which word is the best possible explanation for this ever-lingering phenomenon and what it is here for.]

2021

The Dharmic symbol of 'Swastika' is losing its narrative war in Australia like elsewhere in Western nations. The 'Swastika' is synonymous with antisemitism in a multicultural Australia where Indic identity groups like Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs are model minorities. Two extreme threads represent the misappropriation of 'Swastika' in Australia. The first thread is the fringe White Supremacists inspired by their American and European counterparts. The second thread is the deliberate ignorance maintained by the ecosystem of media and academia to maintain Western Universalism.

Tribhuvan University, 2018

Land of South Asia is so rich in its cultural heritage. Most of countries of this region once were follower of Hindu faith. Later with the invasion of Islam, the ancient center of South Asian philosophy of Hinduism and Buddhism went through a great transition. In spite of that entire disturbance, it has survived through the ages. Today Hinduism thrives in the heart of Nepali, Indian and some other countries of this region. Each country represents the same Hindu culture on their unique way, but they share fundamental similarities. And one of the similarities is the use of sacred symbol. Symbol is the most significant element we notice in Hindu culture. Here this research paper will look into the major symbol Aum, Swastika and Shatkona used in Hindu culture.

ORIGIN AND SYMBOLISM MOTIF “MOVING SWASTIKA”, 2018

A lot has been said about the cross as a symbol of the sun before the advent of Christianity. And a lot has been said about the ancient sign of the "swastika", derived from the sun cross. But there is another ancient symbolic motif, which originated from the swastika. This is the motive of the "Moving swastika". Unlike the sun rotating around its axis (a single swastika), this motif is a rhythmically repetitive swastika, sequentially connected to each other in an S -shaped structure. The structure of this motive develops linearly, which predetermined the function of a border in the designs of ancient art. But before becoming a decorative border, this motif served as a sacral guardian (talisman) on household items and jewelry. The ancient motif “Moving Swastika” had a protective function and was depicted on cult objects, ceramics, jewelry, fabrics and carpets. The motif of the “Moving Solar Deity” in the form of a swastika recurring and connected with each other, with the spread of Islam, also acquires a new symbolism: While preserving its pagan, “protective” context in the works of Muslim art, it has become a decorative border. In the decoration of architectural structures, works of artistic metal, ceramics, fabrics and carpets, the motif of the “Moving Sun (swastika)” continues to retain its original function of the amulet. This symbolic motif of the rim protects the border, hidden (batin) from the outer, overt (zahir), forming the border between the sacred and profane world.

