Dear BhakthAs of MahA Lakshmi :
One of the members of the Oppiliappan
list
requested me to provide information on
Ashtalakshmi Vaibhavam . adiyEn will do
my best to respond to this request .
At the outset , let me invite your attention
in this context to the detailed commentaries
by adiyEn on Swamy Parasara
Bhattar"s Sri GuNa
Rathna Kosam with its 61 slOkams archived in
Malolan.org:
The introduction section there provides links to
additional essays on MahA Lakshmi Tatthvam
,
which incorporates Ashta Lakshmi Vaibhavam
.
Access to additional postings
on the Vaibhavam of
MahA Lakshmi/Ashta Lakshmi can
also be had at :
Please link
here to Dikshitar's MahA Lakshmi
Krithis , which extoll Her Vaibhavam .
Details on
Ashta Lakshmi Vaibhavam
***********************************
Mahaa Lakshmi is the dearest consort
of
Mahaa VishNu and she never ever
leaves
Her place of residence on the sacred
chest
of Her Lord . The visualization and prayer
to Her by Adhi Sankara is
:
ambhOruhAm janma-graham
bhavathyaa
vakshasthalam bharthru-graham MuraarE:
kaaruNyAth kalpaya Padhma-vaasE leela-gruham mE
hrudhayAravindham
(Meaning): Oh MahA
Lakshmi having the red lotus
as Your house of
birth ( piRantha veedu/janma gruham)
and Your husband's
chest as the puhuntha veedu
(Barthru:
Graham/ house after marriage to Your Lord) !
May Thou-seated on
the red lotus- with Your overflowing
mercy choose
my heart
lotus as Your sporting place
( Leelaa Gruham )!
***The petals of the lotus on which She is seated
are said to represent
Her eight forms of wealth
in Her all
encompassing role as the Goddess of
all aspects of wealth
.All Her eight forms fold
into one integrated
form : MahA Laskshmi .
***There is a major temple of recent
origin
( 1976
C.E)at
Besant Nagar , Chennai noted for
its AshtAnga
VimAnam as
at ThirukkOshtiyUr
and UtthiramErUr
.At this
Ashta Lakshmi temple ,
Her eight forms
are
worshipped at individual
sannidhis
.
***The eight forms of MahA Lakshmi are
:
1. Aadhi Lakshmi :
Here , She represents the primordial
form as the
inseperable consort of the Lord at their
Supreme
Abode , Sri Vaikuntam . She is found seated
on Her
Lord's left thigh and thereby confers
Him
the nAmam
of Sri Lakshmi NaarAyaNan . The prayer
for Her
in Ashta Lakshmi SthOthram is:
Nithya
SoubhAgya SouseelyAm
Vara
Lakshmi dadhAthi cha
prasannAm
streeNa sulabhAm
ADHI
LAKSHMEEM NAMAAMYAHAM
She is
easily accessed as the object of
refuge of
PrapannAs and She intercedes
for us
with Her Lord to grant all
the four
purushArTams through Her
four
hands.
2.Dhaanya
Lakshmi :Mistress of wealth in
the form
of grains , fruits , vegetables
and all
other foods to quell . The prayer to
Dhaanya
Lakshmi is :
PruTvee
garbham samuthbhinnA
naanAvreehi savroopiNeem
pasu-sampath svaropaam cha
DhAnya
Lakshmeem namAmyaham
3.
Dhairya Lakshmi: The Goddess who blesses
us with
unlimited courage and strength to
win over
all obstacles in our rightful
endeavours directed by the Lord's
sAsthrAs.
