Upanishads · Tripurātāpinī 60
॥
Devanāgarī
संक्रामन्ति वै सर्वाणि च्छन्दांसि चकाराणि । तदेव चक्रं श्रीचक्रम् । तस्य नाभ्यामग्निमण्डले सूर्याचन्द्रमसौ
Transliteration (IAST)
saṃkrāmanti vai sarvāṇi cchandāṃsi cakārāṇi | tadeva cakraṃ śrīcakram | tasya nābhyāmagnimaṇḍale sūryācandramasau
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
संक्रामन्ति वै सर्वाणि छन्दांसिsaṃkrāmanti vai sarvāṇi chandāṃsiall meters and producers
चकाराणिcakārāṇipass into it
तत् एव चक्रं श्री-चक्रम्tat eva cakraṃ śrī-cakramthat very cakra is the śrī-cakra
तस्य नाभ्याम् अग्नि-मण्डलेtasya nābhyām agni-maṇḍalein its navel, in the fiery circle
सूर्या-चन्द्रमसौsūryā-candramasausun and moon
Translation
«All meters and producers pass into it; that cakra is the śrī-cakra. In its navel, in the fiery circle — sun and moon».
Version
0963438ac30d · published Aug 7, 2026, 5:19:24 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The listing is finished, the diagram is named, and its center is described by the word nābhi, «navel». Not «the middle» and not «a point», but precisely the navel — a word among the most significant in Indian books: from Viṣṇu's navel grows the lotus on which Brahmā is born, and creation begins from this. This word is bodily, and denotes what once connected one to a mother. The center of the diagram, then, is named as a place of connection, not a place of power — and this again is exactly what was discussed when reading the forty-second line: the highest is «between». In the very navel are placed sūrya-candramasau, «sun and moon», that is, again two, again a couple.
The navel is a trace of the fact that we were not born of ourselves. It remains for a whole lifetime and reminds one of this every day, without asking whether we remember it ourselves. And that the navel is placed at the center of the sacred diagram is, in my view, the best thing this diagram contains: at the very center, not a throne, but a memory of the one who bore you.