The golden light of the Shri Suktam

The Shri Suktam is a hymn from the Rig Veda, which serves as a gateway to Shri Vidya, one of the ten greater teachings. Guruji gave us the Vajra Panjar, another of the ten.

The Goddess Shri is all that is grace and beauty, all splendor, all opulence, all resplendence, all prosperity, all wealth, all affluence, all treasures, and all that is gorgeous. She is the Absolute Shakti energy of the Absolute Conscious Being. She is kinetic energy while the Supreme Being is potential energy. In reality, She is not different from Her Lord.

In short, Shri is what we call and know as riches in this creation and beyond. In mundane terms, the Shri Suktam is translated as an appeal to Jatavedo, an aspect of fire, to attain Lakshmi, who grants material wealth and the basics of life on earth.

But the Shri Suktam is not limited to physical well-being, which is external. It is a complete and powerful tool to reach the ultimate goal of life—union with the Absolute. Realized masters have translated Jatavedo as the inner conscious being, and the prayer or appeal is to the inner energies of Shri, Mother Kundalini. In their view, the Shri Suktam teaches how to make the Divine Light active and functional within the human system.

Just as the moon is reflecting the light of the sun, the essence of which is fire, similarly the sushumna, which is also of the nature of fire, empowers the ida (lunar on the left) and the pingala (solar on the right). The Shri Suktam thus bestows the golden light within and the gold coin in the palm.