The
prayer for Dhairya Lakshmi is:
na Maathsaryam na cha
krOdhO
na bheethir-na cha
bhEdha dhee:
yath bhakthAnAm
vineethAnAm
Dhairya Lakshmeem
namAmyaham
4. Gaja Lakshmi : She
is seen with two
elephants on Her
sides and is seated on
a red lotus .She
arose out of the Milky
ocean during the
churning of that ocean
to release Amrutham (
Please see the
attached image) . Her
prayer modeled
after SrI Sooktham is
:
RaTa madhyAm
asva-poorvAm
Gaja nAta
prabhOdhineem
SaamrAjya-dhAyineem
dEveem
Gaja Lakshmeem
NamAmyaham
In Sri Sookthi , she
is offered
SuprabhAtham ( Hasthi
Naadha
prabhOdhineem/
awakening with
the trumpeting of the
elephants)
at the lotus
pond. They are ready
to offer abhishEka
Jalam for Her
sacred bath and stand
on both sides
of Her with water
pots in their "hands".
AbhishEka valli
ThAyaar of ThirukkaNNa
mangai is our Gaja
Lakshmi .
5. SanthAna Lakshmi:
She bestows wealth
in the form of
SuprajAs ( devout children
following dharmam )
.The prayer to Her for
the wealth of
auspicious children,grand children
takes this
form:
puthra pouthra
svaroopENa
pasu-bhruthyAthmanaa svayam
sambhavantheem cha
SanthAna-
Lakshmeem
Deveem
namAmyaham
6.Vijaya Lakshmi:She
confers the boon of
success in all
undertakings to conquer
our lower nature (
Raajasic/Taamasic
proclivities).Here ,
the prayer is:
Sarva sakthi
svaroopAm cha
Sarva Siddhi
pradhAyineem
SarvEswareem Sri
Vijaya-
Lakshmeem
Deveem
namAmyaham
7.Dhana Lakshmi: She
is the showerer of
all kinds of wealth
.The prayer to Dhana
Lakshmi is
:
Dhanamagnir-dhanam
vaama:
dhanam bhUthAni
pancha cha
prabhUthaisvarya
sandhAthreem
Dhana Lakshmeem
namAmyaham
8.VidhyA Lakshmi: She
grants the boon of
Jn~Anam and the
prayer to Her is:
nAnA vij~nana
sandhAthreem
buddhi suddhi
pradhAyineem
amruthathva
pradhAthreem cha
VidhyA Lakshmeem
namAmyaham
How these eight forms
of Lakshmi
merge into MahA
Lakshmi and how Her
power to remove all
kinds of poverty
to bless us with
all types of wealth
are summed up by the
following two slOkams
including the Phala
sruthi :
Ashta Lakshmi
samAhAra-
svaroopAm tamm
HaripriyAm
Moksha Lakshmeem MahA
Lakshmeem
Sarva Lakshmeem
namAmyaham
DhAridhrya dukkha
haraNAm
samruddhirapi
sampathAm
SacchidhAnandha
poorNathvam
Ashta Lakshmi
StuthEr-bhavaEth
In summary , the
Ashta Lakshmis can be
related to their
different roopams :
1)Dhana
Lakshmi/Pushti-wealth roopam
2)VidhyA Lakshmi/Buddhi-intellect roopam
3)DhAnya
Lakshmi/KshudhA-freedom from hunger roopam
4)Dhairya(
Veera)Lakshmi/roopam of Courage
5)Vijaya(SoubhAgya)Lakshmi/happiness roopam
6)Gaja(KaaruNya)Lakshmi/Roopam of Compassion
7)SanthAna
Lakshmi/Mother of all beings(Mathru roopam)
8) MahA(Aadhi)
Lakshmi/Sarva Lakshmi roopam.
She confers Saanthi(
Peace) , Keerthi (Fame ) ,
Pushti( Strength) ,
Tushti (Pleasure) ,Preethi
( affection)
,Sarasvathi ( Learning) , Bhu
( land) and Sree(
kaimkarya Sree ) .
In the
companion(Concluding) posting ,
adiyEn will cover the
melodious
Ashta Lakshmi
ShtOthram that you can
recite to recieve Her
blessings .
Sri Lakshmi NaarAyaNa
ParabrahmaNE nama:
Daasan , Oppiliappan
Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan
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