Upanishads · Tripurātāpinī 50
॥
Devanāgarī
अथाष्टारचक्राद्यन्तविदिक्कोणाग्रतो रेखां नीत्वा साध्याद्याकर्षणबद्धरेखां नीत्वेत्येवमथोर्ध्व संपुटयोन्यङ्कितं कृत्वा कक्षाभ्य ऊर्ध्वगरेखाचतुष्टयं कृत्वा यथाक्रमेण मानयष्टिद्वयेन दशयोन्यङ्कितं चक्रं भवति
Transliteration (IAST)
athāṣṭāracakrādyantavidikkoṇāgrato rekhāṃ nītvā sādhyādyākarṣaṇabaddharekhāṃ nītvetyevamathordhva saṃpuṭayonyaṅkitaṃ kṛtvā kakṣābhya ūrdhvagarekhācatuṣṭayaṃ kṛtvā yathākrameṇa mānayaṣṭidvayena daśayonyaṅkitaṃ cakraṃ bhavati
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
अथ अष्ट-अर-चक्र-आदि-अन्त-atha aṣṭa-ara-cakra-ādi-anta-then, from the beginning to the end of the eight-spoked cakra
विदिक्-कोण-अग्रतः रेखां नीत्वाvidik-koṇa-agrataḥ rekhāṃ nītvāhaving drawn a line from the tip of the corner between the directions
ऊर्ध्व-संपुट-योनि-अङ्कितं कृत्वाūrdhva-saṃpuṭa-yoni-aṅkitaṃ kṛtvāhaving made it marked above with joined wombs
मान-यष्टि-द्वयेनmāna-yaṣṭi-dvayenaby two measuring lines
दश-योनि-अङ्कितं चक्रं भवतिdaśa-yoni-aṅkitaṃ cakraṃ bhavatithe cakra becomes marked with ten wombs
Translation
«Then, having drawn a line from the tip of the corner between the directions, across the whole eight-spoked cakra… having made it marked above with joined wombs, …by two measuring lines, in order — the cakra becomes marked with ten wombs».
Version
4624dfe97469 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The construction is brought to the decagon, and the order itself must be discussed. The śrī-cakra is built from within outward: first the central triangle, then the octagon, then two decagons, then a fourteen-sided figure, then the petals, then the enclosure. So this book directs, and so it is built to this day.
This order is the order of creation: from a point to circles, from the subtle to the coarse. The reverse course, from outside inward, is the order of return, and the book will name it two lines from now (52) — pratilomyena, «in reverse order». Here lies the whole thought of the diagram, and it deserves stating in plain words. The diagram is a map of the journey: what was built from the center outward is traversed from outside to the center. One builds as the world was created; one walks as one returns. Vaishnava books say the same: the way home is the same way one went out, walked backward — and hence they prize so highly the memory of one's origin. One who remembers where he came from also knows the way back.
The construction itself requires skill and does not succeed without a guide. Anyone who has tried to draw the śrī-cakra from the description knows that the lines do not come together on the first attempt, and sometimes not on the tenth.