chakravala chakravartin

The term chakravala chakravartin refers to an ancient Indian concept of a universal monarch. Derived from Sanskrit words for "wheel" and "one who turns," it signifies a ruler whose dominion is unobstructed and whose chariot wheels roll everywhere.12

Buddhist and Jain traditions distinguish three types of secular chakravartin:
* Chakravala chakravartin: A king ruling over all four continents of ancient Indian cosmology, representing a true universal monarch.1
* Dvipa chakravartin: A ruler governing only one continent, thus less powerful.1
* Pradesha chakravartin: A monarch leading the people of only a part of a continent, equivalent to a local king.1

The first recorded instance of a king achieving the status of chakravala chakravartin is attributed to King Ashoka of the Mauryan dynasty in the 3rd century BCE. Philosophers of that era often equated the universal monarch with a righteous ruler who upholds moral law, with the chakravartin being the secular counterpart to a buddha in Buddhism.1