Maha Lakshmi Ashtkam (The sloka chanted by Indra)

MAHA LAKSHMI ASHTAKAM

(The shloka chanted by Lord Indra)

Benefits of Ashtakam:

" Maha Lakshmi Ashtakam Stotram

Ya: patheth Bhakthiman Naraha

Sarva Siddhi Mavapnothi Rajyam Prapnothi Sarvadha

Yeka Kalam Pathem Nithyam Maha Papa Vinasanam

Dwi Kalam Ya: Pathen Nithyam

Dhana Dhanya Samanvithaha

Thri kalam Ya:Pathen Nithyam

Maha Shathru Vinasanam

Maha Lakshmir Baven Nithyam

Prasanna Varadha Subha "

Meaning:

There is an excellent benefit to chanting this Shloka: 

The one who chants this shloka with utter great devotion will get all his desires fulfilled and will inherit amazing, great land.

If one chants this sloka once daily, it will help to destroy all his/her sins. Chanting this sloka twice daily leads to significant gains in wealth and grains. If one sings this sloka thrice daily, all one's powerful enemies will be destroyed

The sloka enables one to obtain auspicious and direct, grace, and blessings of Goddess Lakshmi. 

 Follow Along:

Maha Lakshmi Ashtakam Stotram

Indra Uvacha: Namasthesthu Mahamaye Sreepeethe Surapoojithe Sankha Chakra Gada Hasthe Maha Lakshmi Namosthuthe

Indra speaks: I offer my worship to Maha Lakshmi, who symbolizes the great illusion and is worshiped by all Devas. I worship Maha Lakshmi, who resides in Sri Peetam and who carries Sanku(Conch), Chakram(Disk), and Gadha(Club) in her hands.

Indra Uvacha: Namasthe Garudaroodhe Kolasura Bhayankari Sarva Papa Hare Devi Maha Lakshmi Namosthuthe

Indra speaks: I offer worship to the one who has Garuda bird as her vehicle and was feared by even Demon "Kola." I worship Maha Lakshmi, who destroys all sadness.

Indra Uvacha: Sarvagne Sarva Varade Sarva Dushta Bhayankari, Sarva Duhkha Hare Devi Maha Lakshmi Namosthute

Indra speaks: I offer worship to the all-knowing one, the giver of all boons, remover of all dangerous enemies. I worship Maha Lakshmi, who is the remover of all afflictions.

Indra Uvacha: Siddhi Buddhi Pradhe Devi Bhukthi Mukthi Pradayini Manthra Moorthe Sada Devi Maha Lakshmi Namosthuthe

Indra speaks: Maha Lakshmi confers great powers, desires, good intellect, enjoyment, and Liberation (heaven). I worship Maha Lakshmi, who is the personification of all mantras and is ever shining and radiant.

Indra Uvacha: Adyantharahithe Devi Adi Sakthi Mahesvari Yogaje yoga Sambhoothe Maha Lakshmi Namosthuthe

Indra speaks: Maha Lakshmi is the one who is without beginning or end. She is the primordial energy and Maheswari. I worship Maha Lakshmi, who was created out of yoga and who sustains yoga shakti.

Indra Uvacha: Sthoola Sookshma Maharowdhre Mahasakthi Mahodhare Maha Pape Hare Devi Maha Lakshmi Namosthuthe

Indra speaks: Maha Lakshmi represents both the gross and the subtle manifestations of life. She is very scary to the bad. She is the great energy. I worship Maha Lakshmi, who destroys the greatest sins.

Indra Uvacha: Padmaasana Sthithe Devi Para Bramha Swaroopini Paramesi Jaganmathar Maha Lakshmi Namosthuthe

Indra speaks: Maha Lakshmi, who has lotus as her seat, symbolizes the ultimate reality. I worship Maha Lakshmi, who is Parameswari and the mother of the universe.

Indra Uvacha: Svethambharadhare Devi Nanalankara Booshithe Jagat Stithe Jaganmathar Maha Lakshmi Namosthuthe

Indra speaks: Wearing white clothes Devi Maha Lakshmi is entirely adorned with jewels. I worship Maha Lakshmi, who is the omnipresent Devine Mother.

 

Wise Comparisions vs. Unwise Comparisions

The Shiv Pariwar or family is a perfect example of unity-in-diversity. Here every member and every creature is unique. Everyone has their individuality, powers, strengths, and weaknesses. Yet everyone co-exists in love, mutual respect, and freedom of self-expression.

We compare

You often end up comparing yourself to others. You can not help it. But have you seen that when you compare with someone less than you, you feel bad for them but are satisfied with yourself? On the other hand, when you compare with someone better than you, you feel sad or jealous or generally very dissatisfied. Someone worse off often gives a boost of confidence to you. You feel grateful and blessed. While someone who is better off, usually lowers your self-confidence and drive. You feel unsure and worried.

