________________
298
VISHNU.
XCIX, 5.
thou art beauty; thou art the splendour (of the sun and moon personified); thou art renown; thou art prosperity; thou art wisdom ; thou art the power of expression; thou art the purifier.
5. Thou art the food of the manes; thou art forbearance; thou art the earth (or the repository of wealth); thou art fixity; thou art the basis (or stability); thou art the source of the benefit derived from sacrifices; thou art highest prudence; thou art wide-spread renown; thou art freedom from envy; thou art the food given to the gods; thou art mental power; thou art intelligence.
6. 'As the first of the gods (Vishnu) pervades the whole aggregate of the three worlds (sky, atmosphere, and earth), even so doest thou, O black-eyed bestower of gifts. Yet I inquire for the dwelling, in which thy superhuman power is residing.'
7. The goddess of the earth having thus spoken to her, Lakshmi, standing by the side of the chief of the gods, enunciated the following answer: 'I am constantly at the side of the brilliant destroyer of Madhu, O goddess, who shinest like gold.
8. But learn from me, where I reside (besides), O support of the world, from the instruction of him, whom I am constantly reflecting upon in my mind, and whom the virtuous call the husband of Srî, and from my own recollection.
9. “I reside in the sun, in the moon, and in the cloudless atmosphere in which the flock of the stars is spread out. (I reside) in that cloud, from which the waters of the rain pour down, in that cloud
6. Lakshmi is said to pervade everything, like Vishnu himself, because she is his Sakti, i.e. his energy or active power personi. fied as his wife. (Nand.)
Digitized by
Digitized by Google
