Sri Suktam Lecture 06 on 15 February 2024

Full Transcript (Not Corrected)

We are studying the Sri Suktam, Lakshmi Suktam and the purpose is to obtain the grace of Mother Lakshmi. Who is the Mother Lakshmi? She is none other than the Divine Mother of the Universe. But she has been given some special epithets. This is the speciality of Hinduism, the same Divine Mother is depicted in her terrible form as Kali, as Bhoomravati, as Chinnamasta, Smshana Kali etc. Different forms of Kali are there. But one form of Kali is very endearing, pleasing. That is called Dakshina Kali. That is what Sri Ramakrishna worshipped at Dakshineshwar. So same Divine Being. That is the first point we have always to keep in mind. Second important point, the Brahman and Divine Mother are not two separate entities. Same Brahman or same reality when we think without any activity. And all activities are classified under only three topics. Creation, sustenance, maintenance and dissolution or destruction. When we think of God with activity then we call Him as the Divine Mother Shakti. But the same Divine Mother without any activity is called Brahman. This is the great lesson we have to learn. God, Divine Mother, there is no distinction. She is not the wife, She is not the consort, She is not even the Shakti but She is Brahman Herself. And it is not that God is separate and His Shakti is separate or they belong to Him. But our thinking, the third point, God is what He is just because of our thought, our thinking. So we have discussed that first mantra that O Divine Mother, so you have to come. But She has to be invited and we are inviting Her through Agni Devata, who is again only that Divine Being. And second mantra also we say let the Divine Mother in the form of Lakshmi, Divine Mother with certain qualities called Lakshmi. And we have seen that not one, Lakshmi means in general pure, purity, knowledge, happiness, Sat, Chit, Ananda. So She is called Lakshmi and Lakshmi has various aspects like Dhanalakshmi, Dhanyalakshmi, Gajalakshmi, Siddhilakshmi, Jayalakshmi, Vidyalakshmi, etc., etc. So is there any end? No. Whatever Her children are in need of and Divine Mother can be thought of in that particular form as Saraswati, as Lakshmi or as Parvati or Kali. It depends upon us. How we think of God depends upon our own mind and our mind develops these ideas usually from our culture. That is why in some of the religions, especially Islam, it is very difficult that a devotee can think of God as the most loving, gracious, forgiving, forbearing aspect as a mother. Very difficult for them. And then there is a sociological fact and it is a very interesting fact. What is that fact? Either we think of God as a father or a mother, etc., and how do we develop that idea? That depends upon social conditions. That society where the woman or the mother, how she is looked upon, that more or less determines only in a, it is multiplied to the ninth degree. My mother is loving and God is most loving. My mother is forgiving. God is all-forgiving. My mother forbears so many of my faults, especially when I am a child. So God also forbears so many things. So this way, whatever our experiences, in society, we have to project into our God. God is actually our projection. This tremendous psychological fact has been expressed by Swamiji. He gave a very pithy saying, God grows as man grows. What does it mean? In fact, we can add some addenda that God is the creation of man and Swamiji said that also. Just as it is said God creates us, every human being, in his image, we also create God in our image. So if I am a human being, it is difficult for me to think of God as an animal other than a human being. And Hindus do think as Ugra Narasimha, ferocious lion. But the lion does not behave like a lion. The horse-headed Hayagriva does not behave like a Hayagriva. The elephant-headed Vinayaka or Ganesha does not behave like an elephant-headed, but looks like an extraordinarily intelligent human being. He speaks every language, whatever language his devotee understands, God speaks. So these are all according to our image of God. So if there is a society where woman is looked down and to think of God as a woman, mother, that is practically impossible. But vice versa also, if God can be looked upon as our mother, then our mother also can be looked upon as the Divine Mother. Not only that, we are thinking of certain qualities. Motherliness is one quality, fatherliness is another quality. Both are equally necessary for the harmonious growth of every child. And therefore, even a child can think of father as a mother because if he is very loving, forgiving, forgetting, forbearing and adoring, then that father is more than a mother. If a mother is very strict and pulls our ears for our own good, of course, making us attend a school, even though we do not wish to do that, that is also a fatherly aspect. So Guna, the quality of their feelings, their behavior and what we imagine to be those feelings, those qualities, that determines our concept of God. Here we are talking about Lakshmi Devi. And I said, first