Devi Bhagavatam — Skandha 9 - Devotion & Grace of the Goddess, Shloka 30

The Tale of Sri Lakshmi: The Discourse on Prosperity and the Churning of the Ocean

Devanagari script

यत्र शङ्‌खध्वनिर्नास्ति तुलसी न शिवार्चनम् । न भोजनं च विप्राणां न पद्मा तत्र तिष्ठति

Transliteration

yatra śaṅkhadhvanirnāsti tulasī na śivārcanam | na bhojanaṃ ca viprāṇāṃ na padmā tatra tiṣṭhati

Translation

ခရုသင်းသံမရှိသော၊ တုလစီပင်မရှိသော၊ သီဝဘုရားကို ပူဇော်ခြင်းမရှိသော၊ ဗြာဟ္မဏတို့ကို ကျွေးမွေးခြင်းမရှိသော နေရာ၌ ပဒုမ္မာဒေဝီ (လက္ချမီ) သည် မစံပယ်ပေ။

Word by Word

• yatra: where
• yatra: Adverb
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yatra
• Form: null

• śaṅkhadhvaniḥ: sound of conch
• śaṅkhadhvaniḥ: Subject
• Type: Noun
• Root: śaṅkha-dhvani
• Form: Nom. Sing. Masc.

• na: not
• na: Negation
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na
• Form: null

• asti: is
• asti: Action
• Type: Verb
• Root: as
• Form: 3rd Pers. Sing. Pres.

• tulasī: Tulsi plant
• tulasī: Subject
• Type: Noun
• Root: tulasī
• Form: Nom. Sing. Fem.

• śivārcanam: worship of Shiva
• śivārcanam: Subject
• Type: Noun
• Root: śiva-arcana
• Form: Nom. Sing. Neut.

• bhojanam: feeding
• bhojanam: Subject
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhojana
• Form: Nom. Sing. Neut.

• viprāṇām: of Brahmins
• viprāṇām: Possession
• Type: Noun
• Root: vipra
• Form: Gen. Pl. Masc.

• padmā: Lakshmi
• padmā: Subject
• Type: Noun
• Root: padmā
• Form: Nom. Sing. Fem.

• tatra: there
• tatra: Adverb
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatra
• Form: null

• tiṣṭhati: stays
• tiṣṭhati: Action
• Type: Verb
• Root: sthā
• Form: 3rd Pers. Sing. Pres.

Speaker

Lord Narayana

Shakti Theology

Devi Form: Lakshmi

Mahavidya Connection: Kamala

Shakti Manifestation: Goddess of Wealth

Tattva Discussed: Prakriti

Devi Narrative

Demon Antagonist: null

Devi Weapon Used: null

Narrative Source: null

Story Arc Position: setup

Tantra Dimension

Mantra Referenced: null

Yantra Referenced: null

Kundalini Element: null

Chakra Referenced: null

Tantric Practice Type: Archana/Puja

Bhakti & Stuti

Stuti Type: null

Recitation Occasion: Daily

Phala Shruti: null

Devotee Offering Stuti: null

Cosmic Feminine

Maya Aspect: null

Creation Role: sustenance

Shakti Philosophy: null

Relation To Brahman: null

Vyasa-Janamejaya Dialogue

Narrator: Vishnu

Listener: Brahma and Devas

Dialogue Context: Listing the conditions for Lakshmi's presence

Narrative Layer: sub-embedded

Ritual Context

Text: Daily household rituals including blowing the conch, tending to Tulasi, and honoring guests.

Philosophical Significance

Text: Prosperity (Lakshmi) is inextricably linked to righteousness, hospitality, and holistic devotion (worshipping Shiva alongside Vishnu).

Characters & Entities

• Padma
• Tulasi
• Shiva
• Brahmana

FAQs

What actions cause Goddess Lakshmi to leave a house?

Goddess Lakshmi leaves a house where there is no blowing of the conch, no Tulasi plant, no worship of Shiva, and no feeding of Brahmanas.

Why is Shiva worship mentioned for retaining Lakshmi?

In Shakta and Puranic traditions, sectarian harmony is essential. Disrespecting Shiva while worshipping Vishnu/Lakshmi drives away prosperity.