Sri Lalita Trishati (63. lakShmI-vANI-niShevitA)

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|| AUM mahAgaNapataye namaH ||

|| AUM shrI sha.karAchAryavaryAya namaH ||

|| AUM shrImAtre namaH ||

 

63. lakShmI-vANI-niShevitA

She who is served by lakShmI and vANI.

 

lakShmI is ramA signifying the power of wealth. vAnI is sarasvatI

signifying the power of knowledge. They are one with HER. SHE is

served by both with sincere devotion. Here, sevA means obeying all

HER behests expressed by HER mere glance (*).

 

AUM lakSmI-vANI-niShevitAyai namaH

 

-

* This is from Shri Aravind Krishna's essay on Kamakshi on the

ambaal homepage :

 

Devi has enshrined in several places with her special aiksha as

mEnakshI, vishAlakshI, nElAyadAkshI and so on. But her eyes as

kAmAkshI seem to be something special. She has 'ka' and 'ma' as

her eyes. The letter 'kaa' referes to sarasvathi and 'maa' to

lakshmi, infers kAmAkshI means one who has lakshmi and sarasvathi

as her eyes.

 

Sri mutthuswami diikshitar beautifully described this in his

hindOLa krithi as

 

shaaradaa ramaa nayane saarasachandraanane |

vaarijapaade varade taarayamaaM tatvapade ||

 

O! devi you have shaarada and ramaa as your eyes - 'shaaradaa

ramaa nayane', Your moon like face blossoms like a lotus 'saarasa

chandraanane' when you look at your child who has fallen at your

lotus feet 'vaarijapaade' , you shower him with all prosperity

'varade', O! Mother of such capabilities, please up lift me

'taarayamaam'.

 

 

Sri MahAlakshmi is normally associated with prosperity, or bhogaa.

Sri Saraswati is generally worshipped for knowledge. Real knowledge

is to know one's true self, which leads to mokshA. KAmAkshI devi

with both lakshmi and saraswati as her eyes showers bhogaa and

moksha to her devotees. She is bhoga moksha daayinI. The utsava idol

of Sri kAmAkshI is seen with sarasvathi and lakshmi on both sides.

 

SahasranaamA remarks this as

'sachAmara ramA vANI savya dakShiNa sevitA'.