Lakshmi is the Divine Mother and she is always the consort. Consort means inseparable aspect of the male-female harmony, what the Chinese call yin-yang harmony, where one is present, both are present. So why do we invite? We have two needs and we might place importance on one particular need. Simple example, if I am thirsty, my immediate requirement is to quench my thirst, which is water. And if I am hungry, it will be food. If I am in trouble, that will be a saving factor. So human life goes through so many conditions and all these conditions require fulfillment and God becomes that fulfillment. So He could take the form of mother, father, brother, guru, protector, bodyguard, everything, anything that we require. This is a marvelous idea. That is why from the Vedic Rishis' time, Ekam Sat, whatever exists, the supreme reality is only one. Vipraaha, that means devotees. Bahudhaa vadanti, call the same reality by various names. This is the main teaching of Shri Ramakrishna. Isha, Mosha, Allah, God. Isha means Jesus. Mosha means Allah. Allah and God and by whatever name, father in heaven or the king of the kingdom of heaven, whatever name we call, we are calling the same one only reality with different names, different forms, different qualities, different feelings. We have to keep that in the background. So we have already finished two mantras and we have entered in our last class into the third. So we have prayed to the Agni Devata. It looks like a worldly prayer. It can be worldly prayer or it can be also a spiritual prayer. Remember, these Ashoktas had come out of the mouth of not a worldly person, but out of a Rishi. A Rishi is a mantra drashta or a seer whom we call a realized soul. And when a realized soul is expressing his experience, he means everything. It could be praise or worldly fulfillment or spiritual fulfillment. So in the third mantra, when we invite wholeheartedly with a longing heart, as Shri Ramakrishna used to say, with a yearning heart, O Agni Devata, I am not able to please contact the divine, but I can contact you and through you, you go and plead on my behalf. Please make God in the form that I want Him to come to me, be gracious to me and fulfill all my wants. So the first and second mantras are actually describing to Agni Devata whom he has to approach and please the divine and bring, in this case, Lakshmi to us. And if we are in earnest, she will definitely come or he will definitely come. This third mantra is coming. She is coming to us. That means Agni Devata had successfully conveyed, successfully convinced the divine mother that she is longing to see us. So she wants to come as soon as possible. This idea has been so beautifully depicted in the Bhagavatam in a particular episode called Gajendra Mokshanam. Bhagavan Vishnu coming to the rescue of the king of the elephants. Very interesting. Under the same Gaja, here Lakshmi Devi is also called Gajalakshmi. We will come to that. So she is coming. And how do we know that she is coming? Ashwapura, like a queen or a king, when they start to tour their capital or go somewhere, wherever they go, first there will be foot soldiers. Then there will be a lot of horses. Then later on, followed by elephants. And then there will be either they will be sitting on the elephant or chariot pulled by special type of horses. And then again, they are followed by other elephants, other horses, as if a king, definitely, earthly king definitely requires protection. But the divine king or queen does not require any protection because it is they who protect us. And she is pleased with our prayers. And she granted our prayer. And Agni Devata comes and lets us know that God is coming. How do we know? These are the signs. We hear beautiful neighing sounds of the horses, the trumpeting sounds of the elephants. And then in the middle of them, Ratha Madhyam on a beautiful chariot. It is a golden chariot. And in that golden chariot is a golden queen with a golden dress. She is shining with the color of gold. And she is coming to us. And as soon as I get, what do we do? When a big officer is coming, we run there and salute and welcome with a tremendously big heart bursting with joy. And this is what is said. So Ashwapurva, the Lakshana's characteristics of her arrival, I have already seen. But how do we know if we have to interpret this mantra in our... So suppose somebody is working in an office and the officer is highly pleased and she calls us. Whenever we approach, he speaks very sweetly. He or she speaks very sweetly to us. And more and more smiles are coming from the officer. And one day, very soon, the promotion is coming. So by his earlier behavior and the indicative signs of what is about to come in the future, like that, a person's heart becomes glad. Things go on very positively. Everything that a person, whether he understands, whether he requires, whether he imagines, even without his thought, so many good things start happening. And we call it a fortunate person, a good person. He is born with Lakshmi in his feet, in her feet, etc., etc. That is what happens. We