The wheel
of life thangka is considered an endless life cycle
of human being. It is believed to have been drawn first
by the Buddha himself As seen in the picture, a minister
demon, usually identified as Yama the god of death,
clutches the whole wheel. In the smallest circle at
the centre a pig, snake and cock symbolize the three
cardinal sins of ignorance (Pig), anger (Snake) and
lust (Cock), and are biting each others tails to show
that these evils are inseparably connected. In the narrow
circle around the innermost circle the light half at
the viewer's left shows figures ascending to higher
levels of existence, the dark half at the right shows
figures descending to lower levels. The six main segments
of the wheel depict the six world existence. In the
upper half are the relatively happier realms of the
gods, the asuras or demigods and human being. In the
lower half are the more wretched realms of the animals,
pretas or hungry ghosts, and those tortured in hell.
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