Sacred Learning
Karāgre vasate lakṣmīḥ
Public dawn verse (anon. traditional household).
Public dawn verse (anon. traditional household).
Canonical source text
कराग्रे वसते लक्ष्मीः करमध्ये सरस्वती । करमूले तु गोविन्दः प्रभाते करदर्शनम् ॥
IAST transliteration
karāgre vasate lakṣmīḥ karamadhye sarasvatī | karamūle tu govindaḥ prabhāte karadarśanam ||
Close translation
Lakṣmī dwells at the fingertips, Sarasvatī in the middle of the hand, Govinda at the root. In the morning, the seeing of the hands.
Reader-friendly meaning
A dawn custom: look at your own hands as the seat of fortune, speech, and the Lord, before work begins.
Meenananda editorial explanation
Not Veda, and not lesser for that. A house that wakes with this verse remembers that labour, learning and the Lord meet in the palm.
Practice context
Look at the palms at waking, then rise.
Word meanings
- कराग्रे — at the fingertip
- करदर्शनम् — looking at the hands
Anonymous public dawn verse; not claimed as śruti. Sanskrit: public domain. Foundation translations: CC BY-SA 4.0.