have to translate it into good fortune. It starts smiling and coming to us in everything. We become introduced to good people. And wherever we are, things go on very positively. And we understand God is very pleased. And how? Because we have prayed for it. God has granted that prayer. And then in this particular Suktam, it is the Shri Devi. Shriyam Devi Upafai. I know all these signs definitely indicate that the Divine Mother is coming to me. And when she comes, I will be inundated. I will be flooded with good fortune, with the greatest bliss in the world. After all, everything, beautiful partners, very good friends, wonderful parents, wonderful brothers and sisters and children, wonderful neighborhood, wonderful government, everything is indicating what? They are all helping to become happy persons. So, Ananda. But for Ananda, he is preceded by what? Sat. We become holy. We think of pure thoughts. We start loving. Our heart becomes filled with positive thoughts. And slowly, these Sat, what Ramakrishna calls, become Sat Purusha, holy person. By cultivating holy company, we become holy, sacred, pure, positive-minded. When we do that, then the treasury of knowledge opens up. And then we see that we become wiser. And what does it take us? We don't need things. Only minimal things are more than sufficient to make us very happy because happiness is coming from within, not from outside. So, this is how we understand. And then the person becomes merged in bliss, Ananda Swaroopa, Sat, Chit and Ananda. Every what is called good fortune has to be equated with not merely money or accumulating treasure, but with tremendous happiness. And then that brings purity. That brings wisdom, right knowledge. And right knowledge is always followed by Ananda. There is an invariable relationship between Sat and Chit and Ananda and in that order. This is what we have to keep in mind. And then Shriyam Deviyam Upahvaya. I wholeheartedly surrender myself to Upahvaya, means I welcome. Why do I welcome? Because I need this Divine Mother. Every child requires its mother. The child is happy only in the lap of the mother. And my mother is coming to me whom I have missed for a long time. And this mother is not to be compared with the earthly mother. My earthly mother is as miserable, as happy, as miserable as anybody else. But this Divine Mother, once she comes, then she is the very embodiment of Sat, Chit, Ananda. I wholeheartedly welcome. And look here, if Ananda, there is nobody, good person, evil person or a saint or a sinner, without exception, we all invite what is called not fortune, good fortune you say, but that's a not adequate expression, bliss. We want more happiness, more happy than what we are. And we don't need to say, I invite you. We long for it. Until we achieve permanent infinite happiness, we will not rest also. And the arrival of the Divine Mother in the form of Shri Devi, that indicates it. So, even though expressively it is said, I invite her, I welcome her. Upahvaya means I wholeheartedly welcome. And then Shri Ma Devi Yoshatam, that Divine Mother, she comes. And what should she do? She let her be Ma, means mom. This means me. That Shri Devi Yoshatam, ever be pleased with me. Never be displeased with me. I am a human being. I may take a faltering step, a misstep and I may commit mistakes, but the Divine Mother knows I am a child, just as a child soils itself and no mother ever gets annoyed. Joyfully, they wash and take the babies. So, let the Shri Devi be always pleased with me. Such a Lakshmi Devi, Upahvaya, I invite, I invoke. And she should be, as we said earlier, Anapagaminem, that she should never leave me. That is a very important point. So, this is what we discussed in our last class. And we move on now to the fourth mantra. In the third, we have seen that I wholeheartedly, Upahvaya Shriyam, I invite. By invoking, not only invoking, I invite that Divine Mother. And I want to meditate upon her. The baby never wants any separation from its mother. As long as we are babies, we feel if mother is separated, even for one millisecond, we feel very bad. But we always want, even when mother is punishing us or training us with harsh words, but we want only Divine Mother. Shri Ramakrishna expresses it so beautifully. Even when mother is beating the baby, the baby is only crying, Oh Father, come and save me. No. Ma, Ma, Mother, Oh Mother, mother is beating and the baby is only calling on the mother because he knows the protector and the trainer, everything is by Divine Mother only. And so, a description, very, very exalted, beautiful description of the Divine Mother. And I want to dwell upon each of these descriptions and Calm. What is the very first one? It is Sanskrit Calm. English Calm also, C-A-L-M, a very beautiful word. When are we calm? When all our desires are fulfilled, then we become very peaceful, calm. So here, calm means Ananda Swaroopa, the bliss aspect. She is also called in Tantras, Hladini Shakti, Hladini, that's why Prahlada, because Prahlada is always remembering God. What is God's nature? Sat, Chit, Ananda. Prahlada