Shrichakra is a set of nine interlocking
triangles with four pointing up and five
pointing down. The figure is surrounded
by a double series of lotus petals, then
an enclosing circle, and finally angular
exterior walls. In the center of the dia-
gram is a single point known as the
bindu, representing the ultimate divinity
that is the source of all things. The
shrichakra is considered a subtle form of
the goddessLalita Tripurasundari, a
goddess who is identified with different
local goddesses throughout southern
India. Lalita Tripurasundari is consid-
ered a “textual” goddess since she
appears as an object of worship in the
Shrichakra diagram but has no temple
or image. The Shrichakra is used as a rit-
ual aid during the rite known as
samharakrama, in which the adept
symbolically destroys the external
world and ideas of a separate Self to
become completely identified with
this goddess, who is considered the
source of all reality. For extensive
information on the Shrichakra, see
Douglas Renfrew Brooks, The Secret of
the Three Cities, 1990.
Shrichandra
(b. 1494–1612?) Historical founder of the
Udasi(“indifferent”) asceticcommunity.
Shrichandra was the elder son of Guru
Nanak, the first of the Sikh community’s
ten gurus. By all accounts, Shrichandra
was a devout and pious man, but Nanak
passed over Shrichandra to designate
one of his followers, Angad, as the second
Sikh guru. According to tradition this was
because Guru Nanak, believing that his
followers should live married lives in reg-
ular society, disapproved of Shrichandra’s
status as ascetic. Due to his pedigree and
his piety, Shrichandra gained a consider-
able following of his own, but the Udasis
have always been considered as belong-
ing in the Hindu fold. During the
Kumbha Mela, an important bathing
(snana) festival held in different places in
northern India, the Udasis march third in
the bathing procession, behind the
Sanyasisand the Bairagis.
Shrikrishnavali
(“Series [of poems] to Krishna”) Series
of sixty-one short poems dedicated to
the god Krishna, written in the Braj
Bhashaform of Hindiby the poet-saint
Tulsidas (1532–1623?). This collection is
unusual, since Tulsidas is renowned as a
devotee (bhakta) of the god Rama, and
most of his literary work describes
Rama’s exploits. The Shrikrishnavaliis a
poetic cycle about Krishna’s life, so it
begins with poems devoted to Krishna’s
childhood and youth in the Braj region.
Most of the text, however, describes the
sorrow of the cow herd girls (gopis) after
Krishna’s departure for his kingdom in
Mathura, and their scornful rejection of
Krishna’s messenger Uddhava, who tries
to convince them that since Krishna is
the supreme deity, he is everywhere.
This work is an example of the ecumeni-
cal, or universal, tendencies found
throughout Tulsidas’s work. Not only
did he compose poems in praise
of another deity, thus transcending
sectarian barriers, but he also tran-
scended linguistic barriers by writing
these poems in Braj Bhasha, the most
widely read language of his time, rather
than his own native Avadhi.Shrinathji
The name of a particular image of the
god Krishna, the presiding deityof the
Shrinathji temple in Nathdwara,
Rajasthan. According to tradition, the
image was originally hidden on top of
Mount Govardhan, a famous mountain
in the Braj region that is mythically
associated with Krishna’s humiliation of
the storm-god Indra. The image’s loca-
tion was revealed in a dream to
Vallabhacharya, the founder of the reli-
gious community known as the Pushti
Marg. Vallabhacharya built a temple to
house the image on Mount Govardhan,
and his descendants have remained
Shrinathji’s hereditary servants since
that time. The image was taken to
Rajasthan in 1669, a move prompted by
fears that it would be destroyed by the
Moghul emperor Aurangzeb. AccordingShrinathji