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PERCEPTIONS
Eternal India
encyclopedia
LAKSHMI (GODDESS OF FAME AND FORTUNE)
Oh. Goddess Lakshmi, I salute you,
The princess of the milky ocean,
whose abode is the Lord Himself,
to whom all the heavenly nymphs are maids
who is the only source of light to the
whole world,
By thee whose glance alone Brahma, Indra,
Shiva
and others are showered with a bounteous
prosperity.
Who is the Mother of all the three worlds,
who is born in the lotus
and who is beloved of Lord Vishnu.
Lakshmi or Sri is the goddess of fortune
in Hindu mythology. She is the consort of
Lord Vishnu and mother of Kaama. Accord-
ing to legends she sprang, like Aphrodite
from the froth of the ocean, in full beauty
with a lotus in her hand, when it was
churned by the
Devas
and the
Asuras.
Ac-
cording to another legend she was floating
on a lotus at the time of creation. Hence she
is called
'kshirabdhi - tanaya'
or 'daughter of
the sea of milk’. Due to her association
with
the lotus she is called as
Padma.
As consort
of Vishnu she plays the part of a model
Hindu wife, obediently serving her husband
as lord.
One version of
Raamayana
affirms that,
"Lakshmi was born of her own will, in a
beautiful field opened up by the plough", and
received from Janaka the name of Sita.
She is usually portrayed as a woman of
mature beauty, seated on a lotus and often
with a lotus in her hand, attended by two
elephants who sprinkle water on her from
their trunks. She has no temples, but being
goddess of abundance and fortune, she is
much sought after and worshipped. The ele-
phants in images of Sri Lakshmi symbolise
her association with the fertility of crops
and the sap of existence. She is believed to
possess the following qualities: food, royal
power, universal sovereignty, noble rank,
power, holy lustre, kingdom, fortune,
bounteousness and beauty.
Her other names are Hira, Indira,
Jal-
adhija
(ocean born),
Chanchala
(fickle),
Lokamata
(mother of the world). The most
important festival in which Lakshmi is wor-
shipped today (except in Bengal) is Deepa-
vali (Divali). Three important themes are
seen in this festival: her association with
wealth and prosperity, her association with
fertility and abundant crops, and her asso-
ciation with good fortune in the coming year.
During this festival it is customary for
people, especially merchants and business
persons, to worship their account books.
They believe that wealth will not arise
without Lakshmi's blessing or presence.
LAKSHMI
PAADA
After sweeping her house and washing
the altar a Hindu housewife draws a design
at the entrance, silently intoning an invoca-
tion to Lakshmi to come into the house. La-
kshmi's footsteps symbolise the invocation
and the invitation to the goddess to bless
the house with wealth and auspiciousness,
beauty and virtue.
SARASWATI
(GODDESS OF WISDOM)
Prayer to Saraswati
May the Goddess Saraswati,
who is as white as the dew on the
garland of Kunda flowers,
who is seated on white lotus,
whose hands are decorated with the
blessed lute,
who is draped in clean silk, and
who is always worshipped by Lord Brahma,
Achyuta, Shankara and other gods.
She is the wife of Brahma, the goddess
of speech and learning, creatrix of the San-
skrit language and patroness of arts, sci-
ences and music. Saraswati is depicted as a
beautiful fair young woman, often with a
Veena,
or Indian flute and a book in her hand
and attended by a swan. She is always
worshipped by students, writers and musi-
cians. In later mythology she was associ-
ated with '
vak
' (speech) and became the
goddess of wisdom and eloquence.