{"collection":"Hinduism","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/hin/db/bk09ch42.htm","path":"hin/db/bk09ch42.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/hin/db/bk09ch42.htm","text":"THE NINTH BOOK\nChapter XLII\nOn the Dhy\u00e2nam and Stotra of Mah\u00e2 Laksm\u00ee\n1-50. N\u00e2rada said :-- O Bhagav\u00e2n! I have heard about the glories of Hari, about the Tattvaj\u00f1\u00e2nam (the True Knowledge) and the story of Laksm\u00ee. Now tell me Her Dhy\u00e2nam (meditation) and Stotram (recitation of hymns) of Her. N\u00e2r\u00e2yana said :-- O N\u00e2rada! Indra then, bathed first in the T\u00eerath (holy place) and, wearing a cleansed cloth, installed, first of all, an earthen jar (ghata) on the beach of the Ksiroda Ocean. Then he worshipped with devotion Ganes\u2019a, S\u00fbrya, Fire, Visnu, S\u2019iva, and S\u2019iv\u00e2, the six deities with scents and flowers. Next Indra invoked Mah\u00e2 Laksm\u00ee, of the nature of the highest powers and greatest prosperity, and began to worship Her as Brahm\u00e2, who was acting as an officiating priest in the presence of the Munis, Br\u00e2hmanas, Brihaspati, Hari and the other Devas, had dictated him. He first smeared one P\u00e2rij\u00e2ta flower with sandal paste and reciting the meditation mantra of Mah\u00e2 Laksm\u00ee offered it to Her feet. The meditation mantra that was recited by Devendra, was what Bhagav\u00e2n Hari first gave to Brahm\u00e2. I am now telling you that. Listen.\n\u201cO Mother! Thou residest on the thousand-petalled lotus. The beauty of Thy face excels the beauty of koti autumnal Full Moons. Thou art shining with Thy own splendour. Thou art very beautiful and lovely; Thy colour is like the burnished gold; Thou art with form, chaste, ornamented all over with jewel ornaments; Thou art wearing the yellow cloth and look! What beauty is coming out of it! Always a sweet smile reigns on Thy lips. Thy beauty is constant; Thou art the bestower of prosperity to all. O Mah\u00e2 Laksm\u00ee! I meditate on Thee.\u201d Thus meditating on Her endowed with various attributes with this mantra, Indra worshipped devotedly with sixteen upach\u00e2ras (articles offered). Every upach\u00e2ra (article) was offered with the repetition of mantra. All the things were very excellent, right and commendable. \u201cO Mah\u00e2 Laksm\u00ee!\nVis\u2019vakarm\u00e2 has made this invaluable \u00c2san (a carpet seat) wonderfully decked with jewels; I am offering this \u00c2san to Thee. Accept. O Thou residing in the Lotus! This holy Ganges water is considered with great regard and desired by all. This is like the fire to burn the fuel in the shape of the sins of the sinners. O Thou! The Dweller in the Lotus! This D\u00fbrbha grass, flowers, this Arghya (offering) of the Ganges water perfumed with sandalpaste, I am offering to Thee. Accept. O Beloved of Hari! This sweet scented flower oil and this sweet scented \u00c2malaki fruit lead to the beauty of the body; therefore I present this to Thee. Accept. O Dev\u00ee! I am presenting this cloth made of silk to Thee; Accept. O Dev\u00ee! This excellent ornament made of gold and jewels, which increases the beauty, I am presenting to Thee. Accept. O Beloved of Krisna! I am presenting this sweet scented holy Dh\u00fbpa prepared from various herbs and plants, exquisitely nice and the root of all beauty, to Thee. Accept. This sweet scented pleasant sandalpaste I offer to Thee, O Dev\u00ee! Accept. O Ruler of the Devas! I present this pleasing holy D\u00eepa (lights) which is the eye of this world and by which all the darkness is vanished; accept. O Dev\u00ee! I present to Thee these very delicious offerings of fruits, etc., very juicy and of various kinds. Accept. O Deves'\u00ee! This Anna (food) is Brahm\u00e2 and the chief means to preserve the life of living beings. By this the nourishment of the body and the mental satisfaction are effected. Therefore I am presenting this food to Thee. Accept. O Mah\u00e2 Laksm\u00ee! I am presenting this most delicious Param\u00e2nna, which is prepared out of rice, milk and sugar, to