The birth of Shri

OM! Glory to Vasudeva! Victory be to you, Pundarikaksha; adoration be to you, Vishvabhavana; glory be to you, Hrishikesha, Mahapurusha, and Purvaja.

Maitreya said,

“It is commonly said that the goddess Shri was born from the sea of milk, when it was churned for ambrosia; how then can you say that she was the daughter of Bhrigu by Khyati.”

Parashara said,

“Shri, the bride of Vishnu, the mother of the world, is eternal, imperishable; in like manner as he is all-pervading, so also is she, Oh best of Brahmans, omnipresent. Vishnu is meaning; she is speech. Hari is polity (Naya); she is prudence (Niti). Vishnu is understanding; she is intellect. He is righteousness; she is devotion. He is the creator; she is creation. Shri is the earth; Hari the support of it. The deity is content; the eternal Lakshmi is resignation. He is desire; Shri is wish. He is sacrifice; she is sacrificial donation (Dakshina). The goddess is the invocation which attends the oblation; Janardana is the oblation. Lakshmi is the chamber where the females are present (at a religious ceremony); Madhusudana the apartment of the males of the family. Lakshmi is the altar; Hari the stake (to which the victim is bound). Shri is the fuel; Hari the holy grass (Kusha). He is the personified Sama veda; the goddess, lotus-throned, is the tone of its chanting. Lakshmi is the prayer of oblation (Swaha); Vasudeva, the lord of the world, is the sacrificial fire. Shauri (Vishnu) is Shankara (Shiva); and Shri is the bride of Shiva (Gauri). Keshava, Oh Maitreya, is the sun; and his radiance is the lotus-seated goddess. Vishnu is the tribe of progenitors (Pitrigana); Padma. is their bride (Swadha), the eternal bestower of nutriment. Shri is the heavens; Vishnu, who is one with all things, is wide extended space. The lord of Shri is the moon; she is his unfading light. She is called the moving principle of the world; he, the wind which blows every where. Govinda is the ocean; Lakshmi its shore. Lakshmi is the consort of Indra (Indrani); Madhusudana is Devendra. The holder of the discus (Vishnu) is Yama (the regent of Tartarus); the lotus-throned goddess is his dusky spouse (Dhumorna). Shri is wealth; Shridhara (Vishnu) is himself the god of riches (Kubera). Lakshmi, illustrious Brahman, is Gauri; and Keshava, is the deity of ocean (Varuna). Shri is the host of heaven (Devasena); the deity of war, her lord, is Hari. The wielder of the mace is resistance; the power to oppose is Shri. Lakshmi is the Kashtha and the Kala; Hari the Nimesha and the Muhurta. Lakshmi is the light; and Hari, who is all, and lord of all, the lamp. She, the mother of the world, is the creeping vine; and Vishnu the tree round which she clings. She is the night; the god who is armed with the mace and discus is the day. He, the bestower of blessings, is the bridegroom; the lotus-throned goddess is the bride.

The god is one with all male, the goddess one with all female, rivers. The lotus-eyed deity is the standard; the goddess seated on a lotus the banner. Lakshmi is cupidity; Narayana, the master of the world, is covetousness. Oh you who knows what righteousness is, Govinda is love; and Lakshmi, his gentle spouse, is pleasure. But why thus diffusely enumerate their presence: it is enough to say, in a word, that of gods, animals, and men, Hari is all that is called male; Lakshmi is all that is termed female: there is nothing else than they.”

But with respect to the question you have asked me, Maitreya, relating to the history of Shri, hear from me the tale as it was told to me by Marichi.

Durvasas, a portion of Shankara (Shiva), was wandering over the earth; when be beheld, in the hands of a nymph of air, a garland of flowers culled from the trees of heaven, the fragrant odour of which spread throughout the forest, and enraptured all who dwelt beneath its shade. The sage, who was then possessed by religious frenzy, when he beheld that garland, demanded it of the graceful and full-eyed nymph, who, bowing to him reverentially, immediately presented it to him. He, as one frantic, placed the chaplet upon his brow, and thus decorated resumed his path; when he beheld (Indra) the husband of Shachi, the ruler of the three worlds, approach, seated on his infuriated elephant Airavata, and attended by the gods. The frenzied sage, taking from his head the garland of flowers, amidst which the bees collected ambrosia, threw it to the king of the gods, who caught it, and suspended it on the brow of Airavata, where it shone like the river Jahnavi, glittering on the dark summit of the mountain Kailasa. The elephant, whose eyes were dim with inebriety, and attracted by the smell, took hold of the garland with his trunk, and cast it on the earth. That chief of sages, Durvasas, was highly incensed at this disrespectful treatment of his gift, and thus angrily addressed the sovereign of the immortals:

