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Sudarshana Chakra (Sanskrit: सुदर्शण चक्रम्) is a spinning disc like weapon with very sharp edge, which is one of the weapons in the Hindu God Vishnu's hands. Lord Vishnu, also called Narayana, is believed to have four hands. He holds a Shankha (a conch shell) on one hand, the Sudarshana in the second, a Gada (mace) in the third, and a Padma (lotus) in the fourth.

Lord Vishnu is depicted holding the chakra from a central hole, with his forefinger. Seemingly, the disc simply spins around his finger. According to the Puranas, he could simply release/launch it and it would have the capacity to chop-off someone's head and return back to his finger. It is revered as a divine weapon, which only Lord Vishnu can possess and operate.

The Sudarshana Chakra is mentioned several times in Hindu Mythology, where Lord Vishnu decapitated various rakshasas, asuras and other wicked personalities — one of them being in Mahabharata, where Sri Krishna decapitates Shishupala for his misbehaviour.

The Sudarshana Chakra has lots of abstract imagery as well. It is believed that Lord Vishnu is like the Sun, and the planets of the solar system revolve around him, in a disc-like form ..... creating the impression of the Sudarshan Chakra. Lord Vishnu is very commonly worshipped by people having faith in Astrology.

It is also considered to be a symbol of enlightenment, and hence, in various drawings it is depicted with a brilliant glow.

Lord Vishnu is believed to be the "Protector/Provider" of the universe. He is depicted lying across the entire expanse of the Universe (Vishwadharam) form. The Sudarshan Chakra in his hand depicts the control over the various stars and galaxies, as if they all orbit around him.

Contents 1 Origin of Sudarshana Chakra 2 Associations with other people 3 Other Names 4 Further reading

According to Hindu mythology the Sudarshana chakra was made by the architect of gods, Viswakarma

Viswakarma's daughter was married to the Sun. Due to the Sun's blazing power she was unable to go near the Sun and she complained to her father about this. Viswakarma took the Sun and put him on his workshop and made him less shining and thus his daughter was able to hug the Sun. The left over Sun-"dust" was collected by Viswakarma and he made 3 things out of it. The 1st one was the famous aerial vehicle Pushpaka Vimana, the 2nd was the Trident of Lord Siva, and the 3rd was the Sudarshana Chakra of Lord Vishnu.

The Sudarshana Chakra also protected the great king Ambarisha who was about to be cursed by the Rishi Durvasa as Ambarisha was a great devotee of Lord Vishnu.

In the Tamil Language, HE is also known as 'chakkrath azhwar'.

• Vishnu’s Flaming Wheel: The Iconography of the Sudarsana-Cakra (New York, 1973) by W. E. Begley

Hinduism | Hindu mythology | Indian epic poetry
Female Deities: Saraswati | Mariamman | Lakshmi | Dakshayani | Gayatri | Parvati | Durga | Shakti | Kali | Sita | Devi | Radha | Mahavidya | more...
Male Deities: Brahma | Vishnu | Shiva | Rama | Krishna | Ganesha | Murugan | Hanuman | Ayyanar | Indra | Surya | more...
Texts: Vedas | Upanishads | Puranas | Ramayana | Mahabharata | Rigveda
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