The method of adoration of Lakshmi
Narada said—I have listened to the recitation of the name of lord Krsna which bestows welfare besides the best of his knowledge and the story of Laksmi. Now you kindly enlighten me on his Dhyanam, stotra and other connected details.
First of all lord Visnu adored LaksmI followed by Brahma and Indra who was deprived of his kingdom. Now I would like to know that in the earlier times which one of the gods adored her by which method. What is her stotra or stuti, you kindly speak out to me.
Narayana said—In the earlier times, Indra once took a bath in a holy place and clothed himself in pure garments consecrating a vase at the shore of the ocean of milk; he adored all the six deities like Ganesa, Surya, Agni, Visnu, Siva and Parvatl. He adored all the deities offering flowers and essence with his heart filled with devotion. Thereafter, consecrating a vase, he invoked Mahalaksmi the goddess of fortune, adoring her together with Brahma and Brhaspati.
O sage, he was accompanied by all the sages, a group of Brahmana, the teacher Brhaspati, all the gods and the all-knowledgeable Siva.
О Narada, holding the Parijata flower soaked in sandal-paste, he adored goddess LaksmI quite attentively.
In the earlier times the lord has apprised Brahma of the dhyanam mentioned in the Samaveda, which I am repeating to you.
The goddess who resides in the lotus of a thousand petals, having the lustre of crores of full moons of the winter season, the best of all, shining with her own lustre, pleasant to look at, quite attractive, having the complexion of molten gold and perfect figure, the chaste lady adorned with all the gem-studded ornaments, clad in yellow garments, wearing a serene smile on his face, extremely beautiful and bestower of all the fortunes who is goddess Mahalaksmi, I adore her by offering the presents, reciting this dhyanam. Indra adored her as advised by Brahma. He offered the sixteen presents with his mind filled with devotion and reciting the mantras.
О Mahalakshmi, I offer to you the gem-studded seat which is difficult to get and is the best of the presents and is studded with valuable gems.
О dweller in the abode of lotus, I offer you the water of Ganga which is quite sacred and serves as a burning wood for the destruction of sins.
О dweller of the lotus, you please accept the flowers, the sandal-paste, Dhrva-grass dipped in waters of Ganga which is quite sacred and emerged from the womb of a conch.
О beloved of Lord Hari, I offer you the perfumed oil, the fragrant water of Myrobalan, which increases the beauty of the body; you kindly accept it.
О beloved of Krishna, I offer the essence made of the gum of the tree and other fragrant articles; you kindly accept it.
О Goddess, you kindly accept the sandal-wood which is grown in Malayacala, is the best of the trees, is quite pleasant and fragrant and bestows pleasure.
O Great Goddess, you accept this pure lamp which represents the eyes of the universe and removes darkness. You please accept this naivedya of various flavours, which is in the many forms of rewards and much delighted in its taste.
You accept this sweet food which is the form of Brahma and provides nourishment besides protection of the body. О bom of lotus, you accept the payasam which is quite pleasant and is made of milk and rice besides sugar.
O Goddess Lakshmi I offer you Svastika food, which you kindly accept, which is quite tasteful and is made of sugar and cow’s milk.
О Kamala I offer you various types of beautiful, ripe tasty fruits which you kindly accept. О beloved of Acyuta, I offer you cow’s milk, which has been extracted from the udder of the cow, is quite tasteful and serves like nectar on the earth.
О Goddess, you accept the guda (sugar-cane balls) which is boiled or unboiled, but is quite tasteful and delicious.
О Goddess, I offer you the powder of barley, wheat and rice which has been very well fried in the ghee made of cow’s milk and the guda. This sweet is quite tasteful and you kindly accept it.
О Goddess, I offer you the Svastika made of the powdered rice fried in ghee; you kindly accept it.
You accept the sugar-cane which is the for making many of the sweets and is filled with enough of juice.
O Kamala, you accept this fan which is like a white fly-whisk, provides cool air during the summer and is quite comfortable.
О Goddess, you accept the best of the betels which contains camphor and is quite tasteful being fragrant. О goddess, you accept the scented water, enriches coolness and removes thirst and is the life of the universe. You kindly accept it.
O Goddess, you accept the cloth made of cotton as well as silk which increases the beauty of the body; you accept the ornaments made of gold and gems which increases the beauty of the body.
O Goddess, you accept the garland of fragrant flowers, which is quite sacred. О goddess, you accept this essence which is pure, sacred and provides welfare to all and has been extracted from fragrant things.
О Goddess of Lord Krishna, you accept this sipping water which belongs to the sacred place, is quite auspicious and purifies everything. You accept this bed which is filled with flowers and sandal-paste and is adorned with gem-studded ornaments.
O Goddess, you accept the articles offered by me which are quite difficult to get on earth and which are used by the kings and the gods. Thus Indra offered the various articles to the goddess reciting the basic mantra with great devotion. Thereafter he recited the basic-mantra for ten lakh times.
After performing japam for ten lakhs times, Indra met with success. Thus Brahma gave away the mantra as well as the kalpavrksa for all times to come.
