Chakra (throwing disc)

Vishnu with attributes

Meditating Vishnu with club ( gada ) and wheel or throwing disc ( chakra ).

Chakra ( Sanskrit चक्र cakra ; German: 'throwing disc', 'wheel', 'circle' or 'discus') or Sudarshana Chakra ( Sanskrit सुदर्शन चक्र sudarśana cakra ; German about: 'easily visible wheel' or 'auspicious wheel') is next to the club ( gada ), the conch shell ( shankha ) and the lotus ( padma ) are one of the four main attributes of the Hindu deity Vishnu . It is one of the hand weapons , but in connection with Vishnu it is primarily to be understood as a national emblem ( insignia ).

Origin and development

A flat disc as a throwing device that can be used in armed conflicts could have developed from round river pebbles - chopped off at the edges . Corresponding archaeological evidence is not known. In ancient Greece, already at dive Homer (around the 8th century. Chr.) Mentioned discos on who was originally a stone disk, but also from later Bronze could be made of wood or metal frame. In later times purely metal throwing discs with serrated edges as well as the razor- sharp throwing rings of the Sikhs (see chakram ) from the 19th and early 20th centuries developed from this.

Legend

According to the Purana scriptures, the divine architect and creator Vishvakarman is said to have made the sun chariot ( pushpaka vimana ) of Surya , the trident ( trishula ) of Shivas and the throwing disc ( chakra ) of Vishnu from the rays of the sun. According to legend, Vishnu's throwing disc is said to have had two rows of more than 10 million spines. The sharp weapon was also used to cut the body of Sati , Shiva's first wife, into pieces after her voluntary death by fire.

Attribute of Vishnu

Vishnu in his female form Mohini cuts off the head of the demon ( asura ) Rahu with his throwing disc . The raised index finger of Mohini, from which the jagged throwing disc was obviously thrown, is remarkable.

In Indian texts the jagged throwing disc ( sudarshana chakra ) is mentioned as an attribute of Vishnu in Rigveda , Yajurveda and the Puranas . It appears for the first time in sculptures of the Hindu god Vishnu around 500 AD, but even in the early examples the throwing disc - with a few exceptions - is no longer used as a weapon, but functions exclusively as an insignia of power or as an object of representation. In German translations it is often referred to as 'Diskus'; According to the old texts and most of the illustrations, however, it is a throwing disc with jagged edges, which - to protect the weapon from damage or injuries to the person wearing it - seems to have been kept within a round protective ring. In many of the pictures, the center of the serrated disc has a hole from which a kind of strap hangs down - this may have served as a strap. The weapon itself was terrifying, but laborious to manufacture and could normally only be used once, so its military use was extremely limited, which in turn explains its limited historical distribution. Archaeological finds of medieval throwing discs are not known.