Namastestu Mahaamaye Shripeetha Surapoojite
Shankha Chakra gadaahate Sri Mahalakshmi Namostu te
Explanation
I bow down at Thy Lotus Feet. Thou art the destroyer of delusion
and the source of all prosperity, who is worshipped by all the Gods,
who is holding in her hands the conch shell, the discus and the club,
Oh, Mahalakshmi, I bow down to Thy Lotus Feet.
Story (related to the Stotra)
When the Gods and demons were churning the ocean, in search
of the Divine Nectar, of immortality, they found fourteen jewels one
after the other. At one stage, while they were yet churning, there appeared
Goddess Lakshmi, the daughter of the Ocean, she was beauty personified,
fully decorated with lovely jewels. She had a vaijayantimala, the garland
of of Vaijayanti flowers (Kind of Lotus) in her hands. As soon as the
Gods and demons saw her, they had desire to marry her. So kept looking
at her eagerly, to find out whom would she choose as her husband. The
goddess looked around, but did not set her heart upon any one of them.
Then she saw Lord Vishnu, who was resting upon Seta and was not concerned
about the worldly matters. He did not even care to look at her, what
of desiring then? He was ever contained and blissful within Himself.
Seeing Lord Vishnu detached to the worldly matters, Goddess Lakshmi
thought HIM to be the right person to be her husband. So, she went to
HIM and putting her Garland round his neck, accepted HIM as her husband.
Thus she acquired the seat of Sherrie (prosperity). As Lord Vishnu is
possessing all such as Bhagyashree, Rajahs, Jayashree, etc., Being the
consort of Lord Vishnu. She became the controller of the conch, that
is power of creating sounds, the chakra, the control over the wheel
of time; the Parma or Lotus is the mind and the hearts of all beings
and Gad, the Mace, that is the Maya of the Lord. That is the feminine
Prakrit aspect of Purusha. Thus even Gods and sages worship her.
