Jai Lakshmi Mata

Refrain

ॐ जय लक्ष्मी माता, मैया जय लक्ष्मी माता। तुमको निशदिन सेवत, हरि विष्णु विधाता॥ oṃ jaya lakṣmī mātā, maiyā jaya lakṣmī mātā tumako niśadina sevata, hari viṣṇu vidhātā Om, victory to you, Mother Lakshmi; victory, mother, to you, Mother Lakshmi. Hari, Vishnu and the Ordainer attend on you night and day.

Verse 1 — three goddesses in one line

उमा रमा ब्रह्माणी, तुम ही जग माता। सूर्य चंद्रमा ध्यावत, नारद ऋषि गाता॥ umā ramā brahmāṇī, tuma hī jaga mātā sūrya candramā dhyāvata, nārada ṛṣi gātā Uma, Rama, Brahmani — you alone are the mother of the world. Sun and moon hold you in mind; the sage Narada sings of you. (Uma is Parvati, Rama is Lakshmi, Brahmani is Saraswati. The line names the three great goddesses and identifies them as one.)

Verse 2 — the verse people quote

दुर्गा रूप निरंजनि, सुख सम्पत्ति दाता। जो कोई तुमको ध्यावत, ऋद्धि सिद्धि धन पाता॥ durgā rūpa nirañjani, sukha sampatti dātā jo koī tumako dhyāvata, ṛddhi siddhi dhana pātā In the form of Durga, untouched by stain, giver of happiness and prosperity. Whoever holds you in mind obtains growth, attainment and wealth.

Verse 3 — the difficult verse

तुम पाताल निवासिनि, तुम ही शुभदाता। कर्म प्रभाव प्रकाशिनि, भवनिधि की त्राता॥ tuma pātāla nivāsini, tuma hī śubhadātā karma prabhāva prakāśini, bhavanidhi kī trātā You who dwell in the depths, you alone are the giver of good. You who make the working of action visible, deliverer across the ocean of existence. (The first phrase is an unusual epithet for Lakshmi and varies between printed collections; see the discussion below.)

Verse 4 — the house you live in

जिस घर में तुम रहतीं, सब सद्गुण आता। सब सम्भव हो जाता, मन नहीं घबराता॥ jisa ghara meṁ tuma rahatī̃, saba sadguṇa ātā saba sambhava ho jātā, mana nahī̃ ghabarātā In the house where you dwell, every good quality arrives. Everything becomes possible, and the mind is not seized by fear.

Verse 5 — the aarti's real claim

तुम बिन यज्ञ न होते, वस्त्र न कोई पाता। खान पान का वैभव, सब तुमसे आता॥ tuma bina yajña na hote, vastra na koī pātā khāna pāna kā vaibhava, saba tumase ātā Without you no sacrifice takes place, and no one has clothes to wear. The abundance of food and drink — all of it comes from you.

Verse 6 — the ocean of milk

शुभ गुण मंदिर सुंदर, क्षीरोदधि जाता। रत्न चतुर्दश तुम बिन, कोई नहीं पाता॥ śubha guṇa mandira sundara, kṣīrodadhi jātā ratna caturdaśa tuma bina, koī nahī̃ pātā Beautiful temple of auspicious qualities, born from the ocean of milk. Without you, no one obtains the fourteen jewels. (The reference is to the samudra manthana, the churning of the ocean, from which Lakshmi and thirteen other treasures emerged.)

Closing couplet — and no signature

महालक्ष्मी जी की आरती, जो कोई नर गाता। उर आनंद समाता, पाप उतर जाता॥ mahālakṣmī jī kī āratī, jo koī nara gātā ura ānanda samātā, pāpa utara jātā Whoever sings this aarti to the blessed Mahalakshmi — joy is contained in the heart, and wrongdoing is lifted away. (Note what is absent: no poet's name. Om Jai Jagdish Hare, Jai Ambe Gauri and Om Jai Shiv Omkara all close with Shivanand Swami's signature. This one does not.)

