Śrī Sūkta

Śrī Sūkta, also called Śrī Sūktam, is evidently the earliest Sanskrit devotional hymn (set of shlokas Śloka-s), revering Śrī as Lakṣmī, the Hindu goddess of wealth, prosperity and fertility[1]. Śrī Sūkta is recited, with a strict adherence to the Chandas, to receive the goddess' blessings. This hymn is found in the Rig Vedic khilanis, which are appendices to the Rigveda that date to pre-Buddhist times.[2]

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Source and versions

The Śrī Sūkta forms part of the khilanis or appendices to the Rigveda. These were late additions to the Rigveda, found only in the Bāṣkala śākhā, and the hymn exists in several strata that differ both in content and period of composition. For instance, according to J. Scheftelowitz, stratum 1 consists of verses 1–19 (with verses 3–12 addressed to the goddess Śri and 1–2 and 13–17 to Lakṣmī), while the second stratum has verses 16–29 (i.e., the second version deletes verses 16–19 of the first). The third stratum, with verses beginning from number 23, similarly overlaps with the second version.[3][4][5]

The first stratum is the most commonly attested and is usually appended to the Fifth Mandala of Rigveda. Most of its verses were probably composed during the period of the Brāhmaṇa, with a few added in the Upaniṣadic times. The second stratum post-dates the first; while the third is attested in a single, more recent, text.[3][4][5]

Text and symbolism
Raja Ravi Varma's painting of Lakṣmī

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The goddess Śrī appears in several earlier vedic hymns, and is the personification of auspicious and royal qualities.[2] Śrī Sūkta is perhaps the first text in which the homology between Śrī and Lakṣmī is drawn, and the goddesses are further associated with the god of fire, Agni.[4] Since the later epic period (ca 400 CE), Śrī-Lakṣmī is particularly associated with Viṣṇu as his wife or consort.[6]

The Śrī Sūkta describes Śrī as glorious, ornamented, royal, lustrous as gold, and radiant as fire, moon and the sun. She is addressed as the bestower of fame, bounty and abundance in the form of gold, cattle, horses and food; and is entreated to banish her sister alakṣmī (misfortune), who is associated with need, hunger, thirst and poverty. The hymn also associates Śrī with (agrarian) fertility and she is described as the mother of Kārdama (mud), moist, perceptible through odour, dwelling in cow dung and producing abundant harvest.[2]

The Śrī Sūkta uses the motifs of lotus (padma or kamala) and elephant (gaja) – symbols that are consistently linked with the goddess Śrī-Lakṣmī in later references. The lotus is thought to be symbolic of purity, beauty, spiritual power, life, fertility, growth or, in Tantra, the entire created universe. It is a recurring motif in Hindu (as well as Buddhist and Jain) literature and a lotus growing from Viṣṇu's navel is said to mark the beginning of a new cosmic creation. The elephants are symbolic of royalty and, in Hindu mythology, are also related with cloud and rain; they thus reinforce Śrī-Lakṣmī's stature as the goddess of abundance and fertility.[7]

Later Hindu iconography often represents Śrī-Lakṣmī in the form of Gaja-Lakṣmī, standing on a lotus, flanked by two elephants that are shown showering her with water with their trunks.[7][8]

Recital in Tirumala

The Śrī Sūkta is one of the Pañca-Sūktam (5 Suktams) recited during the 3-hour long Thirumanjanam of Venkateswara, at the famed ancient Hill Shrine of the Tirumala Venkateswara Temple in Andhra Pradesh, India. The Thirumanjanam to the main deity is performed every Friday. Śrī Sūktam is also recited during the daily Arjitha Vasanthotsavam seva.

Notes
  1. "Sri Suktam: The Earliest Hymn to Goddess Lakshmi".
  2. Kinsley 1999, p. 20
  3. Coburn 1988, pp. 258–264
  4. Scheftelowitz 1906
  5. Scheftelowitz 1921
  6. Kinsley 1999, p. 19
  7. Kinsley 1999, pp. 21–22
  8. Singh 1983, pp. 8–10
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References
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