Cosmic Manifestation, Mahāmāyā’s Mandate, Varṇāśrama-Dharma, and the Unity of the Trimūrti
श्रियं ददाति विपुलां पुष्टिं मेधां यशो बलम् / अर्चिता भगवत्पत्नी तस्माल्लक्ष्मीं समर्चयेत्
śriyaṃ dadāti vipulāṃ puṣṭiṃ medhāṃ yaśo balam / arcitā bhagavatpatnī tasmāllakṣmīṃ samarcayet
Bila Permaisuri Bhagavān, Dewi Lakṣmī, dipuja, beliau menganugerahkan śrī yang melimpah, puṣṭi, medhā, yaśas, dan bala; karena itu Lakṣmī hendaknya disembah dengan tata cara yang benar.
Sūta (narrator) conveying the Purāṇic teaching on Śrī-Lakṣmī worship within the Kurma Purana’s dharma framework
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: adbhuta
Indirectly: it presents Lakṣmī as the Lord’s śakti who grants worldly supports (prosperity, strength, intelligence). In Kurma Purana’s integrated theology, such gifts are aids for dharmic living and for progressing toward higher knowledge of the Self rather than ends in themselves.
The verse emphasizes upāsanā (devotional worship) as a discipline: reverent honoring (arcana) of Lakṣmī to cultivate ordered life, steadiness, and resources—supports that later mature into deeper sādhanā (including the Kurma Purana’s yogic and Pāśupata-oriented teachings elsewhere).
By focusing on the Lord (Bhagavat) and his consort as the bestowers of auspicious power, it reflects the Purāṇa’s synthetic approach: divine śakti and īśvara are honored as a unified source of welfare, a framework compatible with both Vaiṣṇava Lakṣmī-upāsanā and broader Śaiva-Śākta understandings of śakti.