YS 219 | The Ṣaṭcakranirūpaṇa: Description of the Six Cakras

Course Description

The Ṣaṭcakranirūpaṇa—"Description of the Six Cakras"—is one of the most consequential Sanskrit texts in the history of yoga, and the single most important source for the chakra system as it has come to be understood in the modern world. Written in sixteenth-century East Bengal by the tantric scholar Pūrṇānanda Giri, this compact work of 56 verses offers a meticulous account of the six energy centers (cakras) of the subtle body, the central channel, and the dormant spiritual energy known as kuṇḍalinī—together forming the doctrinal core of what the tradition calls laya yoga, the yoga of dissolution into the absolute.

Originally composed as a single chapter of Pūrṇānanda's larger tantric treatise Śrītattvacintāmaṇi, the work proved so compelling that it quickly began circulating on its own throughout India, generating dozens of manuscript copies and numerous traditional commentaries. Its global reach, however, owes most to its publication in the early twentieth century and, above all, to Arthur Avalon's (Sir John Woodroffe's) landmark English translation in The Serpent Power (1918). That volume introduced the Ṣaṭcakranirūpaṇa to Western readers and became the primary channel through which yoga's subtle-body doctrines—cakras, kuṇḍalinī, the network of energy channels known as nāḍīs—entered theosophical, New Age, and contemporary popular discourse. Most modern ideas about chakras, in other words, trace back to this one sixteenth-century text.

This course offers students the rare opportunity to engage with that text directly—in the original Sanskrit, guided by a scholar whose research is at the forefront of haṭhayoga and tantric studies. We begin with an introductory session covering Pūrṇānanda's life and intellectual context, the doctrinal sources behind his conception of the cakras and kuṇḍalinī, and an orientation to the relevant scholarly literature. Over nine subsequent lessons, we read through the Ṣaṭcakranirūpaṇa verse by verse, working toward a complete translation. Where the text is clear, we move efficiently; where it is challenging, we draw on three traditional commentaries and consult Avalon's foundational English translation. Students will come away with a historically grounded, direct encounter with this pivotal text—one that cuts through centuries of interpretation to engage with the doctrine on its own terms.

Note: Knowledge of Sanskrit is helpful but not required for participation in the course. Dr. Ondračka will be providing an English translation of the text for a non-specialist audience.