Upanishads · Varāha 5.50
॥
Devanāgarī
गुदमेढ्रान्तरालस्थं मूलाधारं त्रिकोणकम् । शिवस्य बिन्दुरूपस्य स्थानं तद्धि प्रकाशकम्
Transliteration (IAST)
gudameḍhrāntarālasthaṃ mūlādhāraṃ trikoṇakam | śivasya bindurūpasya sthānaṃ taddhi prakāśakam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
गुद-मेढ्र-अन्तराल-स्थंguda-meḍhra-antarāla-sthaṃstanding between the anus and the member
मूल-आधारं त्रि-कोणकम्mūla-ādhāraṃ tri-koṇakamthe root support, triangular
शिवस्य बिन्दु-रूपस्यśivasya bindu-rūpasyaof Shiva, having the form of a point
स्थानं तत् हि प्रकाशकम्sthānaṃ tat hi prakāśakamthat place is the one that reveals
Translation
"Standing between the anus and the member, the root support, triangular — that place is the one that reveals Shiva, who has the form of a point."
Version
8001dec0435b · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Muladhara, "the root support," is named, the first of the six circles; and of the six circles, discussed when reading the Jabala-darshana (4.36) and the Ganapati (6.2). Let us briefly repeat their list, for it begins here: the root support, one's own base (svadhishthana), the jeweled city (manipura), the unstruck (anahata), the pure (vishuddha), the command (ajna). Worth noting that here the lowest circle is named the place of Shiva; and this is again a Shaiva note, discussed when reading the fourth chapter (4.32).
Let us add what deserves saying of the design of this teaching itself, now that we have reached it. The six circles are arranged along the spine bottom to top, and each is ascribed its own color, its own sound, its own petal, its own deity. The construction is orderly; and its orderliness is, in my view, both its merit and its suspicion.
Merit — because the teaching is thought through. Suspicion — because such orderliness does not occur in nature: where the visible is described, there are always remainders and irregularities, and where everything fits together, there something has usually been constructed. The Vaishnava side does not reject the teaching of the circles, but does not make use of it; and it is worth saying why.
Its concentration is turned not upon its own body, but upon the Lord's form; and hence a map of one's own innards is as needless to it as a map of the house is to one who has stepped out into the street.