Why “bhavacakra” is a great word
BHAVACAKRA — [Noun] A symbolic diagram, most often a wheel, representing the Buddhist concept of samsara, the cyclic existence of birth, death, and rebirth. From Sanskrit भवचक्र (bhavacakra), from भव (bhava, "becoming, existence") and चक्र (cakra, "wheel, circle"). Unlike samsara, which names the abstract condition itself, or mandala, which denotes a broader universe of cosmological diagrams, the bhavacakra is the specific cartography of that condition—a meticulous map of suffering. It is the pig, rooster, and snake chasing each other endlessly at the hub; the six realms of existence painted in their splendid and gruesome detail; and the twelve interdependent links of causation forming its iron rim. A schematic of the prison, offered with the key already drawn in its corner.