Aṣṭa Mātṛkās in the Śrīcakra and Their Practical Worship

The Śrīcakra is the king of yantras, cakra-rāja. It is the genetic code of the cosmos. Wherever it is, it brings order, peace, happiness, health, wealth, and everything. It is considered as an object of Feng Shui, pyramid, and holiness in various religions. Just keeping it in the home itself is a great blessing, because it connects itself to the other major yantras in the world. It is intelligent. Once it is taken from a proper Guru, who is well intentioned, it can give unbounded happiness and every good thing in life. For those who can do a proper Śrīcakra arcana, unlimited is the benefit that accrues from it. But it is a complicated procedure and not very easy. So, for laypersons, who are tight for time, but still wish to do some sort of pūjā, the following is suggested. In the square or the outermost enclosure of Śrīcakra, there are four cardinal and four intermediate directions and one up and one down—totaling ten. There are so many Mudrā Śaktis, Mātṛkās, and Siddhis in these enclosures. We now focus on Aṣṭa Mātṛkās, who are in the directions and the intermediate directions. They are Brāhmī, Māheśvarī, Kaumārī, Vaiṣṇavī, Vārāhī, Māhendrī, Cāmuṇḍā, and Mahālakṣmī. Their names and associations tell us how and why they are useful as intermediaries to give us the grace of Parāśakti. Brāhmī — is Brahmā’s Ātmā Śakti — Sarasvatī, who symbolizes creativity in all forms, music, and knowledge. In all efforts that improve the quality of life in this direction, for education, learning, and creativity, worship of Brāhmī is recommended. Māheśvarī — is the Goddess of Śiva, who represents Mahat Tattva. She brings Mahat Tattva under control. So, for those who aspire greatness through any means, through business or enterprise in various forms, which need insistence on the right things being done at the right time by the right people and the insistence that the things should not be done in the wrong ways, and where it needs a little bit of aggression to preserve the competitive edge, for such actions, propitiating Māheśvarī is recommended. Kaumārī — is the Ātmā Śakti of Kumāra, Skanda — Gaṇeśa’s brother, whose wives are Vallī and Devasenā. He is Ṣaṇmukha, the Kuṇḍalinī Śakti itself. He resides at all the six cakras balancing them, and he is the leader of the armed forces of the Devas. He is also related to Nāga Doṣa, because Kuṇḍalinī is serpent power. By propitiating Kaumārī by worshipping the Yoni, the seat of Kuṇḍalinī as Nāgaśakti, wellness hormones are generated. Conditions suitable for conception are created thereby. So worship of Kaumārī is recommended for couples who want to get santāna or progeny. Vaiṣṇavī — She is the Śakti of Viṣṇu, whose nature is Māyā. Māyā means hrīṃ-kāra. It is involvement in the world. So Viṣṇu’s Ātmā Śakti, Vaiṣṇavī, who is one form of Lakṣmī, creates these illusions of saṃsāra, is best for improvement of one’s relationships in life. There is a relationship between husband and wife, between friends, and all kinds of relationships. For improvement in the quality of relationship and establishment of harmony, propitiating Vaiṣṇavī would be very useful. Vārāhī — is the commandant of armed forces of Lalitā Devī. Residing at Ājñā cakra, she is able to give a command, ājñā, to various armed forces to quell the enemies. Although it can be used for negative purposes, the positive use of Vārāhī is to treat the various diseases and internal enemies like kāma, krodha, lobha, moha, mada, and mātsarya, and they have to be brought under our control. So, Vārāhī can be used effectively for controlling the diseases and improving the quality of life. It can be done for the sake of others also by chanting saṅkalpa with their names and doing japa or prokṣaṇa of Vārāhī mantra, and relief will be there for the person. It would be especially useful for the application in respect of bringing relief to terminally ill patients, like for those suffering from cancer and AIDS. Māhendrī — is Indra’s Ātmā Śakti. Indra is the God of rain. He sends his thunderbolt, Vajra, to seed the clouds and bring the rain, which fertilizes the earth. So, all our desires regarding the well-being of crops, controlling the floods, natural calamities, anything related to rain and water and fertilization of the earth is best handled by worshipping Indra’s Ātmā Śakti — Māhendrī. It protects the crops and gives better dairy products and is useful for the people in the agro industry. It is also useful for environmental control. The next Goddess is Cāmuṇḍā. “Cāmuṇḍā Śava-vāhana” — she lives in cemeteries, rides on corpse, bringing into life. Propitiating this war Goddess Cāmuṇḍā, who is a form of Caṇḍī, absolutely controls all evils done to you and eliminates that evil. Cāmuṇḍā is helpful for this. Mahālakṣmī — is the wealth of Śrīmannārāyaṇa. She is the cosmic awareness, which shuns the pettiness in every aspect. So, she represents the infinite wealth of the Lord and removes poverty of all kinds. Aṣṭa Aiśvaryas and Aṣṭa Lakṣmīs are all under her control, and they all obey her commands. It is appropriate to propitiate her to get a feel for the spiritual wealth of the Lord. She not only gives material benefits, but also gives the right frame of mind to take you to the oceanic, infinite antaryāmin consciousness of the Lord. So, these are the eight Mātṛkās. Brāhmī is in East. Māheśvarī to South, Kaumārī to West, Vaiṣṇavī to North, Vārāhī to South-East, Māhendrī to South-West, Cāmuṇḍā to North-West, and Mahālakṣmī to North-East. These goddesses are located on the square enclosure of the Śrīyantra. It is good to do abhiṣekaṃ to these Goddesses in the Śrīyantra. Śrīcakra is the abode of 108 Śaktis. The procedure for doing abhiṣekaṃ to them can be found in the mantras given in the document here. Basically the idea is there is an āvaraṇa mantra “am āṃ sauḥ” followed by the name of the Goddess and her nature like “kāma-saṃjīvanīyai” followed by namaḥ at the end. For example: “Om aiṃ hrīṃ śrīṃ am āṃ sauḥ Brāhmī mātre kāma-saṃjīvanīyai namaḥ” “Om aiṃ hrīṃ śrīṃ am āṃ sauḥ Māheśvarī mātre krodha-nāśinyai namaḥ” “Om aiṃ hrīṃ śrīṃ am āṃ sauḥ Kaumārī mātre lobha-nāśinyai namaḥ” “Om aiṃ hrīṃ śrīṃ am āṃ sauḥ Vaiṣṇavī mātre moha-nāśinyai namaḥ” “Om aiṃ hrīṃ śrīṃ am āṃ sauḥ Vārāhī mātre mada-nāśinyai namaḥ” “Om aiṃ hrīṃ śrīṃ am āṃ sauḥ Māhendrī mātre mātsarya-nāśinyai namaḥ” “Om aiṃ hrīṃ śrīṃ am āṃ sauḥ Cāmuṇḍā mātre pāpa-nāśinyai namaḥ” “Om aiṃ hrīṃ śrīṃ am āṃ sauḥ Mahālakṣmī mātre aiśvarya-kīrtyai namaḥ” The eight corners of the Śrīcakra in the square enclosure have to be worshipped. The simplest form of worship can be using pañcāmṛta and putting a spoon of pañcāmṛta on these spots with each of these mantras. If you want a particular result, you can make a corresponding saṅkalpa and worship that Goddess by chanting the mantra 108 times. These are the general hints for the people who don’t have time, but still want to get the maximum benefit, which will help them to light up the path of their lives. May God bless you so. Love, Amṛtānanda