The Śrī Sūktam is one of the more popular Vedic hymns, used extensively in ritual worship in temples and homes as well as a sādhana, or daily meditative practice of recitation for tuning into the energy of Lakṣmī, who stands for all that is beautiful, gracious and enriching in man and his surroundings. All of us at moments have experienced higher states of recognising and acknowledging good and noble traits, this prayer to Lakṣmī is a call for divine assistance to be able to stay in those higher states, of Her energy never leaving (anapagāminīm), so that we are not reverting to the negative lower states (alakṣmī) of consciousness. Through sustained practice – clear recitation and contemplation of the meaning of the Hymn, we can transcend parts of ourselves that stand in the way of self-realisation.

Śri Suktam is now included in the Ṛg Veda, but is considered a pariśiṣṭa sūkta or a khila sūkta (an appendix) to the 5th Manḍala. Therefore, you will find in this hymn various possibilities for svara (idamittham) – if you have previously studied this hymn in the Krishnamacarya tradition (Mantravalli) – there are some differences in the svara. This course follows the teachings of The Challakere Brothers, as I received from Guruji Sreenivasan and as followed by the Veda school – Trayee Veda Vidyalaya in Bangalore.

This hymns consists of 15 mantras, the verses being quite clearly post-vedic in character. This course takes all the translations from the works of my Veda teacher Dr.R.L.Kashyap of SAKSHI trust as well as several books and other information I received through oral tradition. All resources are mentioned through the course. I hope this will be of service to you in your learning. With much love – Shantala