Talk:Kanakadhara Stotra

KANAKA DHARA STOTRAM BY Ad Sankaracharya ( The hymn that produced a shower of Gold pieces) The hymn is called Kanakadhara because whe Adi Sankara recited this hymn a shower of golden fruit was caused by Goddess Lakshmi. The Episode that has caused creation of this hymn is like this-- Adi Sankaracharya who belonged to the early 8th century was one of the most revered Hindu philosophers and  theologians. He took Sanyasa (renunciation ) at the age of eight. As a young boy, he was one day begging for alms to prepare his lunch. It so happened that he went to the house of a very poor Brahmin lady and begged for alms. The lady of the house was very much upset because there was nothing edible in the house. She searched her house once again and found one amla ( Amalak (Sans),goose berry,’ embolic myrobalan ) fruit. She offered the same to the young monk with great hesitation. Sankara was very much moved after seeing the plight of the woman. He sang 21  mellifluous hymns praising Goddess Lakshmi. The Goddess was so pleased that she appeared before him and asked him why he had remembered her. Sankara requested the Goddess to grant riches to the poor woman. The Goddess first refused to do so, because the poor lady had not done any work of charity in her previous birth and it is not possible to change one’s fate. Then it seems that Sankara told the Goddess that She is the only Goddess who is capable of changing the fate of anybody by erasing or changing the writing of future made by the Creator God (Lord Brahma) on the forehead of any person. The Goddess was so pleased that She instantly showered a rain of goose- berry fruits made of pure gold in the house of the poor Brahman lady. Thus these 21 stanzas had become famous and are known as ‘ ‘Kanakadhara Stotram’, which is read with great devotion by all devout  Hindus. It contains a beautiful description of the beauty, personality, Power and graciousness of Goddess Lakshmi. It can be seen from the summary of the stanzas given below that Sankaracharya does not distinguish between the three Goddesses  of Hinduism. For him Lakshmi is Parvati and also Saraswati. Here is the brief summary. 1.	Goddess Lakshmi is attracted towards the supreme God Hari (Vishnu) like black bees getting attracted towards the un-opened buds of a Tamala (cinnamomum)   tree.

2.	She is born to the ocean of milk and her glances return to the lotus-like face of Lord Krishna like honey bees towards the not yet opened pretty blue lotus buds. 3.	Let her who is the wife of Him, who sleeps on the snake, shower me with wealth. 4.	Let her garland of glances that protect Lord Vishnu and give him great strength, fall on me also. 5.	She is like a streak of lightning in the black-dark cloud (the chest of Lord Krishna). 6.	Cupid the God of love could reach Lord Vishnu only through Her kind glances. 7.	She is capable of making one as King of Devas in this world. Her side glance for a moment, enabled Lord  Indra  to regain his kingdom. 8.	She grant’s heaven to all her devotees just through a compassionate glance. Let her sparkling eyes which are like the fully opened lotus fall on me. Grant me all my wishes. 9.	O Goddess please show your mercy which is like wind, and shower the rain of wealth on this parched land. 10.	 She is the Goddess of knowledge, She is the darling of Lord Vishnu, She is the power that causes death at the time of deluge and She is the wife of Him who has the crescent on his head (Lord Siva )  and she  does the creation, upkeep and destruction at various times. 11.	O Goddess You are the embodiment of the Vedas, Rathi ( wife of the God of Love), Shakti( Goddess of strength) and Lakshmi, the  Goddess of Plenty. 12.	She is as pretty as a lotus in full bloom and she is  born from the ocean of milk, sister of nectar and the moon. 13.	She sits on the golden lotus, and She  is the ruler of the universe, who showers mercy on Devas and She is the wife of him who has the bow called Saranga(Lord Shiva). 14.	 She is the daughter of Rishi Bhrigu. She is the wife of the son of Nanda(Lord Krishna) 15.	She has lotus like eyes, she is the earth and also the mother of the earth, worshipped by Devas and she is the consort of the son of Nanda (Lord Krishna). 16.	She is the giver of wealth, giver of pleasure to all senses and also giver of the right to rule kingdoms. 17. One who is blessed by her side glances is blessed with wealth and prosperity. My salutations to the queen of the heart of Lord Vishnu. 18.   She is the one who sits on the lotus, has a lotus in her hand, who is dressed in dazzling white clothes and one who wears  garlands of gold and silver and  sandal paste on her body. 19. Eight elephants from all the directions pour out holy water of the Ganga ( which flows in heaven), for her holy, purifying bath. 20. She is the lotus, consort of Lord with lotus-eyes. O goddesses please turn your glances filled         with mercy towards me who is the poorest of the poor. .21.     One who recites these prayers daily on her who is the personification of Vedas and who is the mother of three worlds, who is also called as Rama, will be blessed with good and graceful qualities and great fortunes. References : 1. w.w.w.Saimahalakshmi-com- Kanakadhara Storam translated by P.R.Ramachander 2 w.w.w.Astrojyoti.com-Adi Sankararacharya’s Kanakadhara Stitram 3. w.w.w.hindudevotionalblog.com 4. w.w.w.riti.com/1317/kanakadharastotram-Lakshmi-stuti by Ajay Govind 5. w.w.w.srividya.org/learn-more/learn-Sri-kanakadhara-stotra 6. w.w.w.drikpanchang.com/lyrics/stotram-kanakadhara stotram 7.You Tube- where several  recitations of the hymn are available BANDA KRISHNA SATYANARAYANA (talk) 14:14, 23 July 2014 (UTC)banda.Krishna.satyanarayana .