Kanakadhara Stotra

According to tradition, as a young boy, Adi Shankara was out seeking alms to prepare his lunch and happened upon the doorstep of a very poor Brahmana woman.

Having nothing edible in her home, the lady frantically searched her house, only to find a single gooseberry fruit, which she then offered to Shankara.

Shankara was so moved by the incredible selflessness of this woman that he burst forth into poetry and sang 22 stanzas in praise of the goddess Lakshmi.

Pleased by the beauty of the hymn, the goddess instantly showered the lady's house with gooseberries made of pure gold.

[3] The first hymn of the Kanakadhara Stotra is as follows:[4] aṅgaṃ hareḥ pulaka-bhūṣaṇam āśrayantībhṛṅgāṅganeva mukulābharaṇaṃ tamālam |aṅgīkṛtākhila vibhūtir-apāṅgalīlāmā-galyadāstu mama maṅgala-devatāyāḥMay Her glance, who abides in the body of Śrī Hari (who wears supreme happiness as ornament), just as the bees takes shelter in the profusely blossomed (buds) Tamāla tree, Who is the abode of all superhuman powers, and Who is all auspiciousness, be auspicious to me.

Statue of Adi Shankara, the composer of this hymn