is only calling upon Sat, Chit, Ananda. He is thinking only about bliss, pure existence, pure knowledge and pure bliss, uncontaminated, unadulterated bliss. So that is what is Calm. When the Mother comes, Calm in Sanskrit means Sukha. That is why Naraka is called, Na Aka becomes Naraka. Ka means happiness, Aka means unhappiness, Na is added there, Naraka means that place where we suffer terribly, only very little happiness is there. And I don't know whether there is any relief when the Yama, the health agents are what is called roasting us, barbecuing us, sawing us, whether we have any relief. If on earth somebody does it, we become unconscious and then we do not feel anything. But in Naraka they give a special medicine where the person is a billion times aware of his pain. Even a pin prick appears to be somebody is hammering the head. So that is a special medicine not really available on earth. That is reserved only for evil people there or as the Hamas people tell to Israelis. Now Calm, this is the Divine Mother who is of the very nature of bliss, Ananda Swaroopini. And when a person is happy, how do you know a person is happy? Because you look at the face, it is brimming with a beautiful smile, a pleased smile. Sa Asmitaam. Asmita means smile. Asmita means beautiful smile. So the Divine Mother, you look at any mother, she goes out for a walk and she comes back. And then when the mother looks at the baby, her face usually bursts into a tremendous amount of joy. And if the baby is looking and lifts its hands, the mother joyfully gathers the baby into her hands. So beautiful Smita Mukhi. We have got beautiful names. Smita we call it. Smita means beautiful, pleasing, happy smile. One with that smile is called a Smita. That is described here. And then Hiranyaprakaram. She is enclosed, her body, how is she? Like Hiranya. Hiranya means gold. Very often as we discussed earlier also, gold represents Satvaguna. Satva Sanjayate Sukham. From Satva only comes Sukham. Sukham means Anandam. Hiranyaprakaram, as if her body is shining like a go with a golden complexion. But we should not take it. There are some men and women who have got this skin color, golden color. But they may be the most smelly people on earth, the most miserable people on earth, the most undesirable people on earth. No. Here she is that Satvaguna Sampanna. This Satvaguna has the capacity to influence our minds. That is why the people of Kamarpakur use it to throng the small hut of Kshudira. Why? Because they are day and night, they are what is called scorched by the miseries of this world. But when they visit Kshudiram's house, even for a few minutes, they become so happy, not because of their merits. As soon as they enter into that circumference, periphery of Kshudiram's house and he had nothing to offer. Sometimes he used to offer what we call tobacco, chillum. That is why the chillum means chill out. Nowadays, young people, they say we want to chill out. Sometimes they chill and they are out forever. So Hiranyaprakaram, as soon as this is the imagery, we have to keep. Our Divine Mother, for her, each one of us is like a precious baby, small baby, eagerly waiting, looking here and there anxiously for her and as soon as she comes and she is more anxious even than the baby to gather the baby into her hands. So Hiranyaprakaram, even if the baby is sleeping and the soil is dirty, but the mother lovingly washes the baby and gathers unto herself and suckles the baby and mother's happiness really consists of the baby's happiness only. Why? Because the mother never considers the baby as a second person, but a representation of her own self. This is the meaning of Hiranyaprakaram and then it is described as Ardhram. Ardhram means wet or what we call melting in compassion. Mother's heart is always melting. As soon as the baby is seen, her heart melts. That means whatever the baby requires or wants, immediately she fulfills. But she is not an ordinary mother. She is the Divine Mother. She is the Universal Mother. Jalantim, her very face, she is shining. She is aflame with what? With that supreme reality, Aham Brahmasmi feeling and Triptam. Triptam means completely satiated, Tripti, always pleased. What can the baby give except in trouble? Sometimes, of course, the only thing the baby gives is only a smile, but that is all a mother requires. No mother ever expects a baby to give anything in return. So, Triptam, she is ever pleased and Tarpayanthim, the meaning of Tarpayanthim means she is ever ready to fulfil all the desires expressed, unexpressed, even not thought of, of her babies. Padmesthitam, and this is a classical description of the Divine Mother. Padmesthitam, she is always depicted as sitting on a lotus. Padmavarnam, her very form, the colour of her skin, we are thinking of the Divine Mother in terms of a human being, whether it is Vishnu, Shiva, Ganesha or Kartikeya or Jesus Christ. We cannot think of God other than in a human form. Swami Vivekananda had expressed this so beautifully. If a buffalo had to think about God, then God will be the biggest buffalo with