Srivatsa means "beloved of Sri", the goddess Lakshmi. It is a mark on the chest of Vishnu where his consort Lakshmi resides. It is said that the tenth avatar of Vishnu, Kalki, will bear the Shrivatsa mark on his chest. It is one of the names of Vishnu in the Vishnu Sahasranamam. Srivatsa is a popular name in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
In Tibetan Buddhism, the śrīvatsa (Tib: དཔལ་བེའུ་, Wyl: dpal be'u) is depicted as a triangular swirl or an endless knot. In the Chinese tradition, Buddhist prayer beads are often tied at the tassels in this shape.
In Jain iconography, Shrivatsa often marks the chest of the Tirthankara image. It is one of the Ashtamangala (eight auspicious symbols) found in Jainism. The canonical texts such as Hemchandra's Trīṣaṣṭiśalākāpuruṣacaritra and Mahapurana mentions it as one of the Ashtamangalas. Acharya Dinakara explains in his medieval work that the highest knowledge emerged from the heart of Tirthankaras in the form of Shrivatsa so they are marked as such. In North Indian Jain sculptures of the early centuries, it is marked in the centre of the chest.
- Sarat Chandra Das (1902). Tibetan-English Dictionary with Sanskrit Synonyms. Calcutta, India: Bengal Secretariat Book Depot, p. 69
- The Handbook of Tibetan Buddhist Symbols, p. PA11, at Google Books
- Alex Wayman, "Chanting the Names of Manjusri" 1985, p. 94
- Padmakara Translation Group (translator)) (2018). "The Transcendent Perfection of Wisdom in Ten Thousand Lines". 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
- Red sandstone figure of a tirthankara
- Jain & Fischer 1978, p. 15, 31.
- Rai Govind Chandra (1 December 1996). Indian symbolism: symbols as sources of our customs and beliefs. Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers. p. 37. ISBN 978-81-215-0081-4.
- Jain, Jyotindra; Fischer, Eberhard (1978), Jaina Iconography, Part 12- Iconography of religions: Indian religions, BRILL, ISBN 978-9004052598