Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:
LakshmI KatAksham
Deepavali appears to be an appropriate occasion to write about the
captioned subject. All over north of India and in some parts of the south too,
LakshmI pUjA is an intgeral part of the Festival of Lights, with the wealthy
adulating Her in thanksgiving and seeking Her continued benevelonce and the
impecunious seeking Her favours for joining the elite club of the haves. New
financial accounts are commenced on this day, with prayers that the ensuing
year be the harbinger of progress and prosperity.
Thus there is an overwhelming opinion that Sri LakshmI is the Goddess of Wealth
and Her attentions would make one unimaginably rich. The Lakshmi astOttara sata
nAma stOtram, the Lakshmi Sahasranamam, the SrI SUktam etc. have been
prescribed in various Scriptures as sure-shot ways of attaining elusive
prosperity and escaping the pernicious clutches of penury- "sarvaishvarya
karam" and "sarva dAridrya samanam". The Goddess Herself is described as the
destroyer of poverty ("dAridrya nAsinIm", "dAridrya dhvamsinIm") and the
bestower of wealth of every form and description ("dhana dhAnya karIm"). The
recitation of this stOtram is capable of conferring upon us wealth and welfare
beyond imagination and making us richer than KubEra-"ashtaishvaryam avApnOti
KubEra iva bhootalE". Even persisting poverty, plaguing a person through
innumerable births, can be bid goodbye to, through a pArAyaNam of this
stotram-"Shriam avApnOti kOti janma daridrata:". Swami Desikan too confirms in
Sri Stuti that wherever this Lady's glances fall, torrents of affluence vie
with each other to fill that quarter-':yasyAm yasyAm disi viharatE Devi
drishti: tvadIyA, tasyAm tasyAm aham ahamikAm tanvatE sampadoghA:". This sloka
tells us that this is the result not even of a full-fledged look, but of a mere
glance from the corner of Her eye-"apAngai:".
It is thus clear that LakshmI KatAksham or the benign glance of MahAlakshmI
brings us boundless prosperity. The Celestials had lost all their wealth, power
and control over all the worlds, due to a curse from DurvAsa Maharshi. It was
solely due to the benevolent glances of Sri LakshmI that they regained their
lost splendour and overlordship of the three worlds, confirms the Sristuti-
"sureEndrA: labdhvA bhooya: tribhuvanam idam lakshitam tvat katAkshai:". Any
number of such pramANAs can be quoted in support of Sri Lakshmi's glances
carrying with them the cascading waves of good fortune, ready to drench the
seeker with abundant doses of the same, for the mere asking.
However, is this all there is to Lakshmi kataksham? Is it only the carrier of
wealth and prosperity, with little else to offer? Is "Goddess of Wealth" an
adequate description of Sri Mahalakshmi and Her munificence?
The answer is "No", for, this Lady's glances have the power to bestow on one
whatever one seeks, not merely riches in the material sense. For instance, if
it is wisdom and learning that we seek, they too are showered by Mahalakshmi in
abundant measure. We might be puzzled and think that such a contention usurps
the role of the so-called "Goddess of Learning"-Saraswati. Without in any way
detracting from Sarasvati Devi's fame, all her glory is indeed the result of
the benign glances of Sri Lakshmi, says the Sri Stuti, highlighting the fact
that while it might be Sarasvati who bestows wisdom, she derives her power to
do so from the Celestial source, Sri Mahalakshmi-"AsamsAram vitatam akhilam
vAngmayam yat vibhooti:....tAsAm pariNati: asou bhAva lEsai: tvadeeyai:".
Poets, who are in the know of things as to who is the real source of all
inspiration and learning, pray straight to Lakshmi to drench them with Her
benign glances, which would enable them burst forth in uninhibited and
impassioned verse. The skilful choice of words, the effortless employment of
the mot juste, deployment of phrases and idioms pregnant with purport, a smooth
and flowing style which is a hallmark of facile expression-all these
automatically embrace a composer, be it of prose, verse or song, once Sri
Mahalakshmi turns Her merciful glances on him.
Here is one of the master poets, Sri Parasara Bhattar, praying to Her for such
felicity of expression-
"Sooktim samagrayatu na: svayamEva LakshmI:
SrI RangarAja mahishI madhurai: katAkshai:".
In the aforesaid sloka, Sri Bhattar is but echoing the words of his illustrious
father Sri Koorattazhwan, who too prays to the Divine Consort to drench him
with Her benign glances, so that appropriate words and idioms would
automatically fall in place, without a laborious search for the same, as
indulged in by mundane authors-
"yuktAm bhAvaya bhAratIm....lakshyam Lakshmi katAksha veechi visrutE te syAma
chAmI vayam".
It is this glorious glance of Piratti that is behind the apparently
irreconcilable differences in birth and life that we encounter in this world.
