In this episode of “5 Minutes,” Dr. Robert Svoboda explores the traditional meaning of the Swastika and its symbolism as a representation of well-being.
The word Swasti in Sanskrit is composed of two words, su and asti. It means, literally, “May it be good, may all things be well.” For example, there are chants such as Swasti Indro Vriddhashravaha in which Swasti is a central part.
The Swastika is a symbol, much like a yantra, that indicates that what it is applied to is intended to promote goodness in all directions. The Swastika has existed in India for many thousands of years. It is a sacred symbol in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. It is also sacred to Native American traditions and has appeared in cultures throughout the world.
Sadly, the Swastika was taken over by the Nazis. The reason they adopted it was because it had been identified as a symbol associated with the Aryans, and the Nazis believed that they themselves were somehow Aryan. This was a tragic misuse of a symbol that was traditionally understood as benevolent. It is important to remember that the Swastika is not fundamentally a Nazi symbol. It is fundamentally a symbol that represents goodness and well-being.
The Swastika can be drawn with the arms appearing to move in a clockwise direction or in a counterclockwise direction. Many people say that when the arms turn to the right, representing clockwise movement, it symbolizes the Sun and the day. When the arms turn to the left, representing an apparent counterclockwise movement, it symbolizes the night.
Others say that the Swastika does not primarily represent the movement of day and night, the movement of the Earth around the Sun, or the movement of the year. Instead, they understand it as representing the movement of the Great Bear, or Big Dipper, around the North Pole.
In either case, the Swastika represents movement: the movement of samsara, the movement of the universe, and the movement of the manifested world around a central point of stability and stillness, the central reality.
There have been many attempts to restore the Swastika to its original meaning. I personally knew someone who was deeply involved in this process. His name was changed at one point to Man Woman, and he lived in Cranbrook, British Columbia. If you search for “Man Woman Artist,” you can find his work.
He experienced a revelation through a Kundalini awakening when he was young, and he believed that his purpose in life was to help restore the Swastika to its proper place and reclaim it from the misuse of the Nazis.
The Swastika is an example of what happens when people with harmful intentions take symbols or other forms of human culture and apply them toward destructive purposes. So whenever you see a Swastika, remember not the Nazis, but its original meaning:
“May all things be well.”