3 Goddesses or Shaktis of 8th Avarana – the 3-innermost Upright Triangles of Mahameru – Sri Chakra
The Three Radiant Shaktis of the Innermost Triangle: Kameshwari, Vajreshwari and Bhagamalini in the Sri Chakra – Tri-Devi of the Eighth Avarana: The Supreme Shaktis Who Bestow All Siddhis
The Mahameru is the three-dimensional, pyramidal
manifestation of the Sri Chakra, one of the most revered and geometrically
precise yantras in the Shakta Tantra tradition. Rising in tiered enclosures
called avaranas, the Mahameru maps the entire cosmos as a living, pulsating
field of divine energy. Each avarana is not merely a geometric boundary but a
threshold of consciousness, presided over by specific Shaktis who embody
distinct qualities of the supreme Devi. To move inward through the avaranas is
to move from the outer world of creation toward the still, luminous point of
pure awareness at the center.
Among all the avaranas, the Eighth — known as the Sarva
Siddhi Prada Chakra, the enclosure that bestows all perfections — occupies a
position of supreme importance. Governed by Chakra Swamini Tripuramba and
pervaded by the presence of Ati Rahasya Yogini, this innermost band of
triangles is the final ring of deity before the Bindu itself. Here, in the
geometry of three upright triangles, reside the Tri-Devi — Kameshwari,
Vajreshvari and Bhagamalini — the last guardians and bestowers of grace before
the seeker dissolves into the absolute.
The Geometry That Holds the Goddesses
The Sri Chakra contains nine interlocking triangles at its
core — five pointing downward, representing the feminine Shakti principle, and
four pointing upward, representing the masculine Shiva principle. Their
intersections create forty-three smaller triangles in total, arranged in
concentric bands. The innermost of these formations is a single central
triangle, the most intimate geometric expression of creation. The three
vertices of this triangle are not empty points but living presences. Each
vertex is a Devi, and together they form the Tri-Devi triad that holds the
Bindu in their embrace.
In the Tantric understanding articulated in texts such as
the Vamakeshvara Tantra and the Tripura Rahasya, the innermost triangle of the
Sri Chakra represents the three fundamental powers of Iccha Shakti (the power
of will), Jnana Shakti (the power of knowledge) and Kriya Shakti (the power of
action). These three powers are not abstract categories. They are personified,
worshipped and invoked as living Devis.
Kameshwari — The Goddess of Transcendent Desire
Kameshwari is the first of the triad and embodies Iccha
Shakti in its most refined form. The name itself means She whose nature is Kama
— not desire in the narrow, ego-bound sense, but the primordial creative
longing that impelled the universe into existence. The Lalita Sahasranama, the
thousand names of the supreme Devi, opens with the salutation to Lalita as the
one who arose from the fire of Kameshvara’s love, and Kameshwari is her direct
expression in the innermost triangle.
Iconographically, Kameshwari is depicted as seated in royal
posture, radiant and composed, bearing four or six arms. Her prominent ayudhas
include the ikshu dhanus (sugarcane bow), the puspa bana (flower arrows), the
ankusha (elephant goad) and the pasha (noose). The sugarcane bow and flower
arrows indicate her dominion over the mind and the senses, which she does not
suppress but transforms. The ankusha and pasha represent her authority to draw
the devotee inward and bind the ego that strays from the path. In some Srividya
lineages she is worshipped as Maha Kameshwari, the prefix Maha denoting her
absolute, unqualified sovereignty over this principle.
Vajreshwari — The Goddess of Adamantine Wisdom
The second Devi of the triad is Vajreshvari, She who is as
indestructible as the vajra, the thunderbolt diamond. She embodies Jnana Shakti
— the power of knowledge that cuts through illusion with the precision and
finality of the thunderbolt. The vajra in the Hindu and Tantric imagination is
not merely a weapon but a symbol of that which cannot be broken, divided or
obscured. Vajreshvari’s grace is the liberating light of direct recognition.
Her iconography shares the fourfold or sixfold arming
pattern of the triad, with the characteristic weapons of the Antardasha group,
yet her specific mudras and ayudhas point toward the conferring of jnana diksha
— the initiation into wisdom. In several Srividya upasana traditions, she is
described as having a golden complexion, blazing with the luminosity of
awakened understanding. As Maha Vajreshvari in elevated lineages, she presides
over the dissolution of the fundamental knot of ignorance, the Brahma Granthi,
which binds the individual soul to the illusion of separation.
Bhagamalini — The Goddess Who Garlanded with Bhagas
Bhagamalini, the third and completing Devi of the triad,
embodies Kriya Shakti — the power of dynamic, purposeful action. Her name means
She who is garlanded with bhagas, the word bhaga carrying in the Tantric
lexicon a rich cluster of meanings: auspiciousness, prosperity, sovereignty,
beauty, glory and the creative power of the universe itself. The Devi Bhagavata
Purana identifies the six bhagas — dominion, dharma, fame, prosperity, wisdom
and liberation — as aspects of the supreme Devi’s nature, and Bhagamalini wears
them as a garland, signifying that she is the living integration of all
auspicious powers.
Her Kriya Shakti is not the action of striving but the
spontaneous, effortless and perfect activity that flows from complete alignment
with the divine will. She is the Devi of manifestation — the one who ensures
that the will of Kameshwari and the wisdom of Vajreshvari actually take form in
the world and in the sadhaka’s life.
The Triad as a Unity
What makes the worship of these three Devis particularly
profound is that they are never understood in isolation. Together, Kameshwari,
Vajreshvari and Bhagamalini form a single integrated Shakti — the complete,
undivided power of the supreme Lalita Tripura Sundari operating through her
three fundamental modes. The Yogini of this avarana, Ati Rahasya Yogini — She
of the supreme secret — signals that what is accessed here lies beyond the
reach of ordinary intellectual enquiry. The teachings of this band are transmitted
only through direct initiation and inner realization.
The Chakra Swamini Tripuramba, the presiding sovereign of
the Eighth Avarana, oversees this transmission. Her name means the Mother of
the Three Cities — the three cities being the states of waking, dreaming and
deep sleep, which she unifies in the fourth, turiya, the witness consciousness.
The Sarva Siddhi Prada Chakra and the Gift of All
Perfections
The designation of the Eighth Avarana as Sarva Siddhi Prada
— that which bestows all siddhis or perfections — is deeply meaningful. In the
ascending journey through the Sri Chakra, the seeker has already traversed the
outer enclosures of the gross and subtle worlds, purified through each
avarana’s Shaktis. At this innermost ring, the soul stands at the threshold of
the Bindu, the point of non-dual awareness. The siddhis granted here are not
the minor powers sometimes associated with the word — they are the supreme
attainments: viveka (discrimination), vairagya (dispassion), mumukshutva
(burning desire for liberation) and ultimately the siddhi of Atma sakshatkara,
direct self-realization.
Living Relevance of the Tri-Devi
In contemporary Srividya practice, the worship of
Kameshwari, Vajreshvari and Bhagamalini in the Eighth Avarana remains a living,
daily discipline for initiated upsakas. Their navavarana puja — the
nine-enclosure worship of the Sri Chakra — moves inward precisely through these
avaranas, installing the Devis in the yantra, in the practitioner’s own body
through nyasa, and in the field of awareness itself. The recognition that will,
wisdom and action must be unified and surrendered to the divine is as urgently
relevant today as it has ever been. In a world fragmented by distraction and
driven by unreflective action, the Tri-Devi of the innermost triangle call
every seeker back to the integrated life of purposeful will, clear wisdom and
graceful action — and ultimately, to the silent radiance of the Bindu that
holds them all.