CHAKRAVARTIN

also spelled Cakravartin, Sanskrit Cakravartin, the ancient Indian conception of the world ruler, derived from the Sanskrit cakra, wheel, and vartin, one who turns. Thus, a chakravartin may be understood as a ruler whose chariot wheels roll everywhere, or whose movements are unobstructed. Buddhist and Jaina sources distinguish three types of secular chakravartin: cakravala cakravartin, a king who rules over all four of the continents posited by ancient Indian cosmography; dvipa cakravartin, a ruler who governs only one of those continents and is, therefore, less powerful than the first; and pradesa cakravartin, a monarch who leads the people of only a part of a continent, the equivalent of a local king. The first reference to a secular king who achieved the status of a universal monarch, cakravala cakravartin, appears in texts and monuments from the Maurya dynasty that praise the exploits of King Asoka (3rd century BC). Buddhist and Jaina philosophers of this period conflated the notion of the universal monarch with the idea of a king of righteousness and maintainer of moral law. The chakravartin was considered to be the secular counterpart of a Buddha, with whom he shared many attributes.