Is there another lotus within the Sahasrāra?

The Hāṛamālā, a Middle Bengali work on tantric yoga, preserves a striking and little-discussed conception of the Sahasrāra. Whereas Sanskrit yogic and tantric sources usually present the thousand-petalled lotus at the crown as a unique, transcendent seat, the Hāṛamālā describes within it an additional eight-petalled lotus. This inner lotus is linked to the dispositions of the soul, associating petals with directions, colors, and affective states. Such a psychocosmological mapping of the Sahasrāra appears to be without direct parallel in the classical Sanskrit literature on chakras and raises important questions about regional innovation and vernacular reinterpretation of yogic imagery.

In my presentation, I will first examine the relevant passage of the Hāṛamālā in detail, analyzing its vocabulary, imagery, and conceptual logic. I will then explore possible parallels in other Bengali texts, with particular attention to yogic works of the Nāth tradition. Finally, I will consider how this innovation may be situated against the background of local Kaula-Śākta Sanskrit sources, both revealed tantras and later compendia. What does it mean for our understanding of the Sahasrāra, and of tantric yoga more broadly, if a “lotus within the lotus” becomes imaginable?