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HINDU SWASTIKA

The word is derived from the Sanskrit "svastika" and means "good to be". In Indo-European culture it was a mark made on people or objects to give them good luck.

It has been around for thousands of years, particularly as a Hindu symbol in the holy texts, to mean luck, Brahma or samsara (rebirth). The symbol of the 4-sided swastika is an archetype for the rotations of time and consciousness - moving clockwise and counterclockwise - in upward or downward spirals - allowing souls to experience many levels of reality simultaneously.  The way it points in all four directions suggests stability. Sometimes it features a dot between each arm.

Second in importance only to the Om, the Swastika, which was borrowed by the Nazi's for their emblem, holds a great religious significance for the Hindus. Swastika is not a syllable or a letter, but a pictorial character in the shape of a cross with branches bent at right angles and facing in a clockwise direction. A must for all religious celebrations and festivals, Swastika symbolizes the eternal nature of the Brahman, for it points in all directions, thus representing the omnipresence of the Absolute.

 

Hindu Swastika

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The term 'Swastika' is believed to be a fusion of the two Sanskrit words Su (good) and Asati (to exist), which when combined means 'May Good Prevail'. Historians say Swastika could have represented a real structure and that in ancient times forts were built for defense reasons in a shape closely resembling the Swastika. For its protective power this shape began to be sanctified.

Those without wealth may one day prosper,
but those without kindness are utterly and incurably poor.


Old Hindu verse written by Tiruvalluvar


 

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