"Inflated with the intoxication of power, Vasava, vile of spirit, you are an idiot not to respect the garland I presented to you, which was the dwelling of Fortune (Shri). You have not acknowledged it as a largess; you have not bowed yourself before me; you have not placed the wreath upon your head, with your countenance expanding with delight. Now, fool, for that you have not infinitely prized the garland that I gave you, your sovereignty over the three worlds shall be subverted. You confounded me, Shakra, with other Brahmans, and hence I have suffered disrespect from your arrogance: but in like manner as you have cast the garland I gave you down on the ground, so shall your dominion over the universe be whelmed in ruin. You have offended one whose wrath is dreaded by all created things, king of the gods, even me, by your excessive pride."

Descending hastily from his elephant, Mahendra endeavoured to appease the sinless Durvasas: but to the excuses and prostrations of the thousand-eyed, the Muni answered,

"I am not of a compassionate heart, nor is forgiveness congenial to my nature. Other Munis may relent; but know me, Shakra, to be Durvasas. You have in vain been rendered insolent by Gautama and others; for know me, Indra, to be Durvasas, whose nature is a stranger to remorse. You have been flattered by Vasishtha and other tender-hearted saints, whose loud praises (have made you so arrogant, that you have insulted me. But who is there in the universe that can behold my countenance, dark with frowns, and surrounded by my blazing hair, and not tremble? What need of words? I will not forgive, whatever semblance of humility you may assume."

Having thus spoken, the Brahman went his way; and the king of the gods, remounting his elephant, returned to his capital Amaravati. Thenceforward, Maitreya, the three worlds and Shakra lost their vigour, and all vegetable products, plants, and herbs were withered and died; sacrifices were no longer offered; devout exercises no longer practised; men were no more addicted to charity, or any moral or religious obligation; all beings became devoid of steadiness; all the faculties of sense were obstructed by cupidity; and men's desires were excited by frivolous objects. Where there is energy, there is prosperity; and upon prosperity energy depends. How can those abandoned by prosperity be possessed of energy; and without energy, where is excellence? Without excellence there can be no vigour nor heroism amongst men: he who has neither courage nor strength, will be spurned by all: and he who is universally treated with disgrace, must suffer abasement of his intellectual faculties.

The three regions being thus wholly divested of prosperity, and deprived of energy, the Danavas and sons of Diti, the enemies of the gods, who were incapable of steadiness, and agitated by ambition, put forth their strength against the gods. They engaged in war with the feeble and unfortunate divinities; and Indra and the rest, being overcome in fight, fled for refuge to Brahma, preceded by the god of flame (Hutashana). When the great father of the universe had heard all that had come to pass, he said to the deities,

"Repair for protection to the god of high and low; the tamer of the demons; the causeless cause of creation, preservation, and destruction; the progenitor of the progenitors; the immortal, unconquerable Vishnu; the cause of matter and spirit, of his unengendered products; the remover of the grief of all who humble themselves before him: he will give you aid."

Having thus spoken to the deities, Brahma proceeded along with them to the northern shore of the sea of milk; and with reverential words thus prayed to the supreme Hari.

