インド仏教における「法輪」の概念

What is dharmacakra? What kind of relationship is established between dharma and cakra? Although numbers of studies have been made on the concept of dharmacakra so far primarily based upon the Dharmacakrapravartana, no research has focused on its historical development.
This paper examines the meaning of dharma and cakra, respectively, as well as the interpretation of the compound dharmacakra. Furthermore, it examines the historical development of the concept of dharmacakra on the basis of various scriptures and treatises of both early Buddhism and Mahāyāna Buddhism, such as Dharmacakrapravartana, Abhidharmakośabhāṣya, Saṃdhinirmocanasūtra, and Śuddhamatī, and Prasphuṭapadā.