Why should one person be born with a silver spoon in his mouth, with all that
one could possibly wish for, while another, born at the same time and day,
languishes in a cowshed, with not a blade of grass to call his own, destined to
lead a life of misery and penury? Why is it that some are born as human beings,
while others take birth as lowly animals, worms and as inanimate substances
like trees and stones? It is all due to the presence or absence of the Divine
Consort's benign glances, says Sri Bhattar in SrI GuNaratnakOsam. Whosoever is
the object of Her glorious katAksham is born as the best and highest of beings
like Brihaspati, with all that is auspicious seeking him out, while one who
lacks the same is born as a hapless tree, unable to fend for itself materially
or spiritually-
"Saha sthira paritra savraja Virinchana akinchanai:
anOkaha Brihaspati prabala viklava prakriyam
idam sadasat AtmanA nikhilam Eva nimnOnnatam
KatAksha tat upEkshayO: tava hi Lakshmi tat tANdavam"
Here again, Sri Bhattar draws inspiration from his father's verses in Sristavam-
"lOkE vanaspati Brihaspati tAratamyam yasyA: prasAda pariNAmam udAharanti"
Expanding on the theme, Sri Bhattar paints a picture of a sovereign, seated
gracefully on a caprisoned elephant, with a glittering crown adorning his head,
playing with the precious stones dangling from the pearly umbrella held over
his head by adulating acolytes, not deigning even to look at the monarchs lying
with their crowns touching the sand under his feet. He furnishes another pen
portrait, the antithesis of the first one, of another man in rags, with
absolutely no possessions in the world but for his puny and wasted body,
standing at the roadside with lips bared at passersby in supplication, watching
the progression of the Sovereign and his retinue, his hands held out for the
occasional coin tossed at him. Sri Bhattar again ascribes the chasm of
difference separating the Prince and the Pauper, to the presence and absence of
Piratti's benign glances-
"EkO muktAtapatra prachala maNighaNAtkAri mouLi: manushya:
dripyat dantAvalasttha: na gaNayati natAn yat kshaNam kshONipAlAn
yat tasmai tishttatE anya: kripaNam asharaNO darsayan danta panktim
tat tE SrIrangarAja praNayini nayana udanchita nyanchitAbhyAm".
These are but minor glories, compared to the monumental magnificence Sri
Alavandar ascribes to Piratti, in his ChatusslOkI. He tells us that the entire
process of Creation is set in motion by the Lord, only after seeking the
implicit approval of His Consort, conveyed through Her consenting glances, but
for which the three worlds would languish as undifferentiated matter, with no
means of redeeming itself. It is only the nectarine and merciful fleeting looks
of Piratti that endow matter with the essence of life and endless prosperity,
avers the senior Acharya-
"Ishat tvat karuNA nireekshaNa sudhA sandhukshaNat rakshyatE
nashtam prAk tat alAbhata: tribhuvanam sampratyanantOdayam"
Following the same line of thought, Sri Koorattazhwan too confides in us a
Cosmic Secret-- that while it is the Lord who creates, He does so only at the
prompting of and after ascertaining the mind of Piratti, as expressed through
Her beautiful eyes-
"yasyA veekshya mukham tat ingita parAdheenO vidhattE akhilam".
Going a giant step further, the same illustrious author says that it is not
only we mortals who ought to be thankful to Sri LakshmI for our various
attainments, but the Lord too owes His boundless glory and unlimited ishvaryam
to the bewitching and benevolent glances of Piratti-"JagannAthOpi Narayana:
dhanyam manyata IkshaNAt tava yata: svAtmAnam AtmEshvara:". That on which Her
glances fell in profusion became the Parabrahmam and those on whom they fell
sparingly, became exalted deities like BahmA, Rudra etc. Therefore, when the
Shruti sings the praise of the Parabrahmam, what it really extolls is the
magnificence of Piratti and Her ambrosial glances, says Sri Bhattar-
"apAngO bhooyamsO yat upari Brahma tat abhoot
amI yatra dvitrA: sa cha ShatamakhAdi: tat adharAt".
The nectarine glances of Piratti are cool and comforting, laden with waves of
maternal love, compassion and mercy-"sAnuprAsa prakatita dayai: sAndhra
VAtsalya digdhai:"-and instantly relieve us from the unbearable heat and dust
of SamsAra, from which we suffer eternally. The eyes generating these glorious
glances resemble black, rain-bearing clouds, and appear to have taken a vow to
save the sick, suffering and the destitutes-"Arttha trANa vratibhi: amritAsAra
neelAmbu vAhai:".
What we have seen so far are but negligible samples of the magnificence
attributed to Piratti's glances("LakshmI KatAksham"), the glory of which cannot
be fully covered even if Swami Desikan were to reincarnate and sing a thousand
verses solely in their praise-a "VeekshA Sahasram". Not being endowed with even
a billionth of the Acharya's wisdom or poetical capabilities, we can but pray
with Sri Koorattazhwan that the Divine Consort bless us with Her merciful
glances, which are capable of converting paupers into Princes and Princes into
Emeperors-
"YasyA: katAksha veekshAkshaNa laksham lakshitA mahEsA: syu:
SrI RangarAja MahishIm sA mAmapi veekshatAm LakshmI:"
Srimate Sri LakshmINrisimha divya paduka sevaka SrivanSatakopa Sri Narayana
Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:
Dasan, sadagopan
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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