Prabhashvara is thecolor of theaura ofGautama Buddha which was seen radiating from his body according to Buddhist traditions and is depicted on theBuddhist flag.[1]
Prabhashvara means "brilliant" or "shining".[2] Theprabhashvara is considered be thespectrum of Buddha's aura and consists of five colors, inPāli:
According to Purana Kassapa and Makkali Gosala, these six colors could also be interpreted a six species, races, or categories of human beings distinguished by genetic, physical, moral or psychological traits, which no individual can change or influence through his own will. The black color included butchers, hunters, fishers, thieves, and all those who practise cruel deeds. The other five categories are on placed on a decreasing scale of perversity and increasing holiness. The white is for the absolutely pure, whose holiness is innate. However, Gautama Buddha opposed this racist classification as according to his teaching, men should not be judged by their birth but rather by their own deeds.[3]
The mixture of those five colors is believed to be Prabhashvara but it is depicted as separate strips of the five colors.
The flag was originally designed in 1885 by the Colombo Committee, in Colombo, Ceylon, in modern day Sri Lanka. Theprabashvara was suggested byHenry Steel Olcott to give the Buddhist flag a strong identity more than two thousand years after Buddha's "parinirvana" to represent the Buddhism as a religion.[4]
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