10 Nigarbha Yogini Goddesses or Shaktis of 6th Avarana - the 10-inner Triangles of Mahameru – Sri Chakra
Nigarbha Yoginis of the Sixth Avarana: The Ten Shaktis of the Antardashara in the Sri Chakra - Guardians of the Inner Triangle: The Ten Nigarbha Yogini Devis of the Sixth Avarana of the Mahameru
The Sri Chakra is not merely a diagram. It is a complete cosmological and spiritual architecture — a map of consciousness, energy, and creation rendered in geometric form. Its three-dimensional manifestation, the Mahameru, rises as a tiered, pyramidal structure, each level or avarana representing a progressively subtler realm of divine energy. From the outermost enclosure of the Bhupura to the innermost Bindu, the Mahameru encodes the entire spectrum of Shakti — from her most manifest, protective expressions to her most luminous and transcendent nature.
Each avarana is governed by a presiding deity known as the Chakra Swamini, attended by a class of Yoginis, and inhabited by Shaktis whose names, attributes, iconographic forms, and ritual roles reveal specific dimensions of cosmic power. The sincere seeker who contemplates and worships through the successive avaranas is said to be journeying inward — from the periphery of creation toward the heart of pure awareness.
The Sixth Avarana — Sarva Rakshakara Chakra
The sixth avarana is known as the Sarva Rakshakara Chakra — the enclosure that bestows all-encompassing protection. It is constituted by the Antardashara, the inner set of ten triangles that form one of the most visually dynamic regions of the Sri Chakra. These ten triangles, interlocked with geometric precision, represent the interplay of the five Tanmatras (subtle elements) and the five Pranas (vital energies), giving this avarana a profoundly physiological and energetic significance.
The presiding Chakra Swamini of this avarana is Tripura Malini, the Devi who wears the three cities as her garland — a reference to her sovereignty over the three states of waking, dreaming, and deep sleep, and over the three Gunas of Tamas, Rajas, and Sattva. She presides over the dissolution of obstacles that obstruct the seeker from progressing inward.
The class of Yoginis who inhabit this avarana are the Nigarbha Yoginis — those who carry within them the seed of inner concealment. The word Nigarbha means "she who holds within the womb" or "she of inner depth," pointing to powers that operate from within, protecting the aspirant not through external means but through an internalized, invisible, and deeply rooted action of grace.
Iconography of the Nigarbha Yogini
Each of the ten Nigarbha Yogini Devis is depicted in a form of considerable grandeur and symbolic precision. She is four-armed, seated in sukhasana — the posture of ease and settled composure — suggesting that her power is not agitated or effortful but innate and effortlessly sustained. She wears the tall kirita, the royal crown associated with cosmic sovereignty, and her form is adorned with richly patterned ornaments that indicate her wealth of divine qualities.
In her two raised hands, she holds the Shakti — a lance or spear of pure energy — and the Vajra, the thunderbolt of unbreakable will and clarity. The Shakti represents directed divine force and the power to pierce illusion, while the Vajra signifies the indestructible nature of consciousness and the removal of all that is spiritually impure or obstructive. In her two lower hands, she holds the Chakra, the discus of cyclic divine order and protection, and the Bana, the arrow of focused intention that strikes the target of liberation. Together, these four weapons describe a Devi who is simultaneously a guardian, a purifier, a guide, and a bestower of grace.
The Ten Nigarbha Yogini Devis
The ten Shaktis of this avarana carry names that collectively describe the full range of Shakti's protective and liberating powers:
Sarvajna Devi is the Devi of omniscience, she who knows all. Her presence in this avarana reminds the seeker that the inner journey is possible only under the light of divine knowing.
Sarva Shakti Devi embodies the totality of power. She is not one force but all forces, the unified field of Shakti from which all specific energies arise.
Sarva Aishwarya Pradayini Devi is the bestower of all divine opulence — not merely material wealth, but the eight Aishwaryas or spiritual sovereignties described in the Devi Bhagavata and allied texts.
Sarva Jnanamayi Devi is she who is constituted entirely of knowledge. She represents the non-dual wisdom — Jnana — that is not acquired but revealed as the seeker's own nature.
Sarva Vyadhi Nivarini Devi is the remover of all disease — physical, mental, and karmic. In the Devi Mahatmyam, the Devi is explicitly invoked as the one who removes all afflictions of her devotees, and this Shakti embodies that protective healing grace in concentrated form.
Sarvaadhara Swarupa Devi is she whose very nature is the substratum of all existence. She corresponds to the concept of Adhaara Shakti — the power that upholds all worlds, bodies, and beings without herself being upheld by anything.
Sarva Papahara Devi is the destroyer of all sin and accumulated karmic burden. Her worship is said to dissolve the residues of actions across lifetimes that would otherwise obstruct the seeker's progress.
Sarva Anandamayi Devi is she who is made entirely of bliss — Ananda — and who fills the worshipper with the same. The Taittiriya Upanishad describes the Anandamaya Kosha as the innermost sheath, and this Devi presides over that dimension of being.
Sarva Raksha Swarupini Devi is the Devi whose very nature is protection. She does not merely offer protection as a function — she is protection itself, in essence and form.
Sarvepsita Phala Prada Devi is the one who grants all desired fruits. This is not a concession to worldly want but the promise that sincere aspiration — Iccha Shakti — when purified through worship, is met with its perfect fulfillment by the divine.
Scriptural Resonance
The Devi Gita, contained within the Devi Bhagavata Purana, presents the Devi herself declaring her all-pervading nature. In the Lalita Sahasranama, each of these ten qualities finds its echo in the thousand names of the supreme Devi — she is addressed as Sarvajna, Sarva Shaktimayi, Sarva Mangala, Sarva Vyadhi Prashamani, and Sarvananda Mayi, among others, confirming that the Nigarbha Yoginis are not independent deities but concentrated expressions of Lalita Tripura Sundari's own infinite nature.
The Soundarya Lahari of Adi Shankaracharya, a hymn inseparable from Sri Vidya worship, opens by affirming that Shiva himself is rendered inert without Shakti — pointing to the absolute primacy of these Shaktis who animate the entire structure of the Sri Chakra.
Modern Relevance and Inner Meaning
The six-fold journey through the avaranas up to this point leads the seeker to encounter the Nigarbha Yoginis at a critical threshold. At this level of inner practice, the aspirant has moved past the outer enclosures of material concern and protective ritual and is now engaging with the subtle architecture of their own awareness. The ten Shaktis of this avarana correspond directly to ten qualities that the seeker must either awaken within or surrender to as divine gifts — omniscience, total empowerment, inner wealth, living wisdom, freedom from affliction, groundedness in the absolute, release from karmic burden, the experience of bliss, the feeling of being protected from within, and the fulfillment of genuine aspiration.
In the contemporary world, where seekers often experience a fragmented spiritual landscape, the Sarva Rakshakara Chakra and its Nigarbha Yoginis offer a profound teaching: that true protection is not external but arises from the interior alignment with the divine feminine principle. Worshipping these ten Shaktis through the Navavarana Puja — the nine-enclosure ritual of Sri Chakra worship — is understood to systematically awaken these ten qualities in the consciousness of the devotee.
The Mahameru, when properly consecrated and worshipped, is not a static object but a living field of Shakti. The sixth avarana, watched over by Tripura Malini and her ten Nigarbha Yoginis, stands as one of the most potent thresholds of that living field — where protection becomes wisdom, and wisdom becomes the direct experience of the Devi herself.