Seated Between the Brows: Hakini, Goddess of Ajna Chakra - The Six Faced Mother of Wisdom and Inner Vision
Among the seven chakreshwaris who preside over the Sapta
Chakras of the subtle body, Hakini Devi occupies a position of singular
importance. She is the presiding Shakti of the Ajna Chakra, the energy seat
located between the eyebrows, often called the third eye or the seat of
command. In the architecture of the subtle body described in the tantric
tradition, every chakra is conceived as a peetha, a sacred seat, where a Yogini
or Shakti resides in a distinct form, governing a particular element, sense and
faculty of consciousness. Hakini governs the subtlest of all these domains, the
mind itself.
Scriptural Basis and Description
The most authoritative early description of Hakini comes
from the sixteenth century tantric text Shatchakra Nirupana, composed by
Purnananda Swami, which is also incorporated within the larger Tantric
compilation known as the Sri Tattva Chintamani. Verse thirty two of this text
describes her thus:
"Ajna namambujam taddhimakara sadrisham dhyana dhama
prakasham hakshabhyam vai kalabhyam parilasita vapur netra patram sushubhram
tanmadhye Hakini sa shashisamadhavala vaktra shatkam dadhana vidyam mudram
kapalam damaru japavatim bibhrati shuddhachitta"
Translated, this verse states that the lotus named Ajna
shines like the white moon, illumined by the radiance of meditation. Upon its
two petals rest the syllables Ha and Ksha, themselves white and beautiful.
Within this lotus dwells Hakini, whose six faces resemble six moons, who holds
a book, displays the mudras of dispelling fear and granting boons, and bears a
skull, a small drum and a rosary in her remaining hands, her mind ever pure,
shuddhachitta.
This verse is the seed from which nearly all later
iconographic and devotional descriptions of Hakini have grown, including the
sukhasana posture, six faces and four armed form referenced in contemporary
worship and art.
Iconography and Symbolism
Hakini is depicted seated in sukhasana, the easy or
auspicious posture, with the right leg folded inward and the left leg pendant,
a posture signifying poised stillness combined with readiness to act, the
balance between withdrawal into meditation and engagement with the world.
Her six faces, each likened to a moon, represent the
integration of the mind, manas, with the five tanmatras or subtle essences
corresponding to the five elements, sound, touch, sight, taste and smell. Where
the lower chakras govern the gross elements individually, the Ajna chakra and
its goddess preside over their convergence within consciousness itself. Her
white or pale complexion is repeatedly described as a symbol of purity, clarity
and the moonlike coolness of refined awareness, as opposed to the heat and
density of worldly entanglement.
Her four hands carry distinct meanings. The lower right hand
displays gnana mudra, the gesture of knowledge, formed by joining thumb and
forefinger, symbolizing the transmission and attainment of higher wisdom. The
upper right hand holds an akshamala, a rosary of beads, denoting japa, the
disciplined repetition of mantra, and the cyclical, ongoing nature of spiritual
practice. The lower left hand holds a small skull cup or kapala, representing
the mind's capacity to hold and transform even the most difficult experiences,
and is also linked to the offering of ego and impurity. The upper left hand
holds a damaru, the small hourglass drum associated with Shiva, symbolizing the
primal vibration, the cosmic sound from which all creation and dissolution
proceeds.
Above her seat, tradition places a downward facing triangle
enclosing a luminous Shiva lingam known as Itarakhya, signifying that the union
of consciousness, Shiva, and energy, Shakti, reaches its most refined
expression at this chakra, just before consciousness ascends further toward the
Sahasrara at the crown.
Philosophy and Inner Meaning
The Ajna chakra is traditionally understood as the meeting
point of the three principal nadis, Ida, Pingala and Sushumna, the left, right
and central energy channels of the subtle body. Their convergence here is said
to dissolve duality, the alternating currents of solar and lunar, active and
receptive energy, into a single unified flow that proceeds toward higher
realization. Hakini, presiding over this confluence, is therefore associated
not merely with psychic perception but with the resolution of opposites,
intuition, discernment and what tantric texts describe as vijnana, direct
experiential knowledge as distinct from mere intellectual learning.
Some commentarial traditions connect the Ajna chakra to a
state of heightened significance at the time of death, where the trained yogi
directs consciousness through this center as part of the soul's passage,
reflecting the broader teaching found across Vedanta and Yoga that where the
mind is fixed at the final moment shapes the nature of what follows.
Worship and Practice
In Tantric sadhana, meditation upon Hakini at the Ajna
chakra is pursued to cultivate one pointed concentration, freedom from mental
agitation and access to subtler levels of perception popularly associated with
intuition and inner vision. Her bija mantra is closely linked with Aum, the
pranava, regarded as the sound from which the universe is said to emerge and
into which it is said to dissolve. Among the seven yoginis of the chakra
system, comprising Dakini, Rakini, Lakini, Kakini, Shakini, Hakini and Yakini,
Hakini is consistently placed at the Ajna chakra in the Shatchakra system,
governing what later medical and yogic interpreters associate with the marrow
and the integrative functions of the nervous system.
Relevance in Modern Art and Culture
In contemporary practice, the symbolism of Hakini has extended well beyond ritual worship into yoga studios, wellness literature and visual art exploring mindfulness and self awareness. The widely taught Hakini mudra, formed by joining the fingertips of both hands, draws its name directly from this goddess and is used in modern yogic practice to encourage focus, balance the hemispheres of the brain and steady the breath, illustrating how an ancient tantric figure continues to inform embodied practice today. In painting, sculpture and digital art depicting the chakra system, Hakini's six faced, four armed form remains one of the most recognisable images associated with the third eye, often rendered in indigo, violet or white tones consistent with traditional descriptions of the Ajna lotus.
Hakini Devi stands as a profound symbol within the Hindu tantric tradition, embodying the union of mind and the five subtle senses, the meeting of duality into oneness, and the threshold between ordinary perception and higher wisdom. Her iconography, drawn carefully from the Shatchakra Nirupana, continues to guide both traditional sadhana and modern explorations of consciousness, making her one of the more enduring and recognisable goddesses of the Sapta Chakra system.