7 Chakras Explained: What the Ancient Texts Really Say

Before I began my research into chakra anatomy as presented in traditional eastern texts, my search for the 7 chakras yielded the same picture again and again: seven rainbow-coloured wheels of light stacked vertically in the subtle energy body, each with basic functions. My research into ancient Sanskrit texts, however, unfolded something far more interesting and useful for spiritual awakening. 

In this post, I’ll share what chakras are, how many there are, where they sit and what the traditional texts say about each one.

Before I get into it, if you’re looking for means to balance your chakras, start with my root chakra affirmations and sacral chakra affirmations. You’ll find each additional chakra affirmations linked in its section below.

In this post you’ll learn:

• What chakras are according to traditional texts

• How many there are

• Where the chakras sit in the body

• How to work with them

What are chakras?

In the traditional texts, the chakras are described as conjunction points of nadis (energy meridians) with unique frequencies. The Sanskrit word chakra (CHUCK-rah) means "circling motion," and it represents the swirling mass of energy where vital force and mental energy gather.

In the classical books like the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, they are described as lotus-like focal points along the central channel of the spine and the seven major chakras specifically are concerned with human evolution.

Most of what I share in the following come from three main bodies of work:

• The Hatha Yoga Pradipika (Svatmarama, 15th century) is a classic yoga manual.

• The Sat-Chakra-Nirupana ("Description of the Six Centres," Purnananda Swami, 1577) is the detailed chakra map, translated by Sir John Woodroffe in The Serpent Power.

• In Kashmir Shaivism chakras are described as consciousness expressing itself as energy, but these teachings offer additional insights into subtle energy anatomy.

💡 Key insight: Chakras are described in traditional yoga texts as subtle-energy focal points where nadi’s (energy meridians) meet and vital and mental energy gather.

Are chakras real?

From my perspective and experience working with the chakras, I offer a resounding YES. As a comprehensive map of human energy anatomy within contemplative traditions, they are very real, and have been observed and used for transcendental outcomes by practitioners for centuries.  

I also view them as centers that are enriched through lived experience. It’s when you explore through your own practice that their power and gifts unfold in your consciousness and experience.

My aim in my work is to provide empowered models and approaches to well-being on all levels, that includes spiritual well-being. My chakra myths post explains why I recommend words like "self-regulating" to "blocked" and what other shifts in understanding can help you experience and explore the chakras from more empowered levels of mind.

💡 Key insight: Chakras are best understood as a contemplative map within longstanding spiritual traditions, whose meaning and value become experiential through thoughtful practice.

How many chakras are there?

The popular answer is seven major chakras.  When exploring these texts however, the answer becomes: it depends on which book you open.

The Sat-Chakra-Nirupana (as compiled and commented upon by Swami Purnananda and Kalicharana) describes six chakras and the title of the work literally translates into "description of the six centers." It places the thousand-petalled lotus, the Sahasrara, above them as a separate seventh place (verse 40). In these texts, the upper chakras are also treated as more than nodes of mental energy and vital force.

The Shiva Samhita (chapter 5) gives the same six plus the thousand-petalled lotus. So the seven chakras you find in western representations align with these maps.

The Hatha Yoga Pradipika states that there are “numerous chakras” in the body but the seven major ones are situated along the central channel.  

Author Kurt Leland found that some traditional systems have as few as four chakras and as many as forty-nine. In Kashmir Shaivism, the Vijnana Bhairava (verses 12 to 13, Jaideva Singh's translation) says the ultimate reality has nothing to do with piercing the cakras. Such maps, it says, are like the sweet a mother offers a child: a kind way of drawing you toward practice.

As far as the major chakras are concerned, seven is somewhat of a useful map with the 6 plus the crown. However, as I outline in my chakra myths post, some of the additional descriptions on how the chakras behave in the western versions and explanations are non-existent in these traditional texts.

💡 Key insight: Seven is the most familiar chakra map, but traditional systems vary; the influential six-centre model places the thousand-petalled lotus above the six as a distinct seventh locus.

Where are the chakras in the body?

The traditional texts place the major and minor chakras in the subtle body, your energy body. The lotuses sit along the sushumna (soo-SHOOM-nah), the central channel of the spine, which is flanked by two companion channels, the ida (cool) and pingala (heat).

The Hatha Yoga Pradipika also states that although the chakras are situated in the subtle body, their influence extends to the “gross and causal” bodies and correspond to the nerve plexuses in the physical body, indicating their multidimensional influence.

