Tantroktam Lakshmi Kavacham

om asya shree lakshmee kavacha stotrasya
shree eeshvaro devataa
anushTup Chandaha
shree lakshmee preetyarthe paThe viniyogaha ||

om lakshmee me chaagratah paatu kamalaa paatu prushThataha
naaraayaNee sheershadeshe sarvaange shree svaroopiNee ||
raamapatnee tu pratyange sadaa avatu shameshvaree |
vishaalaakshee yogamaayaa kaumaaree chakriNee tathaa || 2 ||
jayadaatree dhanadaatree paashaaksha maalinee shubhaa |
haripriyaa hariraamaa jayankaree mahodaree || 3 ||
krishNa paraayanaa devee shreekrishNa manamohinee |
jayankaree mahaaroudree siddhidaatree shubhankaree || 4 ||
sukhadaa mokshadaa devee chitrakooTa nivaasinee |
bhayam haratu bhaktaanaam bhavabandham vimuchyatu || 5 ||
kavacham tan mahaapunyam yah paThet bhakti samyutaha |
trisandhyam ekasandhyam vaa muchyate sarva sankaTaat ||
etat kavachasya paThanam dhana putra virdhanam |
bheetih vinaashanan chaiva trishu lokeshu keertitam || 7 ||
bhoorjapatre samaalikhya rochanaa kunkumena tu |
dhaaraNaat galadeshe cha sarvasiddhih bhavishyati || 8 ||
aputro labhate putra dhanaarthee labhate dhanam |
mokshaarthee moksham aapnoti kavachasya prasaadataha ||
garbhinee labhate putraM vandhyaa cha garbhinee bhavet |
dhaarayet api kanThe cha athavaa vaama baahuke || 10 ||
yah paThen nityam bhaktyaa sa eva vishnuvat bhavet |
mrutyu vyaadhi bhayaM tasya naasti kinchin maheetale || 11 ||
paThedvaa paaThayedvaa api shruNuyaat shraavayet yadi |
sarvapaapa vimuktastu labhate paramam gatim || 12 ||
sankaTe vipade ghore tathaa cha gahane vane |
raajadvaare cha noukaayaam tathaa cha raNa madhyataha ||
paThanaat dhaaraNaat asya jayam aapnoti nishchitam |
aputraa cha tathaa vandhyaa tripaksham shruNuyaat yadi ||
suputram labhate saa tu deergha aayushyam yashasvinam |
shruNuyaat yah shuddha buddhayaa
dvou maasou vipra vaktrataha || 15 ||
sarvaan kaamaana avaapnoti sarva bandhaat vimuchyate |
mrutavatsaa jeevavatsaa trimaasam shravaNam yadi || 16 ||
rogee rogaat vimuchyeta paThanaan maasa madhyataha |
likhitvaa bhoorjapatre cha athavaa taaDapatrake || 17 ||
sthaapayen nityam gehe na agni choura bhayam kvachit |
shruNuyaat dhaarayet vaapi paThedvaa paaThayedapi || 18 ||
yah pumaan satatam tasmin prasannaah sarvadevataaha |
bahunaa kimihoktena sarva jeeveshvareshvaree || 19 ||
aadyaa shaktih mahaalakshmeeh bhakta anugraha kaariNee |
dhaarake paaThake chaiva nishchalaa nivased dhruvam || 20 ||

|| iti tantroktam lakshmee kavacham sampoorNam ||

By His Light

na tatra sūryo bhāti na candratārakaṃ nemā 

vidyuto bhānti kuto'yamagniḥ | 

tameva bhāntamanubhāti sarvaṃ tasya 

bhāsā sarvamidaṃ vibhāti || 15 ||

The sun does not shine there; nor do the moon and the stars, nor do these lightnings shine. How could this fire? Him shining, all shine after. All this shines by his light.

---the Katha Upanishad, Verse 2.2.15

HAPPY DIWALI!

Yamaya Namaha

Om Surya puthraya Vidhmahe 

Maha Kalaya Dheemahe 

Thanno Yama Prachodayath

Yama Deepam Mantra is here

OM YAMAAYA NAMAHA

Like a Lamp

Painting by Georges de La Tour

Incited by something external
Is like a small lamp
Whose flame is fed with oil,
Or like a stream fed by rains,
Where flows stop when the rains cease.
But love whose object is God is like
A fountain gushing forth
From the earth.
Its flow never ceases,
For He Himself is the source of this love
And also its food,
Which never grows scarce.

---by Isaac of Stella (1100 - 1169)

Scourge of Love

El Greco self-portrait (detail)

I also maintain that those who are punished in Gehenna are scourged by the scourge of love.
Nay, what is so bitter and vehement as the torment of love?
I mean that those who have become conscious that they have sinned against love suffer greater torment from this than from any fear of punishment.
For the sorrow caused in the heart by sin against love is more poignant than any torment.
It would be improper for a man to think that sinners in Gehenna are deprived of the love of God.
Love is the offspring of knowledge of the truth which, as is commonly confessed, is given to all.
The power of love works in two ways. It torments sinners, even as happens here when a friend suffers from a friend.
But it becomes a source of joy for those who have observed its duties.
Thus I say that this is the torment of Gehenna: bitter regret.
But love inebriates the souls of the sons of Heaven by its delectability.

---by St. Isaac the Syrian (640-700 AD), from "Homily 72"

1-2-3

Wonderful Shakti atmosphere during the concert of Andre Rieu.
Music: Shostakovich 'Second Waltz
It's so true. Dao De Jing, Chapter 42:

Dao gives birth to One. 

One gives birth to Two. 

Two give birth to Three. 

Three give birth to ten-thousand things.

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