On temple walls its generally in this anahata chakra form, ie the AV union enclosed in a lotus.

Regards,
Vedic Fire Priest,
(of Bhargav Clan)

True. But that does not apply to the “swastika”, because, unlike “economics”, the word is neither commonplace in colloquial communication and nor is used for any other purpose except the one I mentioned .. not in India at least.

The word is a borrowing from Sanskrit in modern Indian languages and is nowhere near used like “economics” is in English. There are no other grammatical forms/inflections of “swastika” like “economise” or “economic” etc. This lack of flexibility implies that idiomatic usage of the word in any modern Indian language is non-existent.

Hence, it is merely used as a label for symbolising good will/good luck.

Swastika, is a Sanskrit construction or ‘samas’, which follows the following declension (according to pretty strict Paninian rules of Sanskrit grammar):

Swasti karoti iti Swastika .. lit. Swastika is that which makes Swasti …… (1)

Swasti is a phonetic compound or ‘sandhi’ of prefix Su- and verb Asti.

Su- is the Indo-European cognate of Greek Eu- and implies the state of being good, prosperity etc.

Asti is simply the third person sing. form of verb ‘as’ meaning to be or to exist. It is cognate with Germanic ist, Latin est, Farsi ast, Greek esti etc

So, Swasti literally means ‘goodness exists’ ……. (2)

Substituting (2) in (1), we have the complete literal meaning as:

Swastika is that which makes goodness exist.

@ Rajesh – “Isn’t it ironic that the symbol Hitler chose originally came from a people he considered inferior?”

Hitler picked the Swastika because it united Aryans, not whites (a white could be Aryan but not necessarily vice versa, as Hitler specified in the unabridged German Mein Kampf). Contrary to Anglo-American propaganda, Hitler didn’t consider Indian people as inferior. He was an Aryan supremacist (which included Hind Aryans and excluded Caucasian whites).
 
In case you are not aware, Hitler actually offered Subhash Chandra Bose to help India fight off the British. A bit of history which I believe, the present US-leaning Congress government isn’t very comfortable with.
 

@ Rajesh – “Symbols resembling swastikas were used for centuries even in Europe for good luck.”

It still is. In traditional Greek and Slavic cultures, Swastika is considered a symbol of fertility or “fireiness”.

The six-pointed star is a Shatkona and is a male-female unity symbol, sorta like the yin-yang symbol.

I don’t think I’d ever be comfortable wearing a swastika as a white person in the US – and I don’t think it’d really be a good idea for anyone who couldn’t be immediately identified as possibly Hindu (i.e. South Asians who look South Asian to an American eye). That’s because I feel there’s too many possibilities of people being offended but not being willing to engage the swastika-wearer – which means that there’s no opportunity to correct misconceptions, since there’d be no dialogue. I’m fine with showing swastikas around our house, tho, since presumably our household guests would be comfortable enough to discuss the issue if they didn’t know of the Hindu meaning of the symbol.

Sometimes you see images of a swastika next to what to Westerners would be seen as a magen david or star or david together on a Hindu temple. Do you know what the 6 pointed star means symbolically in Hinduism?

Those dumb Aryan wannabes, the Nazis, totally misappropriated such an important symbol. You would still be wary of sporting one in the US though because you wouldn’t want to offend anyone, I mean, that symbol is very powerfully negative for many people…but it could be a good starting point for clearing up misconceptions of the true meaning of the swastika, like you have done here, I suppose.

A relative of mine moved to the Bay Area for a short time, and on Diwali hangs some decorations from her door, which include swastikas, of course. She soon got a visit from her apartment manager asking her to take it down.

And Ana, thanks for stopping by! My inlaws don’t have many swastikas around the house – Baba prefers Ganeshas, I think. Did any of the (Indian) guests even notice the swastika at the wedding + German last name thing?

This subject also reminds me of the time my daughter say a friends rakhi with the swastika on it. Innocently and sweetly she asked “oh, did you used to be a nazi?”

My sources (an Indian friend who’s still awake) tell me that “bloody” is a no-no word for kids in India, but doesn’t have that much bite among adults unless combined with a more, uh, expressive word. Also, there’s a faint “trying to sound British” and/or “mocking the British” connotation when it’s used.