3/01/2012


"I invoke Shri Lakshmi, who has a line of horses in her front, a series of chariots in the middle, who is being awakened by the trumpeting of elephants, who is divinely resplendent. May that divine Lakshmi grace me. I hereby invoke that Shri Lakshmi who is the embodiment of absolute bliss; who is of pleasant smile on her face; whose luster is that of burnished gold; who is wet as it were, (just from the milky ocean) who is blazing with splendor, and is the embodiment of the fulfillment of all wishes; who satisfies the desire of her votaries; who is seated on the lotus and is beautiful like the lotus. . ."

(section from the Sri Sukta, painting by Raja Ravi Varma, 1896)