The Śrī Yantra

The Śrī Yantra is the sacred diagram associated with Goddess Lakshmi (Śrī): nine interlocking triangles around a central point, held inside circles, lotus petals and a gated square.

श्रीं

What is a yantra?

A yantra is a geometric design made of shapes and patterns, used in early India as the basis on which major temples were planned. The word yantra means “machinery”. Like a machine, it has one task: to turn one form of energy into another and put it to use. Yantras are made for different purposes, such as prosperity or peace in the home.

The layers, from the outside in

1. The enclosure (the Sun layer)

The outermost square, with its four gateways. It is the first layer and creates a protected, enclosed space in the yantra. According to the source below, a yantra is drawn starting from this layer and energised last.

2. The circle (the Moon layer)

The circle stands for the continuous flow of energy. Where the square regulates energy at its corners and junctions, the circle lets it flow evenly. The Moon layer also keeps the strong energy of the Sun in balance.

3. The lotus petals (the filter)

Two rings of petals clean the energy, letting the steady, flowing part pass and holding back the disturbed part. The two rings stand in a ratio of 1:2 or 1:1. In the Śrī Yantra there are eight inner petals and sixteen outer petals, a ratio of 1:2.

4. The triangles (the converters)

Triangles take energy of one form and send it in one direction with full force. The Śrī Yantra has nine: four pointing upward and five pointing downward, interlocked so that together they form forty-three smaller triangles.

5. The central point (bindu)

All the energy finally reaches the centre, which becomes the point of reception. The bindu is the heart of the yantra.

The seed sound

A yantra is written in a language of its own, built from seed sounds (bīja mantras). The seed sound associated with Lakshmi is Śrīṁ (श्रीं), the sound shown in the yantra above. The same Śrī gives its name to the Śrī Sūktam, the hymn this site studies.

Begin with the first verse of the Śrī Sūktam.

Sources and credits

The layer descriptions are adapted from the presentation Universal Energy: Geometry of the Universe – Basics of Yantras by Deepanshu Giri. The drawing uses the nine-triangle geometry published by Bhaskar Tripathi at texample.net (CC BY-SA 4.0).