According to the Sat-Chakra-Nirupana, the charkas are not physical anatomical organs. They are connected to the innermost subtle conduit of the central channel (Sushumna Nadi), the Chitrini Nadi.

💡 Key insight: Traditional texts locate the chakras in the subtle body along the central channel of the spine, while also describing their influence as extending across subtler and physical dimensions.

The 7 chakras meaning, in order

Below is a description of each chakra as the Sat-Chakra-Nirupana presents it: place, petals, seed sound (bija mantra), element, and color.

The colors the traditional texts attribute to the chakras are different from what you find in the western-maps. In these texts, the chakra’s are observed as: crimson, vermilion, dark rain-cloud, bandhuka-flower red, smoky purple, and moon-white. The Shiva Samhita adds blood-red and gold.

 In western-maps, you typically find an ascending red-to-violet rainbow. Where the western-map aligns with the traditional texts is in its effort to portray the range of differing frequencies present among the energy centers.

My suggestion is to explore what you observe when you meditate on these centers. Neither map is “the right” map as different seers have helped shape both east and west maps of the chakras.

1. Muladhara (moo-lah-DAH-rah): root support

A crimson four-petalled lotus sits in the perineum or urogenital triangle, holding the earth element. In the traditional texts, the root chakra is associated with the sense of smell and the feet, and governs bone tissue. Here Kundalini rests like a sleeping serpent, coiled three and a half times (verses 10 to 11).

For the modern themes of embodying safety and stability, see my root chakra affirmations and my guide to grounding yourself energetically.

2. Svadhisthana (SVAH-dis-TAH-nah)

A vermilion six-petalled lotus inside the Shushumna Nadi, positioned directly at the root of the reproductive centers, with a white crescent of water inside. The texts associate the sacral with the sense of taste and the hands and urinary organs. It governs blood tissue. The texts say that meditating on svadhisthana frees you from faults like ego, and words flow freely (verse 18).

For creativity and emotional flow, try the sacral chakra affirmations.

3. Manipura (MUH-nee-POO-rah)

A ten-petalled lotus at the navel, dark as heavy rain clouds, with a triangle of fire and the seed sound Ram (verses 19 to 20). The texts associate manipura with the sense of sight and digestion. It governs skin tissue.

Western teachings link it with confidence and personal power. My solar plexus chakra affirmations go there.

4. Anahata (ah-NAH-hah-tah): the unstruck

Twelve petals in the heart, bandhuka-flower red, with the air element and seed sound Yam (verses 22 to 23). Anahata means "unstruck," a sound arising without anything being struck. It's associated with the sense of touch and the procreative organs, and governs fat tissue.

Explore 50 heart chakra affirmations designed to help you develop and balance this center.

5. Vishuddha (vi-SHOO-dah): pure

A smoky-purple lotus of sixteen petals at the throat, carrying the sixteen Sanskrit vowels, with space or ether as its element. It's associated with the sense of sound and the vocal/speech organs. It also governs skin tissue. Concentrating here, the texts say, makes you eloquent, wise and peaceful in mind (verse 31).

Explore my throat chakra affirmations to support authentic expression.

6. Ajna (AHG-nyah): command

A white two-petalled lotus between the eyebrows. The name points to the Guru's command received here. The subtle mind (manas) dwells within it, with the sacred syllable Om (verse 33). It governs marrow tissue and the subtle mind. Ajna chakra is beyond the five gross elements.

If the "third eye" fascinates you, read about the pineal gland and the third eye and try the third eye chakra affirmations.

7. Sahasrara (suh-HUS-rah-rah): thousand-petalled

A lotus "whiter than the full moon" at the crown (verse 40, Woodroffe). Sahasrara is situated at the crown of the head in the upper cerebrum and is described as the transcendent seat of pure unconditioned consciousness. Here Kundalini meets Shiva, consciousness itself (verses 51 to 52), the supreme goal of human spiritual evolution where the individual soul awakens to its true cosmic nature.

If you're drawn to the crown chakra, try focusing and meditating on this center with my 50 crown chakra affirmations.

How Chakras differ in East and West

One of the things I was used to was the psychological association common to western chakra maps. In Western interpretations, the chakras have physiological and psychological function. If you want to strengthen your self-confidence, work on developing your solar plexus chakra. If you want your creativity to flow, work on developing your sacral chakra. If you want to increase your capacity for love, both of yourself and others, work on opening your heart chakra.  

