Glossary · chakra
Ajna
Also written the third eye chakra
Ajna (‘command’) is the third eye or brow chakra, at the point between the brows. It lies beyond the five elements (its element is mind), it is drawn with two petals, and its seed sound (bija) is OM. It is the sixth of the seven chakras.
It is about seeing: intuition, judgement, the inner eye that knows before it can explain.
In balance and out of balance. In balance, a person sees a situation as it is and decides from that. Out of balance, the mind clouds: overthinking, worry that loops, or fixing on one idea and seeing only what fits it.
It has two planets. Chandra (the Moon) is the mind itself in Jyotish, and it moves fastest of all, changing sign about every two and a quarter days, which is why the mind's weather changes so quickly; the days of Chandrashtama are when it is most clouded. Rahu, the north node of fixation and longing, sits here too, staying about eighteen months in a sign: it can sharpen this centre into vision or fog it into obsession. This pairing of planets and chakras is a modern bridge between yoga and Jyotish, not a rule from the classical texts, and the familiar rainbow colours are modern too.
A simple practice. Sit with eyes closed and attention between the brows. Let OM sound once on a long out-breath, then sit in the quiet after it.
Questions
Which planet rules the third eye chakra?
In the pairing used by withAshoka, the Moon (Chandra) rules the third eye chakra, Ajna, with Rahu sharing it: the Moon as the mind, Rahu as fixation and longing. The pairing is a modern bridge, not a classical rule.
What is the seed mantra of the third eye chakra?
OM, sounded once on a long out-breath, followed by silence.
Why does the third eye feel different from day to day?
Because its planet, the Moon, changes sign every two days or so. Read against your own birth Moon, some of those days support clear seeing and some, like Chandrashtama, cloud it.
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