What does Jai Lakshmi Mata mean?

Victory to Mother Lakshmi. The refrain continues that Hari, Vishnu and the Ordainer attend on her night and day. It is the aarti sung at the end of Lakshmi puja, most famously on the main night of Diwali, and it is sung to the melody of Om Jai Jagdish Hare.

Is Jai Lakshmi Mata just a prayer for money?

One verse says that whoever holds her in mind obtains growth, attainment and wealth, and that is the text's own words. But the fifth verse says something quite different — that without her no sacrifice takes place and nobody has clothes to wear. That makes her the precondition of worship and of ordinary life rather than a dispenser of gains, and it is the aarti's more distinctive claim.

What does 'tum bin yagya na hote' mean?

Without you no sacrifice takes place. The line continues that no one would have clothes, and that the abundance of food and drink all comes from her. A rite requires ghee, grain, cloth, flowers and food, so a world without abundance is a world in which no offering can be made at all. Lakshmi is being described as what makes the ritual system possible.

Who are Uma, Rama and Brahmani?

Parvati, Lakshmi and Saraswati. The first verse names all three and then says you alone are the mother of the world, in the singular — identifying the three great goddesses as one. Om Jai Shiv Omkara, on the same tune, makes exactly the same move with Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.

What is the ocean of milk reference?

The samudra manthana, the churning of the ocean of milk by gods and demons, from which fourteen treasures emerged. Lakshmi is one of them, alongside the moon, the wish-granting cow, the celestial physician and the pot of amrita. Verse six calls her born of the ocean of milk and says that without her no one obtains the fourteen jewels.

Why does the aarti say Lakshmi lives in patala?

It is an unusual epithet and the wording varies between printed collections. The most plausible connection is to the underworld as the place where treasure is stored, which would associate her with buried and hidden wealth. No reading is settled. Sources that state a confident explanation are going beyond what the evidence supports.

When is Jai Lakshmi Mata sung?

Above all on the main night of Diwali, at the close of the household Lakshmi puja. Also on Fridays, which are customarily kept for the goddess, at Lakshmi shrines, at housewarmings, and at the ceremonial opening of new account books around Diwali.

Is Jai Lakshmi Mata sung to the Om Jai Jagdish Hare tune?

Yes. It uses the same melody, the same metre, the same Om Jai opening and the same repeated second line. It is one of the four aartis that make the template thesis demonstrable, alongside Om Jai Shiv Omkara, Om Jai Gange Mata and Om Jai Saraswati Mata.

Who wrote Jai Lakshmi Mata?

It is anonymous and carries no signature at all in its closing couplet. Three aartis do end with the name Shivanand Swami — Om Jai Jagdish Hare, Jai Ambe Gauri and Om Jai Shiv Omkara — but of the four texts actually sung to this tune, only Om Jai Shiv Omkara is among them. This one, Om Jai Gange Mata and Om Jai Saraswati Mata are all unsigned.

Does singing this aarti bring wealth?

The second verse says that whoever holds the goddess in mind obtains growth, attainment and wealth, and the closing couplet says joy fills the heart and wrongdoing is lifted. Those are the text's own statements, in the standard fruit-of-recitation idiom of the genre. We report what the song claims and do not restate it as an outcome.

What is the difference between this aarti and the Lakshmi mantras?

The mantras are Sanskrit, mostly beej mantras built on the syllable Shreem, and they are repeated and counted by an individual. The aarti is Hindi, sung by everyone present while a lamp is circled, and it argues and describes rather than working through sound. They belong to different forms and to different moments in worship.

Why is the line about fear in the aarti?

In the house where you dwell, the mind is not seized by fear. It is the aarti's most human line, and it names what prosperity is actually wanted for — not accumulation but the absence of a particular anxiety. Sung on Diwali night in a house just cleaned and lit for the occasion, it is the verse that tends to land hardest.