அங்கம் ஹரே꞉ புலகபூஷணம்
अङ्गं हरेः पुलकभूषणम्
Also known as: angam hareh pulaka bhushana · angam hare pulaka bhushanam · kanakadhara first verse
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✦ Meaning
This is the celebrated first descriptive verse of Adi Shankaracharya's Kanakadhara Stotram, which prays for the grace of Goddess Lakshmi's sidelong glance. It pictures her glance resting on Vishnu's joy-thrilled body like a bee upon a flowering tamala tree, carrying within it all the wealth and auspiciousness of the universe. The devotee asks that this auspicious glance turn toward him and bestow welfare.
Origin & Story
Kanakadhara Stotram (verse 1 of the descriptive verses), composed by Adi Shankaracharya · Adi Shankaracharya · 8th century CE
As a young Brahmachari of about eight years, Shankaracharya begged alms at the door of a desperately poor woman who had nothing to give but a single amla (gooseberry). Moved by her selfless generosity, he spontaneously praised Goddess Lakshmi, and this verse — 'Angam Hareh Pulaka Bhushanam' — opens that prayer, the Kanakadhara Stotram. Pleased, Lakshmi showered golden gooseberries upon the woman's home.
✦ As told in scripture
According to the Shankaravijaya, as the boy Shankaracharya recited these verses describing Lakshmi's glance, the sky darkened and golden amla fruits rained upon the poor woman's house, ending her poverty forever. This opening verse is thus regarded as the very beginning of the prayer that manifested wealth from nothing.
The Mantra
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अङ्गं हरेः पुलकभूषणमाश्रयन्ती भृङ्गाङ्गनेव मुकुलाभरणं तमालम् । अङ्गीकृताखिलविभूतिरपाङ्गलीला माङ्गल्यदाऽस्तु मम मङ्गलदेवतायाः ॥
Angam hareh pulakabhushanamashrayanti Bhringanganeva mukulabharanam tamalam Angikritakhilavibhutirapangalila Mangalyadastu mama mangaladevatayah
Meaning:மொட்டுகளால் அலங்கரிக்கப்பட்ட கரிய தமால மரத்தின் மீது ஒரு வண்டு அமர்வது போல, ஹரியின் (விஷ்ணுவின்) புளகித உடலை — அவள் தீண்டலால் அவன் ரோமங்கள் ஆனந்தத்தால் சிலிர்க்க — ஆசரித்து, சகல ஐஸ்வர்யத்தையும் விபூதியையும் தாங்கிய லக்ஷ்மியின் அந்தக் கடைக்கண் பார்வை விளையாட்டு; சகல மங்களத்தையும் அருளும் அந்த மங்கள தேவியின் அந்த நலம் தரும் அழகிய பார்வை எனக்கு மங்களத்தையும் செழிப்பையும் அருளட்டும்.
Word-by-Word Meaning
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Benefits of Chanting அங்கம் ஹரே꞉ புலகபூஷணம்
The opening invocation of the Kanakadhara Stotram, the most famous prayer to remove poverty
Believed to attract the grace of Lakshmi's wealth-bestowing kataksha (glance)
Ideal as a short daily prayer for prosperity when the full stotram cannot be recited
Cultivates devotion by meditating on the beauty and auspiciousness of the Goddess
Traditionally recited on Fridays, Diwali and Dhanteras to invite abundance
Said to bring mangalya — auspiciousness, marital wellbeing and overall welfare
How to Chant அங்கம் ஹரே꞉ புலகபூஷணம்
Sit before an image of Lakshmi or Lakshmi-Narayana and light a ghee lamp. Offer lotus or yellow flowers. Recite this verse 11 or 108 times, visualizing the compassionate sidelong glance of the Goddess falling upon you. It may be chanted alone as a potent seed-prayer or as the opening of the complete Kanakadhara Stotram.
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