Muladhara
Encyclopedia
Chakra
Chakra is a concept originating in Hindu texts, featured in tantric and yogic traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism. Its name derives from the Sanskrit word for "wheel" or "turning" .Chakra is a concept referring to wheel-like vortices...
s according to Hindu
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
tantrism. It may be represented by the color red, although its root square form is usually yellow.
Location
Muladhara is said to be located near the basal end of the spinal in the vicinity of the coccygeal plexusCoccygeal plexus
The coccygeal plexus is a plexus of nerves near the coccyx bone.-Structure:This plexus is formed by the fifth sacral nerve and the coccygeal nerve...
beneath the sacrum
Sacrum
In vertebrate anatomy the sacrum is a large, triangular bone at the base of the spine and at the upper and back part of the pelvic cavity, where it is inserted like a wedge between the two hip bones. Its upper part connects with the last lumbar vertebra, and bottom part with the coccyx...
it, while its kshetram, or superficial activation point, is located on the perineum
Perineum
In human anatomy, the perineum is a region of the body including the perineal body and surrounding structures...
.
Appearance
Muladhara is described as a yellow, square lotus, surrounded by eight shining spears on the sides and corners, and with four red petals. The deity of this region is IndraIndra
' or is the King of the demi-gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology. He is also the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall.Indra is one of the chief deities in the Rigveda...
, who is yellow in colour, four-armed, holding a vajra
Vajra
Vajra is a Sanskrit word meaning both thunderbolt and diamond...
and blue lotus
Nymphaea nouchali
Nymphaea nouchali, commonly known as the Red and blue water lily, Blue star water lily, Star lotus, or by its synonym Nymphaea stellata, is a water lily of genus Nymphaea.-Distribution and habitat:...
in his hands, and mounted upon the white elephant Airavata
Airavata
Airavata is a mythological white elephant who carries the Hindu god Indra. It is also called 'Ardha-Matanga', meaning "elephant of the clouds"; 'Naga-malla', meaning "the fighting elephant"; and 'Arkasodara', meaning "brother of the sun". 'Abharamu' is the elephant wife of Airavata. Airavata has...
, who has seven trunks, denoting the seven elements vital to physical functioning. Occasionally, instead of Indra, the deity is Ganesha
Ganesha
Ganesha , also spelled Ganesa or Ganesh, also known as Ganapati , Vinayaka , and Pillaiyar , is one of the deities best-known and most widely worshipped in the Hindu pantheon. His image is found throughout India and Nepal. Hindu sects worship him regardless of affiliations...
, with coral orange skin, wearing a lemon yellow dhoti
Dhoti
The dhoti or pancha is the traditional men's garment in the in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. A similar garment is worn in some rural areas of Punjab province in Pakistan, but the use is fast declining...
with a green silk scarf draped around his shoulders. In three of his hands he holds a ladu, a lotus flower, a hatchet, and the fourth is raised in the mudra
Mudra
A mudrā is a symbolic or ritual gesture in Hinduism and Buddhism. While some mudrās involve the entire body, most are performed with the hands and fingers...
of dispelling fear.
Seed mantra
The seed mantraMantra
A mantra is a sound, syllable, word, or group of words that is considered capable of "creating transformation"...
syllable is lam. Within the bindu
Bindu
Bindu is a Sanskrit term meaning "point" or "dot". The feminine case ending is bindi which denotes a small ornamental, devotional and/or mystical dot that is cosmetically applied or affixed to the forehead in Hinduism....
, or point that forms a part of the letter, just above it, is Brahma
Brahma
Brahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
, who is deep red, with four faces and four arms, holding a staff, a sacred vase of nectar, a rosary
Rosary
The rosary or "garland of roses" is a traditional Catholic devotion. The term denotes the prayer beads used to count the series of prayers that make up the rosary...
, making the gesture of dispelling fear (alternatively instead of the staff and rosary he is holding a lotus flower and the sacred scriptures). He is seated on a swan. His shakti
Shakti
Shakti from Sanskrit shak - "to be able," meaning sacred force or empowerment, is the primordial cosmic energy and represents the dynamic forces that are thought to move through the entire universe in Hinduism. Shakti is the concept, or personification, of divine feminine creative power, sometimes...
is a goddess called Dakini
Dakini
A dakini is a tantric deity described as a female embodiment of enlightened energy. In the Tibetan language, dakini is rendered khandroma which means 'she who traverses the sky' or 'she who moves in space'. Sometimes the term is translated poetically as 'sky dancer' or 'sky walker'. The dakini, in...
