Upanishads · Tripurātāpinī 47
॥
Devanāgarī
तान्होवाच भगवाञ्श्रीचक्रं व्याख्यास्याम इति
Transliteration (IAST)
tānhovāca bhagavāñśrīcakraṃ vyākhyāsyāma iti
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
तान् ह उवाच भगवान्tān ha uvāca bhagavānto them said the Lord
श्री-चक्रं व्याख्यास्यामः इतिśrī-cakraṃ vyākhyāsyāmaḥ iti«we shall explain the śrī-cakra», thus
Translation
«To them said the Lord: «we shall explain the śrī-cakra»».
Version
3ffa7ee93922 · published Aug 7, 2026, 5:19:24 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
A half-line, and in it a name is given for the first time: śrī-cakra. Śrī means «good fortune, beauty, wealth, glory» and is at the same time a name of Lakṣmī; cakra — «circle, wheel, diagram». The result is «the circle of Śrī».
This name is not foreign to Vaishnava ears. Śrī stands as the first word in a great many names — Śrī-nātha, Śrī-pati, Śrī-nivāsa, «the abode of Śrī» — and all of them are names of Viṣṇu, denoting His relation to Lakṣmī. «Śrī-cakra», then, is the circle of the One whose name stands first among His names.
Worth noting too the word vyākhyāsyāmaḥ, «we shall explain», in the plural. This is how one speaks who transmits not his own, as discussed when reading the Sūrya-upaniṣad (1); here it is all the more curious for the fact that it is the Lord who speaks — that is, even He sets forth not on His own authority, but as received teaching. This is no trifle. The Gītā opens the same way: «this yoga I told to Vivasvat, Vivasvat told Manu, Manu told Ikṣvāku» (4.1). A teaching without a lineage is not recognized as a teaching, and this rule He Himself observes.