आज्ञाājñā · command
Ājñā, the centre of command
2 min read · Updated October 16, 2026 · sources checked October 16, 2026
In short
Ājñā, called the third eye chakra in English, is the sixth centre of the subtle body, between the eyebrows. Its name means command: the commentary says the guru's command is received there. In the Ṣaṭ-cakra-nirūpaṇa it is a white lotus of two petals, seat of the mind, holding the goddess Hākinī, a triangle with a liṅga and the syllable Om.
The sixth of the chakras is between the eyebrows, the last of the six centres strung on the central channel. आज्ञा (ājñā) means "command". The commentary of Kālīcaraṇa, translated by Avalon, explains that here the command of the guru is received from above.
According to the Ṣaṭ-cakra-nirūpaṇa
| Feature | Description (verses 32-38, tr. Avalon 1919) |
|---|---|
| Place | between the eyebrows |
| Petals | two, white: the lotus "is like the moon" (verse 32) |
| Letters | हं क्षं (haṃ, kṣaṃ), white |
| Element | none of the five gross elements; this is the region of the mind, manas |
| Śakti | Hākinī, white, with six faces and six arms |
| Within | a triangle containing the liṅga called itara, like lightning; and in the triangle "the combination of letters which form the Praṇava" (verse 35), that is, ॐ |
| The inner self | "resembles a flame in its radiance" (verse 35) |
The two petals carry the last two letters of the alphabet, ha and kṣa, completing the fifty letters spread over the six centres. Above ājñā, the text describes subtler stages leading to the thousand-petalled lotus, sahasrāra.
In other texts
- Śiva Saṃhitā (5.96-5.98 in Vasu's translation): the two-petalled chakra called ājñā is between the eyebrows, with the letters ha and kṣa; its goddess is Hākinī; within it shines a seed "brilliant as the autumnal moon"; the text calls it the great light kept secret in all the tantras.
- Kubjikāmata Tantra (11.35, 11.37): "ājñā is between the two eyes", with two divisions.
- Gorakṣaśataka (verse 84): the yogi meditates on the god dwelling between the eyebrows, "like a lustrous pearl", and becomes full of bliss.
Mind: beyond the elements
The five lower centres hold the five elements, from earth to ether. Ājñā holds none of them: in the dissolution described by the Ṣaṭ-cakra-nirūpaṇa, ether dissolves into mind here, before mind itself is absorbed in what lies above. This is the textual basis for the link between ājñā and the mind, the point where the meditator moves from the sense of space to awareness itself.
The point between the eyebrows is also one of the classic places for fixing the gaze and the attention in haṭha practice and in dhāraṇā, and the place of Om, whose sound the texts place here.
What modern books added
Modern charts make ājñā indigo, link it to the pituitary or pineal gland, to "intuition and psychic vision", to amethyst, and call it "the third eye". The gland correspondence and the colour are twentieth-century Western readings. The name "third eye" echoes the third eye of Śiva in mythology, which is a different idea from the centre described in the yoga texts.
A simple meditation on ājñā
- Sit upright, relax the forehead and the eyes.
- Bring attention to the point between the eyebrows, without straining the eyes upward.
- Picture a small white lotus of two petals, luminous like the moon, and in its centre a small steady flame.
- Silently repeat OṂ a few times, letting each one end in silence.
- Then rest in simple awareness, without any image. Stay a few minutes and let go.
Below is viśuddha, above is sahasrāra; the whole system is on the chakras from the sources.
Questions people ask
What does ajna mean?
Command, authority. Kālīcaraṇa's commentary on the Ṣaṭ-cakra-nirūpaṇa explains that the command of the guru is received here from above.
What is the ajna mantra?
The text associates this centre with the praṇava, Om, which is why modern lists give OṂ as its seed syllable.
Is ajna the same as the third eye?
The Sanskrit texts call it ājñā and place it between the eyebrows. Third eye is an English label that echoes Śiva's third eye in Indian mythology; the yoga texts do not use it for this centre.
Is the third eye chakra indigo?
Indigo comes from the modern rainbow sequence. The Ṣaṭ-cakra-nirūpaṇa describes the lotus as white, like the moon; the Gorakṣaśataka visualises the centre like a lustrous pearl.
Sources
- Arthur Avalon, The Serpent Power (1919): Ṣaṭ-cakra-nirūpaṇa, verses 32-38, online edition (Wisdom Library) checked October 16, 2026
- Śrīśa Chandra Vasu (tr.), The Siva Samhita, chapter 5, Sacred Books of the Hindus vol. XV (1914-1915), Internet Archive checked October 16, 2026
- Gorakṣaśataka, edition Kuvalayananda and Shukla, verse 84, Sanskrit text (GRETIL) checked October 16, 2026
- Kubjikāmatatantra, ed. Goudriaan and Schoterman (1988), verses 11.35 and 11.37, Sanskrit text (GRETIL) checked October 16, 2026