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Upanishads · Saubhāgyalakṣmī 1.9
॥
Devanāgarī
तत्पीठम् । अष्टपत्रं वृत्तत्रयं द्वादशराशिखण्डं चतुरस्रं रमापीठं भवति । कर्णिकायां ससाध्यं श्रीबीजम्
Transliteration (IAST)
tatpīṭham | aṣṭapatraṃ vṛttatrayaṃ dvādaśarāśikhaṇḍaṃ caturasraṃ ramāpīṭhaṃ bhavati | karṇikāyāṃ sasādhyaṃ śrībījam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तत्-पीठम्tat-pīṭhamthat seat
अष्ट-पत्रं वृत्त-त्रयंaṣṭa-patraṃ vṛtta-trayaṃeight-petaled, with three circles
द्वादश-राशि-खण्डंdvādaśa-rāśi-khaṇḍaṃwith twelve divisions of the constellations
चतुर्-अस्रं रमा-पीठं भवतिcatur-asraṃ ramā-pīṭhaṃ bhavatifour-cornered, is the seat of Ramā
कर्णिकायां स-साध्यं श्री-बीजम्karṇikāyāṃ sa-sādhyaṃ śrī-bījamon the pericarp, the seed "śrī" with the desired object
Translation
"That seat: eight-petaled, with three circles, with twelve divisions of the constellations, four-cornered — such is the seat of Ramā. On the pericarp — the seed 'śrī' with the desired object."
Version
256a6616cdac · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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The structure of the diagram is described, and it is worth noting what it is composed of. Within — a lotus of eight petals; around it — three circles; beyond them — twelve divisions by the number of the constellations; and all of this inscribed in a square. That is, the diagram is, in essence, an image of the world: the circles are the heavens, the twelve divisions the zodiac, the square the earth with its four directions.
This construction is constant in tantric literature, and it is worth saying why it is built this way. The purpose is that what is worshiped is placed at the center of the world: she sits on the lotus, the lotus within the circles, the circles within the zodiac, the zodiac upon the earth. The detail of the square is curious: in this literature the earth is depicted as four-cornered because it has the cardinal directions, not because it was thought flat.
The Vaiṣṇava side does not draw the world, but it has a correspondence, and it is worth citing. Its image is placed at the center of the temple, the temple at the center of the courtyard, the courtyard at the center of the settlement; and circumambulation, pradakṣiṇā, discussed when reading the Varāha (5.27), is, in essence, the same movement through the circles, only done with the feet and not with a pen. That is, one draws the center, the other walks around it; and the second, to my mind, is more reliable, for a diagram can be drawn without stepping anywhere at all.