________________ 260 : Lalit Kumar Sarnath, erected by Asoka, (B.C. 272-231). So far these animals and the quadripartite lion have been interpreted in their Buddhistic perspective only. A Dharmacakra, originally surmounted on the lion capital was primarily conceived. The Dharmacakra was intended by Asoka to keep the buddhist Samgha intact from the impending danger from schism which had already surfaced in the Buddhist Samgha. This is amply clear from the inscription engraved on the pillar which had once surmounted the lion capital. In this way, Dharmacakra symbolised, not only the time, the eternal truth, but also the solemn desire of the ruler to maintain the Buddhist Samgha intact for time immemorial. To herald this majestic will, Asoka chose Sarnath, as the most appropriate place where Buddha had set the wheel of law into motion. The Dharmacakra was not a sectarian symbol in India. The Dharmacakra is often seen in the art of Bharhut, Sanci, Bodhagaya and Amravatii and also in the Jaina art of Mathura and Causa bronzes. The Dharmacakrais referred to as Brahmanda Cakra, Bhava Cakra, Kala Cakra, Dharma Cakra, and Sudarsan Cakra in Indian literature. It is a Vitta Cakra, a symbol of Visnu and above all it is a wheel of time in the Rgveda. The quadruple lion capital seems to be carrier or the vehicle of the Dharmacakra. According to the description found in the Devendrastava it should be identified as the Jyotiska Vimana. The four animals and the intervening wheels on the abacus represent the chariot of the Jyotiska god or the god of light. The most luminous godof light is the Sun, represented here by the four addorsed lions who look around in all the four directions. The lion is a west-Asiatic art motif which had been assimilated in Indian Art and Culture at a very early period. Thus, the quadripartite lion with the abacus represents aniconic representation of the sun god. This conception of Sun god does not conform to the later iconography of the god in which his chariot is driven by four or seven horses. In this way the Devendrastava provides the earliest literary reference to the interpretation of the abacus of the quadripartite lion capital of Sarnath. It may be pointed out that Sarnath lion
