Chatusloki

A short hymn of four slokams on the glories of Sri Mahalakshmi, the divine consort of Sriman Narayana.

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Slokam 1

kāntaste puruṣottamaḥ phaṇipatiḥ śayyāsanaṃ vāhanaṃ vedātmā vihageśvaro yavanikā māyā jaganmohinī |brahmeśādisuravrajaḥ sadayitastvaddāsadāsīgaṇaḥ śrīrityeva ca nāma te bhagavati brūmaḥ kathaṃ tvāṃ vayam ||

Meaning

O Sri Mahalakshmi, full of every auspicious quality, your beloved is Purushottama, Sriman Narayana Himself. Adisesha, king of serpents, is your couch and seat; Garuda, whose very body is the Veda, carries you; the bewildering power of matter that hides the truth from the world hangs as your curtain; and Brahma, Shiva and all the gods with their consorts wait on you as servants and handmaids. Your very name is Sri. With such greatness, how could people like us ever find words to praise you?

Slokam 2

yasyāste mahimānamātmana iva tvadvallabho'pi prabhuḥ nālaṃ mātumiyattayā niravadhiṃ nityānukūlaṃ svataḥ |tāṃ tvāṃ dāsa iti prapanna iti ca stoṣyāmyahaṃ nirbhayaḥ lokaikeśvari lokanāthadayite dānte dayāṃ te vidan ||

Meaning

Your greatness has no limit, and by its own nature it is always in perfect harmony with the Lord. Even Perumal, your beloved and the master of all, cannot measure how far it goes, just as He cannot measure His own. Yet because I know how merciful you are, I praise you without any fear, simply as your servant and as one who has taken refuge in you. O sole queen of all the worlds, dearest of the Lord of the worlds, O patient and gentle one!

Slokam 3

īṣattvatkaruṇānirīkṣaṇasudhāsandhukṣaṇādrakṣyate naṣṭaṃ prāktadalābhatastribhuvanaṃ sampratyanantodayam |śreyo na hyaravindalocanamanaḥ kāntāprasādādṛte saṃsṛtyakṣaravaiṣṇavādhvasu nṛṇāṃ sambhāvyate karhicit ||

Meaning

The three worlds had fallen into ruin while they were without your glance. Now, revived by even a small drop of the nectar of your compassionate look, they are protected and prosper without end. Without the grace of the one who is dear to the heart of the lotus-eyed Lord, no one ever gains any good, whether worldly prosperity, the soul's enjoyment of itself, or the path that leads to Sriman Narayana's own abode. This is why the tradition approaches Him through her: she is the purushakara who recommends us to Him.

Slokam 4

śāntānantamahāvibhūti paramaṃ yadbrahma rūpaṃ hareḥ mūrtaṃ brahma tato'pi tatpriyataraṃ rūpaṃ yadatyadbhutam |yānyanyāni yathāsukhaṃ viharato rūpāṇi sarvāṇi tāni āhuḥ svairanurūparūpavibhavairgāḍhopagūḍhāni te ||

Meaning

Hari has a supreme form, peaceful, endless and rich in glory, that the scriptures call Brahman. He has a visible divine form, wondrous and dearer to Him even than that. And He takes on many other forms at His pleasure as He moves through His play in the world. The wise say that in every one of these forms you hold Him close in an embrace, taking on a matching form and glory of your own, so that Sri Mahalakshmi is never apart from Him.

The text is checked verse by verse against GRETIL, Wikipedia, sanskritdocuments.org, sadagopan.org, koyil.org, acharya.org. The meanings are simple ones to help the reader; learn the recitation from an adhyapaka.

These are short introductions to help the reader; the works themselves are best studied under one's acharya.

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