Śivasaṃhitā 5.103

The Sahasrāra, the thousand-petalled lotus at the crown, is here presented as the seat of the moon and the source of amṛta, the elixir of immortality. This lunar image within the skull is not merely decorative: the moon represents the cooling, nourishing, luminous principle that counterbalances the solar fire of maṇipūra. The yogin who activates this center gains access to a nectar that literally sustains life.

The ‘triangular place’ (trikona) refers to a sacred geometry within the crown lotus, associated in Tantric iconography with the inverted triangle (yoni) representing feminine creative power. The term rasa — rendered here as elixir — carries a broad semantic field: juice, essence, taste, emotion. In the context of subtle physiology, it designates the vital fluid that permeates the tissues and sustains consciousness itself.

The stream of amṛta descending through iḍā nāḍī to the left nostril describes a feedback circuit between the upper pole (Sahasrāra-moon) and the manifested world. Practices such as khecarīmudrā aim precisely to intercept this flow before it is ‘burned’ by the abdominal digestive fire, thereby preserving the practitioner’s vitality and extending conscious life.