Thee. Accept. O Dev\u00ee! I am presenting this most delicious and pleasant svastika prepared of sugar and clarified butter to Thee; accept. O Beloved of Achyuta! I am presenting to Thee various beautiful Pakk\u00e2nnas, ripe delicious fruits and clarified butter out of cow\u2019s milk; accept. O Dev\u00ee! The sugarcane juice, when heated, yields a syrup which again heated yields very delicious and nice thing called Gur. I am presenting this Gur to Thee; accept. O Dev\u00ee! I am presenting to Thee the sweetmeats prepared out of the flour of Yava and and wheat and Gur and clarified butter; accept. I am presenting with devotion the offering made of Svastika and the flour of other grains; accept. O Kamale! I am presenting to Thee this fan and white ch\u00e2mara, which blows cool air and is very pleasant when this body gets hot; accept. O Dev\u00ee! I am presenting this betel scented with camphor by which the inertness of the tongue is removed; accept. O Dev\u00ee! I am presenting this scented cool water, which will allay the thirst and which is known as the life of this world; accept. O Dev\u00ee! I am presenting this cloth made of cotton and silk that increases the beauty and splendour of the body. Accept. O Dev\u00ee! I am presenting to Thee, the ornaments made of gold and jewels which are the source of beauty and loveliness. Ac-\ncept. O Dev\u00ee! I am presenting to Thee these pure garlands of flowers which blossom in different seasons, which look very beautiful and which give satisfaction to the Devas and to the kings. Accept. O Dev\u00ee! I am presenting to Thee this nice scent, this very holy thing to Thee by which both the body and mind become pure, which is most auspicious and which is prepared of many fragrant herbs and plants; accept. O Beloved of the God Krisna! I am presenting this \u00c2chaman\u00eeya water to Thee for rinsing the mouth, pure and holy, and brought from holy places of pilgrimages; accept. O Dev\u00ee! I am presenting to Thee, this bed made of excellent gems and jewels and flowers, sandalpaste, clothings and ornaments; accept. O Dev\u00ee! I am presenting to Thee all those things that are extraordinary, very rare in this earth and fit to be enjoyed by the Devas and worthy of their ornaments; accept.\u201d O Devarsi! Uttering those mantras, the Devendra offered those articles, with intense devotion according to the rules. He, then, made Japam of the M\u00fbla Mantra (the Radical Seed Mantra) ten lakhs of times. Thus his Mantra revealed the Deity thereof and thus came to a successful issue. The lotus born Brahm\u00e2 gave this Mantra \u201cS\u2019r\u00eem Hr\u00eem Kl\u00eem Aim Kamal\u00e2v\u00e2sinyai Sv\u00e2h\u00e2\u201d to the Devendra. This is like a Kalpavriksa (the tree in Indra\u2019s garden yielding whatever may be desired). This Vaidik mantra is the chief of the mantras. The word \u201cSv\u00e2h\u00e2\u201d is at the end of the mantra. By virtue of this Mantra, Kuvera got his highest prosperity. By the power of this Mantra, the King-Emperor Daksa S\u00e2varni Manu and Mangala became the lords of the earth with seven islands. Priyavrata, Utt\u00e2nap\u00e2da, and Ked\u00e2rar\u00e2ja all these became Siddhas (were fructified with success) and became King-Emperors. O N\u00e2rada! When Indra attained success in this Mantra, there appeared before him Mah\u00e2 Laksm\u00ee, seated in the celestial car, decked with excellent gems and jewels. The Great Halo, coming out of Her body made manifest the earth with seven islands. Her colour was white like the white champaka flower and Her whole body was decked with ornaments. Her face was always gracious and cheerful with sweet smiles. She was ever ready to shew Her kindness to the Bhaktas. On Her neck there was a garland of jewels and gems, bright as ten million Moons. O Devarsi! No sooner did Indra see that World Mother Mah\u00e2 Laksm\u00ee, of a peaceful appearance, than his body was filled with joy and the hairs of the body stood on ends. His eyes were filled with tears; and, with folded palms, he began to recite stotras to Her, the Vaidik stotras, yielding all desires, that was communicated to him by Brahm\u00e2.