"We glorify him who is all things; the lord supreme over all; unborn, imperishable; the protector of the mighty ones of creation; the unperceived, indivisible Narayana; the smallest of the smallest, the largest of the largest, of the elements; in whom are all things, from whom are all things; who was before existence; the god who is all beings; who is the end of ultimate objects; who is beyond final spirit, and is one with supreme soul; who is contemplated as the cause of final liberation by sages anxious to be free; in whom are not the qualities of goodness, foulness, or darkness, that belong to undeveloped nature. May that purest of all pure spirits this day be propitious to us. May that Hari be propitious to us, whose inherent might is not an object of the progressive chain of moments or of days, that make up time. May he who is called the supreme god, who is not in need of assistance, Hari, the soul of all embodied substance, be favourable unto us. May that Hari, who is both cause and effect; who is the cause of cause, the effect of effect; he who is the effect of successive effect; who is the effect of the effect of the effect himself; the product of the effect of the effect of the effect, or elemental substance; to him I bow. The cause of the cause; the cause of the cause of the cause; the cause of them all; to him I bow. To him who is the enjoyer and thing to be enjoyed; the creator and thing to be created; who is the agent and the effect; to that supreme being I bow. The infinite nature of Vishnu is pure, intelligent, perpetual, unborn, undecayable, inexhaustible, inscrutable, immutable; it is neither gross nor subtle, nor capable of being defined: to that ever holy nature of Vishnu I bow. To him whose faculty to create the universe abides in but a part of but the ten-millionth part of him; to him who is one with the inexhaustible supreme spirit, I bow: and to the glorious nature of the supreme Vishnu, which nor gods, nor sages, nor I, nor Shankara apprehend; that nature which the Yogis, after incessant effort, effacing both moral merit and demerit, behold to be contemplated in the mystical monosyllable Om: the supreme glory of Vishnu, who is the first of all; of whom, one only god, the triple energy is the same with Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva: Oh lord of all, great soul of all, asylum of all, undecayable, have pity upon your servants; Oh Vishnu, be manifest unto us."

The gods, having heard this prayer uttered by Brahma, bowed down, and cried,

"Be favourable to us; be present to our sight: we bow down to that glorious nature which the mighty Brahma does not know; that which is your nature, Oh imperishable, in whom the universe abides."

Then the gods having ended, Brihaspati and the divine Rishis thus prayed:

"We bow down to the being entitled to adoration; who is the first object of sacrifice; who was before the first of things; the creator of the creator of the world; the undefinable: Oh lord of all that has been or is to be; imperishable type of sacrifice; have pity upon your worshippers; appear to them, prostrate before you. Here is Brahma; here is Trilochana (the three-eyed Shiva), with the Rudras; Pusha, (the sun), with the Adityas; and Fire, with all the mighty luminaries: here are the sons of Ashwiní (the two Ashwini Kumaras), the Vasus and all the winds, the Sadhyas, the Vishwadevas, and Indra the king of the gods: all of whom bow lowly before you: all the tribes of the immortals, vanquished by the demon host, have fled to you for succour."

Thus prayed to, the supreme deity, the mighty holder of the conch and discus, shewed himself to them: and beholding the lord of gods, bearing a shell, a discus, and a mace, the assemblage of primeval form, and radiant with embodied light, Pitamaha and the other deities, their eyes moistened with rapture, first paid him homage, and then thus addressed him:

"Repeated salutation to you, who are indefinable: you are Brahma; you are the wielder of the Pinaka bow (Shiva); you are Indra; you are fire, air, the god of waters, the sun, the king of death (Yama), the Vasus, the Maruts (the winds), the Sadhyas, and Vishwadevas. This assembly of divinities, that now has come before you, you are; for, the creator of the world, you are every where. You are the sacrifice, the prayer of oblation, the mystic syllable Om, the sovereign of all creatures: you are all that is to be known, or to be unknown: Oh universal soul, the whole world consists of you. We, discomfited by the Daityas, have fled to you, Oh Vishnu, for refuge. Spirit of all, have compassion upon us; defend us with your mighty power. There will be affliction, desire, trouble, and grief, until your protection is obtained: but you are the remover of all sins. Do you then, Oh pure of spirit, shew favour unto us, who have fled to you: Oh lord of all, protect us with your great power, in union with the goddess who is your strength."

Hari, the creator of the universe, being thus prayed to by the prostrate divinities, smiled, and thus spoke:

"With renovated energy, Oh gods, I will restore your strength. Do you act as I enjoin. Let all the gods, associated with the Asuras, cast all sorts of medicinal herbs into the sea of milk; and then taking the mountain Mandara for the churning-stick, the serpent Vasuki for the rope, churn the ocean together for ambrosia; depending upon my aid. To secure the assistance of the Daityas, you must be at peace with them, and engage to give them an equal portion of the fruit of your associated toil; promising them, that by drinking the Amrita that shall be produced from the agitated ocean, they shall become mighty and immortal. I will take care that the enemies of the gods shall not partake of the precious draught; that they shall share in the labour alone."