. She is seated on a red lotus, and is shining red or white, has a beautiful face with three eyes and four arms, holding a trident, a skulled staff, a swan, and a drinking vessel (instead of a swan and drinking vessel, she sometimes is holding a sword and a shield).
Seat of Kundalini
In the centre of the square, below the seed syllable, is a deep red inverted triangle. Within this resides/sleeps the kundaliniKundalini
Kundalini literally means coiled. In yoga, a "corporeal energy" - an unconscious, instinctive or libidinal force or Shakti, lies coiled at the base of the spine. It is envisioned either as a goddess or else as a sleeping serpent, hence a number of English renderings of the term such as 'serpent...
shakti, the great spiritual potential, waiting to be aroused and brought back up to the source from which it originated, Brahman
Brahman
In Hinduism, Brahman is the one supreme, universal Spirit that is the origin and support of the phenomenal universe. Brahman is sometimes referred to as the Absolute or Godhead which is the Divine Ground of all being...
. She is represented as a snake wrapped three and a half times around a smokey grey lingam
Lingam
The Lingam is a representation of the Hindu deity Shiva used for worship in temples....
.
Petals
The four petals are red, with the sanskrit syllables va, scha, sha and sa written in gold upon them, representing the four vrittiVritti
Vritti, in the context of Hinduism and yoga, is the name given to different tendencies, or psycho-physical propensities, which give scope for the mind to express a variety of feelings and emotions. Hindu texts describe vritties to be a result of past actions and experiences that have left an...
es: greatest joy, natural pleasure, delight in controlling passion, and blissfulness in concentration. Alternatively, they may represent dharma
Dharma
Dharma means Law or Natural Law and is a concept of central importance in Indian philosophy and religion. In the context of Hinduism, it refers to one's personal obligations, calling and duties, and a Hindu's dharma is affected by the person's age, caste, class, occupation, and gender...
(psycho-spiritual longing), artha
Artha
Artha is a Sanskrit term meaning "purpose, cause, motive, meaning, notion".It refers to the idea of material prosperity. In Hinduism, artha is one of the four goals of life, known as purusharthas. It is considered to be a noble goal as long as it follows the dictates of Vedic morality...
(psychic longing), kama
Kama
Kāma is often translated from Sanskrit as sexual desire, sexual pleasure, sensual gratification, sexual fulfillment, or eros54654564+more broadly mean desire, wish, passion, longing, pleasure of the senses, the aesthetic enjoyment of life, affection, or love, without sexual connotations.-Kama in...
(physical longing) and moksha
Moksha
Within Indian religions, moksha or mukti , literally "release" , is the liberation from samsara and the concomitant suffering involved in being subject to the cycle of repeated death and reincarnation or rebirth.-Origins:It is highly probable that the concept of moksha was first developed in...
(longing for spiritual liberation).
Additional
Muladhara is the base from which the three main psychic channels or nadisNadi (yoga)
' are the channels through which, in traditional Indian medicine and spiritual science, the energies of the subtle body are said to flow. They connect at special points of intensity called chakras...
emerge: the Ida, Pingala and Sushumna.
It is also believed that Muladhar is a subtle abode of the Hindu God, Ganapati. And in the highest revered prayer for Ganapati, the Ganapati Atharvashirsha
Ganapati Atharvashirsa
The ' is a Vedic religious text dedicated to the deity Ganesha . It is a late Upanishad that celebrates Ganesha as the embodiment of the ultimate Brahman...
, it is mentioned that 'one who worships Lord Ganapati would easily grasp the concept and realize Brahman'.
Function
Muladhara is considered the 'root' or 'foundation' chakra, and is the transcendental basis of physical nature. It is also the seat of kundaliniKundalini
Kundalini literally means coiled. In yoga, a "corporeal energy" - an unconscious, instinctive or libidinal force or Shakti, lies coiled at the base of the spine. It is envisioned either as a goddess or else as a sleeping serpent, hence a number of English renderings of the term such as 'serpent...
awakening, which begins its ascent here. Alternatively it is called the seat of the 'red bindu', or subtle drop, which is caused to rise up to the 'white bindu' in the head in order to unite the female and masculine energies of Shakti and Shiva.
It is associated with the element of earth, and the sense of smell, and the action of excretion.
