02 october 2021
It is believed that one can feel the constant presence of Mahalakshmi at five places on earth. She constantly resides in these places.
Goddess Lakshmi is our bhoomadevi, hence she is present everywhere. Not only these five places, she likes to bless the place/ the people whose house is kept clean, where only pleasant words are spoken, where Perumal Aradhanam is performed everyday, where entrance of the house is cleaned in the early morning and kolam is drawn with rice flour( without any adulteration), where the Bhagawad naama chanting is heard, and so on……
But specifically, five places are scrutinised signifying her presence, those are :-
1.Inner part of the Lotus Flower
2.Back side of the Bilva Leaf
3.Forehead of Sumangali
4.Back side of Cow(GOmatha)
5.Forehead of Elephant(Gaja)
“Padmaalayaayey “, “Saroja nilayaa”, “Bilvanilayayeh” from many slokas signifies Sri lakshmi resides on the Lotus and bilva leaf.
Swamy Desikan in Sristuthi explains to us very clearly about the greatness of Goddess Lakshmi in 25 slokas.
In sloka1,
“Vaksha: peeDeem MadhuvijayinO bhUshayantheem svakAnthyA.
Swamy Desikan now has the vision of His upAsana Moorthy, Sri Lakshmi HayagrIvan. He visualizes Sri Devi on His auspicious chest (Madhuvijayina: VakshasTala Peetam) seated on Her lotus throne. Lord’s sacred chest itself becomes the house of residence for Her. There She is radiant with Her Svayam JyOthi and adorns that seat of residence.
” MangaLam MangaLAnAm “:-
She is the root cause of the MangaLam (auspiciousness) in all MangaLa vasthus. They
become auspicious and desirable because of Her conferral of auspiciousness on them.
Their acquiring the status as MangaLa vasthus is solely due to Her vaibhavam.
In sloka 2,
“bhUmA YasyA: bhuvanamakhilam Devi dhivyam padham vaa”
It is impossible therefore to assess the greatness of Your vast wealth;
when it is so, how can men of limited intellect attempt to praise Your glories
adequately. It is ofcourse impossible.
In Sloka 19,
“JaathAkAnkshA Janani YuvayOr yEkasEvAdhikArE
mAyAleeDam vibhavam akhilam manyamAnas-thruNAyapreethyai VishNOs-Tava cha kruthina:“
Word by word Meaning:
Janani! = Oh Mother!
kruthina: = the righteous (PuNyasAlis)
Jaatha AakAnkshaa: = desirous of
YuvayO: yEka sEvA adhikArE = performing Kaimkaryam to both of You together
and recieving the phalans from such kaimkaryams,
Blessed are the persons, who serve You both, considering all material wealth equal to a blade of grass. Those who adopt the vedic duties with no deviation and thus make you (Divya Dampathi)both happy.
In sloka 24,
“Sakala bhuvana PrArTanA KaamadhEnu:” = She is the boon-granting KaamadhEnu
responding to the pleas for anugraham from all the beings of the world.
“Kaa api sa yEshA dEvee Sadha mE sannidhatthAm “= May this PirAtti of such
celebrated vaibhavams reside always in my heart lotus!
Meaning :
May Goddess Lakshmi, the infinite source of all auspicious things, the ultimate abode of compassion, One who is glorified in the VedAs, the divine consort of Lord VishNu, and the unique benefactor for all the worlds, always manifest before me!
Reference: Sristuthi commentary by Sri Opilliappan Varadhachari Sadagopan Swamy