This is an addendum to: Proving that Svastika is NOT a syllable, but hypertext of logo-semantic Indus Script. History of svastika and its use on metalwork wealth-accounting ledgers https://tinyurl.com/y69rudws Manoharpura. Svastika. Top of āyāgapaṭa. Red Sandstone. Lucknow State Museum. (Scan no.0053009, 0053011, 0053012 ) See: https://www.academia.edu/11522244/A_temple_at_Sanchi_for_Dhamma_by_a_k%C4%81ra%E1%B9%87ik%C4%81_sanghin_guild_of_scribes_in_Indus_writing_cipher_continuum Ayagapata (After Huntington) Jain votive tablet from Mathurå. From Czuma 1985, catalogue number 3. Fish-tail is the hieroglyph together with svastika hieroglyph, fish-pair hieroglyph, safflower hieroglyph, cord (tying together molluscs and arrow?)hieroglyph multiplex, lathe multiplex (the standard device shown generally in front of a one-horned young bull on Indus Script corpora), flower bud (lotus) ligatured to the fish-tail. All these are venerating hieroglyphs surrounding the Tirthankara in the central medallion. Pali etyma point to the use of 卐 with semant. 'auspicious mark'; on the Sanchi stupa; the cognate gloss is: sotthika, sotthiya 'blessed'. Or. ṭaü ʻ zinc, pewter ʼ(CDIAL 5992). jasta 'zinc' (Hindi) sathya, satva 'zinc' (Kannada) The hieroglyph used on Indus writing consists of two forms: 卐卍. Considering the phonetic variant of Hindi gloss, it has been suggested for decipherment of Meluhha hieroglyphs in archaeometallurgical context that the early forms for both the hieroglyph and the rebus reading was: satya. The semant. expansion relating the hieroglyph to 'welfare' may be related to the resulting alloy of brass achieved by alloying zinc with copper. The brass alloy shines like gold and was a metal of significant value, as significant as the tin (cassiterite) mineral, another alloying metal which was tin-bronze in great demand during the Bronze Age in view of the scarcity of naturally occurring copper+arsenic or arsenical bronze. I suggest that the Meluhha gloss was a phonetic variant recorded in Pali etyma: sotthiya. This gloss was represented on Sanchi stupa inscription and also on Jaina ayagapata offerings by worshippers of ariya, ayira dhamma, by the same hieroglyph (either clockwise-twisting or anti-clockwise twisting rotatory symbol of svastika). Linguists may like to pursue this line further to suggest the semant. evolution of the hieroglyph over time, from the days of Sarasvati-Sindhu civilization to the narratives of Sanchi stupa or Ayagapata of Kankali Tila. स्वस्ति [ svasti ] ind S A particle of benediction. Ex. राजा तुला स्वस्ति असो O king! may it be well with thee!; रामाय स्वस्ति रावणाय स्वस्ति! 2 An auspicious particle. 3 A term of sanction or approbation (so be it, amen &c.) 4 Used as s n Welfare, weal, happiness.स्वस्तिक [ svastika ] n m S A mystical figure the inscription of which upon any person or thing is considered to be lucky. It is, amongst the जैन, the emblem of the seventh deified teacher of the present era. It consists of 卍. 2 A temple of a particular form with a portico in front. 3 Any auspicious or lucky object.(Marathi) svasti f. ʻ good fortune ʼ RV. [su -- 2, √as1]Pa. suvatthi -- , sotthi -- f. ʻ well -- being ʼ, NiDoc. śvasti; Pk. satthi -- , sotthi -- f. ʻ blessing, welfare ʼ; Si. seta ʻ good fortune ʼ < *soti (H. Smith EGS 185 < sustha -- ). svastika ʻ *auspicious ʼ, m. ʻ auspicious mark ʼ R. [svastí -- ]Pa. sotthika -- , °iya -- ʻ auspicious ʼ; Pk. satthia -- , sot° m. ʻ auspicious mark ʼ; H. sathiyā, sati° m. ʻ mystical mark of good luck ʼ; G. sāthiyɔ m. ʻ auspicious mark painted on the front of a house ʼ.(CDIAL 13915, 13916) Nibbānasotthi (welfare). saccena suvatthi hotu nibbānaŋ Sn 235.Sotthi (f.) [Sk. svasti=su+asti] well -- being, safety, bless ing A iii.38=iv.266 ("brings future happiness"); J i.335; s. hotu hail! D i.96; sotthiŋ in safety, safely Dh 219 (=anupaddavena DhA iii.293); Pv iv.64(=nirupaddava PvA 262); Sn 269; sotthinā safely, prosperously D i.72, 96; ii.346; M i.135; J ii.87; iii.201. suvatthi the same J iv.32. See sotthika & sovatthika. -- kamma a blessing J i.343. -- kāra an utterer of blessings, a herald J vi.43. -- gata safe wandering, prosperous journey Mhvs 8, 10; sotthigamana the same J i.272. -- bhāva well -- being, prosperity, safety J i.209; iii.44; DhA ii.58; PvA 250. -- vācaka utterer of blessings, a herald Miln 359. -- sālā a hospital Mhvs 10, 101.Sotthika (& ˚iya) (adj.) [fr. sotthi] happy, auspicious, blessed, safe VvA 95; DhA ii.227 (˚iya; in phrase dīgha˚ one who is happy for long [?]).Sotthivant (adj.) [sotthi+vant] lucky, happy, safe Vv 8452.Sovatthika (adj.) [either fr. sotthi with diaeresis, or fr. su+atthi+ka=Sk. svastika] safe M i.117; Vv 187 (=sotthika VvA 95); J vi.339 (in the shape of a svastika?); Pv iv.33 (=sotthi -- bhāva -- vāha PvA 250). -- âlankāra a kind of auspicious mark J vi.488. (Pali)Moving Beyond the Limits of Profit through Shubh Lābh From kirana stores to home doors, to service sector units to large production houses, shubh lābh is all pervasive in the Indian economic process. Gunjan Pradhan Sinha April 19, 2021 (Image courtesy Harappa.com) Faience button seal (H99-3814/8756-01) with swastika motif found on the floor of Room 202 (Trench 43). Five thousand years ago in Lothal, one of the southern most cities of Indus Valley civilisation a seal bearing the mark of a Swastika was impressed on bags of gems, micro gold beads and valuable ornaments on the coast of the Arabian Sea by a trader. Found in recent times in the modern Bhāl region of Gujarat, thousands of years later, the seal continues to tell the story of the flourishing business and trade of the Indian sub-continent, around which also revolved the silk route. Clad in an Indian cotton shawl, the trader was probably sending away precious goods across the Arabian Sea to Egypt or Bahrain. The button seal, now rests in a museum and is one of the oldest (3700 BCE) surviving representations of the Indian swastika. In Vedic terminology, Swastika is nothing but a saṃdhi of the two Sanskrit terms swah and asti, with the former being derived from the root su meaning ‘well’ and asti ‘be it so’. Swastika is entrenched in Indian practices recalled and enforced in times of genesis of something that is to be for good or prosperity. Over millennia of recorded Indian tradition, the swastika came to be associated with Shubh-lābh in the Indian mind. The philosophical significance being profound, its implications were brought to the knowledge of the average Indian through the narration that Shubh and Lābh are sons of Ganeṣa, born from his wives Riddhi and Siddhi, respectively. The symbolism was an attempt to engender a culture of welfare among the people of a civilisation that continues to grow and flourish and harbour many lessons for modern management practices across the world. It tells the world that business and ethics have always been two sides of the same coin with the former being unable to exist on a long-term basis without the latter. In fact, recent definitions show that entities that just enter the market and operate for a few months or years in an economy are not businesses but just transactions under the entire macro-economic matrix. Shubh means auspicious and lābh means gain, prosperity, success, fortune, protection and thereby total well-being. Shubh on the left and lābh on the right implies employing pure means to achieve pure ends or ethical means for ethical ends –loksaṃgraha. The underlying meaning is well expressed by the dictum – Sarve Santu Sukhinah, Sarve santu Niramaya. Sarve Bhadrani Pashyantu, Ma Kaschiddukhbhagbhavet– (Bṛhad Araṇyaka Upaniṣad)- implying ‘May all be happy, remain free from illness, see the auspicious and not suffer’. From kirana stores to home doors, to service sector units to large production houses, shubh lābh is all pervasive in the Indian economic process. It captures not only the ethos of our work culture but on a closer reading explains the business cycle of an organisation or professional. The swastika lies at the centre of a welfare economics encompassing both socialistic and capitalist initiative. They are pillars of a socially responsible sustainable business where all and stakeholders are cared for. Vedic and Purānic literature explain the four bent arms of the swastika represent the four puruśārthas (human goals)- dharma, artha, kām and mokṣa. The first three together are the trivarga which govern worldly action. Interestingly, each quadrant signifies a stage of value creation. Trivarga in combination like the strands of a rope, suggests that professionalism lies in conducting business in a spirit of yajña or selflessness. In social distress, businesses suffer and if businesses are unstable, being driven by selfish goals, they are unsustainable and damage the socio-economic fabric.

