Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Mahalakshmi Ashtakam - Prayer for Abundance of Wealth, Washing Away Sins, and Protection from Enemies

The Mahalakshmi Ashtakam stotram is a 8 couplet hymn that gives an immense sense of peace and well being to the passionate devotee. The 8 couplets in this hymn describe and praise the virtues and powers of the Goddess of True Wealth and Well-being, Sri Mahalakshmi. One usually could easily associate wealth with money but the true meaning of the hymn refers more to true wealth which can be interpreted to one's definition of wealth - such as health, knowledge, pursuit of good, etc. Viewing the hymn from a broader spiritual perspective would help you connect deeper with your inner spirit more easily.

I have composed the music/tune in various Carnatic music ragas - aka Raaga Maalikai or a sequence of melodic modes - for the Mahalakshmi Ashtakam Stotram prayer. Here's the song rendition on YouTube:


If you are looking for the meaning of the prayer in English language, here's a selected PDF file link, that I picked based on the quality of translation - most other translations did not reflect the true spirituality behind this prayer as much as this translation did.

The last part of the rendition has a Beejakshara Mantram that is as follows :

Om Shreem Hreem Shreem 
Kamale Kamalaalaye Prasiddha Prasiddha
Om Shreem Hreem Shreem 
Mahalaxmye Namaha ||
Om Yakshaaya Kuberaaya Vaishravanaaya 
Dhanadhaanya  Adhipataye
Dhanadhaanya Samridhdhim May Dehi Daanya Swaaha ||

9 comments:

  1. Awesome composition and soulful rendition. Very impressive Mr. Shreedhar. May God bless you to come up with more such soul-soothing compositions.

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  2. Ananthakrishan, Chennai, IndiaJune 17, 2010 at 11:20 AM

    Very soothing rendition and the choice of the raagams are very apt.
    You are a very talented singer and composer - would like to hear more of your compositions. Will follow your posts for future updates.

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  3. Very Inspiring.Regards
    Sandip Bose

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  4. Dear Friend
    Where could I download this for meditation.Regards Sandip Bose

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  5. Dear Sandipji
    Sorry for the long delay. I have enabled the download option on my Muziboo.com page. Could you try downloading again?

    http://www.muziboo.com/shreeg/music/mahalakshmi-ashtakam/

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  6. This was a lovely rendition of the Mahalakshmi Stotram. Fabulous! I especially liked your original ending, the mantras of Shreem. Is it possible for you to post or write this on your site so that we can recite them along with you?

    A fan

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  7. Thank you for the kind words of appreciation and feedback. I have added the beejakshara mantram to the post so hopefully this is what you were looking for.

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  8. Would the beej mantra read as Om Shreem Hreem Shreem or as Om Shreeng Hreeng Shreeng. Have encountered the mantra earlier in this form. Request you to please comment. Regards. Sandip Bose

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  9. Dear Sandipji
    I humbly admit that I cannot claim to be an authority on beej mantras but I relied on my Gurus and my late father's recitations of upadesha mantras where the pronunciations were always Shreem or Hreem - would be a good idea to consult a learned person at a matha such as Sankar matha.

    regards
    Shreedhar

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