the biggest, strongest horns upon his head and no other being can withstand the power of those horns. If an ant has to imagine God, it will be the biggest ant that any ant can imagine and then if any human being comes near, it will be worse than an ant. So, this ant God is most powerful and the sting of that ant God is irresistible. So, it can destroy anybody. So, according to our identity with what I am, we think of God a billion billion times magnified. That is our concept of God and very funny consequences will come. Krishna is a cowboy. So, why can't you think like Houston, Texas cowboy? What is wrong with that? If there is any devotee of Krishna born in Texas, of course, that person will imagine Krishna only as the Texas cowboy. No, no, no, we don't accept cowboys. Our Krishna doesn't look like that. He will not have a cockney hat. He will not have a shotgun. He will not be resting on the shoulders of a big horse, etc., etc. Now, here he is resting on a cow. There is a peacock feather, etc., etc. These are all human imaginations. What is the point? This is how Hindus want to imagine, especially Mother Lakshmi. But when they want to imagine Mother Kali, it is only human beings who have imagined Mother Kali and established temples, etc., including the very great devotees of Mother Kali. But they will not depict Mother Kali the way Saraswati or Lakshmi are depicted. Very ferocious form, Munda Mala, a garland of skulls and she is only standing on the body, inert body of her husband. But there is deep inner meanings are there and many times I have gone through. Here I am not going through. My point is these are all human imaginations, but they are all very positive imaginations. Even when a devotee of ferocious Kali Goddess is imagining or meditating, the heart of the devotee swells with a tremendous amount of joy. Like this, she swells and wants to reach the moon on a full moonlit night. When we imagine the Divine Mother, when we meditate, this is for the sake of contemplation, then she is sitting on the softest petals of the lotus flower and it is a big lotus. And Sahasra Dala Padma, that is symbolically imagined at the highest place where the realization will come. Sahasra Dala Padma and then Padma Varnam. It is such a pleasing color. It is nothing to do. It is made up of pure love, pure knowledge, pure bliss, pure existence. But in human terminology Padma Varnam. And having said that, what do I do? Tam, Iha, Shriyam. Tam, Shriyam, Iha, Aham, Upahvayi. Aham is not there, but Iha is there. I invoke her. I wholeheartedly invite such a Lakshmidevi, Shriyam means Lakshmidevi, Vitiya Vibhakti, so calm. Because that is the very nature of embodiment of bliss and always stunning, beautiful, pleased look, Hiranyaprakara, shining like a gold. So I pray to Goddess Lakshmi, I invite her to come and dwell permanently in my home. Which home? If we are imagining ordinary home, ordinary home will be what? It will be a bricks and mortar. So what happens when I go out for work? Divine Mother will be here. I will be somewhere in a wretched place. No, in my heart. Because earlier we said Anapagaminim. Apagaminim means she who goes away. No, she will never go away. Anapagaminim, she who never leaves me. Even if I leave her, she never leaves me. That is why Bhagavan Vishnu is called, one of his epithets is called Achyuta. Achyuta means to fall down. Achyuta means never slipping from his position. It is interpreted by great commentators, some of the Vaishnava commentators as what? If once a devotee says, Lord, I am your child and I surrender myself to you, the Divine Lord says, yes, I accept you, you are my child and thereafter the child may forget the father, but father will never forget. So that keeping, Bhagavan keeps the idea, this is my child and he never forgets it. Then that unforgettable attitude of the Divine Lord is termed as Achyuta, no Chuti itself. So Lakshmi is full of smiles, Smita and resides in a golden enclosure, always radiant with happiness, seated on a lotus and assembling a lotus. Let me recollect to you a beautiful vision of Sri Ramakrishna when he came to Varanasi. He visited Mother Annapurna. He said, I have seen her in a golden colour, radiating a divine joy and such a look, my child, I have come to you. I am so happy to see you. So who can describe this kind of visions except in very poor words. We cannot really do that. So calm, a Smita, one has a radiant smile. We can only imagine with our experience, just as after a long separation, when a child comes, even I have seen when we used to return from the school, practically we leave at seven o'clock and then reach the place around four o'clock or five o'clock, five thirty, walking. Our mothers, their face will be smiling. But nothing can beat the descriptions in the Bhagavatam of how the Gopis, the mothers, when their children used to return after grazing the cows in the hot blazing desert like Vrindavan. You should not imagine like in the pictures, beautiful like England, always raining. So in summer season, if you go to Vrindavan, you understand what I am talking