Upanishads · Tripurātāpinī 52
॥
Devanāgarī
षोडशपत्रसंवृतं चक्रं चतुर्द्वारं भवति । ततः पार्थिवं चक्रं चतुर्द्वारं भवति । एवं सृष्टियोगेन चक्रं व्याख्यातम् । नवात्मकं चक्रं प्रातिलोम्येन वा वच्मि । प्रथमं चक्रं त्रैलोक्यमोहनं भवति
Transliteration (IAST)
ṣoḍaśapatrasaṃvṛtaṃ cakraṃ caturdvāraṃ bhavati | tataḥ pārthivaṃ cakraṃ caturdvāraṃ bhavati | evaṃ sṛṣṭiyogena cakraṃ vyākhyātam | navātmakaṃ cakraṃ prātilomyena vā vacmi | prathamaṃ cakraṃ trailokyamohanaṃ bhavati
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
षोडश-पत्र-संवृतंṣoḍaśa-patra-saṃvṛtaṃenclosed by sixteen petals
चतुर्-द्वारं भवतिcatur-dvāraṃ bhavatibecomes four-gated
एवं सृष्टि-योगेन चक्रं व्याख्यातम्evaṃ sṛṣṭi-yogena cakraṃ vyākhyātamso by the method of creation the cakra is explained
नवात्मकं चक्रं प्रातिलोम्येनnavātmakaṃ cakraṃ prātilomyenathe ninefold cakra, in reverse order
प्रथमं चक्रं त्रैलोक्य-मोहनं भवतिprathamaṃ cakraṃ trailokya-mohanaṃ bhavatithe first cakra is «charming the three worlds»
Translation
«Enclosed by sixteen petals, it becomes four-gated; then — the earthen cakra, four-gated. So the cakra is explained by the method of creation; the ninefold cakra I shall tell in reverse order: the first cakra is «charming the three worlds»».
Version
1bdb2c9591e0 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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The construction is complete, and the book announces that it will now go in reverse order, pratilomyena. First it was built from the middle outward, «by the method of creation», sṛṣṭi-yogena; now it will go from outside inward and name each circle by name. One and the same diagram, then, is described twice, from both ends.
This device is excellent and worth imitating. Anything that has a structure should be describable in both directions: how it is made, and how one enters it; one who knows only one knows half. The name of the first circle is trailokya-mohana, «charming the three worlds». Mohana means «enticement, delusion, bewilderment»; the outermost enclosure of the diagram is named by the very word used for the action of māyā. The coincidence is not accidental: the outward part of the diagram is the same outward that exists in the world — that by which one is enticed. And one entering it begins exactly there, not bypassing it but passing straight through, for there is no road around delusion.
The Gītā says the same: «this My divine māyā, made of the guṇas, is hard to overcome; those who surrender to Me overcome it» (7.14). Not «go around» it — overcome it, and overcome it not by themselves.