The classic texts on the other hand describe the chakras as evolutionary, cosmic, and metaphysical. They are a microcosmic map of cosmic evolution and dissolution. The work is liberation, self-realization, and the dissolution of duality. There is much less focus on personality development and refinement in these texts.

They also differ in what each center governs. While in the western texts the sacral and procreation are linked, you see heart and procreation linked in the traditional texts. Likewise, in the western texts the heart and hands are linked, but in the traditional texts it is the sacral that is linked to the hands.

These are not mutually exclusive differences. Before you can move into the transpersonal, developing your personality and personal competencies is important. Both interpretations have their function and usefulness. But noting the difference between the two enriches the relationship you can cultivate with these multidimensional centers of personal and cosmic potential.

💡 Key insight: Western chakra models emphasize psychological development, while classical Eastern texts emphasize cosmic evolution and transcendence; the two can be treated as complementary rather than mutually exclusive.

How does Kashmir Shaivism see the chakras?

In Kashmir Shaivism everything in the Universe is Shiva, pure consciousness, expressing itself as Shakti, creative energy.

Abhinavagupta (c. 975 to 1025) lays out the manifestation of existence where pure consciousness expresses as creative energy through the unfolding of 36 tattvas, or levels of reality, from Shiva down to earth. The supreme, unmanifest consciousness progressively condenses itself into the physical world through these 36 levels of reality. That same path is the path by which an individual consciousness ascends back to divine unity.

The Spanda Karikas open by praising the one by whose opening and closing of the eyes the world appears and dissolves (1.1). Spanda means "pulsation," portraying the universe as a divine throb. The focus of Kashmir Shaivism is spiritual development and consciousness evolving back into its divine nature.

In the Vijnana Bhairava, verses 28 to 29 describe meditating on energy rising from the root centre, growing subtler until it dissolves at the crown, where Bhairava, the Absolute, is revealed.  

Instead of the chakras as being subtle organs, they are seen as fluid focal points of divine consciousness activated during meditative contemplation. Different texts in the tradition describe chakras ranging from five to twelve and higher. Here the chakras are doorways into the same consciousness that is creating your experience and the Universe.  

💡 Key insight: Kashmir Shaivism presents chakras as fluid focal points through which consciousness recognizes its own creative energy, rather than as fixed subtle organs.

How to unblock and activate chakras the traditional way

First, a note on the term"unblock." The old texts rarely speak of blocked chakras. They speak of purifying the nadis, the subtle channels (meridians), so prana (life force) can move through the central channel.

Specifically, they talk about piercing the granthis (psychic knots) pre-existing in three of the chakras: the root chakra, the heart chakra, and the third eye chakra. The granthis represent major structural, energetic and psychological thresholds where consciousness and vital energy are tightly intertwined. Besides those three psychic knots, the chakras don't get blocked.

The Hatha Yoga Pradipika says breath cannot enter the middle channel while the nadis are impure (2.4), and that after proper breath practice breath enters the central channel easily (2.41).

The traditional spiritual practices for purifying the nadis:

• Alternate-nostril breathing (nadi shuddhi): slow, never forced (2.7 to 2.10).

• Steady posture: a comfortable seat (chapter 1).

• Bandhas and mudras: subtle locks and seals (chapter 3).

• Seed sounds: Lam, Vam, Ram, Yam, Ham, Om.

• Meditation: the Vijnana Bhairava (verse 24) suggests resting attention in the pauses between breaths.

A safety note. The Hatha Yoga Pradipika compares mastering the breath to taming lions and elephants, and warns that haste is not useful(2.15). In these texts, Kundalini wakes "by favour of a guru" (3.2) but what I want to highlight is what's known to reside at the crown chakra. The "guru" is not an external presence.

I do recommend exploring the chakras mindfully. I encourage bringing conscious intent and conscious creation into your practice. What my reserach has shown is that there is no prescribed path to spiritual awakening that says the road has to be difficult. As I've highlighted here, it helps to have empowered understandings of what the energy centers make available and what's a misinterpretation of the texts and wisdoms that have mapped these internal realms so clearly.

Work with qualified teachers where you need support and check with your doctor first if you have a health condition. Bandhas, mudras, and yoga all have measurable physiological and psychological effects so it's important to practice discernment and bring intentionality into your practice.

