The Divine Mother

Nothing could possibly be more familiar to us than the word `Shri’, which gets prefixed to  our names as a matter of course. Yet this familiarity does not carry with it the corresponding volume of knowledge, meaning and content of this small, but weighty word. `Shri’ is that inseparable denomination borne by the divine Mother, Goddess Lakshmi, the presiding deity over wealth, affluence and plenty. The Sanskrit word Sri lends itself to different meanings. Firstly, if we take the derivative, `sriyate iti srih, it would connote one who is sought after by all finite beings – isvraim sarva bhutanam. Another derivative, srayate iti srih, would refer to the Mother as one who leans solely on Lord Narayana and does not get parted from Him under any circumstance. The third variation, srunoti iti srih, highlights one who grants patient audience to the moans and groans of all suffering creatures. The fourth variant, sraava iti srih, represents the Mother at her best, as one who puts in a word to the Lord at the most opportune moment, so as to secure for her devotees the desired results,  advocating the cause before the Lord in the most effective manner with admirable success.

The idea of interceding partner in Godhead is not confined to our theology alone. Even Jesus Christ is represented as interceding  on behalf of suffering humanity with the Heavenly Father for their redemption. It would, of course, be compromising the mercifulness of The Lord, if those who seek protection suffered under His very eyes, If Gajendra, the elephant, cried for help during the titanic struggle with the crocodile, it presupposes the  existence of a savior. It is difficult to believe in a `higher power `that remain indifferent to our woes. That is why Lakshmi, the eternal spouse of Lord Vishnu, functions as the intercessor on behalf of those who are suffering. Intercession would naturally imply a dual role for her – dealing with mankind on the one hand, and with the supreme Lord on the other.

Goddess Lakshmi exhorts us to shed all fear of a strict and unrelenting judge who keeps count of every little action and to seek refuge in His Lotus Feet, since our salvation lies there and there alone. Thus did Mother Sita advise Ravana in the Ashoka Vana, to seek Rama’s friendship for sheer survival and avoidance of a gruesome end.

Lakshmi’s sweet disposition and solicitude weans us away from our age-old apathy and mental stupor and turns us towards the Supreme Lord. Having made us God-conscious and ready to receive His bounty, the compassionate Mother has no doubt won the first round of the battle.

Next comes the veritable battle of wits between the omniscient, all powerful Lord, ahs his most beloved consort, the divine Mother. The petitioner is at the door-step of the supreme Lord, but the unrelenting judge from whose scrutiny none of our vices and foibles can ever escape, keeps the door shut against the offender. The mother pleased with him and points out that if he started separating the sand from the food that had slipped and got mixed up with sand, he would be attempting the impossible. To thinks of the jivaatman seeking His protection  at the moment, apart from his sins would be just as futile. If the supplicant were to be disowned and thrown out, all he efforts put forth by the Lord during  his avataras to recline the sinners would be a colossal waste.

At this juncture, the Lord in his role as the supreme judge, protests that the universal laws of course and effect cannot be thrown to the winds by conditioning the countless transgression of the petitioner. The Lord is , however, effectively silenced by the Mother who beseeches thus, “ My Lord! If you really mean to exercise your qualities of mercy, love and kindness, you have now an opportunity , which you  cannot allow to slip away. As regards justice and retribution, you can very well invoke those norms in dealing with those who are straying away from you. In this case of those who seek your protection by falling at your feet. Like the petitioner now at your door-step, you should acknowledge them with open hands in vindication of your qualities of love, mercy and grace, which would otherwise get rusted through disuse!” The softer touch of the Mother who is grace first, grace last and grace thoroughly, that is grade personified, thus secures our salvation. This sociological preference for approaching the female for the forgiveness of our wrongs is seen in the world-a-day world also.

Lakshmi is the Mother of the swords, even as Hari (Vishnu) is the Father – tvam mata sarva lokanam devadevo harih pita. In the Saiva tradition, Parvati is the feminine counterpart of Lakshmi; she comprises half of the body of Siva, who is accordingly called Ardhanarishwara. If Vishnu holds her in his own heart, Siva gives her pride of place by assigning half his being to her.

The fact that Lakshmi and Vishnu are complementary to each other can also be seen from the fact that Vishnu’s permanent abode is the milky ocean, which happens to be the birth place of Lakshmi. She emerged when the milky ocean was churned and to find her again in the form of Mother Sita, the sea had to be restrained and bridge over.

Only when our senses are restrained, we can find the Mother and only  when the intellect is churned in contemplation, can we discover her grace that leads us to the Lord in meditation.

*Taken from Tapovan Prasad, the  magazine of Chinmaya Mission, India

Lakshmi: The Goddess of Wealth

Lakshmi the Goddess of Wealth, is welcomed by all. As a consort of Vishnu, she abides in his heart. When he sleeps on his snake bed, she takes her place at his feet. She is indispensable to the Lord in his form as sustainer, for the created world cannot be maintained without wealth. She is often depicted standing on a red lotus blossom in full bloom, a symbol of Truth – the source of all wealth. Lakshmi sits at Vishnu’s feet as representative of the material wealth at his disposal, and she abides in his heart as the bestower of spiritual wealth.

