- Edited
Śrī Sūkta, also called Śrī Sūktam, is evidently the earliest Sanskrit devotional hymn (set of shlokas Śloka-s), revering Śrī as Lakṣmī, the Hindu goddess of wealth, prosperity and fertility. This hymn is found in the Rig Vedic khilanis, which are appendices to the Rigveda.
The goddess Śrī appears in several earlier vedic hymns, and is the personification of auspicious and royal qualities. Śrī Sūkta is perhaps the first text in which the homology between Śrī and Lakṣmī is drawn, and the goddesses are further associated with the god of fire, Agni. Since the later epic period (ca 400 CE), Śrī-Lakṣmī is particularly associated with Viṣṇu as his wife or consort.
The Śrī Sūkta describes Śrī as glorious, ornamented, royal, lustrous as gold, and radiant as fire, moon and the sun. She is addressed as the bestower of fame, bounty and abundance in the form of gold, cattle, horses and food; and is entreated to banish her sister alakṣmī (misfortune), who is associated with need, hunger, thirst and poverty. The hymn also associates Śrī with (agrarian) fertility and she is described as the mother of Kārdama (mud), moist, perceptible through odour, dwelling in cow dung and producing abundant harvest.
The Śrī Sūkta uses the motifs of lotus (padma or kamala) and elephant (gaja) – symbols that are consistently linked with the goddess Śrī-Lakṣmī in later references. The lotus is thought to be symbolic of purity, beauty, spiritual power, life, fertility, growth or, in Tantra, the entire created universe. It is a recurring motif in Hindu (as well as Buddhist and Jain) literature and a lotus growing from Viṣṇu's navel is said to mark the beginning of a new cosmic creation. The elephants are symbolic of royalty and, in Hindu mythology, are also related with cloud and rain; they thus reinforce Śrī-Lakṣmī's stature as the goddess of abundance and fertility.
Later Hindu iconography often represents Śrī-Lakṣmī in the form of Gaja-Lakṣmī, standing on a lotus, flanked by two elephants that are shown showering her with water with their trunks.
Source: wikipedia
Śrī Sūktam by Guruji Amṛtānanda
hiraṇyavarṇāṃ hariṇīṃ
suvarṇa-rajatasrajām ।
candrāṃ hiraṇmayīṃ lakṣmīṃ jātavēdō ma āvaha ॥ [ 1 ]
tāṁ ma āvaha jātavēdō lakṣmīm-anapagāminīm ।
yasyāṁ hiraṇyaṁ vindēyaṁ
gāmaśvaṁ puruṣānaham ॥ [ 2 ]
aśva-pūrvāṁ ratha-madhyāṁ
hastināda-prabōdhinīm ।
śriyaṁ dēvīm-upahvayē
śrīrmā-dēvīrjuṣatām ॥ [ 3 ]
kāṁ sōsmitāṁ hiraṇya-prākārām-ārdrāṁ jvalantīṁ tṛptāṁ tarpayantīm ।
padmē sthitāṁ padma-varṇāṁ tāmihōpahvayē śriyam ॥ [ 4 ]
candrāṁ prabhāsāṁ yaśasā jvalantīṁ
śriyaṁ lōkē dēvajuṣṭām-udārām ।
tāṁ padminīmīṁ śaraṇamahaṁ prapadyē'lakṣmīrmē naśyatāṁ tvāṁ vṛṇē ॥ [ 5 ]
āditya-varṇē tapasō'dhijātō
vanaspatis-tava vṛkṣō'tha bilvaḥ ।
tasya phalāni tapasā nudantu
māyāntarāyāśca bāhyā alakṣmīḥ ॥ [ 6 ]
upaitu māṁ dēva-sakhaḥ
kīrtiśca maṇinā saha ।
prādur-bhūtō’smi rāṣṭrē'smin
kīrtim-ṛddhiṁ dadātu mē ॥ [ 7 ]
kṣut-pipāsā-malāṁ
jyēṣṭhām-alakṣmīṁ nāśayāmyaham ।
abhūtima-samṛddhiṁ ca sarvāṁ
nirṇuda mē gṛhāt ॥ [ 8 ]
gandha-dvārāṁ durā-dharṣāṁ
nitya-puṣṭāṁ karīṣiṇīm ।
śvarīgm sarva-bhūtānāṁ
tām-ihōpahvayē śriyam ॥ [ 9 ]
manasaḥ kāma-mākūtiṁ
vācaḥ satya-maśīmahi ।
paśūnāṁ rūpamannasya mayi
śrīḥ śrayatāṁ yaśaḥ ॥ [ 10 ]
kardamēna prajā-bhūtā
mayi sambhava kardama ।
śriyaṁ vāsaya mē kulē
mātaraṁ padma-mālinīm ॥ [ 11 ]
āpaḥ sṛjantu snigdhāni ciklīta vasa mē gṛhē ।
ni ca dēvīṁ mātaraṁ śriyaṁ vāsaya mē kulē ॥ [ 12 ]
ārdrāṁ puṣkariṇīṁ puṣṭiṁ
piṅgalāṁ padma-mālinīm ।
candrāṁ hiraṇmayīṁ lakṣmīṁ
jātavēdō ma āvaha ॥ [ 13 ]
ārdrāṁ yaḥ kariṇīṁ yaṣṭiṁ
suvarṇāṁ hēma-mālinīm ।
sūryāṁ hiraṇmayīṁ lakṣmīṁ
jātavēdō ma āvaha ॥ [ 14 ]
tāṁ ma āvaha jātavēdō
lakṣmīm-anapagāminīm ।
yasyāṁ hiraṇyaṁ prabhūtaṁ
gāvō dāsyō’śvān-vindēyaṁ puruṣānaham ॥ [ 15 ]
yaḥ śuciḥ prayatō bhūtvā
juhuyādājya manvaham ।
śriyaḥ pañcadaśarcaṁ ca
śrīkāmaḥ satataṁ japēt ॥ [ 16 ]
