Chakravarti | |||||||
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Sanskrit name | |||||||
Sanskrit | चक्रवर्तिन् cakravartin | ||||||
Pali name | |||||||
Pali | cakkavatti | ||||||
Chinese name | |||||||
Traditional Chinese | 轉輪王 | ||||||
Literal meaning | Wheel-Turning King | ||||||
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Alternative Chinese name | |||||||
Traditional Chinese | 轉輪聖王 | ||||||
Literal meaning | Wheel-Turning Sacred King | ||||||
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Japanese name | |||||||
Kanji | 転輪王 or 転輪聖王 | ||||||
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Vietnamese name | |||||||
Vietnamese | Chuyển Luân Vương or Chuyển Luân Thánh Vương | ||||||
Hán-Nôm | 転輪王 or 転輪聖王 |
A chakravarti (Sanskrit: चक्रवर्तिन्, IAST: Cakravartin) is an ideal (or idealized) universal ruler, in the history, and religion of India. The concept is present in Indian subcontinent cultural traditions, narrative myths and lore.[1] There are three types of chakravarti: chakravala chakravarti, an emperor who rules over all four of the continents (i.e., a universal monarch); dvipa chakravarti, a ruler who governs only one of those continents; and pradesha chakravarti, a monarch who leads the people of only a part of a continent, the equivalent of a local king.[2] Dvipa chakravarti is particularly one who rules the entire Indian subcontinent (as in the case of the Mauryan Empire.[3]: 175 The first references to a Chakravala Chakravartin appear in monuments from the time of the early Maurya Empire, in the 4th to 3rd century BCE, in reference to Chandragupta Maurya and his grandson Emperor Ashoka.[4][5]
The word cakra-vartin- is a bahuvrīhi compound word, translating to "one whose wheels are moving", in the sense of "whose chariot is rolling everywhere without obstruction". It can also be analysed as an 'instrumental bahuvrīhi: "through whom the wheel is moving" in the meaning of "through whom the Dharmachakra ("Wheel of the Dharma) is turning" (most commonly used in Buddhism).[citation needed] The Tibetan equivalent ཁོར་ལོས་སྒྱུར་བའི་རྒྱལ་པོ་ (khor los sgyur ba'i rgyal po) translates to "monarch who controls by means of a wheel".[citation needed]
In Buddhism, a chakravarti is the secular counterpart of a buddha. The term applies to temporal as well as spiritual emperorship and leadership, particularly in Buddhism and Jainism. In Hinduism, a chakravarti is a powerful ruler whose dominion extends to the entire earth. In both religions, the chakravarti is supposed to uphold dharma, indeed being "he who turns the wheel (of dharma)".
The Indian concept of chakravarti later evolved[citation needed] into the concept of devaraja – the divinity of kings – which was adopted by the Indianised Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms of Southeast Asia through Hindu Brahmin scholars deployed from India to their courts. It was first adopted by Javanese Hindu-Buddhist empires such as Majapahit; through them by the Khmer Empire; and subsequently by the Thai monarchs.[citation needed]
Rosenfield1967
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).By the age of the Mauryan kings there had evolved the concept of chakravartin (literally—he who turns the wheel of power)—the single ruler, whose power stretched, as it were, over enormous territories from the Western to the Eastern Ocean, from the Himalayas to the south seas.
The ultimate aim was a 'world ruler (chakravarti); who would control the whole Indian subcontinent (KA 9.1.17-21)—as Ashoka did.
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