Shri Yantra (Shri Chakra): meaning of the nine triangles, the 43 triangles and the nine avaranas

The Shri Yantra

Read it from the outside in: the square bhupura, three circles, a sixteen-petal lotus, an eight-petal lotus, and then the nine great triangles, whose crossings make 43 small ones around the bindu.

What the Shri Yantra is

In the Shri Vidya tradition the Shri Yantra is the Goddess herself in the form of geometry, as a murti is her form in stone. She is Lalita Tripurasundari, “the playful one, most beautiful in the three worlds”, praised in the Lalita Sahasranama and in Adi Shankaracharya’s Saundarya Lahari. Many households also honour the Shri Yantra together with Lakshmi, since Shri is one of her names.

Its nine large triangles are the heart of the figure. Four point upwards and are called Shiva or Shrikantha triangles; five point downwards and are called Shakti or Shivayuvati triangles. Woven together, they stand for the inseparable union of awareness and its power, from which the whole world unfolds outwards and into which, read inwards, it returns.

The way the triangles cross is what makes the yantra famous among mathematicians too: in a correct drawing, many points must have three lines passing exactly through them, and getting all of them right at once is a genuinely hard geometric problem that scholars have studied for decades.

The parts and their meaning

• Bindu: the point at the centre, the Goddess in her undivided form, pure bliss.
• The central triangle (trikona), pointing down: the first form, the power of the Goddess as will, knowledge and action.
• The 43 small triangles, in rings of 8, 10, 10 and 14 around the centre: each ring and each triangle is the seat of an attendant goddess of Lalita’s court.
• The eight- and sixteen-petal lotuses: the unfolding of the Goddess’s power in the senses, the mind and the world.
• The three circles (trivritta): the threefold nature of the world, often read as the three gunas.
• The bhupura: the square of three lines with four gates, the threshold between the outer world and the sacred city of the Goddess.

The nine avaranas

The Shri Yantra is worshipped as nine enclosures (avaranas), from the outside in. Each has its own name, describing what it gives the seeker on the way to the centre.

• 1. Trailokya Mohana: the bhupura, the outer square with its four gates, “enchanter of the three worlds”.
• 2. Sarvasha Paripuraka: the sixteen-petal lotus, “fulfiller of all hopes”.
• 3. Sarva Sankshobhana: the eight-petal lotus, “the one that stirs everything”.
• 4. Sarva Saubhagyadayaka: the outer ring of fourteen triangles, “giver of all good fortune”.
• 5. Sarvartha Sadhaka: the outer ring of ten triangles, “accomplisher of every aim”.
• 6. Sarva Rakshakara: the inner ring of ten triangles, “protector of all”.
• 7. Sarva Rogahara: the ring of eight triangles, “remover of all ills”.
• 8. Sarva Siddhiprada: the central triangle, “bestower of all attainments”.
• 9. Sarvanandamaya: the bindu, “made wholly of bliss”.

The full worship of all nine enclosures, the Navavarana puja, is a long rite that is traditionally learnt from a teacher. Looking at the yantra slowly from the outside in, layer by layer, is itself a simple way of honouring it.

How it is traditionally kept

A Shri Yantra is usually kept flat, or upright on a small stand, with the tip of the large upward triangle pointing away from the person who faces it. Families commonly offer a lamp, a flower and a little kumkum at the bindu, and recite the Lalita Sahasranama or the salutation above, especially on Fridays and full-Moon days. All of this is custom, not a requirement.

Many families keep a yantra in the puja space, facing east; keep it however feels right to you.

Questions

How many triangles are in the Shri Yantra?

Nine large interlocking triangles, four pointing up and five pointing down. Where they cross they form 43 small triangles: one at the centre, then rings of 8, 10, 10 and 14.

Is the Shri Yantra a Lakshmi yantra?

In the Shri Vidya tradition it is the yantra of Lalita Tripurasundari. Because Shri is also Lakshmi’s name, many families honour it at Diwali and in Lakshmi worship, and both readings are common.

What is the three-dimensional Shri Yantra?

The same design raised into a mound, called Meru when it rises to a peak and Kurma when it is shaped like a tortoise’s back. The flat form is called bhu-prastara.

Why do some Shri Yantras look slightly different?

Because drawing all nine triangles so that every triple crossing meets exactly is difficult, many printed and engraved yantras are approximate, and traditions differ slightly in proportions. The number and order of the layers stay the same.