Sauwastika - Claims of A Distinction in Indian Religions

Claims of A Distinction in Indian Religions

Eugene Burnouf, the first Western expert on Buddhism, stated in his book Lotus de la bonne loi (1852) that the Sauvastika was a Buddhist variant of the Svastika.

When Heinrich Schliemann discovered swastika motifs in Troy, he wrote to the Indologist Max Müller, who, quoting Burnouf, confirmed this distinction, adding that "the Svastika was originally a symbol of the sun, perhaps of the vernal sun as opposed to the autumnal sun, the Sauvastika, and, therefore, a natural symbol of light, life, health, peace and wealth." The letter was published in Schliemann's book Ilios (1880):

“In the footprints of Buddha the Buddhists recognize no less than sixty-five auspicious signs, the first of them being the Svastika ” (Eugene Burnouf, Lotus de la bonne loi, p. 625); “the fourth is the Sauvastika, or that with the arms turned to the left.”

The term sauvastika thus cannot be confirmed as authentic and is probably due to Burnouf (1852). Notions that sauwastikas are considered "evil" or inauspicious versions of the auspicious swastika in Indian religions have even less substance, since even Burnouf counts the svastika and the sauvastika equally among the "sixty-five auspicious signs".

D'Alviella (1894) voices doubts about the distinction:

“Would it not be simpler to admit that the direction of the branches is of secondary importance in the symbolism of the gammadion? When it is desired to symbolize the progress of the sun, namely, its faculty of translation through space, rather than the direction in which it turns, little attention will have been paid to the direction given to the rays.” (p. 68)

Although the more common form is the right-facing swastika, the symbol is used in both orientations for the sake of balance in Hinduism. Buddhists almost always use the left-facing swastika.