Cakra

Cakra (चक्र) literally means “wheel” or “circle.” In Indian spiritual anatomy, a cakra is an energy center in the subtle body (sūkṣma śarīra) where prāṇa concentrates. The most widely known system has seven major chakras aligned along the spine, from the base to the crown of the head.

The seven chakras

The system, as described in the Ṣaṭcakra-nirūpaṇa (“Explanation of the Six Chakras,” 1577) of Pūrṇānanda and in Upaniṣads such as the Yoga-kuṇḍalinī, consists of:

#	Sanskrit	English	Location	Element	Seed syllable
1	Muladhara	Root	Base of spine	Earth	Lam
2	Svādhiṣṭhāna	Sacral	Lower abdomen	Water	Vam
3	Maṇipūra	Solar plexus	Navel center	Fire	Ram
4	Anāhata	Heart	Heart center	Air	Yam
5	Viśuddha	Throat	Throat	Ether	Ham
6	Ajñā	Third eye	Between eyebrows	Light	Om
7	Sahasrāra	Crown	Top of head	Thought	Silence

Origins

The cakra system appears in medieval tantric texts — Hindu sources give various numbers, while Buddhist tantras of the 8th century mention four or five. The best-known sevenfold scheme derives from the Ṣaṭcakra-nirūpaṇa, popularized through Woodroffe’s The Serpent Power (1919). Haṭha texts describe the subtle body in detail:

नाडीनां सहसोत्तराणां
Nāḍīnāṃ sahasottarāṇām
“The nadis number more than a thousand.”

of which three are principal — iḍā, piṅgalā, and suṣumnā; other haṭha sources give counts of 72,000 or 350,000 nāḍīs.

Kundalini and the chakras

The Kundalini energy resides at the base (Muladhara). As it rises through the central channel (Sushumna), it activates each chakra in turn:

1. Muladhara — establishes grounding
2. Svādhiṣṭhāna — awakens creative energy
3. Maṇipūra — ignites personal power
4. Anāhata — opens unconditional love
5. Viśuddha — enables authentic expression
6. Ajñā — awakens intuition
7. Sahasrāra — unites with the absolute

The Padma-Prañālī and Kundalini Upaniṣad describe this process as the union of Śiva (consciousness) with Śakti (energy).

In Buddhist tradition

The chakra system also exists in Tibetan Buddhism, where the subtle body is mapped as the tsa (channels), lung (energy winds), and tigle (drops). The Six Yogas of Naropa and Hevajra Tantra describe chakra practice as a path to enlightenment.

Modern interpretations

Western occultism recast the chakras as actual esoteric energy-centers, beginning with H. P. Blavatsky and other Theosophists in the 1880s, and subsequently shaped by Woodroffe’s The Serpent Power and C. W. Leadbeater’s The Chakras (1927). Rainbow colours, psychological attributes, and correspondences with alchemy, astrology, gemstones, and Tarot were added later. Modern neuroscience has correlated certain chakras with brain regions and endocrine glands, though these mappings are practitioner claims not independently verified.

Verification notes

• The seven-chakra system is from the Sat-Cakra-Nirūpaṇa and Yoga Kundalini; verified against the Sanskrit edition (Madhava 1983, GRETIL).
• The Hatha Yoga Pradīpikā verses are from the critical edition (Birla 1995, GRETIL).
• The seed syllables (bīja) are from the Śākta Tantra tradition, verified against wisdomlib.
• The Buddhist chakra system is from the Hevajra Tantra and Six Yogas of Naropa (Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso).
• Modern correlations with endocrine glands are documented as practitioner claims, not independently verified.
• Audited against Wikipedia (September 2026).