उपनिषद् · Devī 7
॥
देवनागरी
महालक्ष्मीश्च विद्महे सर्वसिद्धिश्च धीमहि । तन्नो देवी प्रचोदयात्
लिप्यंतरण (IAST)
mahālakṣmīśca vidmahe sarvasiddhiśca dhīmahi | tanno devī pracodayāt
शब्दशः अर्थ
संस्कृतIASTअर्थ
महा-लक्ष्मीः च विद्महेmahā-lakṣmīḥ ca vidmaheMahālakṣmī may we know
सर्व-सिद्धिः च धीमहिsarva-siddhiḥ ca dhīmahiall-perfection may we contemplate
तत् नः देवी प्रचोदयात्tat naḥ devī pracodayātthat may the Goddess impel us
अनुवाद
«Mahālakṣmī may we know, all-perfection may we contemplate: that may the Goddess impel us».
संस्करण
3a62d80f14a2 · प्रकाशित 12 अग॰ 2026, 5:00:00 am UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
Here the gāyatrī of the Goddess is given, and the first word in it is Mahālakṣmī, “great Lakṣmī.”
This name occurs constantly in Śākta books, and, examining the Tripurātāpinī (56), it was already noted that it occupies the very center of the diagram there. Here it is placed in the book's chief mantra — that is, in the place where the addressee is named.
One conclusion follows from this, and a modest one. Lakṣmī is never alone: she is Śrī, the consort of Viṣṇu, and all His earliest names — Śrī-pati, Śrī-nivāsa — are named after her. One who honors Mahālakṣmī honors, then, her who is beside Him; and this honoring is not false, but incomplete, until He whose she is has been named.
Note the construction of the mantra itself. It is composed on the pattern of the Vedic gāyatrī: “may we know... may we contemplate... may it impel.” A gāyatrī of this form exists for every deity, and such mantras are called gāyatrī-mantras; the Gaṇapati-atharvaśīrṣa has its own, the Nārāyaṇa Upaniṣad its own.
The last word in all of them is the same: pracodayāt, “may it impel.” One asks not for knowledge, not for power, not for a fruit, but to be pushed forward; and this plea, repeated for thousands of years, is an acknowledgment that a person does not move from the spot by himself.