For a softer start, try my meditation and mindfulness post, or pair quiet breathing with affirmations.

💡 Key insight: Traditional practice focuses less on “unblocking” chakras than on purifying the subtle channels through steady posture, gentle breathwork, mudras, seed sounds and meditation—without force.

7 Chakras FAQ

How many chakras are in the body? Seven is the most common answer. The Sat-Chakra-Nirupana describes six centres plus the thousand-petalled lotus, and other eastern systems list as few as four or as many as forty-nine.

Does the Hatha Yoga Pradipika mention chakras? Briefly. It speaks of lotuses and knots (granthis) pierced when Kundalini awakens (3.2) and of three knots broken by bhastrika breathing (2.67). The detailed centre-by-centre map comes from the Sat-Chakra-Nirupana.

Are the rainbow chakra colours ancient? No. The classical texts give varied colours. The red-to-violet sequence is a modern Western interpretation.

How do I activate my chakras safely? Start with slow breathing, steady posture and quiet attention. Avoid forcing breath or chasing Kundalini experiences, and seek a qualified teacher where needed. I recommend exploring these traditional texts and using discernment in your own self-observation and contemplation work.

Where to go next

Go deeper with all seven affirmations posts: root, sacral, solar plexus, heart, throat, third eye and crown.

This post is for education and inspiration only. It is not medical or psychological advice and does not diagnose or treat any condition. Breath practices can affect the body, so consult a healthcare professional before beginning.

Sources / further reading

Svatmarama, Hatha Yoga Pradipika (15th century), translated by Pancham Sinh (Allahabad, 1914; some catalogues give 1915). Cited by chapter and verse in Sinh's numbering (2.4, 2.7 to 2.10, 2.15, 2.41, 2.67, 3.2); other translations may number slightly differently. Public domain: Hatha Yoga Pradipika on sacred-texts.com; Chapter II (Pranayama); Chapter III (Mudras)

Purnananda Swami, Sat-Chakra-Nirupana (1577; part of the sixth chapter of his Sri-tattva-cintamani), translated and annotated by Sir John Woodroffe (Arthur Avalon) in The Serpent Power (first edition 1918 to 1919). Verses 4 to 5, 10 to 11, 14 to 15, 18 to 20, 22 to 23, 28 to 33, 40 to 41 and 50 to 52 cited; Woodroffe's Introduction on the physiological standpoint. Public domain: The Serpent Power (6th ed.) on archive.org

The Shiva Samhita, translated by Rai Bahadur Srisa Chandra Vasu (1914), chapter 5 (the six lotuses and the thousand-petalled lotus). Public domain: The Siva Samhita on archive.org

Vijnanabhairava, or Divine Consciousness: A Treasury of 112 Types of Yoga, translated by Jaideva Singh (Motilal Banarsidass). Verses 12 to 13, 24 and 28 to 29 paraphrased; the translation is in copyright, so it is not quoted and not linked here. Available from libraries and publishers.

Spanda-Karikas: The Divine Creative Pulsation, translated by Jaideva Singh (Motilal Banarsidass, 1980). Verse 1.1 paraphrased. A Sanskrit text with translation: Spandakarikah on Mahanaya

Abhinavagupta (c. 975 to 1025) and the 36 tattvas of Trika Shaivism: Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Kashmiri Shaiva Philosophy; Tantraloka, tattvas overview (PhilArchive)

Kurt Leland, "The Rainbow Body: How the Western Chakra System Came to Be," Quest 105.2 (Spring 2017), adapted from Rainbow Body: A History of the Western Chakra System from  Blavatsky to Brennan (Ibis, 2016). Source for chakra systems with as few as four and as many as forty-nine centres, the origin of the rainbow colours, and the 1977 synthesis: Theosophical Society in America

About Kidest OM

Kidest OM is a spiritual and conscious evolution teacher, personal development coach, and bestselling author whose work bridges spiritual growth, conscious evolution, and modern psychology. Through her writing and courses, she guides readers to awaken higher consciousness and live in alignment with their true nature. Her books combine metaphysical understanding with scientific insight to help you develop self-awareness, energetic intelligence, and emotional coherence. With warmth and clarity, Kidest shows how the path of spiritual development naturally leads to expanded creativity, resilience, and inner peace.

Explore her manifestation books and personal development courses on conscious evolution to deepen your journey of growth and empowerment.