Sri Meru Yantra, brass, 3 inch

The first decision with any meru is size, and unusually this seller offers the same form across four of them. Two inches is a desk object you can close your hand around. Three inches is the common household choice and sits comfortably on a mandir shelf. Four and five inch pieces become the main object on whatever surface they occupy and cost a great deal more, since the metal goes up as the cube of the dimension.

The second decision is metal, and here it is brass rather than the more usual copper. That is a real difference rather than a cosmetic one. Brass is harder, so the cut edges hold their sharpness longer and survive cleaning better. It is more stable in humid air, oxidising much more slowly. It is yellow rather than red, which some people find wrong for a yantra and others prefer. And it is generally cheaper for the same size.

What brass gives up is tradition. Copper is the metal conventionally specified for yantras, and anyone following a particular method will usually be told to use it. If that matters to you, buy copper. If you simply want the form on a shelf and would rather not spend every month cleaning it, brass is the more practical object by a clear margin.

The form itself is the Sri Yantra built upward: nine interlocking triangles, four pointing up and five down, realised as tiers rather than lines, rising to a point. Around them are the two lotus rings of eight and sixteen petals, and the outer square with four gates. On a meru these appear as physical levels, which is why the piece has to be cut accurately or the errors show as steps that will not line up.

This page should say where the object comes from. The Sri Yantra is central to Sri Vidya, a Shakta tradition with its own initiation and its own teachers, and it forms no part of Braj practice. The line Maharaj Ji stands in rests on Shri Radha and on the naam. That is simply a fact about which tradition uses what, and it takes nothing away from anybody who wants one.

The practical summary for anybody choosing between the pieces in this part of the shop. Size determines presence and price; metal determines how much work it will be; accuracy determines whether it is a yantra or an ornament shaped like one. Those three questions are answerable from photographs and a message to the seller, and they are the whole of what can honestly be judged before buying.

What to look for before buying

Pick the size for the surface, not the photograph. Two inches is small enough to be lost on a shelf, five inches dominates a table. Three is the usual household choice for a reason. Measure the space and remember that photographs of yantras are almost always taken close, which makes every size look the same. The price difference between sizes is steep, so it is worth getting right first time.

Understand what brass changes. Brass holds a cut edge better and tarnishes far more slowly than copper, which makes it the easier object to own. It is not the traditional metal for a yantra. If you are following a specific method or a teacher's instruction, check whether copper is specified before buying brass to save effort.

Look down on it from directly above. A meru's accuracy is visible from overhead and almost nowhere else. From that view the figure should be symmetrical about both axes, with the tiers concentric and the points of the triangles aligned. Ask for a top down photograph if the listing shows only three quarter views, which flatter an inaccurate piece considerably.

Keeping it, and where it sits

A dry cloth and a soft brush for the steps is the whole routine while it is bright. Brass is far more forgiving than copper here, and a yantra kept in a dry room will need actual cleaning perhaps twice a year rather than every few weeks.

When it does dull, lemon with salt or tamarind applied by hand is the right method, rinsed off and dried at once. Avoid brushes stiffer than a toothbrush and avoid abrasive pastes altogether: the cut edges of the tiers are the whole quality of the piece, and abrasives round them off permanently.

Dry it inverted on a cloth. Every tier of a meru is a ledge that holds water, and standing it upright to dry leaves it damp for hours in exactly the places where marks show. Upside down it drains in a couple of minutes.

Pick it up by the base, never by the peak. The point at the top is the thinnest section in the object and the natural thing to grip, which is why it is the part most often bent on second hand pieces. If the yantra sits somewhere it has to be moved often, a small tray under it removes the problem entirely.

None of this is required. What Maharaj Ji actually asks for is set out on the teachings page, the sayings he repeats most are on the quotes page, and the stotras are free to download as PDFs. If you are planning to visit Vrindavan, read how to meet Maharaj Ji first.

Also worth reading: what is actually taught , and photographs of Vrindavan.