Invoking Lakṣmī: Śrī Sūktam
In the Vedic period, Śri is an abstract quality rather than a goddess, identified with splendor, glory, majesty, brilliance, and the divine power of auspiciousness. Śri is the power of life and vitality, and that which is touched by Śri becomes radiant with health, wealth, well-being, abundance, and bounteous prosperity. Śri was also identified in the auspicious workings of society: in the peaceful and prosperous realm of a righteous king; in the abundant circulation of gold and commercial exchange; and in harmonious relationships: happy, strong families, and loyal friends, colleagues, and attendants. In the Vedic consciousness, the stability of the universe (ṛta) depends on the attraction and maintenance of the elusive Śri. Indeed, all that is auspicious — the luxuriant bounty of the earth, the resonant chanting of sacred songs, the virtuous actions of regents, the fullness of a contented heart, for example — is inextricably linked as Śri is propitiated in order that it becomes graciously manifest on earth and in the affairs of society. By the late Vedic period, when the scintillating and auspicious qualities known as Śri come to be recognized as manifesting in a particular form, called Lakṣmi, literally an imprint, a sign, a display, an embodied expression, that is, a specifically recognizable manifestation of Śri. No longer only an abstract quality, this divine force now takes form as a deity and, in particular, as a goddess, a personification of the abundance, prosperity, splendor, and beauty, long recognized as desirable qualities. The songs of the Vedas now sing of Śri and Lakṣmi.
Of the earliest songs to Lakṣmi, The Śri Sūkta or the ‘The Hymn to Śri’ from the Ṛg Veda is among the most well-known. The Śri Sūkta is chanted to accompany the ancient Vedic sacrificial fire or yajña. The opening three and closing three verses provide a framework describing a majestic procession in which the Goddess, riding a splendid chariot attended by horses and elephants, enters the human realm. The sacred fire is the avenue upon which the Goddess and her entourage arrive from the heavens. The poet is the spectator, waiting eagerly. Most of the hymn is addressed to Agni Jātavedas, fire god and sacred fire itself, to impel the movement of that procession. Excitement grows as the goddess comes closer, for her presence infuses this world with vitality, prosperity, and abundant good fortune, transforming and enlivening everything in its path. The Hymn to Śri begins with the following lines:
Draw unto me, O sacred fire, the goddess Lakṣmi,
The resplendent, the golden,
Doe-like, moon-lustrous,
Garlanded in silver and in gold.
The goddess of the Hymn to Śri is an apparition of splendid luminosity; Her visage is that of the sun, or of the moon, or of rain on a petal. Her most identifiable physical characteristic is Her radiance; She manifests as a luminous golden light.
Perhaps the earliest known form of Lakṣmi worship specifically linking ritual with the recitation of the Hymn to Śri is the Śrīkalpa ceremony, described in the Baudhāyana Gṛhya Śeṣa Sūtra. In the Śrīkalpa, the Goddess is invited, sprinkled with water, given a ritual bath, and offered sandalwood, camphor, flowers, incense (dhūpa), light (dīpa), and food. Each of these ritual offerings is to be accompanied by a specifi d verse of the Hymn to Śri. In addition, the worshiper is instructed to repel the inauspicious Alakṣmi by brushing a lotus flower over his body while reciting the mantra “kṣutpipāsāmalā jyeṣṭhā”.
The rest of the translation of the Śri Sūkta is as follows:
Draw unto me, O sacred fire, that goddess Lakṣmī,
The constant one
In whose presence I shall be blessed
With gold, horses, and loyal friends.
The procession of the goddess draws near,
With horses, chariots, and
Trumpeting elephants who announce her arrival.
Let the goddess Śri approach me.
I invoke that goddess Śri,
Who manifests as golden light.
She blazes with the effulgence of fire
Yet glistens like soothing, cool waters.
Seated on a lotus, the lotus-hued one
Smiles benevolently.
Contented, she bestows contentment.
I seek refuge in Śri,
Who manifests as the world’s abundance.
I seek refuge in the one garlanded with lotuses,
The one who manifests as the moon’s beautiful luminosity,
The one celebrated by all of the gods.
O Śri, send misfortune afar!
O sun-brilliant goddess!
Through the force of austerities
Did your bilva tree spring up.
Through the power of its fruits
Let Alakṣmī be dispelled.
Let Kubera,
Together with Fame
And the [wish-fulfilling] Jewel,
Approach me.
As I have been born into this world,
Let me be granted renown and prosperity.
I banish Alakṣmī, the elder sister,
Squalid with hunger,
Shrunken in thirst.
All poverty and misery
Be gone from my home!
I invoke that goddess Śri,
Who reveals herself through scent
And through the inexhaustible blessings of cattle.
Exceeded by none,
She is the majestic sovereign of all creatures.
Let me obtain the pleasures
Of a good mind,
Fulfilled wishes,
And truthfulness in speech.
Let the abundance of cattle,
Food, Prosperity,
And renown abide with me.
O Kardama, moist earth of primordial creation,
The goddess gave birth to you.
Dwell in me, Kardama.
Let your mother, the lotus-garlanded Śri,
Establish herself in my home.
Let the waters pour forth,
Spreading love and affection.
O Ciklīta, fertile wetlands of primordial creation,
Persuade your mother, goddess of prosperity,
To inhabit my home.
Draw unto me, O sacred fire, the goddess Lakṣmī,
The moist, the glistening,
The honey-colored one
Who delights at the trumpeting of elephants.
Garlanded with lotus blossoms,
She is the gentle luminescence of the moon.
Draw unto me, O sacred fire, the goddess Lakṣmī,
The moist, the glistening,
The golden one
Who wields the mace of sovereignty.
Garlanded with necklaces of gold,
She is the brilliant splendor of the sun.
Draw unto me, O sacred fire, that goddess Lakṣmī,
The constant one
Upon whose arrival I shall be blessed
With abundant gold, cattle, attendants, horses,
And loyal friends.
Taken from Rhodes, Constantina. Invoking Lakshmi: The Goddess of Wealth in Song and Ceremony. United States: State University of New York Press, 2010.
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