Saubhagya-Lakshmi Upanishad

Translated by Dr. A. G. Krishna Warrier 

Be manifest, patent, to me; be ye two, for me, the lynch-pins of the Veda.

Let not Vedic lore desert me.

With this mastered lore, I join day with night.

I shall speak what is right; I shall speak what is true.

Let that protect me; let that protect the speaker.

Let that protect me.

Let that protect the speaker, protect the speaker !

Om ! Peace ! Peace ! Peace !

I-1: Then the Gods said to the Lord: Lord ! Expound for us the science of the Goddess of Prosperity.

I-2: The Lord, the primeval Narayana, replied: Be it so. With intent minds, all of you Gods, listen ! With the aid of the fifteen verses beginning with the verse ‘hiranyavarnam’ (of the hue of gold), etc., meditate on the four-armed Sri (the Goddess of Prosperity), whose form is that of the Fourth, who is beyond the Fourth, who is supreme over all, who is present in all consecrated seats, and who is encircled by the divinities of the seats, major and minor.

I-3: Now, the seers of the hymn on Sri consisting of fifteen verses are Ananda, Kardama, Chiklita and Indirasuta. Of the first verse, the seer is Sri. Of the (next) fourteen verses, the seers are Ananda etc. Of the first three verses, ‘hiranyavarnam’, etc., the metre is Anustubh. Of the verse ‘kamso’smi’, the metre is brihati, of the two others Tristubh (is the metre); of the next eight the metre is Anustubh. Of the remainder, the metre is Prastarapankti. The divinity is the Fire which is Sri. The seed is ‘hiranyavarnam’. The power is ‘kamso’smi’. The consecration of the limbs is (effected) with the words hiranmaya chandra rajatasraja hiranyasraja hiranya hiranyavarna, beginning with Om, ending with Namah (i.e. salutation), and having the nouns declined in the dative case. Next (follows) the consecration of the limbs with the triads of faces. With the verses of the Srisukta themselves consecrate, in order, the head, the eyes, the ears, the nose, the face, the neck, the two arms, the heart, the navel, the privies, the thighs, the knees and the shanks.

I-4: Seated in the spotless lotus

Coloured as its pollen heaps

Bearing in her lotus palms

Lotus pair and symbolled promise

Of fear dispelled and boons bestowed;

With jewelled crown and ornaments diverse 

Wondrously adorned – Let Sri,

Mother of the world entire,

Promote our fortunes ever.

I-5: Her seat: With the goal kept in view, set down in the pericarp the seed-syllable’ of Sri; and in the eight-petalled, twelve-petalled, and sixteen-petalled lotuses, the half verses of the Srisukta (hymn on Sri); outside it (the sixteen-petalled lotus), (set down) the verse ‘yah sucih’, etc., together with the alphabet (from a to la); (and outside, and all around) set down the ‘seed-syllable’ of Sri. Also, draw the ten limbs of the diagram. Then invoke the Goddess Sri.

I-6: With the limbs (e.g. ‘SRAN salutation to the heart’), the first encasing (is accomplished); with Padma, etc., the second encasing; with the mantras of the Lords of the world, the third; with those of their weapons, the fourth encasing. With the hymn of Sri, invocations, etc., (must be made). Sixteen thousand utterances (of the hymn must be made).

I-7: Of the monosyllabic incantation of Rama, the Goddess of Prosperity, the seer, metre and deity are Bhrigu, Nicird-Gayatri and Sri. The power of the seed is SAM. The six limbs are SRIM, etc.

I-8: Abiding in the lotus, lotus-eyed,

Her home Sri Padmanabha’s breast;

Her hands of lotus pair uphold,

And surety of gifts and fear dissolved.

Shining like to burnished gold

Bathed in waters held in jars

By trunks of elephant pair agleam

Like white and spotless clouds;

Her crown with clustered gems bedecked

In silk exceeding pure enrobed

With sweet unguents anointed

May Sri our welfare still promote.

I-9: Her seat: The seat of Rama (the Goddess of Prosperity] consists of eight petals, three circles, divisions comprising twelve houses, and four sides. In the pericarp (are inscribed) the seed of Sri, keeping the goal in view. Worship the nine powers with the words ‘prosperity’, ‘elevation’, ‘glory’, ‘creation’, ‘honour’, ‘humility’, ‘individuality’, ‘upliftment’, and ‘welfare’ in the dative case, each having Om in the beginning and Namah (salutation) in the end.

I-10: The first encasing is done with the limbs; the second with Vasudeva, etc.; the third with Balaki, etc.; the fourth with Indra, etc. The utterance (of the incantation has to be repeated) twelve lakhs of times.

I-11: Sri Lakshmi, the giver of boons, the spouse of Vishnu, the donor of wealth, of golden form, is decked with a garland of gold, and a chaplet of silver. She has the sheen of gold, is in a fortress of gold, and dwells in the lotus. She holds a lotus in her hand and loves the lotus. The pearl adorns her. She is the moon-goddess and the sun-goddess, is fond of bilva leaves and is mighty. She is enjoyment, release, prosperity, increase, true increase, the ploughing (and the) development. She is the giver of wealth and the mistress of wealth. She is faith, rich in enjoyments, the giver of enjoyments, the upholder, the ordainer – these and similar terms in the dative case, with Om in the beginning and Namah in the end, are the mantras. The seat has eight limbs with the monosyllable inscribed on it. A lakh (in number) are the utterances (of the incantations). The proposition is (made with) a tenth (of the lakh). The oblation is (made with) a hundredth part. The gratification of the twice-born is (won with) a thousandth part.

I-12: Adeptship in the science of Sri is reserved for those who are free from desires; never for those who cherish desires.