An energy pattern and power diagram, a yantra is broadly a diagrammatic transform of the deity, Shakti and Shiva in particular; this representation of the yantra, however, has a correspondingly large body of text, rendered perhaps in pursuance to the practices of early medieval days that advocated inclusion of such mantras and deity-invocations in the body of the yantra itself so that one who could not read and recite such mantras correctly could endorse them as inscribed on the yantra and be blessed with their mystic power. To a modern populace, not well-versed in ancient Sanskrit and hardly able to correctly recite a mantra, a yantra drawn pursuing such medieval pattern is the most useful tool of achieving ‘the desired’ for it may bless the practiser with its mystic power by its mere presence in the house.
As is its standard format, this Shri Yantra consists of a square ground plan technically known as ‘bhoopura’. This ground plan, or outer periphery, drawn in pearl-like brilliant white against a highly glazed deep maroon background, is a square with four gates on four sides. A lotus-seated four-armed line-drawn icon of goddess Lakshmi flanked by ‘swastikas’ enshrines the gate on the west. The entrance on the east has an inscription acclaiming that the instrument – the yantra, is the Maha-mantra of Mahalakshmi who the inscription hails as the supreme beauty in three worlds. The entrances on north and south have been defined by the fragments of the mantra-text. This outer periphery and two circles, green and golden yellow, within it, which constitute the Shri Yantra’s 'mekhala' or girdle, are symbolic of three worlds which Maya – Cosmic Illusion, infests. As in most of the tantrika texts, in this yantra too Maya has been alluded to as 'Trailokyamohana', that is, the Enchantress of the Triple world.
These two circles, inside the square bhoopura, are two concentric rings, the outer one consisting of sixteen lotus petals, and the inner one, of eight. The outer circle is known as 'Sarva-shaparipuraka chakra', and the inner one, 'Sarva-shankshobhana chakra'. In this yantra format the inner ring has been identified as ‘Samprana chakra’. These two chakras are the principal instrument of accomplishing the 'desired'. The true diagrammatic expanse of Shri Shri Yantra is drawn in the circular space inside these rings in the form of fourteen triangles which create the fourth ring having hexagonal form. This hexagonal 'chakra', which bestows all bliss, is known as 'Sarva-saubhagyadayaka chakra'. This chakra effects spiritual elevation.
A long series of interlocking triangles cover the space inside this hexagonal chakra. Beyond this hexagonal ring there are the fifth and the sixth chakras consisting of ten triangles each. The fifth is known as Sarvartha-sadhaka chakra, that is, all-accomplishing, and the sixth, as Sarvartha-rakshakara chakra, that is, all-protecting. In this yantra the sixth chakra has been alluded to as Sarva-rakshakara chakra, though the meaning of the two terms is almost identical. These two chakras define the stage, when the inner realisation begins to unfold.
The sixth chakra is followed by the seventh, a chakra consisting of eight triangles. It has been identified as the Sarva-roga-hara chakra. It redeems not only of the maladies of physique but also of all desires and infatuations, the maladies of the mind. This denotes the stage of freedom from all earthly bonds. Now the sadhaka – practiser, arrives at the threshold of ultimate realisation. Beyond the Sarva-roga-hara chakra is the eighth, the Sarva-siddhiprada chakra, the stage where nothing remains to be accomplished and the realisation is only to be consummated. The ninth and the last of the chakras is the bindu – the dot, which is the sanctum sanctorum known in the tradition as the Sarva-anandamaya chakra. This is the stage of the ultimate union of the practicing self with the Supreme Self, the sadhaka being one with the cosmos and himself becoming the cosmos : the stage of absolute joy.
This description by Prof. P.C. Jain and Dr. Daljeet. Prof. Jain specializes on the aesthetics of literature and is the author of numerous books on Indian art and culture. Dr. Daljeet is the curator of the Miniature Painting Gallery, National Museum, New Delhi. They have both collaborated together on a number of books.
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