Triratna
The symbol of the Three Jewels of Buddhism: the Buddha, the Dharma (his teaching) and the Sangha (the community).
Meaning
Buddhists take refuge in the Three Jewels, and many Buddhist ceremonies, and many people's daily practice, begin with the three refuges. Tricycle describes the Buddha as the exemplar, the Dharma as the teachings and the Sangha as the community of practitioners. Who belongs to the Sangha differs between schools. In Theravada Buddhism it is the community of monastics; in the West the word has come to include lay practitioners too.
Origin and history
In ancient India the Three Jewels were drawn as a trident or as three wheels. According to Siddhartha's Intent, the Buddhist community led by Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, the form appears on many ancient coins and stone sculptures, and on the gates of the Great Stupa at Sanchi.
Three flames, three circles
The symbol looks different from one Buddhist country to the next. In Tibetan art the Three Jewels are often painted near the bottom of a thangka, encircled by flames. On temple roofs in Japan and Korea they are three small circles inside a larger one.
Three Jewels or the sign of the bull?
Not every scholar reads the ancient form as the Three Jewels. Alfred Foucher, writing in 1917 about the symbols on ancient Indian coins, took the shape others had called a triratna to be an elaborate version of the "taurine" (nandipada) sign, a dot under a crescent, which he read as the zodiac sign Taurus, under which the Buddha was born. He saw no reason for the sign to change its meaning as it grew more complicated. Albert Grünwedel, earlier, described a trident placed above the wheel on sculptures of Ashoka's time, standing for the Buddha.
See also
Dharmachakra, Bodhi leaf, Stupa, Parasol, Pair of golden fish, Treasure vase.
Sources
- Triratna: The Beauty of the Three Jewels, Siddhartha’s Intent
- What Are the Three Jewels of Buddhism?, Tricycle: The Buddhist Review
- What Are the Three Jewels?, Lion’s Roar
- The Beginnings of Buddhist Art and Other Essays in Indian and Central-Asian Archaeology, A. Foucher, 1917, Paul Geuthner, Paris; Humphrey Milford, London (Internet Archive)
- Buddhist Art in India, Albert Grünwedel, trans. Agnes C. Gibson, rev. James Burgess, 1901, Bernard Quaritch, London (Internet Archive)
Last reviewed September 24, 2026 by Rory Hansen. How we research