Editing Bhavacakra (section)

==Etymology==
''Bhavachakra'', "wheel of life,"{{efn|The term ''bhavachakra'' has been translated into English as:
* Wheel of becoming{{sfn|Gethin|1998|pp=158-159}}
* Wheel of cyclic existence
* Wheel of existence
* Wheel of life
* Wheel of rebirth
* Wheel of {{IAST|saṃsāra}}
* Wheel of suffering
* Wheel of transformation}} consists of the words ''bhava'' and ''chakra''.

''[[bhava]]'' ({{lang|sa|भव}}) means "being, worldly existence, becoming, birth, being, production, origin".<ref group=web>Monier Monier-Williams (1899), Sanskrit English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Archive: [http://andhrabharati.com/dictionary/sanskrit/index.php भव], bhava</ref>

In [[Buddhism]], ''bhava'' denotes the continuity of becoming (reincarnating) in one of the realms of existence, in the [[Samsara (Buddhism)|samsaric]] context of rebirth, life and the maturation arising therefrom.<ref name="DavidsStede1921p499">{{cite book|author1=Thomas William Rhys Davids |author2=William Stede |title=Pali-English Dictionary |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0Guw2CnxiucC |year=1921 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-1144-7 |page=499 }}</ref> It is the tenth of the [[Twelve Nidanas]], in its ''[[Pratītyasamutpāda]]'' doctrine.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Julius Evola |author2=H. E. Musson |title=The Doctrine of Awakening: The Attainment of Self-Mastery According to the Earliest Buddhist Texts |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Kza7tTkiytUC |year=1996|publisher=Inner Traditions |isbn=978-0-89281-553-1 |pages=67–68}}</ref>

The word ''Chakra'' ({{lang|sa|चक्र}}) derives from the [[Sanskrit]] word meaning "wheel," as well as "circle" and "cycle".<ref>{{cite book|last1=Mallory|first1=J.P|last2=Adams|first2=D.Q.|title=Encyclopedia of Indo-European culture|date=1997|publisher=Fitzroy Dearborn|location=London|isbn=978-1-884964-98-5|page=640|edition=1. publ.}}<!--|access-date=18 December 2014--></ref>

# The term chakra is also used to denote [[yantra]]s (mystic diagrams), variously known as ''{{IAST|trikoṇa-cakra}}'', ''{{IAST|aṣṭakoṇa-cakra}}'', etc.
# [[Chakra]]s are also part of the [[subtle body]] as taught by Tibetan Buddhism.

Legend has it that the [[Gautama Buddha|historical Buddha]] himself created the first depiction of the bhavachakra, and the story of how he gave the illustration to [[Rudrāyaṇa-avadāna|King Rudrāyaṇa]] appears in the anthology of Buddhist narratives called the ''[[Divyavadana|Divyāvadāna]]''. ''Sahasodgata-avadāna'', in the opening paragraphs of the work, describes the Buddha's instructions for creating the [[bhavachakra]].<ref>Bhikkhu Khantipalo (1995-2011). [http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/khantipalo/wheel147.html ''The Wheel of Birth and Death'' Access to Insight]</ref>