"By meditating thus on Her who shines within the Muladhara Chakra, with the luster of ten million Suns, a man becomes Lord of speech and King among men, and an Adept in all kinds of learning. He becomes ever free from all diseases, and his inmost Spirit becomes full of great gladness. Pure of disposition by his deep and musical words, he serves the foremost of the Devas."
Association with the body
The location of Muladhara is at the base of the spine, and it is associated as well with the perineum, close to the anus. Being associated with the sense of smell, it is associated with the noseHuman nose
The visible part of the human nose is the protruding part of the face that bears the nostrils. The shape of the nose is determined by the ethmoid bone and the nasal septum, which consists mostly of cartilage and which separates the nostrils...
, and being associated with excretion, it is associated with the anus
Anus
The anus is an opening at the opposite end of an animal's digestive tract from the mouth. Its function is to control the expulsion of feces, unwanted semi-solid matter produced during digestion, which, depending on the type of animal, may be one or more of: matter which the animal cannot digest,...
.
Practices
In kundalini yogaKundalini yoga
Kundalini yoga is a physical, mental and spiritual discipline for developing strength, awareness, character, and consciousness. Practitioners call Kundalini yoga the yoga of awareness because it focuses primarily on practices that expand sensory awareness and intuition in order to raise individual...
, there are various yogic practices held to incite the energy in Muladhara including: asanas (such as Garudasana
Garuḍāsana
- Etymology :The name comes from the Sanskrit words garuda meaning "eagle", and asana meaning "posture" or "seat".In Hindu mythology Garuda is known as the king of birds. He transports the God Vishnu and is eager to help humanity fight against demons...
, Shashankasana and Siddhasana
Siddhasana
Siddhasana or Accomplished Pose is a Yoga asana.-Etymology:The name comes from the Sanskrit words siddha meaning both "perfect" and "adept", and asana meaning "posture" or "seat".-Description:...
); nosetip gazing, or Nasikagra Drishti; specific pranayamas; and most importantly the practice of mula bandha
Mula Bandha
Mūla Bandha is a Sanskrit compound term: Mūla denotes "root", "base", "beginning", "foundation", "origin or cause", "basis", "source"; Bandha denotes "bondage", "fetter", "posture", "joining together", "catching hold of"....
the contraction of the perineum, which awakens kundalini, and is also important for the retention of semen.
Comparisons with other systems
When compared to the other important Tantric system of Vajrayana in Tibet, the Muladhara chakra finds no parallel in the same place, unlike the other 6 chakras. Instead, the Tibetan system positions 2 chakras on the sexual organ, the jewel wheel in the middle, near the tip, and the tip of the sexual organ itself. These chakras are extremely important for the generation of great bliss, and play an important role in Highest tantra sexual practices. In the Tibetan system, the red drop, called the red bodhicitta, is not located here, but instead at the navel wheel.In the Sufi system of Lataif, there are 2 'lower' Lataif. One is the nafs
Nafs
Nafs is an Arabic word which occurs in the Qur'an and means self, psyche, ego or soul. In its unrefined state, "the ego is the lowest dimension of man's inward existence, his animal and satanic nature." Nafs is an important concept in the Islamic tradition, especially within Sufism and the...
, which is just below the navel. The nafs incorporates all the elements of man's 'lower self'. The other similar lataif is called the qalab, or mould, which appears in 7 lataif systems, and corresponds to the physical body, but this is sometimes located at the top of the head Qalab is usually further divided into the 4 elements.
In the Kabbalah
Kabbalah
Kabbalah/Kabala is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the esoteric aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. It was systematized in 11th-13th century Hachmei Provence and Spain, and again after the Expulsion from Spain, in 16th century Ottoman Palestine...
, the lowest Sephiroth
Sephiroth
Sephiroth may refer to:*Sephirot or Sephiroth, the 10 attributes/emanations in Kabbalah through which God created the world and/or manifests*Sephiroth , a character from Final Fantasy VII...
is known as Malkuth, and performs the same transcendental role as the basis of physical nature. It is associated with the sexual organ, in close contact with Yesod.
Alternative names
- TantraTantraTantra , anglicised tantricism or tantrism or tantram, is the name scholars give to an inter-religious spiritual movement that arose in medieval India, expressed in scriptures ....
: Adhara, Brahma Padma, Bhumi Chakra, Chaturdala, Chatuhpatra, Muladhara, Mooladhara, Mula Chakra, Mula Padma - VedasVedasThe Vedas are a large body of texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism....
(late Upanishads): Adhara, Brahma, Muladhara, Mulakanda - Puranic: Adhara, Muladhara