about. Not much has changed since Krishna's time. With Godhuli, with the dust of the feet of raised by the cows and by everybody else, when these fellows coated with dust, etc. used to return, the mothers anxiously going hundred times in and out. Where is my child? It is getting late. Why is he not coming? And when they spy the child from a distance, the mothers cannot bear even one millisecond separation. They run and for them the dust on the body of the child is no obstruction at all. They hug them to their bosom and milk used to flow just as a cow's milk flows seeing our cows. And this is the ordinary description of an ordinary mother. But especially after Brahmadeva had hidden all the Gopas, cows and cows in a cave for nearly either six months or one year, I do not remember. Then Krishna assumed the forms of all the Gopas and then cows and then cows and for some unknown reason. And they did not even know what was the reason. Previously, sometimes they were not very eager to see their children. But now they could not hold themselves. Even from a distance, milk started flowing. The trees started shedding sweetest fruits and no tree has ever given any sweet fruit, anything sweeter than when Krishna assumed the form of Gopas and then the cows and then the cows. Nearly one year Brahma had kept them hidden and that one year these people had experienced unimaginable bliss because whom were they hugging? It was none other than Ananda Swaroopa, Satchitananda, Brahman himself. That description of Bhagavatam, I do not think anywhere we can get it. We have to imagine this way that she is Asmita. She breaks into that beautiful smile and then she is always golden enclosure. Here gold represents pure knowledge. What is the knowledge? I am the whole world. Every child is none other than Myself. And then she is golden. Remember when Shri Ramakrishna visited Varanasi, he saw at first the whole Varanasi as a golden city. But don't imagine that first of all it is his imagination that even an ordinary brick building appears with gold. No. Every holy place has two aspects. One is the worldly, secular and the other is spiritual. Spirituality is often imagined as Sattva Guna, pure Sattva Guna. And Sattva shines like the gold. And here is the Divine Mother. And Shri, Her very nature, like the golden enclosure, splendor, Sattva Guna Sampanna. So She is full of grandeur and She represents the entire wealth of the world. Ardhra. Ardhra means soft, tender, full of motherly feeling, warm. It means one who is wet or moist. That is the literal meaning. Ardhra. Shayanacharya describes a beautiful way. Why should the Bhagavati be always described as wet? Because She just came from the Ksherasagara. She is coming to us. Her residence is the milky ocean. But She wants to come to us as if, as if She is not here. But Ksherasagara, She comes out. And when a person comes out from bathing in a pond or in a well etc., what do you see first? The whole body is wet. This is called Ardhra. This is the external meaning. Inner meaning is that She is what is called brimming with so much of Karuna like the Mother Gopi is overflowing with milk and She is experiencing tremendous pain so that She could feed Her baby immediately. And this Lakshmi Devi is more than like that. Our Divine Mother. Jwalantim. She is blazing, shining like a blaze. It means eyes are glittering on seeing a true devotee who invites Her to His home. And She is very soft. She is of tenderest nature. That means the moment you open or you don't open your mouth, She is going to fulfill all your wishes even whether you express or not. So She reflects the light of Vishnu and hence She is always blazing. This blaze resembles like gold. You see, you look at the sunlight especially early morning and at the setting sun. You will see what is the meaning that is given here. Triptam. She is ever satisfied with her children and the Divine Mother. Even the slightest remembrance of Her, She is brimming with love and devotion towards Her own creation. What is Her own creation? Herself. So it means satisfying the Divine Mother is not a difficult task. After all, She is the universe because She is the Universal Mother. Then what does She do? So with brimming, with so much of love and compassion, Tarpayanthim. Tarpayanthim means She makes the aspirant completely fulfilled. Like a mother, as soon as she approaches the baby, she circles and the baby is completely satisfied and the baby does not have any desires. And we have to become like that babies. The moment we grow up, a hundred thousand desires, never-ending desires, never-satisfying desires spring up in our mind. But have you ever seen a baby, you gave me milk okay, but you did not give me a cake, did not give me a rasagulla. Have you ever seen a baby complaining or whining or unhappy? Absolutely no. Blissful. So that means She makes the aspirant attain a state of eternal bliss. For the devotee's ultimate liberation is what really we all want. When we say I am hungry, I don't want to be hungry. I want to be free from hunger, not one time but forever. So the Divine