Shri Suktam — opening rik

The Shri Suktam is a khila — one of the supplementary hymns appended to the Rigveda rather than counted inside its ten mandalas — and that status is worth stating plainly, because the hymn is very often cited simply as 'Rigveda' in modern reprints. It is usually numbered Khila 2.6. The verse does not address Lakshmi. It addresses Agni, under his old name Jatavedas, 'the one who knows all beings', and asks him to fetch her — āvaha, the same verb used for summoning a deity into a ritual fire. Lakshmi is the object of the sentence throughout, never the one spoken to. That is why Agni is linked here as a deity alongside her.