What does the swastika represent in Hinduism?

Question

What is it a symbol of?

Answer 1

The swastika is a symbol that represents good luck. It is usually associated with Ganesh (the image who symbolically represents God removing obstacles ... among other things).

The center of the swastika represents God, the source of everything. The four bands expanding from the center represent God manifesting the universe in all directions. The bend at each end represents the universe becoming physical. In Hinduism it is said that from God came purusha (spirit) and prakriti (matter) and from purusha came prana (life force). Prakriti is the physical universe. Purusha is the universe that is beyond matter (energy is an example scientifically if you don't like the image of spirit). Prana entered some of the prakriti (thus some things 'breathe' and are alive and some things don't). The entire universe came into existence. So the bend at the end represents the prakriti, the spirit/energy becoming physical (matter).

In essence the symbol is reflecting the idea that God is everywhere; all is One.

Zombie's answer above also gives other meanings of the symbol as it is used. It is a very sacred symbol. The Nazis placed it on its side, but it should be cross like shaped with each bend. Many Hindus put dots in between the four arms. I have also seen the swastika done with curved arms and and curved bends at the end and even seen it with curved arms like stems of flowers and lotuses representing the bends at the end. Generally I see the image the most in images of Ganesh (my ishta devata just happens to be Ganesh). And on Ganesh prayer flags the swastika is also placed (prayer flag is usually a right angled pennant flag that is red or saffron....Ganesh's is red with a silver swastika towards the hoist).

Answer 2

The Swastika is a well-know good-luck symbol from India. Unfortunately, it is too well known in the west, as the Nazis chose it as their main symbol. In Sanskrit, swastika means "conducive to well-being". In the Buddhist tradition, the swastika symbolizes the feet or footprints of the Buddha and is often used to mark the beginning of texts. Modern Tibetan Buddhism uses it as a clothing decoration. With the spread of Buddhism, it has passed into the iconography of China and Japan where it has been used to denote plurality, abundance, prosperity and long life.

(In India, Hindus use the swastika to mark the opening pages of account books, thresholds, doors, and offerings, the right-hand swastika is a solar symbol and the left-hand version represents Kali and magic. Among the Jains it is the emblem of their seventh Tirthankara. Other uses of the symbol: in ancient Mesopotamia it was a favourite symbol on coinage, In Scandinavia it was the symbol for the god Thor's hammer. In early Christian art it was called the gammadion cross because it was made of four gammas. It is also found in Mayan and Navajo art.)

Answer 3

The swastika is found all over Hindu temples, signs, altars, pictures and iconography where it is sacred. It is used in all Hindu weddings, festivals, ceremonies, houses and doorways, clothing and jewelry, motor transport and even decorations on food items like cakes and pastries.

It is one of the 108 symbols of Vishnu and represents the sun's rays without which there would be no life.

The Aum symbol is also sacred in Hinduism. Whereas Aum is representative of a single primordial tone of creation, the swastika is a pure geometrical mark and has no syllabic tone associated with it.

In Hinduism, the two symbols represent the two forms of the creator god Brahma: facing right it represents the evolution of the universe (Pravritti), facing left it represents the involution of the universe (Nivritti). It is also seen as pointing in all four directions (North, East, South and West) and thus signifies stability and groundedness. Its use as a sun symbol can first be seen in its representation of Surya, the Hindu Sun God. The swastika is considered extremely holy and auspicious by all Hindus, and is regularly used to decorate all sorts of items to do with Hindu culture. It is used in all Hindu yantras and religious designs. Throughout the subcontinent of India it can be seen on the sides of temples, written on religious scriptures, on gift items, and on letterhead. The Hindu God Ganesh is often shown as sitting on a lotus flower on a bed of swastikas.

Amongst the Hindus of Bengal, it is common to see the name "swastika" applied to a slightly different symbol, which has the same significance as the common swastika, and both symbols are used as auspicious signs. This symbol looks something like a stick figure of a human being.[10] "Swastika" is a common given name amongst Bengalis and a prominent literary magazine in Calcutta is called the Swastika. The stick figure, however, is not mainstream usage in India.

Answer 4

It is one of the 108 symbols of Vishnu and represents the sun's rays without which there would be no life.

The word swastika is derived from the Sanskrit svastika meaning any lucky or auspicious object, and things to denote good luck. It is composed of su-, meaning "good, well" and asti a verbal abstract to the root as "to be"; svasti thus means "well-being". The suffix -ka forms a diminutive, and svastika might thus be translated literally as "little thing associated with well-being", corresponding roughly to "lucky charm", or "thing that is auspicious".[3] The suffix -tika also literally means mark; therefore a sometimes alternate name for swastika in India is shubhtika (literally good mark).


The swastika is found all over Hindu temples, signs, altars, pictures and iconography where it is sacred. It is used in all Hindu weddings, festivals, ceremonies, houses and doorways, clothing and jewelry, motor transport and even decorations on food items like cakes and pastries.

Answer 5

It is a symbol of good luck. The Hindu swastika is a Sanskrit Cross, drawn the opposite way around from the Nazi symbol. It is a symbol representing the God Ganesha, son of Siva and Parvati.

Answer 6

The cycle of Time which is a tyrant, the other one is the Space. Man is bound by Time and Space. Time is unidirectional which can not be reversed, that is represented by the Swastika in clockwise direction. The reversed Swastika which was adopted by Adolf Hitler was a distorted version of the Hindu Swastika.

Answer 7

Swastik was the symbol of the Aryans. It is in opposite directions to what Nazis used. It is the symbol for energy.

Answer 8

Hmmm I dont know.. All of the answers seems to be hear say. I wonder waht is it really mean? and if it has any verifiable source

Answer 9

its a symbol for the circle of things. like i guess circle of life?

Answer 10

It means Nazis are preparing weapons of mass destruction in their houses.