The Sri: Su:ktham is the oldest, most authoritative Vedic invocation of the Divine Mother known to the Sana:thana tradition. It is preserved in the Khila portion of the Rigvedha — the appended su:kthas that the Vedic tradition itself recognizes as smrithi-validated sruthi, recited with the same sanctity as the principal mandalas. The Rishi is traditionally given as A:nanda (or Sri:); the chandas vary across the sixteen riks (anushtubh, thrishtubh, jagathi:); the dhevatha: throughout is Sri: Maha:lakshmi:.
What makes this su:ktha unique is that it is the place where the Veda itself directly identifies Sri: as the supreme feminine principle worthy of invocation. The opening rik — hiranyavarna:m harini:m suvarnarajathasraja:m — does not describe a minor dhevatha:. It describes the One who is golden-hued, garlanded in gold and silver, radiant as the moon, whom the worshipper asks Agni Ja:thave:das to bring into his life. Every later stotra of Lakshmi:, from the Pura:nas through the Pa:nchara:thra A:gamas through the Stuti compositions of Ve:da:ntha De:sika, draws its authority from these sixteen verses.
In Sri:vaishnava household practice the Sri: Su:ktham opens every nitya-karma. It is recited at the morning sandhya:, before every yajna, at the beginning of every samska:ra from upanayana to viva:ha, and as the central invocation of the Friday Lakshmi: Pu:ja:. Pa:nchara:thra liturgy places it at the head of every Lakshmi: a:ra:dhana before the deity is bathed, robed, or fed.
The doctrinal place of this su:ktha in our Samprada:ya rests on the purushaka:ra teaching. Bhagavad Sri: Ra:ma:nuja:cha:rya taught that no soul approaches the Lord except through the mediation of Sri:. The Sri: Su:ktham enacts this principle in mantra form: the worshipper does not address Lakshmi: directly but asks Agni — the inner antar-ya:min who carries every offering — to bring Her near. He performs prapatti to the Mother first, that She may receive him. Sixteen verses to invoke the One through whom all other invocations succeed.