सङ्गीतरत्नाकर: प्रथम भाग (शार्ङ्गदेव - स्वरगताध्याय सविस्तार व्याख्या व अनुवाद सहित)

90 Treatment of Svara
4. अनाहत-चक्रम्
हृदये ऽनाहतं चक्रं शिवस्य प्रणवाकृतेः ॥१२६॥
पूजास्थानं तदिच्छन्ति दलैर्द्वादशभिर्युतम् ।
लौल्यप्रणाशः प्रकटी वितर्को ऽप्यनुतापिता ॥१२७॥
आशा प्रकाशश्चिन्ता च समीहा समता ततः ।
क्रमेण दम्भो वैकल्यं विवेको ऽहंकृतिस्तथा ॥१२८॥
फलान्येतानि पूर्वादिदलसंस्थस्यात्मनो जगुः ।
4. Anāhata-cakra : 126c-129b
In the heart is located the psycho-physical centre called
the 'cycle of the unmanifest'¹ (anāhata-cakra), with twelve
petals which is considered to be the place of worshipping
lord Śiva in the form of Om.² (126-127b)
The consequences meeting the mind concentrated upon
eastern and other petals respectively are freedom from fick-
leness, clear thinking³, repentance, hope, light⁴, worry, desire
The anāhata-cakra is the psycho-physical centre wherein manifests
'Śabda-brahman' a concept which can best be conveyed in English by
the expression 'the absolute manifested as the inarticulate word'. This
centre is said to be the seat of the embodied consciousness, i. e., the
Jīvātman. Anāhata nāda or Unmanifest sound is associated with this centre
which is considered to be the pulse of life. It is said in the Ṣaṭcakranirū-
paṇa that one who meditates on this centre becomes a master of speech
and gains the power to create and to destroy. This lotus is the seat of
Śiva and the residence of haṁsa (the Ātman, cf. verse 26). Its twelve

1. Anāhata of the text literally means unstruck, i. e., unmanifest.
   This corresponds to cardiac plexus and controls the heart.
2. Om, properly written as aum is the sacred syllable of mystic
   value. Every vedic chant begins with Om and every mantra
   begins with Om. The three letters, two vowels combined into
   its make, 'a' and 'u' and the consonant 'm' symbolise the
   three phases of consciousness, viz. the waking state, the dream
   state and the dreamless sleep state; while, the dot given above
   it, the 'candrabindu' denotes the turīya, i. e., total Being. There
   are great many details about it but suffice it to note that the
   letters of Om are symbolic.
3. Literally, vitarka means deliberation.
   4 'S' defines it as 'the absence of the non-perception of form'.
   Section 2 : The Genesis of the ...
4. विशुद्धि-चक्रम्
   कण्ठे ऽस्ति भारतीस्थानं विशुद्धिः षोडशच्छदम् ॥१२९॥
   तत्र प्रणव उद्गीथो हुंफड् वषडथ स्वधा ।
   स्वाहा नमो ऽमृतं सप्त स्वराः षड्जादयो विषम् ॥१३०॥
   इति पूर्वादिपत्रस्थे फलान्यात्मनि षोडश ।
   for warding off evil, equanimity, vanity, mental instability,
   discernment and will.⁵ (127c-129b)
5. Viśuddhi-cakra : 129cd-131b
   The psycho-physical centre with sixteen petals, called
   the 'cycle of purity'¹ (viśuddhi cakra) is situated in the throat-
   larynx and is known as the abode of Bhāratī, the goddess of
   learning. Contemplation on the eastern and other petals
   offers the following results respectively : praṇava², udgītha³,
   petals bear the letters; ka, kha, ga, gha, ṅa, ca, cha, ja, jha, jña: ta and tha
   with a dot above.
   This centre is situated at the base of the throat. Viśuddhi-cakra is
   so called because the ego-soul having perceived the spirit-soul, i e., the
   jīvātman, the embodied consciousness having discovered the ātman, the
   boundless being within, in the 'cycle of the unmanifest', the anāhata-
   cakra, gets 'purified'. Thus it is endowed with the power to perceive
   the three phases of time, viz. the past, present and future. This centre is
   considered to be the gateway to the final emancipation from all limita-
   tions of consciousness. The sixteen petals of the lotus have sixteen
   vowels (from a to aḥ) for their symbols with a dot above them.
   Ṣaṭcakranirūpaṇa describes the results of meditating upon this centre
   as under (cf. verse 31 as translated by Sir John Woodroffe in (Serpent
   Power, p. 391):
6. Literally, ahaṅkṛti may be translated as ego.
7. Viśuddhi literally means purity. This corresponds to the
   layryngeal plexus.
8. Oṁkāra is prefixed to every vedic chant.
9. Udgītha is the second part of a Sāman chant which has five
   parts in all, viz., prastāva, udgītha, pratihāra, upadrava and
   nidhāna, in serial order. Oṁkāra is also used in the commence-
   ment of the udgītha as we are informed by 'K'.