तां म आवह जातवेदो लक्ष्मीमनपगामिनीम्।
यस्यां हिरण्यं विन्देयं गामश्वं पुरुषानहम्॥ २
tāṁ ma āvaha jātavedo lakṣmīmanapagāminīm |
yasyāṁ hiraṇyaṁ vindeyaṁ gāmaśvaṁ puruṣānaham || 2
Meaning: O Agni! Please bring Lakṣmī to me, on whose Grace, I will have gold, cows, horses, good persons (friends and relatives) and good servants. If She enters my dwelling place, She will not go away from me.
Notes: Again, in the second verse also, Agni is addressed, instead of invoking Goddess Lakṣmī directly. Many words in the first verse are repeated here, which emphasises Her invocation through Agni (in the homa kuṇḍa).
tāṁ ma āvaha jātavedaḥ – Agni! Please ensure to bring Lakṣmī, whose splendour is described in the previous verse.
lakṣmī anapagāminīm – That Lakṣmī, if She enters my house, will not leave my home (anapaga means not departing). This means, that She will not leave a home, provided She is invoked daily and properly worshiped. There is subtler meaning for this. She will continue to stay in that house, where righteousness is strictly followed and where atithi-s (guests) are respected and fed properly. When one strictly follows righteous living as prescribed by dharma śāstra-s, there will be huge amount of positive vibrations in that home. Lakṣmī will not leave a place, where positive vibrations prevail.
yasyāṁ - Her much awaited arrival.
hiraṇyaṁ vindeyaṁ gāmaśvaṁ puruṣānaham – one will be blessed with gold, cows, horses (in today’s context, it refers to vehicles). When Lakṣmī enters a home, riches and auspiciousness automatically follows.
Wealth here also refers to wealth of spiritual knowledge leading to Liberation. Puruṣa also refers to Her Consort Viṣṇu. When She is pleased, She takes the aspirant to Viṣṇu for merging unto Him, which is known as mokṣa. She is also known as Viṣṇu māyā. When māyā is dissolved, there remains only Viṣṇu, the Supreme Self. In this context, riches means experiencing Bliss.
अश्वपूर्वां रथमध्यां हस्तिनाद प्रबोधिनीम्।
श्रियं देवीमुपह्वये श्रीर्मा देवीर्जुषताम्॥ ३
aśvapūrvāṁ rathamadhyāṁ hastināda prabodhinīm |
śriyaṁ devīmupahvaye śrīrmā devīrjuṣatām || 3
Meaning: Upon accepting my invitation (through Agni), She arrives, preceded by horses, chariots and trumpets of elephants. Finally She arrives, full of Light in the form of Power of Her Lord Viṣṇu, awakening the aspirant’s spiritual energy (and ultimately Liberating him).
aśvapūrvāṁ - horses in the beginning. Horses are also considered as auspicious. Her arrival is notified with the arrival of auspicious horses.
ratha madhyāṁ - chariots are in the middle with the horses at the front and hoard of elephants behind,. It may also be said that She is seated in one of the chariots in the middle.
hastināda – trumpets of hoard of elephants. Lakṣmī is always associated with elephants. Mahālakṣmī is often depicted with two elephants by Her two sides. The One with elephants is also known as Gajalakṣmī.
Horses, chariots and elephants signify Her auspiciousness and riches. When such a Goddess descends on one’s home, She shares with him a miniscule of Her infinite riches and He becomes one of the richest persons in the world. Auspiciousness, grandeur and riches are the embodiment of Lakṣmī, hence She was adored as Hariṇī in the first verse.
prabodhinīm – means awakening. She awakens the aspirant from his poverty. There are two types of poverty. One is experiencing poverty in the material world, without money. Another is experiencing spiritual poverty or lack of spiritual inclination to attain Liberation. Based upon this word “prabodhin”, it is said that one should get up in brahmamuhūrta (1.30 hours before sun rise) and worship Her.
śriyaṁ - personified as the Consort of Lord Viṣṇu, and embodiment of prosperity and happiness. This also refers Her as Divine Mother, the vimarśa aspect of Brahman (Viṣṇu), also known as Prakṛti. She dispels inherent darkness of Prakṛti with the help of Prakāśa aspect of Viṣṇu and sustains the world.
devī upahvaye – I invite (invoking) the Devī herein described. This is an invitation to Her to visit his home and to shower Her auspiciousness, grandeur and riches to transform his life.
śrīrmā – the Consort of Viṣṇu, who diffuses His Light to dispel darkness as discussed above.
devī juṣatām – I pray to Agni to make this Devī visit my home along with all Her grandeurs.
The aspirant is looking for two types of favours from Her. First, to grant wealth to him and secondly, shower spiritual wealth for his ultimate Liberation.
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