You are Human: 

What can you do? You are human. First, it is essential to know that you will compare with others no matter what. It is natural for it to happen. There is nothing wrong with it. However, your reaction to the comparison, and your actions due to it, will have a huge effect on your life. We are reactive animals, but we need to pause and reason.

In every unique situation, your feelings will be swayed by your perception of yourself. In almost everyone's life, there are areas where you believe your strengths or weaknesses lie. In the same office, two employees can feel blessed or dissatisfied with a given task. Similarly, in any given family, no two members think they have been treated alike. 

Classrooms often see the co-existence of talented-gifted children and children who have to work hard to comprehend their lessons. We have all gone through these differences. 

Learn from it:

Since you can't do away with comparisons, you can learn from it. Positive attitude and positive life perception is the key to success. Know that you are a combination of strengths and weaknesses. To feel sad when you see someone doing better than you is useless. Feeling anxious or depressed will solve nothing. 

Instead, take the time to look at yourself. What have you been doing wrong? Could you change something in your life or lifestyle to make that positive-progressive change manifest in your life? Maybe you could ask someone to help you out.

A positive step could help usher more successes in your life. That would be beneficial. Comparing in this healthy manner could provide the wakeup call for you to take action and improve your lot in life also similarly if you see someone worse off than you. Rather than feel bad for them, see if you could tactfully help them. I say tactfully because that person will have noticed that comparatively he or she is worse than you and maybe feeling bad already.

Walk away from it:

 There will be times when the comparisons are so far and wide that you really can't do anything about it. There may be things you cannot change at all. Learn to do your best and walk away from it. Never obsess when comparisons become hard to bridge. Also, realize that these vastly different situations should never be compared anyway. After all, you can only compare apples to apples and oranges to oranges.

There is a saying, 

"God, help me to change all that I can change and help me to accept all that I cannot change. And God, please help me to know the difference when such a situation arrives".

The Ultimate Power for Transforming Life

How many times do you know that you have to do something, yet you keep procrastinating and delaying? All the time - right? For example, you know you need to work out, you know you have to start eating healthy, you know you have to clean that closet, but you keep putting off the task. 

Your work piles up, and so does your stress level. What is one supposed to do under the circumstances? The answer is straightforward - Take action. Just do it. There is no need to think so much about it, and there is no need to analyze it so much. You just need to do it.

You are what you do

You make your life by the things you do. The choices you make and the actions you take on those choices. Life is an amalgamation of viewing our options, decision making, and taking action. With each action, you design your life-picture.

You are perceived according to your actions

People do not know what you are thinking of or what you want to do. They only hear what you say and see the actions you take. Pretty soon, those close to you will form their opinions of you not even on what they hear but on seeing the pattern of actions you take. What you do in various life situations will make the man or woman you are.

Results are achieved by taking action

You want to start a business, look for a job, go back to college or start a fitness regimen, but do not take the steps required for that endeavor will not get you the results you want. Results need dynamic action, and excellent results need a concentrated - focused effort.

Life will not change if you do not take action

If you do what you have always done, do not accept life to change in any significant way. Change requires taking responsibility and action. Action is that amazing life-transforming, the life-changing magic secret that changes life.

There is a belief that you cannot foresee results; you have no control over it. This loss of control on results often paralyzes people into inaction. They think they may do all the work, but what if there are no positive outcomes? What if the results are not achieved? Well, no one can know for sure. There are no guarantees in life. You need to know that you tried to the best of your abilities. That is the only control you have over our actions. But then again, anyone who ever tried anything to change life did not know what lay ahead. They all just tried and took a leap-of-faith.

That is the difference between successful and unsuccessful people. The successful ones decided to take action no matter what, while the unsuccessful ones keep thinking what if they met failure? It is actions that form our karma and our life. You will have multiple thoughts in your mind, but ultimately, it is what steps you take to define the person you are.

Aarti

Aarti: The Hindu Ceremony of Lights

The Aarti is one of the most important and popular ceremonies of the Hindu faith. The Aarti ceremony is said to have descended from the ancient Vedic concept of fire rituals, or homa. It is a prayer ceremony performed to greet and give thanks to the gods.  

Origin of Aarti

Many centuries ago, the ancient practice of showing light to a god's idol or statue, set deep inside the dark recess of a temple's cave-like inner compartment, lead to the practice of Aarti. To allow devotees a look or darshan of the sacred image, the priest would show an oil lamp from the Deity's head-to-toe while chanting Vedic mantras or singing a hymn. Gradually, this practice developed into the Aarti.

Meaning

In Sanskrit, the word 'Aarti' – "Aa" means "towards or to" and "rati" means "right or virtue." The Aarti is thus an expression of one's absolute and steadfast love and devotion towards God. It is sung and performed with a deep sense of reverence, adoration, and meditative awareness. This prayer is joyously sung to musical instruments' accompaniment, including drums, bells, gongs, and a conch-shell. Aarti is performed and sung to develop the highest love for God.

