The symbol on top represents the vow of nonviolence (ahiṃsā) in the Jain tradition. The wheel inside represents Dharmachakra (the ‘wheel of Dharma’ common to both Jainism and Buddhism). The picture below it is self-explanatory: I was struck by the resemblance.
This Jain symbol, the Jaina pratīka, was agreed upon by all Jain sects in 1974 and thus officially adopted on the 2,500th anniversary of Vardhamāna Mahāvīra’s nirvāṇa. As Wikipedia rightly informs us, Parasparopagraho Jīvānām (परस्परोपग्रहो जीवानाम्), is a Sanskrit sūtra or aphorism of the Jain text Tattvārthasūtra [5.21]. It is closely translated as: souls render service to one another, and taken to imply or mean that all life is bound together by mutual support and interdependence.
Further Reading:
- Jaini, Padmanabh. The Jaina Path of Purification (University of California Press, 1979).
- Long, Jeffrey D. Jainism: An Introduction (I.B. Tauris, 2009).
- Pal, Pratapaditya. The Peaceful Liberators: Jain Art from India (Thames & Hudson, 1994, published in conjunction with an exhibition organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, November 6, 1994—January 22, 1995 [and visited by yours truly]).
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