MAHARSHI ADHYATMA VISHWAVIDYALAY

The word Swastik is derived from the Sanskrit root swasti, which is itself composed of two elements:

The term Svasti appears numerous times in the Vedas as a blessing that invokes Divine grace, peace, and welfare.

Long before it was adopted by any group in recent times — and centuries before the Nazi Party existed — versions of the Swastika appeared across nearly every ancient civilisation on Earth. Apart from the Indian subcontinent, historical evidence places it in the Roman Empire, ancient China, pre-Columbian Americas, and across Europe. It has been found carved into pottery, woven into textiles, and embedded in temple mosaics.

In each of these cultures, the symbol carried associations of life, the sun, power, and good fortune — never of hatred or racial ideology. Its widespread occurrence across unconnected civilisations suggests it taps into something universal in human perception of shape and meaning.

In the early 20th century, Adolf Hitler repurposed the Swastika as the central symbol of the Nazi Party, tilting it 45 degrees and placing it on a white disk against a red background. Hitler’s own account in Mein Kampf describes his meticulous personal design process for the flag. The resulting symbol — which he called the Hakenkreuz (hooked cross) — became the most recognisable icon of Nazi propaganda, appearing on flags, election posters, armbands, military badges, and official seals.

The Hakenkreuz was intended to elicit pride among so-called Aryans and to strike terror into Jews, Roma, and all others whom Nazi Germany declared its enemies. It is the emblem of the Holocaust, of genocide, and of one of history’s greatest crimes against humanity.

It is important to note that the word used in English — ‘Swastika’ — to describe the Nazi symbol largely stems from a 90-year-old English translation of Mein Kampf in which the German Hakenkreuz (“hooked cross”) was incorrectly substituted with ‘Swastika’. This translation choice has had an enormous cultural impact, cementing a confusion that has persisted for nearly a century and that has been deeply damaging to Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain communities worldwide.

Despite clear physical differences — the Hindu Swastika stands upright, while the Nazi Hakenkreuz is tilted 45 degrees — the two symbols have become so interlinked in the public consciousness that most people cannot distinguish between them. For many, all versions of the swastika represent the same thing: the banner of genocide and racial intolerance. The table below articulates the differences between the two symbols.

This conflation has caused enormous harm. Hindus displaying the Swastik at temples or homes during festivals are frequently misidentified as displaying a Nazi symbol. The result is that society has lost nearly a century of access to the positive spiritual benefits of the original Swastika.

Repurposing the Swastika as Hitler did is one of the spiritually worst rebranding exercises ever undertaken.

The Maharshi Adhyatma Vishwavidyalay (MAV) was founded by His Holiness Dr Jayant Athavale. The University specialises in researching how the spiritual dimension and subtle spiritual vibrations affect every aspect of our lives — including art, symbols, music, and architecture. The spiritual research team has over 40 years of accumulated experience.

The University has undertaken extensive research into religious and spiritual art, using a combination of advanced scientific instruments and the sixth-sense perception of trained seekers.

Before examining the Swastik and Hakenkreuz specifically, it is essential to understand some fundamental principles that MAV researchers have established through years of experimentation.

The primary instrument used in this research is the Universal Aura Scanner (UAS), developed by Dr Mannem Murthy, a former nuclear scientist from India. The UAS measures subtle energy — both positive and negative — and the aura (the subtle energy field) surrounding any object, living or non-living.

The UAS produces four types of readings for any object:

MAV researchers have taken over 15,000 readings of various objects over a 10-year period, establishing a reliable and consistent body of data.

A key foundational finding of MAV’s research into shape and subtle energy is that the exact same shape, when inverted or rotated, can emit entirely different subtle vibrations.

As you can see below, there are two equilateral triangles – one straight and one inverted. Please note that even though they are exactly the same shape, the one placed on its base emits positive vibrations. The inverted one, however, emits negative vibrations,

In addition to orientation, the following aspects of any object can alter its subtle vibrations:

MAV researchers used the UAS to measure four versions of the Swastika:

A — Original Hindu Swastik (upright, as used in Vedic tradition)
B — Inverted Swastik (mirror image)
C — Tilted Swastik (rotated 45°, plain)
D — Nazi Hakenkreuz in the Nazi Flag (tilted, black on white circle on red)

UAS Readings: Aura Measurements of the Four Swastika Versions (in metres)

Snapshot of the Results of the Experiment

Aura Research Foundation independently analysed these four Swastika variants using the Energy Hygiene Framework. Their frequency-domain measurements similarly found the original Hindu Swastik to differ fundamentally from the tilted, inverted and Nazi variants. Readers interested in the underlying frequency analysis are referred to the companion paper by Aura Research Foundation.

In addition to instrument-based measurements, MAV uses ‘subtle pictures’ — drawings made by trained seekers with advanced sixth-sense perception — to analyse the spiritual dynamics of objects and phenomena. These seekers can visually perceive the subtle energy around objects and draw what they sense. These drawings are akin to spiritual X-rays, providing the average person with an unparalleled glimpse into the spiritual dimension.

Her Holiness Mrs Yoya Vallee, a Saint from SSRF and gifted seeker-artist, produced subtle pictures of the original Swastika, the titled Swastik and the Nazi Hakenkreuz (Nazi version of the Swastika). The contrast is striking.

This is a subtle picture of the original Swastika, and you can see the positive vibrations it attracts and emits. And this is the reason why it is known as an auspicious symbol.

As soon as you tilt it by 45 degrees, as Hitler did, the energy changes completely, and the subtle and distressing energies start to emit from it. Due to the tilt, the Swastik’s ability to attract positive energy is lost.

The subtle picture of the Nazi Hakenkreuz reveals an Important detail: the symbol not only emits negative vibrations but also creates an illusory (Mayavi) energy that draws people and further negativity towards it — a quality that helps explain its hypnotic power in Nazi propaganda and mass rallies.

During the Nazi regime, the Hakenkreuz was often worn as an armband. We wanted to study the effect of wearing such symbols on one’s arm.

To directly measure the impact of each symbol on the human body, MAV researchers conducted a controlled experiment. Two subjects wore each symbol on their arms for 20 minutes, and, with the UAS, their auras were measured before and after wearing the symbols. The subjects were then allowed to return to their baseline state before the second symbol was applied.

Subject A had some pre-existing spiritual distress and emitted negative vibrations at the outset.
Subject B had no spiritual distress and emitted positive vibrations at the outset.

The results are clear. The Nazi Hakenkreuz nearly doubles the wearer’s negative aura and entirely destroys any positive aura present. The original Hindu Swastika does the opposite: it reduces negative aura significantly and generates new positive aura, even in a person already suffering from spiritual distress.

In ancient India, sacred symbols were not created casually.

According to spiritual science:

MAV’s research suggests that preserving the authentic form of sacred symbols is important not only culturally but also spiritually.