Practice

At home and in smaller temples, the Aarti is performed twice daily, in the morning and the evening. Often called the 'ceremony of light,' the Aarti involves rotating a lit diya or incense before God's sacred image to seek the Deities' love, energy, and blessings. Everyone, in turn, performs it.

The Aarti also features as a component of other, more elaborate rituals within Hindu worship, and is often the concluding prayer in religious assemblies and festivals. In the Indian tradition, the Aarti is a part of prayer in which live-fire is lit either as a Diya, camphor pieces, or incense. It is offering to the deities that we worship. It generally marks to end of the ceremony or Pooja.

Significance

Like other Hindu rituals, the Aarti has profound spiritual significance and sentiments associated with it. 

1). Like the diya or incense which burns itself to provide light and aroma, so do the devotees pray that their lives can be of service to others. 

2). Another simile associated with Aarti is that as the diya burns in praise to the gods, similarly, human beings should burn their ego and their preoccupation with the self? They must realize that life is for the service of others.

3). Furthermore, the way a diya provides light and dispels darkness, only the actual knowledge of God, can dispel ignorance and false understanding.

Lakshmi Mata Aarti

 Lyrics in Hindi

(ॐ जय लक्ष्मी माता, मैया जय लक्ष्मी माता

तुमको निशदिन सेवत, मैया जी को निशदिन सेवत

हरि विष्णु विधाता, ॐ जय लक्ष्मी माता) x २

1).

(उमा, रमा, ब्रह्माणी, तुम ही जग-माता

सूर्य-चन्द्रमा ध्यावत, नारद ऋषि गाता

ॐ जय लक्ष्मी माता) x २

2). 

(दुर्गा रुप निरंजनी, सुख सम्पत्ति दाता

जो कोई तुमको ध्यावत, ऋद्धि-सिद्धि धन पाता

ॐ जय लक्ष्मी माता) x २

3). 

(तुम पाताल-निवासिनि, तुम ही शुभदाता

कर्म-प्रभाव-प्रकाशिनी, भवनिधि की त्राता

ॐ जय लक्ष्मी माता) x २

4).

(जिस घर में तुम रहतीं, सब सद्गुण आता

सब सम्भव हो जाता, मन नहीं घबराता

ॐ जय लक्ष्मी माता) x २

5).

(तुम बिन यज्ञ न होते, वस्त्र न कोई पाता

खान-पान का वैभव, सब तुमसे आता

ॐ जय लक्ष्मी माता) x २

6).

(शुभ-गुण मन्दिर सुन्दर, क्षीरोदधि-जाता

रत्न चतुर्दश तुम बिन, कोई नहीं पाता

ॐ जय लक्ष्मी माता) x २

7).

 (महालक्ष्मीजी की आरती, जो कोई नर गाता

उर आनन्द समाता, पाप उतर जाता

ॐ जय लक्ष्मी माता) x २

(ॐ जय लक्ष्मी माता, मैया जय लक्ष्मी माता

तुमको निशदिन सेवत, मैया जी को निशदिन सेवत

हरि विष्णु विधाता, ॐ जय लक्ष्मी माता) x २

Lyrics in English

[Om jai lakshmi mata, maiya jai lakshmi mata

tumako nishidin sewat, maiya jee ko nishdin sewat

hari vishnu vidhata, om jai lakshmi mata] x 2

1).

[uma rama brahmani, tum hi jag-mata

surya-chandrama dhyavat naarad rishi gata

om jai lakshmi mata] x 2

2).

[durga roop niranjani, sukh sampatti data

jo koi tumako dhyavat, riddhi-siddhi dhan pata

om jai lakshmi mata] x 2

3).

[tum patal-nivasini, tum hi shubhdata

karma-prabhav-prakashini, bhavanidhi ki trata

om jai lakshmi mata] x 2

4).

[jis ghar mein tum rahti, sab sadgun aata

sab sambhav ho jata, man nahi ghabrata

om jai lakshmi mata] x 2

5).

[tum bin yagya na hote, vastra na koi pata

khan-pan ka vaibhav, sab tumase aata

om jai lakshmi mata] x 2

6).

[shubh gun mandir sundar, kshirodadhi jata

ratna chaturdash tum bin, koi nahi pata

om jai lakshmi mataa] x 2

7).

[mahalakshmi ji ki aarti, jo koi jan gata

ur anand samata, paap utar jata

om jai lakshmi maata] x 2

[om jai lakshmi mata, maiya jai lakshmi mata

tumako nishidin sewat, maiya jee ko nishdin sewat

hari vishnu vidhata, om jai lakshmi mata] x 2

A Beautiful Aarti devoted to Ma Lakshmi