The ten letter mantra becomes the chief of the mantras with the addition of LaksmI, Maya, KamavanI and Kamalavasa besides the word svaha as a suffix – ‘ яТ iff 4#’ “if qiHcidiRi’^ 7=ЩТ’ Kubera had achieved all the riches by reciting all these mantras and he became the lord of all the riches. Daksa, Savarni also became Manu by reciting the same and Mangala because of the same became the lord of the seven continents on earth. О Narada, Priyavrata, Uttanapada and Kedamatha besides several others gained success by the reciting of the mantra. When Indra met with success with the reciting of this mantra, LaksmI appeared before him who was mounted on a throne studded with heaps of gems, bestowed the boons and her lustre pervaded the entire universe. She had the lustre of the white lotus flowers and the glory of her body was increasing with the gem-studded ornaments worn by her. She was wearing a serene smile on her face. She was always graceful to her devotees and wore the garland of gems having the lustre of crores of full moons. Thus the peaceful Laks ml who happens to be the mother of the universe was adored by the gods with their minds filled with emotions, the eyes filled with tears and they offered prayers with folded hands reciting the stotra given to them for Brahma.
Indra said—I bow in reverence to the goddess who resides in the lotus, the one who is NarayanI I bow to her. She is the beloved of lord Krsna and is also called Padma. I bow to her again and again.
She has the eyes resembling the lotus leaf, besides having the lotus-like face I bow in reverence to her. She uses lotus at her feet and in Vaisnavl having the lotus-like eyes. I bow in reverence to her. She provides welfare, salvation and success. I bow in reverence to her again and again.
She bestows the devotion of the lord besides the pleasures. She always resides in the heart of Lord Krishna, I bow in reverence to the beloved of Krishna.
She is the glory of Lord Krishna and I bow to the Goddess who is adorned with all the ornaments studdecf with gems. I bow in reverence to the one who is the chief goddess of all the riches and is intelligent.
You are Mahalaksmi in Vaikuntha, Lakshmi in the ocean of milk, SvargaiaksmI in the house of Indra, RajalaksmI in royal places, GrhalaksmI in the houses of the householders. You are the deity of the houses, you are Surabhl the mother of the cows, daksina the spouse of yajna, Aditi the mother of the gods and are the lotus among the lotuses. You are Svaha for those who perform yajna and also Svadha who offer Kavya.
You are the form of Vishnu, the ways of everything earning the name of Vasundhara. You possess the purified form and always remain devoted to Narayana. You are free from anger, violence and are the bestower of boons: You are pleasant-faced, bestower of Parmartha and bestow the devotion of Lord Hari.
Without you the entire universe looks like dust or without essence, without you the entire universe seems dead in spite of remaining alike.
You are the best of all and are like all the relatives. Without you even the brothers do not remain on talking terms. A person who is deprived of you, is deserted by all the brothers and relatives but the one on whom you shower your grace, always remains surrounded by his brothers. This way you happen to be the granter of dharma, artha, Imma and moksa.
You happen to be the mother of the entire universe like the infant suckling the milk of its mother.
An infant can survive in case he is deprived of the suckling of its mother breasts or it can survive even without its mother, by the move of destiny, but without you no one can survive even for a moment. Therefore as a mother, you be pleased with me since you always remain happy. О eternal one, you restore my riches to me which have been usurped by my enemies.
Beloved of Hari, till such time we are deprived of your grace, till such time we shall be deprived of our relatives, besides the riches and the fortune.
Therefore, О goddess, you restore our kingdom to us with all the fortune, glory, riches and also get me the son.
О beloved of Hari, you fulfil our desire and bestow intelligence on us, make us enjoy all the pleasures and bestow intelligence on us fulfilling all our desires.
Therefore, restore all our rights, influence, glory and all the riches lost by us in the war.
Thus speaking, tears started flowing from the eyes of Indra and he bowed in reverence to her again and again.
Brahma, Siva, Sesa, Yama and Kesava besides other gods begged forgiveness again and again.
Lakshmi then got pleased and showered her grace on the gods granting a garland of flowers to Kesava.
Delighted, the gods went back to their respective places and Lakshmi at the same time went to her abode in the ocean of milk and enjoyed the comforts in the lap of her husband.
О Narada, both Brahma and Siva granted pleasant boons to the god and went to their respective places. The one who recites this stotra three times during the morning, noon and evening, becomes great like Kubera, the goo of riches.
In case a person recites it with devotion he will become like a kalpavrksa; the one who performs five lakhs of times the japam of the stotra. he meets with success.
In case one recites this siddha-stotra for a month, he becomes a great king. There is no doubt about it.
Narada said—О Lord, you had already told me that he on whose head on which the flower would fall, would adored him first and foremost of all. The same flower was placed on the head of the elephant by Indra as a result of which Ganesa was born. Thereafter, that elephant getting intoxicated went to the dense forest. In earlier times, because of the side glance of Sani, the head of Ganapati was severed, after which the lord joined the elephant’s head on to the trunk of Ganapati. Now it is said that Indra had adored the six deities in the ocean of milk and thereafter he adored Lakshmi. О best of those well-versed in the Vedas, because of this the details in the Puranas arc difficult to be understood by the people; therefore you kindly clarify this point.
Narayana said— When the sage Durvasa pronounced the curse on Indra, Ganesa was not born at that time. He was born while performing the puja. О sage because of that curse, the gods were wandering here and there with a painful heart. Thereafter-they got back Lakshmi, because of the blessings of the Lord.