Swastikas found in Samarra have a different meaning than the ones found in the Indus Valley, 2022

This is a reconstruction drawing of another bowl of which a slightly larger part has been recovered. This drawing shows six female figures and six scorpions. In this way they together symbolize the twelve months of the year. This drawing shows again that the scorpion goddess Iskhara is active all year round. Number 7 And this is a reconstruction drawing in yet another bowl of which a number of shards are left. This drawing shows 4 scorpions and four outstretched horns of a goat or an antelope. A swastika has been drawn in the middle with fingers (?) added to the four ends. These fingers may symbolize that Iskhara acts and is active, and the four scorpions show that she is especially active during the four changes of the seasons. Number 15 On this cup is the Indus Valley character for 'barley', which of course resembles the Sumerian 'grain' or 'barley' sign: XE The Sumerian sign (Jaritz #669) reads še (for *ši), 'barley', and 'grain, seed'; the proper word for 'grain, seed' (SE-?A) is discussed above under SE.

Journal of the General Union of Arab Archaeologists

Swastika" is an equilateral hooked cross, it is one of the symbols that became popular to several nations of different cultures since prehistoric times. This symbol was associated, or rather, became symbol for some religious beliefs and spiritual concepts in some ancient civilizations. It has been extensively transmitted among several nations. Such prevalence proves the popularity that hooked cross "Swastika" had attained, however, this caused the difficulty in determining its place of origin. Some historical studies suggested India as "Swastika"s" homeland by the end of the Bronze Age, since it was predominantly a religious symbol of Hindus, Jains, and Buddhists. The spread of Buddhism religion which held the hooked cross "swastika" as a holy symbol, led to the emergence of swastika in China and Japan as symbol of prosperity. However, due to some evidences; others pointed out to Mesopotamia, land of the oldest known civilization on universe, which later became a cultural center extended from the Near East to Central Europe, and in Asia it had widespread and reached as far east as China. In addition, hooked cross had been contemporary to ancient Egyptian civilization. This had been assured by the discovery of a rock drawing in the western desert of Upper Egypt. In late historical times, precisely, the Byzantine empire, hooked cross was also in use. Furthermore, it was in use in the Coptic art as well. Hooked cross "Swastika" continued to be used in ancient historical eras; contributed in their arts, and till the modern era. In addition, the widespread of "Swastika" resulted in being associated with several terms; Gammadion cross or Crux Gammata, Hakenkreuz, Fylfot (fower foot), Wan in china, Manji in Japan, Tau cross, and Thor's hammer. In addition, each society used Swastika in a distinct fashion; it sometimes symbolized the Sun, good fortune, fertility, religious beliefs, etc. Through this stretched history, hooked cross"s symbolism had radically changed, especially in the 1 st half of the 20 th century A.D, after being chosen as symbol for the blossoming Nazi party founded by Adolf Hitler in Germany. Since then, the "Swastika" had been effectively detached from its past, Germanized and reinvented as a symbol of German purity and supremacy. This paper enclosed a briefed history of the hooked cross "Swastika" since its emergence, with stating the diverse thoughts of its place of origin. This is succeeded by the symbolism of the hooked cross "Swastika" and the changes happened lately. The final point is the outline of applying hooked cross "Swastika" in Islamic Art, this is supplemented by some chosen Applied artefacts demonstrating this. The Concept and Utilization of Swastika "Hooked Cross" on Islamic Artefact 30 This paper aims at:-Illuminating on one of the most unique symbols with differ meanings and argumentative as well.-Focusing on themes of association between different nations on vast areas since very ancient times.-Deducing the Islamic art"s tendency to admitting decorative elements of several cultures, if there is no conflict with Islamic faith.-Hinting that absolute facts or concepts are not exist, and symbolssuch as "Swastika" are liable to multiple changes. Research"s plan: I. History of hooked cross "Swastika" II. Symbolism of hooked cross "Swastika" in variant cultures through ages III. Hooked cross "Swastika" in Islamic Art IV. Descriptive study for certain applied artefacts V. Systematic analysis for the paper"s discussed artefacts (1) Bernard O"kane and others, The Illustrated Guide to the