Śivasaṃhitā 5.83

Anāhata—“that which is not produced by striking”—designates the fourth energy center with a name already containing its essence: the sound resonating within it (anāhata nāda) does not arise from the percussion of two objects but emerges spontaneously, without external cause. This is the universe’s primordial sound, audible only in the deep silence of meditation. Its location in the heart is not accidental: the heart is in all traditions the center of love, intuition, and compassion.

Yam—the bīja of the air element (vāyu)—is the syllable vibrating in anāhata. Air is the subtlest of the terrestrial elements: it follows maṇipūra’s fire in the elemental refinement chain. The twelve petals of anāhata correspond to twelve aspirated Sanskrit letters (ka through ṭha), related to the dynamic aspect of speech. The description as a “very pleasant place” (susthāna) reflects the meditative experience of this chakra: once reached, the heart is perceived as the body’s most welcoming place.

Anāhata cakra closes the first half of the Śivasaṃhitā’s chapter V, completing the ascending description from mūlādhāra to the heart chakra. The four chakras described—mūlādhāra (earth), svādhiṣṭhāna (water), maṇipūra (fire), anāhata (air)—correspond to the four dense elements. The two remaining higher chakras—viśuddha (space/ether) and ājñā (pure consciousness)—belong to the chapter’s second half and represent the most subtle dimensions of being: sound freed from all material support and the consciousness that perceives it.