अथ भगवन्तं देवा ऊचुर्हे भगवन्नः कथय सौभाग्यलक्ष्मीविद्याम् । तथेत्यवोचद्भगवानादिनारायणः सर्वे देवा यूयं सावधानमनसो भूत्वा शृणुत तुरीयरूपां तुरीयातीतान् सर्वोत्कटां सर्वमन्त्रासनगतां पीठोपपीठदेवतापरिवृतां चतुर्भुजां श्रियं हिरण्यवर्णामिति पञ्चदशर्ग्भिर्ध्यायेत्
atha bhagavantaṃ devā ūcurhe bhagavannaḥ kathaya saubhāgyalakṣmīvidyām | tathetyavocadbhagavānādinārāyaṇaḥ sarve devā yūyaṃ sāvadhānamanaso bhūtvā śṛṇuta turīyarūpāṃ turīyātītān sarvotkaṭāṃ sarvamantrāsanagatāṃ pīṭhopapīṭhadevatāparivṛtāṃ caturbhujāṃ śriyaṃ hiraṇyavarṇāmiti pañcadaśargbhirdhyāyet
"Then the gods said to the Lord: "O Lord, tell us the knowledge of Saubhāgyalakṣmī." "So be it," said the Lord Ādi-Nārāyaṇa. — "All you gods, listen with attentive minds. Let one meditate, with the fifteen ṛcs [of the Śrī-sūkta], upon Śrī, who has the form of the fourth and has gone beyond the fourth, who surpasses all, who is seated upon all mantras, surrounded by the deities of the seats and sub-seats, four-armed, 'golden-hued.'"
3f435d5ff7f4 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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The Saubhāgyalakṣmī-upaniṣad begins, and it is worth saying in advance what kind of book this is. In the list of the Muktikā it is counted among the śākta works, that is, devoted to a goddess; and this goddess is Lakṣmī, the consort of Viṣṇu. So this book, śākta by classification, is Vaiṣṇava in subject; and it is easier for us to examine than the preceding ones.
Its content is threefold: the first chapter is the rite of worshiping Śrī by the Śrī-sūkta hymn; the second is nineteen verses on yoga; the third is prose about nine circles. It is worth noting who answers: Ādi-Nārāyaṇa, "the First Nārāyaṇa" — that is, it is Viṣṇu himself who speaks of Lakṣmī. Let us add a word about the Śrī-sūkta, for the whole first chapter rests on it.
This is a hymn from the appendices to the Ṛgveda (a khila), fifteen ṛcs long, beginning with the words hiraṇya-varṇām hariṇīm, "golden-hued, golden-like"; and it is the oldest and to this day the most used hymn to Lakṣmī. It is worth noting what is said of her in this first line: turīya-rūpāṃ turīya-atītām, "having the form of the fourth and having gone beyond the fourth." The fourth state was discussed when reading the Māṇḍūkya; and the Vaiṣṇava side, as was said when reading the Varāha (2.59), holds the fourth to be insufficient and speaks of a fifth.
Here the book says the same thing, only of the goddess: she is not the fourth, she is beyond it. And this, to my mind, is worth noting: even where it is customary to stop, the language adds "and further."