Navarātrī 2024, Day 6: Śrī Stuti, verses 6–10

Let us continue with the next five verses of Swāmī Deśikan’s Śrī Stuti dedicated to the Supreme Goddess Mahālakṣmī.

I have posted a full recitation of the Sri Stuti on YouTube here.

Śrī Stuti verse 6: The Divine Couple’s completeness

uddeśyatvaṃ Janani! bhajator
        ujjhitôpādhi-gandhaṃ
pratyag-rūpe haviṣi yuvayor
        eka-śeṣitva-yogāt |
Padme! Patyus tava ca nigamair
        nityam anviṣyamāṇo
nâ avacchedaṃ bhajati mahimā
        nartayan mānasaṃ naḥ  || ŚStu 6 ||

Mother!

You Two alone are the sole recipients
        of the sacrificial offerings
                made by the Soul;

and this is entirely natural to You,
        without even the slightest scent
                of any sort of additional entity,
because You Two are each
        wholly complete in the other.

Lotus-Lady!

The magnificence of You and Your Husband
        which the Vedas have
                eternally
        sought to describe
admits of no limit,

        making our hearts dance in delight!

This verse harks back to the Catuḥ-Ślokī’s insight that Mahālakṣmī is not just a means (upāya) for us to get wealth, but also simultaneously the end-goal (upeya) in companionship with Lord Mahāviṣṇu.

Śrī Stuti verse 7: All the world’s a board game

paśyantīṣu śrutiṣu paritaḥ
        sūri-bṛndena sārdhaṃ
madhye-kṛtya tri-guṇa-phalakaṃ
        nirmita-sthāna-bhedam |
Viśvâ-adhīśa-praṇayini! sadā
        vibhrama-dyūta-vṛttau
BrahmÊśâ-ādyā dadhati yuvayor
        akṣa-śāra-pracāram || ŚStu 7 ||

Āll the world’s a board-game,
        its positions colored
                by the Three Gun as,
        its pieces the gods
                like Brahmā and Śiva;

And You

        O Beloved to the Cosmic Overlord!

sit across from Him,
        the board between You Two,

roll the dice,
and
move the pieces
        in perfect harmony,

even as the Vedas
        along with Your eternal devotees
look on in awe.

Śrī Stuti verse 8: Escaping from saṃsāra through Her names

asyê Īśānā Tvam asi jagataḥ
        saṃśrayantī Mukundaṃ
«Lakṣmīḥ», «Padmā», «Jaladhi-tanayā»,
        «Viṣṇu-patnī», «Indirê» iti |
yan-nāmāni śruti-paripaṇāny
        evam āvartayanto
nâ āvartante durita-pavana-
        -prerite janma-cakre || ŚStu 8 ||

You are
        the Supreme Goddess
                to all beings

        tightly attached
                to Lord Mukunda
        named by the eternal Vedic texts as:
                
                Lakṣmī—the Lovely One,
                Padmā—the Lotus Lady,
                Daughter of the Ocean,
                Viṣṇu’s beloved,
                Indirā—the Powerful,

and those who ceaselessly repeat
        these names of Yours

will cease being trapped
        inside the ceaselessly spinning
                maelstrom of rebirth.

Śrī Stuti verse 9: The joint sovereignty of the Divine Couple

tvām evâ āhuḥ katicid apare
        tvat-priyaṃ Loka-nāthaṃ
kiṃ tair antaḥ-kalaha-malinaiḥ
        kiṃ cid uttīrya magnaiḥ |
tvat-samprītyai viharati Harau
        saṃmukhīnāṃ śrutīnāṃ
bhāvâ-ārūḍhau Bhagavati! yuvāṃ
        dampatī daivataṃ naḥ || ŚStu 9 ||

Some call You alone
        Ruler of All.

Some others say the same
        about Your beloved Lord.

Who cares for either of them,
        drowning in petty debates,
                first one side winning,
                then the other?

Lord Hari does everything He does
        solely for Your pleasure;

and it’s You Two together,
        the Divine Duo,
        the real heart of the śruti,
whom we truly worship.

Śrī Stuti verse 10: Her Triple Nature and the eternal harmony of the Divine Couple

āpannâ-ārti-praśamana-vidhau
        baddha-dīkṣasya Viṣṇor
ācakhyus tvāṃ priya-saha-carīm
        aikam atyôpapannām |
prādur-bhāvair api sama-tanuḥ
        prādhvam anvīyase tvaṃ
dūrôt.kṣiptair iva madhuratā
        dugdha-rāśes taraṅgaiḥ || ŚStu 10 ||

You’re famous
as the beloved wife of Viṣṇu,
        who is always entirely focused
        upon soothing sorrowful souls.

You partake in all of His acts,
        always entirely in accord with Him.

You accompany Him
        in all of His incarnations,
                always taking a form
                in concord with His own

        just as sweetness accompanies
        the far-flung waves
                of the Ocean of the Milk,
        leaping up to lofty heights.

We see in this verse the Triple Nature of the Supreme Goddess Mahālakṣmī highlighted—Her unique puruṣakāratva and Her joint upāyatva and upeyatva shared with the Lord. This thus connects both to the fourth verse of the Catuḥ-Ślokī as we have already seen and to the verse of Naḍādūr Ammāḷ from the Prapanna-Pārijāta (unsurprisingly, since Naḍādūr Ammāḷ was Swāmī Deśikan’s grand-teacher).

|| samasta-parivāra-sametāya Śrīman-Nārāyaṇāya namaḥ ||