Being thus instructed by the god of gods, the divinities entered into alliance with the demons, and they jointly undertook the acquirement of the beverage of immortality. They collected various kinds of medicinal herbs, and cast them into the sea of milk, the waters of which were radiant as the thin and shining clouds of autumn. They then took the mountain Mandara for the staff; the serpent Vasuki for the cord; and commenced to churn the ocean for the Amrita. The assembled gods were stationed by Krishna at the tail of the serpent; the Daityas and Danavas at its head and neck. Scorched by the flames emitted from his inflated hood, the demons were shorn of their glory; While the clouds driven towards his tail by the breath of his mouth, refreshed the gods with revivifying showers. In the midst of the milky sea, Hari himself, in the form of a tortoise, served as a pivot for the mountain, as it was whirled around. The holder of the mace and discus was present in other forms amongst the gods and demons, and assisted to drag the monarch of the serpent race: and in another vast body he sat upon the summit of the mountain. With one portion of his energy, unseen by gods or demons, he sustained the serpent king; and with another, infused vigour into the gods.

From the ocean, thus churned by the gods and Danavas, first uprose the cow Surabhi, the fountain of milk and curds, worshipped by the divinities, and beheld by them and their associates with minds disturbed, and eyes glistening with delight. Then, as the holy Siddhas in the sky wondered what this could be, appeared the goddess Varuni (the deity of wine), her eyes rolling with intoxication. Next, from the whirlpool of the deep, sprang the celestial Parijata tree, the delight of the nymphs of heaven, perfuming the world with its blossoms. The troop of Apsarasas, the nymphs of heaven, were then produced, of surprising loveliness, endowed with beauty and with taste. The cool-rayed moon next rose, and was seized by Mahadeva: and then poison was engendered from the sea, of which the snake gods (Nagas) took possession. Dhanwantari, robed in white, and bearing in his hand the cup of Amrita, next came forth: beholding which, the sons of Diti and of Danu, as well as the Munis, were filled with satisfaction and delight. Then, seated on a full-blown lotus, and holding a water-lily in her hand, the goddess Shri, radiant with beauty, rose from the waves. The great sages, enraptured, hymned her with the song dedicated to her praise. Vishwavasu and other heavenly quiristers sang, and Ghritachi and other celestial nymphs danced before her. Ganga and other holy streams attended for her ablutions; and the elephants of the skies, taking up their pure waters in vases of gold, poured them over the goddess, the queen of the universal world. The sea of milk in person presented her with a wreath of never-fading flowers; and the artist of the gods (Vishwakarma) decorated her person with heavenly ornaments. Thus bathed, attired, and adorned, the goddess, in the view of the celestials, cast herself upon the breast of Hari; and there reclining, turned her eyes upon the deities, who were inspired with rapture by her gaze. Not so the Daityas, who, with Viprachitti at their head, were filled with indignation, as Vishnu turned away from them, and they were abandoned by the goddess of prosperity (Lakshmi.)

The powerful and indignant Daityas then forcibly seized the Amrita-cup, that was in the hand of Dhanwantari: but Vishnu, assuming a female form, fascinated and deluded them; and recovering the Amrita from them, delivered it to the gods. Shakra and the other deities quaffed the ambrosia. The incensed demons, grasping their weapons, fell upon them; but the gods, into whom the ambrosial draught had infused new vigour, defeated and put their host to flight, and they fled through the regions of space, and plunged into the subterraneous realms of Patala. The gods thereat greatly rejoiced, did homage to the holder of the discus and mace, and resumed their reign in heaven. The sun shone with renovated splendour, and again discharged his appointed task; and the celestial luminaries again circled, Oh best of Munis, in their respective orbits. Fire once more blazed aloft, beautiful in splendour; and the minds of all beings were animated by devotion. The three worlds again were rendered happy by prosperity; and Indra, the chief of the gods, was restored to power. Seated upon his throne, and once more in heaven, exercising sovereignty over the gods, Shakra thus eulogized the goddess who bears a lotus in her hand:

"I bow down to Shri, the mother of all beings, seated on her lotus throne, with eyes like full-blown lotuses, reclining on the breast of Vishnu. You are Siddhi (superhuman power): you are Swadha and Swaha: you are ambrosia (Sudha), the purifier of the universe: you are evening, night, and dawn: you are power, faith, intellect: you are the goddess of letters (Saraswati). You, beautiful goddess, are knowledge of devotion, great knowledge, mystic knowledge, and spiritual knowledge; which confers eternal liberation. You are the science of reasoning, the three Vedas, the arts and sciences: you are moral and political science. The world is peopled by you with pleasing or displeasing forms. Who else than you, Oh goddess, is seated on that person of the god of gods, the wielder of the mace, which is made up of sacrifice, and contemplated by holy ascetics? Abandoned by you, the three worlds were on the brink of ruin; but they have been reanimated by you. From your propitious gaze, Oh mighty goddess, men obtain wives, children, dwellings, friends, harvests, wealth. Health and strength, power, victory, happiness, are easy of attainment to those upon whom you smile. You are the mother of all beings, as the god of gods, Hari, is their father; and this world, whether animate or inanimate, is pervaded by you and Vishnu. Oh you who purifies all things, forsake not our treasures, our granaries, our dwellings, our dependents, our persons, our wives: abandon not our children, our friends, our lineage, our jewels, Oh you who abides on the bosom of the god of gods. They whom you desert are forsaken by truth, by purity, and goodness, by every amiable and excellent quality; While the base and worthless upon whom you look favourably become immediately endowed with all excellent qualifications, with families, and with power. He on whom your countenance is turned is honourable, amiable, prosperous, wise, and of exalted birth; a hero of irresistible prowess: but all his merits and his advantages are converted into worthlessness from whom, beloved of Vishnu, mother of the world, you avert your face. The tongues of Brahma, are unequal to celebrate your excellence. Be propitious to me, Oh goddess, lotus-eyed, and never forsake me more."

Being thus praised, the gratified Shri, abiding in all creatures, and heard by all beings, replied to the god of a hundred rites (Śhatakratu);

"I am pleased, monarch of the gods, by Your adoration. Demand from me what you desire: I have come to fulfil your wishes."

Indra replied,

“If, goddess you will grant my prayers; if I am worthy of your bounty; be this my first request, that the three worlds may never again be deprived of your presence. My second supplication, daughter of ocean, is, that you will not forsake him who shall celebrate your praises in the words I have addressed to you."

The goddess answered,

"I will not abandon the three worlds again: this your first boon is granted; for I am gratified by your praises: and further, I will never turn my face away from that mortal who morning and evening shall repeat the hymn with which you have addressed me."

Thus, Maitreya, in former times the goddess Shri conferred these boons upon the king of the gods, being pleased by his adorations; but her first birth was as the daughter of Bhrigu by Khyati: it was at a subsequent period that she was produced from the sea, at the churning of the ocean by the demons and the gods, to obtain ambrosia. For in like manner as the lord of the world, the god of gods, Janardana, descends amongst mankind (in various shapes), so does his coadjutrix Shri. Thus when Hari was born as a dwarf, the son of Aditi, Lakshmi appeared from a lotus (as Padma, or Kamala); when he was born as Rama, of the race of Bhrigu (or Parashurama), she was Dharani; when he was Raghava (Ramachandra), she was Sita; and when he was Krishna, she became Rukmini. In the other descents of Vishnu, she is his associate. If he takes a celestial form, she appears as divine; if a mortal, she becomes a mortal too, transforming her own person agreeably to whatever character it pleases Vishnu to put on. Whosoever hears this account of the birth of Lakshmi, whosoever reads it, shall never lose the goddess Fortune from his dwelling for three generations; and misfortune, the fountain of strife, shall never enter into those houses in which the hymns to Shri are repeated.

Thus, Brahman, have I narrated to you, in answer to your question, how Lakshmi, formerly the daughter of Bhrigu, sprang from the sea of milk; and misfortune shall never visit those amongst mankind who daily recite the praises of Lakshmi uttered by Indra, which are the origin and cause of all prosperity.”