Sri
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sri, Shri, Shree, Siri or Seri (Devanagari - श्री, Bahasa- Seri,Kannada- ಶ್ರೀ, Tamil - ஸ்ரீ, official IAST transliteration Śrī) means wealth, is a Sanskrit title of veneration, a Hindu honorific stemming from the Puranic conception of prosperity. It signifies the goddess of wealth - Lakshmi, the wife of Vishnu. Lakshmi symbolises beauty, wealth and grace. According to Sanskrit grammar, Sri belongs to the feminine subjunctive gender but nowadays it is written as a masculine name prefix, short for Sriman and it is akin to Mr. in English, kreiōn in Greek, Effendi in Turkish, or Thiru in Tamil. It is pronounced halfway between sree and shree.
[edit] Significance
Sri' is an epithet of some Hindu gods. It is also used as a prefix to the names of men and women who are considered great or holy, or who derive their power from that which is holy. When used as a title for gods, Śrī is sometimes translated into English as Lord, but this is inaccurate and it is generally agreed that Śrī is best left untranslated.
Sri Devi (or in short Sri, another name of Lakshmi, consort of Vishnu) is the Devi (goddess) of wealth according to Hindu beliefs. Lakshmi is the embodiment of Love, from which devotion to God or Bhakti flows from. It is through Love/Bhakti or Lakshmi that the atma or soul is able to reach God or Vishnu. Sri or Lakshmi is also the personification of the Spiritual energy within us and universe called Kundalini. Also, She embodies the Spiritual World or Vaikunta; the abode of Lakshmi-Narayana or Vishnu, or what would be considered Heaven in Hinduism. She is also the Divine qualities of God and the soul. Lakshmi is God's superior spiritual feminine energy or the Param Prakriti, which purifies, empowers and uplifts the individual. Hence, She is called the Goddess of Fortune.
There is a common practice of writing Śrī as first word centralised in line at the beginning of the document.
Śrī is one of the names of Ganesha, the Hindu god of prosperity. The origin of the word Sri is traced to the account of Lord Ganesha losing his head while protecting his mother Pārvatī. This is why He is the first to be worshiped in all the 'yagyas'.
[edit] Current usage
Sri/Shri is often used as a respectful affix to the names of celebrated or revered persons. It is not gender-specific, but the assumption that it is gender-specific has resulted in the title of Shrimati (abbreviated Smt) for women.
Another usage is as an emphatic compound (which can be used in multiple: shri shri, or sri sri sri, etc.) in princely styles, notably in Darbar Shri, Desai Shri, Khan Sahib Shri Babi, Malek Shri and Thakur Shri or as in Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, a Hindu spiritual Guru and leader
[edit] Place name
It is used in the name of the country Sri Lanka, which means venerable island and as in Sri Perambadur, a town in the State of Tamil Nadu, where the Srivaishnava pontiff Ramanujacharya was born.
|
|||||
