LinuxTurn pages
Upanishads · Saubhāgyalakṣmī 3.4
॥
Devanāgarī
मणिपूरचक्रं हृदयचक्रम् । अष्टदलमधोमुखम् । तन्मध्ये ज्योतिर्मयलिङ्गाकारं ध्यायेत् । सैव हंसकला सर्वप्रिया सर्वलोकवश्यकरी भवति
Transliteration (IAST)
maṇipūracakraṃ hṛdayacakram | aṣṭadalamadhomukham | tanmadhye jyotirmayaliṅgākāraṃ dhyāyet | saiva haṃsakalā sarvapriyā sarvalokavaśyakarī bhavati
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
मणिपूर-चक्रं हृदय-चक्रम्maṇipūra-cakraṃ hṛdaya-cakramthe maṇipūra circle — the heart circle
अष्ट-दलम् अधः-मुखम्aṣṭa-dalam adhaḥ-mukhameight-petaled, facing downward
तत्-मध्ये ज्योतिः-मय-लिङ्ग-आकारं ध्यायेत्tat-madhye jyotiḥ-maya-liṅga-ākāraṃ dhyāyetin its middle let him meditate on a radiant sign
सा एव हंस-कलाsā eva haṃsa-kalāit itself is the portion of the swan
सर्व-प्रिया सर्व-लोक-वश्य-करी भवतिsarva-priyā sarva-loka-vaśya-karī bhavatibeloved of all, subduing all worlds
Translation
"The maṇipūra circle — the heart circle, eight-petaled, facing downward; in its middle let him meditate on a radiant sign. It itself is the portion of the swan, beloved of all, subduing all worlds."
Version
c5cd3e41ad64 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
It is worth noting that the heart lotus is called adhaḥ-mukha, "facing downward." This detail is constant in these books and is explained thus: in an ordinary person the heart lotus is folded and lowered, like a flower at night; and at concentration it unfolds upward. The image, to my mind, is beautiful and understandable to anyone: the heart is described as a flower that is either open or closed.
Let us add the word haṃsa-kalā, "the portion of the swan." Of the word haṃsa it was said when reading the Varāha (5.52): it means at once the breath, the soul, and the renunciant, and the swan is credited with the ability to separate milk from water. In the heart is placed precisely a portion of the swan, not the swan itself; that is, in the heart is placed a part of what in its entirety is higher up.
The Vaiṣṇava side has its own word about the heart, and it is worth citing, for it is its chief position on dwelling-place. By its teaching, the paramātmā, "Supreme Self," dwells in the heart, and dwells together with the soul; and the image of two birds on one tree, discussed when reading the Muṇḍaka (3.1.1), is precisely a picture of this. That is, in the heart there is not one portion but two; and the whole difference between the two readings of the heart circle is whether one finds there a part of oneself or another.