Mother satisfies aspirant. What type of Lakshmi? Padmesthitam. This is the hint for meditation, contemplation. Padmesthitam, sitting in a soft test of the flowers. As you know Padma is the national flower of India. She is seated on a lotus and when she enters his house, she comes with her full grandeur. And what is her complexion? Padmavarnam. She is born among the Padmas. Her complexion itself is Padmavarnam. That is why she is called Padmavati. And she is seated on a lotus. She holds lotuses in her hands. She appears like a lotus but not only that. She is the consort of Mahavishnu. What is she known as? Padmanabha. She is also called Padmanabha. And my concept of the Divine Mother in the form of Lakshmi, Thaam, Iha, into my house, into my heart. This is my only prayer, not one among the hundreds of prayers. And then Shriyam. Shriyam means prosperity and more importantly Shriyam means happiness. She is the consort of Sripati known as Narayana. That means Mother Lakshmi has responded to the prayers of the devotee and filled with love, compassion and overflowing with that love. She comes and takes her seat in his home and literally we see when we enter some houses, like for example, Balaram Babu's house, full of Lakshmi. There is no shred of grief, sign of grief anywhere available. And then she is further described that I want to surrender completely. I want to be absorbed by her. This is expressed beautifully in the fifth mantra. Chindram prabhasam, yashasa jalantim, shriyam loke, deva justam, udharam. O Mother Lakshmi, you are beaming like a moon. You are worshipped by all the Gods. You are compassionate. You are holding a lotus flower. You are the embodiment of the bija, im. There is a jalantim. They have divided into jalantim. Im is the bija mantra of Mother Lakshmi. I surrender unto you with a prayer to remove my Lakshmi, means bad luck, distress, poverty, misfortune and then tvam rune. I never want to be separated. I only choose you. Chandra, Chandra, just as when we look at the moonlit night, beaming like the moon, our hearts are filled with indescribable happiness, bliss. Beauty is always compared in our Indian literature as the full moon. And the Divine Mother is just that effect. What does the Chandra do? When in the full moon day, even the waters of the ocean, rivers, tanks, etc., as if they want to rise up in wave after wave, as if they want to be one with Chandra. So like that, when a baby sees his mother coming there in that compassionate form, loving form, baby, his heart is filled with joy. Here Chandra means, or Chandramukhi we call it, that she who confers that bliss even by the thought of her. Prabhasa is shining brilliantly. That means if we become devotees of Lakshmi, we also will be shining. Shining with what? Not with what is called French perfume, but here tremendous amount of wisdom. What is that wisdom? I am the child, my mother is the none other than Divine Mother, not the earthly mother. That is the meaning of Prabhasaam, that brilliant knowledge, ever abiding knowledge. And what type of Lakshmi? Yashasaa, that is she is full of great name, splendor, graciousness. What type of good name? She is known that a mother always loves her children and whatever the children do, she puts up, she forgives, she forbears, she gives herself. If necessary, a mother gives up her very body for the sake of the child. And Jalanthim, she is shining and Shriyam Loke, auspiciousness, looks, refers to the best status in the world, best type of life. There are so many worlds, as we see 14 worlds, but wherever we go, I cannot live without my Divine Mother and wherever I go, she will be with me. So I have no fear, wherever I go, I will be a happy person. And Deivim Jushtam, and she is highly pleased with my devotion, even though I know my devotion is very small, but with that small devotion. What type of devotion? Patram, Pushpam, Phalam, Toyam, Yumi Bhaktiya Prayachati, Tadaham Bhaktiya Upakritam, Ashnami Prayatatmanah. A Lord doesn't require any material goods because He only gives all material goods to us. But if anybody shows gratefulness, Papa, this is for you, Ma, you eat this one. So she will be highly pleased. God will be highly pleased. So the Divine Mother Lakshmi is highly pleased with me. What does she become? Udaraam. Udaraam means unstintedly she is ready to grant me anything. Taam Padmini Mim, such a Lakshmi who is seated on a lotus, whose color is of lotus and who is shining with the complex of the lotus and Taam Padmini Mim, Sharanam Aham Prapadye. I take refuge because whether I want praise or shayas, she is going to give it to me. And any time my mind deviates from this, I would like my mother, Divine Mother Lakshmi to throw her out. Alakshmi means what? Foolishness. Ignorance. Let it be far away from me. I only want you. I don't want anything else. So now the Upasaka is very sure that she is going to be Udara. She is going to reside forever in his heart and he is going to get every type of wealth, both worldly as well as spiritual. Above all, Sat, Chit, Ananda. Infinite, indescribable, ever abiding bliss.