These descriptions indicate the true nature of material and spiritual wealth and the means to obtain them. As long as a person craves for material wealth alone, without caring for the Truth that supports it, he is on the unsafe foundation. Lakshmi is reputed to be fickle by nature; material wealth is very elusive and often disappears in no time. If one does not give value to the Truth, even when one possess wealth, one will not receive satisfaction from it, because one becomes deluded and confused by the pouring of the waters of desire (vasanas) over the wealth. The picture of Gaja-Lakshmi surrounded by elephants pouring water from their trunks indicates this continuous flow of desire. ‘Gaja’ means elephant; but it is derived from the root gaj, which means ‘confusing’ or ‘bewildering’. Desires agitate our minds and create confusion.

Whenever Vishnu incarnates on Earth, Lakshmi is also born to serve him in his earthly tasks. The story of the Ramayana is none other than the story of Lakshmi and Narayana in their incarnations as Sita and Rama. This epic clearly points out how the pursuit of material wealth for its own sake leads to the destruction. Ravana, who kidnapped Sita, thereby separating the Lord from his spouse, was destroyed in the end; whereas his brother, Vibhishana, who helped return Sita to Rama, received his blessings and became the king of Lanka.

How can one become endowed with both spiritual and material wealth? A beautiful story connected with Lord Venkateswara of the Seven Hills illustrates this. Once the sages wanted to know who was the best among  the Trinity – Brahma, Vishnu or Siva. Sage Bhrigu went first to Brahma, the  Creator. When he arrived, Brahma was in an assembly hall which was full of wise and learned persons. Having entered it, Bhrigu took a seat without saluting or greeting the Creator. Brahma’s face grew red at this discourtesy, but he controlled himself and did not speak out. Bhrigu mentally noted that Brahma was rajasika by temperament and soon left.

Next, he went to Kailasa, where he encountered Siva dancing with Parvati in the private hall. When Bhrigu entered without announcing himself Siva became furious and took his trident to kill the sage. However, Parvati intervened and prevented him from injuring Bhrigu. Bhrigu noted that Siva was tamasik in nature.

Continuing his pursuit, he then went to Vaikuntha to find Lord Vishnu asleep on the snake bed. Pretending to be angry, Bhrigu gave him a hard kick on his chest for being asleep when his guest entered. Vishnu woke up with a start and found beside him the raging and fuming sage. Repenting for his rudeness, he began to massage the foot of Bhrigu, all the while comforting him: “O Sage, please excuse my inadvertence. Your soft foot must have been terribly hurt when it hit may hard chest. Please allow me to massage it and reduce the pain”. Bhrigu noted with satisfaction that Vishnu was sattvika – he was truly great and the best among the three. However, he did not notice that the cunning Vishnu, while massaging his foot, had surreptitiously plucked the special eye from his foot. All would have been well but for one factor – Lakshmi, dwelling in the heart of Vishnu, felt insulted because Bhrigu has virtually kicked her when he kicked her abode. She felt irritated by the soft approach of Vishnu in pacifying the sage, instead of punishing him for his wrongful action. Disgusted, she left the side of Narayana and came down to Earth to hide herself beyond his reach.

Bereft of Lakshmi, Narayana became impoverished. Unable to maintain the worlds or keep up his own good cheer, he became miserable and came down to the earth to search for her. Making his way to the seven hills, where she was hiding, he suffered long trials before he discovered her. He wedded her in the form of Padmavati on the hill where he had attained happiness by reuniting with his beloved. Lord Venkateswara is the riches of all deities. He receives the maximum offerings from his devotees. Known to be the fulfiller of desires, he also has the power to remove distress of any kind.

The story illustrates how to attain inner and outer glory, both of which are the expressions of  Lakshmi. When a person becomes a ‘Bhrigu’, that is ‘a shining intellect’, he will begin probing into the three gunas that are responsible for the existence of the worlds: rajoguna creates, tamoguna kills and sattvaguna sustains. The world is a movement in the space-time continuum; hence, it is called ‘pada’ in Sanskrit- padyate iti padah – that which goes is pada. An eye on the movement, or pada, reveals to Bhrigu the true nature of the world. Once the discovery is made, the eye will no longer be on the movement; thus the story states that the ‘eye’ on his foot (pada also means foot) was removed by Vishnu. The person becomes calm and quiet, unmoved by the moving world of the three gunas.

Lakshmi stands with gold coins spilling form one hand, but she offers the lotus with another – an offering to cultivate the nobler emotions and sentiments of the heart. When one chooses the inner wealth, she lays all else at one’s feet.

*The article is by Pujya Swamini Saradapriyananda. Taken from Tapovan Prasad, November, 2013 issue. Tapovan Prasad is a CCMT publication.