Bhū Sūktam

भूसूक्तम्

Vedic Ṛṣi tradition·Vedic (Taittirīya Āraṇyaka)·7 verses·Daily morning sandhyā as a companion to Śrī Sūktam and Nīḷā Sūktam; Bhūmi Pūjā preceding any construction or land observance; agricultural saṃskāras; Pāñcarātra ārādhana of Bhūdevī

The Vedic invocation of Lakṣmī in Her form as Bhūdevī — the Earth Goddess who is the second of the three consorts of Sriman Nārāyaṇa in Śrīvaiṣṇava theology. The Sampradāya teaches that Lakṣmī manifests in three eternal forms — Śrīdevī, Bhūdevī, and Nīḷādevī — and the Bhū Sūktam is the foundational śruti for the recognition of Bhūdevī as Lakṣmī Herself in Her form as the supportive Earth, the kṣamā or forbearance of the Lord.

The Bhū Sūktam is the Vedic invocation of the Divine Mother in Her form as Bhūdevī — seven ṛks preserved in Taittirīya Āraṇyaka IV.41 that address the Earth Goddess as the eternal support of all beings, the field upon which the līlā of the Lord unfolds, and the embodiment of the kalyāṇa-guṇa of kṣamā (forbearance) by which the Mother endures every transgression of Her children. For the Śrīvaiṣṇava Sampradāya these seven verses are doctrinally weight-bearing: Bhūdevī is not a separate goddess but Lakṣmī Herself in one of Her three eternal manifestations.

The Sampradāya teaches — on the authority of the Pāñcarātra Āgamas and the Śrī Vacana Bhūṣaṇa of Piḷḷai Lokācārya — that Mahālakṣmī appears in three inseparable forms as the consorts of Sriman Nārāyaṇa: Śrīdevī (the splendor and grace of the Lord), Bhūdevī (His forbearance, the Earth that bears every burden), and Nīḷādevī (His attractive beauty, the cowherd's daughter). The Bhū Sūktam is the śruti pramāṇa for the Bhūdevī aspect, recited in every Pāñcarātra ārādhana that contemplates the three Devīs and at every Bhūmi Pūjā before construction, planting, or land-saṃskāra. The complete text and authoritative translations are available through the external sources below.