\n51-75. Indra said :-- \u201cO Thou, the Dweller in the lotus! O N\u00e2r\u00e2yan\u00ee! O Dear to Krisna! O Padm\u00e2sane! O Mah\u00e2 Laksm\u00ee!\nObeisance to Thee! O Padmadaleksane! O Padmanibh\u00e2nane! O Padm\u00e2sane! O Padme! O Vaisnav\u00ee! Obeisance to Thee! Thou art the wealth of all; Thou art worshipped by all; Thou bestowest to all the bliss and devotion to S\u2019r\u00ee Hari. I bow down to Thee. O Dev\u00ee! Thou always dwellest on the breast of Krisna and exercisest Thy powers over Him. Thou art the beauty of the Moon; Thou takest Thy seat on the beautiful Jewel Lotus. Obeisance to Thee! O Dev\u00ee! Thou art the Presiding Deity of the riches; Thou art the Great Dev\u00ee; Thou increasest always Thy gifts and Thou art the bestower of increments. So I bow down to Thee. O Dev\u00ee! Thou art the Mah\u00e2 Laksm\u00ee of Vaikuntha, the Laksm\u00ee of the Ksiroda Ocean; Thou art Indra\u2019s Heavenly Laksm\u00ee; Thou art the R\u00e2ja Laksm\u00ee of the Kings; Thou art the Griha Laksm\u00ee of the householders; Thou art the household Deity of them; Thou art the Surabh\u00ee, born of the Ocean; Thou art the Daksin\u00e2, the wife of the Sacrifices; Thou art Aditi, the Mother of the Devas; Thou art the Kamal\u00e2, always dwelling in the Lotus; Thou art the Sv\u00e2h\u00e2, in the offerings with clarified butter in the sacrificial ceremonies; Thou art the Svadh\u00e2 Mantra in the K\u00e2vyas (an offering of food to deceased ancestors). So obeisance to Thee! O Mother Thou art of the nature of Visnu; Thou art the Earth that supports all; Thou art of pure S\u2019uddha Sattva and Thou art devoted to N\u00e2r\u00e2yana. Thou art void of anger, jealousy. Rather Thou grantest boons to all. Thou art the auspicious S\u00e2rad\u00e2; Thou grantest the Highest Reality and the devotional service to Hari. Without Thee all the worlds are quite stale, to no purpose like ashes, always dead while existing. Thou art the Chief Mother, the Chief Friend of all; Thou art the source of Dharma, Artha, K\u00e2ma and Moksa! As a mother nourishes her infants with the milk of her breasts, so Thou nourishest all as their mother! A child that sucks the milk might be saved by the Daiva (Fate), when deprived of its mother; but men can never be saved, if they be bereft of Thee! O Mother! Thou art always gracious. Please be gracious unto me. O Eternal One! My possessions are now in the hands of the enemies. Be kind enough to restore my kingdoms to me from my enemies\u2019 hands. O Beloved of Hari! Since Thou hast forsaken me, I am wandering abroad, friendless, like a beggar, deprived of all prosperities. O Dev\u00ee! Give me J\u00f1\u00e2nam, Dharma, my desired fortune, power, influence and my possessions.\u201d O N\u00e2rada! Indra and all the other Devas bowed down frequently to Mah\u00e2 Laksm\u00ee with their eyes filled with tears. Brahm\u00e2, S\u2019ankara, Ananta Deva, Dharma and Kes\u2019ava all asked pardon again and again from Mah\u00e2 Laksm\u00ee. Laksm\u00ee then granted boons to the Devas and before\nthe assembly gladly gave the garland of flowers on the neck of Ke\u2019sava. The Devas, satisfied, went back to their own places. The Dev\u00ee, Laksm\u00ee, too, becoming very glad went to S\u2019r\u00ee Hari sleeping in the Ksiroda Ocean. Brahm\u00e2 and Mahes\u2019vara, both became very glad and, blessing the Devas, went respectively to their own abodes. Whoever recites this holy Stotra three times a day, becomes the King Emperor and gets prosperity and wealth like the God Kuvera. Siddhi (success) comes to him who recites this stotra five lakhs of times. If anybody reads regularly and always this Siddha Stotra for one month, he becomes very happy and he turns out a R\u00e2jar\u00e2jendra.\nHere ends the Forty-second Chapter of the Ninth Book on the Dhy\u00e2nam and Stotra of Mah\u00e2 Laksm\u00ee in the Mah\u00e2 Pur\u00e2nam S\u2019r\u00ee Mad Dev\u00ee Bh\u00e2gavatam of 18,000 verses by Maharsi Veda Vy\u00e2sa.","title":"The Devi Bhagavatam: The Ninth Book: Chapter 42","type":"page"}