An Eye-Opening Discourse by Maa
Discourse on Sree Ashtalakshmi Stotram
Vinitha Wag
Bur Dubai Study Circle, UAE
Hari Aum!
Humble prostrations at The Holy Feet of Sree Guru Parampara and Her Holiness Maa Purnananda ji!
We, the members of the study circle of Dubai were yet again blessed by the august presence of our dear Guru, Maa Purnananda ji. This time, the gracious presence of Chaitanya ji (Manish ji) was indeed pleasurable! We are ever thankful and grateful to him for taking all the efforts to put together and execute to make it happen.
Had we not been guided by Maa on the Advaita philosophy and set out on this interesting quest to identify ‘The Self’, we would have been deluded by our narrow understanding of the Sree Ashtalakshmi-s and would’ve prayed for the impermanent and materialistic pleasures like success, riches, posterity by means of progeny etc.
Maa ji led us to those deep and dark corners of our intellect, that forever lie dormant and unlit behind the veil of Maya. Maa ji dispelled so many of our misbeliefs and made us sit up and ask ourselves so many deep meaning questions that shook the precarious foundation of ‘I’ ness and ‘My’ ness that we stand upon.
Below is my humble attempt at penning down my little understanding and personal take-away from a very eye-opening discourse on ‘Sree Ashtalakshmi Stotra’ by Maa ji:
It is captivating the way Maa ji dwells on each word, and only then can we realize that every word is pregnant with meaning and is definitely beyond the literal meaning that we take it to be. Maa ji explained why the eight attributes are given to each of the form representatives of The Supreme.
Dhairya comes from being ‘Sadhu’ and it was interesting to learn that we humans see virtues like patience to being ‘dull’ and don’t see that this is probably because the mind-intellect of a Sadhu is so balanced that there is no agitation as they have broken free from the shackles of the pairs of opposites.
Maa ji also explained the significance of ‘Garud Bhagwaan’ as the Vaahanam of not only Sree Vishnu ji but also Sree Lakshmi ji, as Bhagwaan Vishnu ji and Sree Lakshmi ji are one and the same. Garuda Bhagwaan helped churn the Ksheersagar and similarly the study of Vedanta should help us churn our mind and intellect to identify the ‘True Self’ and discriminate between Real and the false.
We were also made to ponder upon the meaning of Madhusudan Kamini, which means annihilation of worldly attraction and that, we must keep ourselves on the path of spiritual progress.
When we pray to Sree Santaanlakshmi, we always limit our prayers for our off springs. But it was a revelation to know that it refers to anything we produce, be it deeds, progeny or even our thoughts. In this verse, we pray to Goddess Lakshmi to bless us such that, whatever we produce, is virtuous.
The Stotram on Goddess Vijayalakshmi again shakes the very definition of victory that we refer to in our materialistic pursuits. In-fact the victory is good only if it is untainted or untouched by the ‘false world’ or influenced by the pairs of opposites. The power of saadhna will help me attain untainted victory in every endeavor I undertake.
It also mentions musical instruments which indicate cultural evolution and Maa ji very beautifully drew parallels to the importance of passing on our culture to the next generation.
It was very interesting to learn the difference between ‘Gnyaan’ and ‘Vidya’ & ‘Shok’ and ‘Vishad’ which we interchangeably use. Gnyaan, means the knowledge which we acquire, and Vidya means assimilation of knowledge. Shok means grief that has happened and hence nothing can be done about it and Vishad means imagined grief which I can work towards coming out of it, like the way Arjun came out by seeking the guidance of Sree Krishna. Saadhna helps train the mind to be untainted by sorrow. We must cultivate the practice to be with God as this will always bring us peace.
There is also a mention of Kuber Maharaj whom we again misinterpret and associated Him with being the treasurer of materialistic wealth, but when in fact it would refer to protecting the nine nidhis that Goddess Lakshmi can bless us with, which can annihilate the evils of Kaliyuga.
Seeking Maa ji’s blessing so that we assimilate and imbibe all the learnings from this discourse which would help us stay focused on this path to Self-Realization. My sincere thanks to Chaitanya ji for the valuable Q/A session. It not only prompted us to think more deeply but has left us with a quest to know more.
Aum Tat Sat,
Sree Gurubhyo Namah!