अथ हैनं देवा ऊचुर्नवचक्रविवेकमनुब्रूहीति । तथेति स होवाच आधारे ब्रह्मचक्रं त्रिरावृत्तं भगमण्डलाकारम् । तत्र मूलकन्दे शक्तिः पावकाकारं ध्यायेत् । तत्रैव कामरूपपीठं सर्वकामप्रदं भवति । इत्याधारचक्रम्
atha hainaṃ devā ūcurnavacakravivekamanubrūhīti | tatheti sa hovāca ādhāre brahmacakraṃ trirāvṛttaṃ bhagamaṇḍalākāram | tatra mūlakande śaktiḥ pāvakākāraṃ dhyāyet | tatraiva kāmarūpapīṭhaṃ sarvakāmapradaṃ bhavati | ityādhāracakram
"Then the gods said to him: 'tell us the differentiation of the nine circles.' 'So be it,' he said. — 'In the support is the circle of brahman, triply coiled, shaped like the circle of the womb; there, in the root bulb, let him meditate on the power, shaped like fire. There itself is the seat of Kāmarūpa, giving every desired thing. Such is the circle of the support.'"
e73ee73ec52f · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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The third chapter begins — on the nine circles; and it is worth saying in advance how this list differs from the earlier ones. Ordinarily six circles are counted, discussed when reading the Jābāla-darśana (4.36) and the Varāha (5.50). Here there are nine, with the circles of the palate, the eyebrows, and the space above the crown added.
This detail shows that these reckonings were not uniform; and we noted when reading the Varāha (5.22) that discrepancy in such descriptions is itself instructive: if what was being described were visible, the count would be one. It is worth noting also that at every circle a pīṭha, "seat," is named, that is, a holy place on earth: Kāmarūpa, Uḍḍiyāna, Jālandhara, Pūrṇagiri. These are the four chief śākta-pīṭhas, places where, by tradition, parts of Satī's body fell; and they are real — Kāmarūpa in Assam, Jālandhara in the Punjab.
That is, the body is mapped onto the map of the country: at every circle stands its own pilgrimage. This correspondence is constant in tantric literature, and that inner interpretation does not cancel the outer was discussed when reading the Varāha (5.25). Let us repeat the Vaiṣṇava side's rule: one who says "my Gaṅgā is within me" and so does not go to the Gaṅgā interprets in his own favor; both meanings are held together, and so for it pilgrimage is not canceled but explained.