Note 177 — Chapter I
Reading edition
A number of other ideas are prevalent about the significance of the Swastika. Some persons believe that it indicates the four directions;177 some think that it represents the four mārgas—courses or objects of human desires—viz., (1) Dharma, religion; (2) Artha, wealth; (3) Kām, love; (4) Moksha, salvation.178 Some again take it to be an image of the ladder leading to the heavens.179 Others suppose it to be a representation of the terrestrial globe, and the four piles of corn placed in the figure, as shown below (p. 16) represent the four mountains, Udayāchala, Astāchal, Meru and Mandārāchala.180 The Swastika is also believed to be the foundation-stone of the universe.181