What Is Kūṭastha? The Hidden Seat of Consciousness

Question

I have one more question related to our earlier topic — we had moved to something else.
When we were talking about finding the place of consciousness inside the body, there’s a term used in our scriptures — chaitanya is kūṭastha (the consciousness is “kūṭastha”). So, what does kūṭastha mean here?

Answer

That very place is called the hṛdaya (heart-center).
Kūṭastha means “that which is situated in the kūṭa” — hidden so deeply within that it’s not seen or easily reached or understood by anyone. That hidden spot itself is called kūṭa, and the consciousness established there is kūṭastha.

— Ah, so it’s the same thing?
Yes, it’s the same. The spot you’re locating in the heart—that’s the very kūṭastha being referred to.

Now, the wise say that the guru knows the exact location of that point in each person’s body. The guru doesn’t tell everyone, “Focus only at the midpoint of the head.”
For some, the guru directs attention to the hṛdaya (heart); for others, he may not specify. Some are told to meditate at the center, some at the bhrūmadhya (between the eyebrows), along with the practice of mantra.

The word nābhī here doesn’t mean the physical navel of the stomach. Nābhī also means center.
So, one teacher might call it nābhī, another calls it center, another hṛdaya, another kūṭa, another bhrūmadhya. The names differ, but they all point to the same location—the seat of conscious energy.

Question

So, the conscious energy can also be present there, in that spot?

Answer

Yes, that’s exactly where it is.
That is the location of the soul’s presence—the seat of conscious energy.

— But earlier you said “hṛdaya,” right?
Yes, the hṛdaya—that hidden kūṭa-point which can also be called bhrūmadhya, or nābhī (in the sense of center).

Again, nābhī here does not mean the visible navel, and hṛdaya does not mean the physical pumping heart. These are symbolic terms used for the inner seat of the Self—the abode of the soul.

So whether it’s called kūṭastha, hṛdaya, nābhī, bhrūmadhya, or kendra (center)—they all refer to one and the same reality.
Yogis have used different names for it, but their meaning is identical. We simply need to keep this clarity within us.

Question

In your book Gita Rahasya, Sister, you’ve written that for a yogi, the realization of knowledge and wisdom comes when he becomes kūṭastha—established in the Self.

Answer

Yes, exactly. The word kūṭastha is from the Bhagavad Gita itself.
It means one who is firmly established in the Self (ātma-svarūpa)—unchanging, unmoving.

— You’ve also mentioned Hiraṇyagarbha in connection with that.

Yes. Hiraṇyagarbha is indeed a name of Brahmā, but in the context of yogic understanding, hiraṇyamaya kośa—the golden sheath, or ānandamaya kośa—is the same as the kūṭastha state.
It refers to that inner luminous sheath, the bliss layer—the very seat of the Self.