SN 1.29 and SN 2.28 open with a simile comparing the body with a cart:
Catucakkaṁ navadvāraṁ
Four wheels, nine doors
Now, SN 2.28 is by the deity Nandivisāla. At pli-tv-bu-vb-pc2 = Ja 28 we meet an ox of this name, famed for pulling a heavy load. Perhaps the virtuous beast was reborn as a god, still concerned with pulling laden carts. Pāṇini lists it as a name, but no such individual has been identified in Sanskrit.
The nine doors are the nine apertures of the body—eyes, ears, nostrils, mouth, genitals, anus.
The four wheels are explained by the commentary as the four postures. Maybe so, but I find it unconvincing. The postures are not part of the body.
I wonder whether cakka has another meaning? In later texts Buddhist and Hindu we meet the concept of the cakra as a center of vital energy in the body. Buddhist trantric texts often list four such “wheels”. The sutta is much earlier than those texts, but I wonder. Could this be an early mention of the idea of the cakra? Or could it have some other meaning?
My thoughts exactly— could be a reference to moving “on all fours”, given that along with many animals, we also first move that way.
Secondly, as far as I have seen, in both Hindu Yoga or tantric manuals and Chinese medicine, chakra model comes fully formed with seven chakras. It is possible that the model evolved over time and chakras were added as important variables as and when deemed necessary, but I haven’t seen any text or research that traces such an evolution.
Ha ha ha! I take what I said back! Should have looked at Wikipedia first! Thanks! Very instructive… I have always wondered about its evolution as a theory.
Interesting that you mention potter’s wheel, because Samkhya Karika has a very interesting description of their form of arahant, using the very word cakra…
67: On the attainment of true knowledge, virtue and the rest cease to function as the cause. However, Purusha continues to stay with the body on account of the samskaras, just like a potter’s wheel that continues to spin even after the potter has stopped the effort to turn the wheel.
68: When, in due course, Prakriti has ceased to act, Purusha, having attained separation from the body, its purpose having been fulfilled, attains final and absolute liberation.
My introduction to chakra was through Mahābhārata, where Krishna uses Sudarshan Chakra as a weapon and to block the sun if I recall correctly. There is also an instance of using the cart wheel as a chakra weapon in lieu of the actual chakra.
Should have looked at Wikipedia first! Thanks! Very instructive… I have always wondered about its evolution as a theory.
good thing the potters kept their wheels for pottery