Upanishads · Yogakuṇḍalinī 3.11
॥
Devanāgarī
मणिपूरं नाभिदेशं हृदयस्थमनाहतम् । विशुद्धिः कण्ठमूले च आज्ञाचक्रं च मस्तकम्
Transliteration (IAST)
maṇipūraṃ nābhideśaṃ hṛdayasthamanāhatam | viśuddhiḥ kaṇṭhamūle ca ājñācakraṃ ca mastakam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
मणिपूरं नाभि-देशंmaṇipūraṃ nābhi-deśaṃmanipura — the region of the navel
हृदय-स्थम् अनाहतम्hṛdaya-stham anāhatamdwelling in the heart — anahata
विशुद्धिः कण्ठ-मूले चviśuddhiḥ kaṇṭha-mūle cavishuddhi — at the root of the throat
आज्ञा-चक्रं च मस्तकम्ājñā-cakraṃ ca mastakamand the circle of command — the head
Translation
"Manipura — the region of the navel; dwelling in the heart — anahata; vishuddhi — at the root of the throat; and the circle of command — the head".
Version
6f28b5b400c5 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The places are named by parts of the body: navel, heart, throat, head. Worth noting is that all six lie along one line — from the base to the crown; and this line is, simply put, the spine. This, incidentally, explains the very origin of the whole scheme. A man sitting straight and concentrated feels the response precisely along this line: there run both the spine and the chief plexuses, and along it too goes what is felt during breath retention.
The names of the places are homely and beautiful: manipura — "city of jewels"; anahata — "unstruck," discussed when reading the first chapter (1.69); vishuddhi — "complete purity." The Vaishnava side gives places in the body only one kind of attention, worth naming. Of the six, she holds fast to the heart — and not as a circle, but as a place of presence: "the Lord dwells in the heart of all beings" (Gita 18.61).
The difference here is not in the place, but in what is found there. By this scheme, in the heart is a circle with petals and a sound; by that one, the One who lives there. And so one teaching commands to pierce this place, and the other to make it ready for His arrival.
Separately, a word must be said about the word vishuddhi, "complete purity," at the throat. The place is named for purity, and this place is the place of speech; and this coincidence, I think, is no accident: purity in a man is first of all tested by what he says.