Shloka 57
Āśā-prabhava (आशाप्रभव) — On the Rise and Power of Hope/Expectation
Sumitra Itihāsa Begins
तामपृच्छत् स दैत्येन्द्र: सा श्रीरित्येनमब्रवीत् । उषितास्मि स्वयं वीर त्वयि सत्यपराक्रम
tām apṛcchat sa daityendraḥ sā śrīr ity enam abravīt | uṣitāsmi svayaṃ vīra tvayi satyaparākrama, tvayā tyaktā gamiṣyāmi bala-hānugatā hāham ||
Le seigneur des Daityas interrogea la déesse rayonnante qui venait d’apparaître. Elle répondit : « Je suis Śrī (Lakṣmī). Ô héros dont la vaillance est fidèle à la vérité, de mon plein gré j’ai demeuré en toi ; mais à présent tu m’as délaissée, et c’est pourquoi je m’en vais. Car je suis Bala (Force/Puissance) : lorsque la force décline, moi aussi je me retire. »
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
Śrī (fortune, splendor, legitimacy of rule) is not permanently fixed; she abides where strength and right conduct are sustained, and she departs when one abandons the conditions that uphold power—especially truthfulness and disciplined governance. The verse frames prosperity as ethically contingent rather than merely accidental.
From Prahlāda’s body a luminous देवी appears. The Daitya king asks her identity; she declares herself to be Śrī (Lakṣmī). She explains that she had been dwelling in him voluntarily, but since he has ‘abandoned’ her, she will leave—because she follows Bala, and with the waning of strength she too moves away.