Shri Yantra

The ®r…-yantra as shown here is based on a commentary of Kaivaly€rama on Saundarya-Lahari. Useful

corrections of a3 and a5 were found elsewhere. The units given can be transformed into any scale; we have
choosen the scale 1 unit = 1,5 mm.
a1 a2 a3 a4 a5 a6 a7 a8 a9 a10 a11 a12 a13
in units 1 5 5,5 6 6,5 8 12 20 24 35 36 43 48
our scale in mm 1,5 7,5 8,25 9 9,75 12 18 30 36 52,5 54,5 64,5 72

(1) Bindu
Using a pencil, draw a cross in the middle of a sheet of
graph paper. The exact point where the two lines of the
cross meet, i.e., the middle of the cross, is called the
bindu. The bindu symbolizes the divine origin of all
creation. Mark this bindu with a felt pen.

(2) Circles
Take a compass and draw four circles with the radii a9,
a10, a12 and a13. Now draw a square around the last
circle (a13) so that this circle fits exactly into the
square. This square symbolizes the gross material
aspect of creation.

(3) Gates
Draw on top of the middle of each side of the square a
‘gate’ with the width a8 and the depth a6. The outer
border of this square with it’s gates can now be traced
with a felt pen. See detail:

Alternatively, you can enlarge the top of each gate to a

depth of a4 and a width of a11:
(4) Broadening
To broaden the boundary, use the outer border of the
yantra and draw two additional lines within this
border, tracing the outer border with the spacing a1.
The third circle (radius a12) is traced with a felt pen,
and two additional circles with the radius a1 are added.
Finally, the first two circles (radius a9 and a10) can be
traced with a felt pen as well.

(5) Sectoring
Divide the two outer rings into sectors of 22.5 degrees.

(6) 16 Petals
Using a compass, draw sixteen semicircles as depicted
to the right and below.
Using these semicircles as a guide, draw the 16 petals
(oaa-dala) of the outer lotus according to your
liking.

(7) 8 Petals
In the same manner, draw the semicircle outlines of the
eight petals of the inner lotus (a˜a-dala-padma).

Again, draw the eight lotus petals (a˜a-dala) according

to your liking, using the semicircles as guides.
(8) Reference lines
Now we will construct the r…-cakra inside the inner
circle, using nine triangles that indicate different ®aktis.
Five of them will have their apex pointing downwards,
and four pointing upward. First draw six horizontal
reference lines with the following distances. From the
top: a4, a4 and a2, and from the bottom: a3, a5 and a4.
It is very important that these measurment are exact.

(9) Triangles 1-2

Draw the first two triangles using the innermost
reference lines as the base of the triangles, as depicted
to the right.

(10) Triangles 3-4

Draw triangles 3 and 4 with the apex touching the
lowest and uppermost reference lines, respectively. The
arms of the triangles are drawn through the intersection
of the first two triangles.
(11) Triangles 5-6
Draw a horizontal line within triangle 3. It is situated
exactly between the bindu and the base of triangle 2.
Now you can draw triangles 5 and 6. The apex of
triangle 5 is touching the hoizontal reference line that
we have just created and its arms are running through
the intersections of triangles 1 and 4, and 2 and 3. The
apex of triangle 6 is touching the base of triangle 1 and
its arms are running through the intersections of
triangles 2 and 3, and 1 and 4.

(12) Triangle 7
Now draw triangle 7. Its basis is the reference line that
we created in step number (11).

(13) Triangles 8-9

The base of triangle 8 is touching the base of triangle 4
and its arms cross the intersection of triangles 6 and 7.
Draw a horizontal line within triangle 7 through the
intersections of triangles 5 and 6. This is the base of
triangle 9. The apex of triangle 9 is touching the base of
triangle 2.
(14) Cakras
These nine triangles form fourtythree small triangles,
which make up five cakras. The small triangle at the
center enclosing the bindu is called the tri-koŠa-cakra.
The eight triangles surrounding it form the a˜a-koŠa-
cakra. The ten triangles surrounding the a˜a-koŠa-
cakra form the inner (antar-) da€ra-cakra, whereas the
next ten triangles surrounding the antar-da€ra-cakra
form the outer (bahir-) da€ra-cakra. And finally, the
outermost fourteen triangles form the caturda€ra-
cakra.

(15) Complete yantra

Now you can trace all lines of the ®r…-yantra with a felt
pen, and erase the reference lines.
The process of creation (s˜i-krama)
bindu: plus caturda€ra-cakra:

plus tri-koŠa-cakra: plus a˜a-dala-padma:

plus a˜a-koŠa-cakra: plus oaa-dala-padma:

plus antar-da€ra-cakra: plus mekhal€-traya:

plus bahir-da€ra-cakra: plus bh™-gha:

ViŠu-yantra (oˆ namo bhagavate v€sudev€ya)

There are hundreds of similar yantras for different deities. You see here for example a ViŠu-yantra for the
famous mantra ‘oˆ namo bhagavate v€sudev€ya’, with the outer lotus only containing twelve petals and a
simplified r…-cakra in the middle.
To draw the simplified r…-cakra, start with two reference
lines with a spacing of a7 from the bindu.