Lakshmi Mantra
ॐ श्रीं लक्ष्म्यै नमःIn Devanagari, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and English — with the meaning of every word, and the one syllable most people pronounce wrongly.
Who Lakshmi is
Lakshmi is the goddess of prosperity, fertile abundance, royal fortune and the quiet stability that allows a household or kingdom to endure. She is portrayed as luminous, four-armed, standing or seated upon an open lotus, flanked by white elephants that pour water from golden vessels. Two of her hands hold lotuses; the others display the gestures of readiness to give and of fearlessness. As the inseparable shakti of Vishnu she accompanies him in every descent—Sita to Rama, Rukmini to Krishna—yet she also appears independently wherever dharma has prepared a seat for her. Her seed-syllable is Shreem, the bija of sri, the radiance of well-being that clings to right order. Texts describe her as restless only when hospitality, truthfulness or generosity fail; where those virtues remain, she is said to dwell without summons.
Rising from the milk ocean
The Vishnu Purana, the Bhagavata Purana and the Mahabharata’s Adi Parva narrate the churning of the ocean of milk. The gods, weakened and stripped of sri, allied with the asuras to turn Mount Mandara in the ocean, using the serpent Vasuki as the rope. After many treasures and beings had risen—the cow Kamadhenu, the horse Ucchaishravas, the jewel Kaustubha—there appeared a goddess of extraordinary radiance, seated on a full-blown lotus, holding lotuses, bathed by the elephants of the quarters. The assembled beings called her Lakshmi and Sri. She moved of her own accord to the chest of Vishnu and took her place there, restoring to the gods the fortune they had lost. The same episode explains why she is called Kshirasagara-kanya, daughter of the milk ocean, and why the lotus remains her inseparable emblem: she is born already standing upon the flower that rises pure from the waters. Later verses in the Vishnu Purana add that when she left the gods in earlier ages, even Indra’s celestial city withered, showing that prosperity in these texts is never a private possession but the visible sign of cosmic favour restored.
The mantra, in six scripts
The seed mantra, and the form most devotees chant daily. No initiation is required — it is open to anyone, including a parent chanting for a child.
- ॐ
- oṃ — the primordial syllable
- श्रीं
- śrīṃ — seed-syllable of prosperity and radiance
- लक्ष्म्यै
- lakṣmyai — to Lakshmi
- नमः
- namaḥ — salutations
More Lakshmi mantras
Lakshmi Gayatri Mantra
The verse in the Gayatri metre, asking for understanding as well as presence.
- ॐ
- oṃ — the sacred syllable Om
- महादेव्यै
- mahādevyai — the Great Goddess
- च
- ca — and (connective particle)
- विद्महे
- vidmahe — may we know
- विष्णुपत्न्यै
- viṣṇupatnyai — the consort of Vishnu
- च
- ca — and (connective particle)
- धीमहि
- dhīmahi — may we meditate on
- तन्नो
- tanno — therefore ... us (tat + naḥ)
- लक्ष्मीः
- lakṣmīḥ — Lakshmi
- प्रचोदयात्
- pracodayāt — may she inspire / impel
Source: Lakshmi Gayatri, from the Gayatri Mantra-s collection; also recited at the close of the Sri Suktam. Variant: many North Indian prints begin महालक्ष्म्यै च विद्महे.
Lakshmi Dhyana Shloka (Lakshmim Kshirasamudra)
The verse recited to picture the deity before japa.
- लक्ष्मीं
- lakṣmīṃ — Lakshmi
- क्षीरसमुद्रराजतनयां
- kṣīrasamudrarājatanayāṃ — daughter of the king of the Ocean of Milk
- श्रीरङ्गधामेश्वरीं
- śrīraṅgadhāmeśvarīṃ — queen of the abode of Sri Ranga
- दासीभूतसमस्तदेववनितां
- dāsībhūtasamastadevavanitāṃ — she whom all the wives of the gods serve as handmaids
- लोकैकदीपाङ्कुराम्
- lokaikadīpāṅkurām — the one sprouting lamp-flame of the world
- श्रीमन्मन्दकटाक्षलब्धविभवब्रह्मेन्द्रगङ्गाधरां
- śrīmanmandakaṭākṣalabdhavibhavabrahmendragaṅgādharāṃ — through whose gracious, gentle side-glance Brahma, Indra and Gangadhara (Shiva) obtained their glory
- त्वां
- tvāṃ — you
- त्रैलोक्यकुटुम्बिनीं
- trailokyakuṭumbinīṃ — mother of the household of the three worlds
- सरसिजां
- sarasijāṃ — the lotus-born
- वन्दे
- vande — I bow to
- मुकुन्दप्रियाम्
- mukundapriyām — the beloved of Mukunda (Vishnu)
Source: Traditional Lakshmi dhyana verse; it appears as verse 24 of the Lakshmi Ashtottara-shatanama Stotram on sanskritdocuments and among the verses recited after the Sri Suktam. sanskritdocuments reads -लब्धविभवद्ब्रह्मेन्द्र-.
The syllable people get wrong
In lakṣmyai the conjunct kṣm is commonly broken by an inserted vowel, producing “lakash-myai” or “lakshe-myai.” The sibilant ṣ and the following m belong to a single clustered onset before the semi-vowel y; separating them alters both the rhythm and the traditional sound-shape of the name.
When Lakshmi is chanted
Weekday. Friday
Festival. Varalakshmi Vratam, observed on the Friday before the full moon of Shravana in many southern traditions, and the Lakshmi Puja night of Deepavali
Questions
Have your chart read before you decide
Chanting is yours to do, and free. But which deity your situation calls for — and whether a mantra alone is the right response — depends on your chart. Sometimes it is; sometimes it is not.
- Over 30 years in the Guru–Sishya Parampara, from the age of five
- He reads every chart himself — 60 minutes, one to one, never delegated
- Charts are read only between sunrise and sunset, following tradition
Related
Chanting is yours to do. Some things are performed for you.
Where a matter carries real weight, devotees sponsor the homa alongside their own practice. Performed for you and any family members you name, at our Yagna Ashram, in your name and gotra, on a muhurta calculated from your chart, and telecast live so you can watch it done for you.