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One of the most popular and widely used Shloka in Hinduism is

कराग्रे वसते लक्ष्मीः करमध्ये सरस्वती ।

करमूले तु गोविन्दः प्रभाते करदर्शनम् ॥

karAgre vasate lakShmIH kara-madhye sarasvatI |

kara-moole tu govindaH prabhAte kara-darshanam ||

Meaning: At the Top of the Hand (i.e. Palm) Dwell Devi Lakshmi and at the Middle of the Hand Dwell Devi Saraswati, At the Base of the Hand Dwell Sri Govinda; Therefore one should Look at one's Hands in the Early Morning and contemplate on Them.

It seems like another version with small modification also exist.

कराग्रे वसते लक्ष्मीः करमध्ये सरस्वती ।

करमूले स्थिता गौरी मंगलं करदर्शनम् ॥

karAgre vasate lakShmIH, kara-madhye saraswatI |

kara-moole sthitA gaurI, mangalaM kara-darshanam ||

The difference is instead of Lord Govinda, the second version mentions about Gauri at the base of the Hand.

Which Hindu scripture has the mention of the above shloka and which version is mentioned out of the above two?

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  • 2
    Nice question. It is one of the first shlok we utter in morning 1
    – Triyugi Narayan Mani
    Aug 13, 2016 at 7:03
  • 3
    @TriyugiNarayanMani Correct, it is one of the most common. To be honest, I could not found its origin doing Google. Only the expert who has read many scriptures could tell if it is part of which scripture, I guess.
    – AADHinduism
    Aug 13, 2016 at 8:08
  • Digital Corpus of Sanskrit didn't give any positive results. kjc-sv013.kjc.uni-heidelberg.de/dcs/…
    – The Destroyer ♦
    Jul 10, 2018 at 12:23
  • We used to have this shloka in a pushtaka(book) called "Vandana" in primary school time.
    – TheLittleNaruto ♦
    Jul 11, 2018 at 4:57

1 Answer 1

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The sloka is originally from the Vishnu Purana.However,the version given in that Purana differs slightly from those given in the question.

The Vishnu Purana version states:

enter image description here

Karaagre Vasate Lakshmih Karamadhye Saraswati ||Karamule Stitho Brahma Prabhate Karadarsanam||

On the top of the palms resides Lakshmi,in the middle Saraswati and at the base of the palms resides Brahma.Hence,one should always see the palms at early morning.

Quoting from the book Dharma Bindu(the essence of all Dharma Shastras):

Vishnu Purana defined Brahma Muhurta: Raatrena paschima yaamaasya muhurto yastrutiyakah, sa Brahmaa iti vigneyo vihitah sa prabodhane/ Pancha pancha Ushahkaalah saptapancha arunodayah, ashta pancha bhavet praatastah Suryodayah smritah/ (Considering that Brahama Muhurta is from 4.08 am to 4.56 am and Ushodaya or Sunrise is at 5.44 am. The first view that a person on opening eyes is the right palm saying: Karaagre vasate Lakshmi karamadhye Sarasvati, Karamule sthito Brahma prabaate karadarshanam/ ( Lakshmi on to of the palm fingers, Sarasvati in the middle of the palm and Brahma at the bottom of the palm

enter image description here

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  • Is there a a possibility that it's referring to Brahman rather than the four-headed gods Brahma? Because both are written as brahma in Sanskrit.
    – Keshav Srinivasan ♦
    Oct 21, 2016 at 7:41
  • @KeshavSrinivasan No .I think its Lord Brahmaa only(not Brahman).
    – Rickross
    Oct 21, 2016 at 7:52
  • @KeshavSrinivasan BTW there is Brahma Tirtha at the base of the thumbs& at the middle of the palm there is Agni Tirtha .,but as per this sloka Saraswati resides there.
    – Rickross
    Oct 22, 2016 at 5:18
  • @KeshavSrinivasan ब्रह्मा (brahmā) is four headed Brahma. ब्रह्म(brahma) is Supreme Brahman. Verse says ब्रह्मा
    – The Destroyer ♦
    Aug 31, 2017 at 4:59
  • Where does this shloka occur in Vishu Purana? Can you give exact reference?
    – Sarvabhouma
    May 23, 2018 at 11:05

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