Lakshmi

Happy Diwali for those celebrating today! Last time I put my Religious Studies hat on and did a goddess, people were keen for me to do one again, so in honour of Diwali today’s post is about Lakshmi, one of the main deities celebrated during Diwali in the Hindu tradition.

Diwali celebrations include puja (prayers) to Lakshmi and Ganesha. Many Hindus worship Lakshmi on Diwali, the festival of lights. It is celebrated in autumn, typically October or November every year. The festival spiritually signifies the victory of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, good over evil and hope over despair. In preparation for Diwali, people clean and decorate their homes which are then lit with candles and lanterns in the hope that this will guide Lakshmi into their homes and bring its occupents good luck and prosperity in the coming year. After worshiping Lakshmi, celebrations including food, family, and fireworks begin. Like Christimas in the West, Diwali is a time of huge economic activity and thus is further associated with Lakshmi’s auspiciousness, wealth and prosperty. Many Hindus consider Diwali the most important and happiest occasions in their calendar. 

Other local festivals celebrate Lakshmi in different ways across India. Countless hymns, prayers, shlokas, stotra, songs, and legends are recited during the ritual worship of Lakshmi.

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Lakshmi ('goddess who leads to one's lakshya or goal'), aka Sri ('Noble goddess') or Akshara ('Imperishable'), is one of the main Hindu goddesses. Lakshmi in Sanskrit is derived from the root word lakṣ (लक्ष्) meaning 'to perceive, observe, know, understand' and lakṣa (लक्ष), meaning 'goal, aim, objective'. These roots give Lakshmi the symbolism: know and understand your goal. She is the goddess of wealth, fortune, love, beauty, joy and prosperity – hence her popularity. She is the Mother goddess in Hinduism, and  forms part of the trnity of Hindu goddesses (Tridevi) along with Parvati and Saraswati.

Lakshmi is both the wife and divine energy of the Hindu god Vishnu, who according to one form of Hinduism is the protector, destroyer and regenerator of all creation. In Hindu mythology, Lakkshmi takes many forms in order to assist and protect her husband during his work.  There are eight prominent forms of Lakshmi which symbolizes the eight sources of wealth which governs the life of all human beings known as the Ashta Lakshmi. In each manifestation she grants humans their needs and desires.

Whenever Vishnu descended to earth, Lakshmi was similarly incarnated as his wife. There are tten avataras (incarnations) of Vishnu, and in each Lakhsmi took an appropriate form to accompany him. Most famous of these incarnations are Rama and his wife Sita, who are two of the most popular Hindu deities and provide a religious and social model for how men and women should act.

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Archaeological evidence such as coins and temples show that Lakhsmi was worshipped at least by the 1^st millenium BCE. discoveries and ancient coins suggest the recognition and reverence for Lakshmi existing by the 1st millennium BCE.  She also has an foundation in the ancient scriptures of Hinduism. In Atharva Veda, transcribed about 1000 BCE, Lakshmi evolves into a complex deity with several manifestations. It describes how a hundred Lakshmis are born with the body of a mortal at birth, some good, punya ('virtuous') and auspicious, while others bad, paapi ('evil') and unfortunate. Her association with fortune and the good is significant enough that Atharva Veda mentions it in multiple books. Later, Lakshmi is referred to as the goddess of fortune, identified with Sri and regarded as wife of Viṣhṇu. For example, in Shatapatha Brahmana, composed between 800 BCE and 300 BCE, Sri (Lakshmi) is included in tales about the creation of the universe and is described as holding such power that other gods were envious of her and plotted to kill her to take their power for themselves. In the later Hinduism Epics, such as in Mahabharata and the Ramayana, Lakshmi personifies wealth, riches, happiness, loveliness, grace, charm and splendour.

In ancient scriptures of India, all women are declared to be embodiments of Lakshmi. Ancient prayers dedicated to Lakshmi seek both material and spiritual wealth in prayers.

Lakshmi features prominently in Puranas of Hinduism. Vishnu Purana, in particular, dedicates many sections to her, for example:

‘Sri, loyal to Vishnu, is the mother of the world. Vishnu is the meaning, Sri is the speech. She is the conduct, he the behavior. Vishnu is knowledge, she the insight. He is dharma, she the virtuous action. She is the earth, he earth's upholder. She is contentment, he the satisfaction. She wishes, he is the desire. Sri is the sky, Vishnu the Self of everything. He is the moon, she the light of moon. He is the ocean, she is the shore.’

This shows that she is considered as important as her husband an dthat they have equal respoinsibility in upholding order and peace in the world.

Lakshmi, along with Parvati and Saraswati, is a subject of extensive Indian literature. From the 1^st millenium BC there are stories, proverbs, poems, and songs written in veneration of her.  Some take the form of a dialogue between her and Vishnu, while others comprise ethical mantras.

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In Indian artwork, Lakshmi appears as an elegant and wealthy golden-coloured woman. Her vehicle is an owl – symbolisin her mobility and prevailing in overpowering darkness. She is usually depicted in a yoga stance on a lotus, holding a lotus in her hand as a symbol of fortune, self-knowledge and spiritual liberation. Her iconography depicts her with four hands, representing the four aspects of human life important to Hindu culture: dharma (duty), kāma (pleasure), artha (propserty), and moksha (self-knowledge and liberation).

In Lakshmi's iconography, she is either sitting or standing on a lotus and typically carrying a lotus in one or two hands. The lotus carries symbolic meanings in many Indian religions including Hinduism and Buddhism. In the Hindu context, it represents knowledge, self-realisation, and liberation, as well as reality and consciousness. The lotus, which blooms in dirty water, also symbolises purity regardless of the good or bad circumstances in which it grows. It is a reminder that good and prosperity can bloom and not be affected by evil in one's surrounding.

Images of Lakhsmi typically include elephants, who symbolise work, activity and strength, as well as water, rain and fertility. Her vehicle (an owl) signifies the striving to observe, see and discover knowledge particularly when surrounded by darkness. In some representations, she is depicted as pouring coins or holding money which represents both her generosity in bestowing material wealth on her devotees as well as her spiritual value and wealth. Her face and open hands are in a mudra that signifies compassion, giving or dāna ('charity'). Her red dress symbolises fortune and wealth and she is often shown alongside her husband, Vishnu – showing that wealth and prosperity accopmany life, justice, and peace.

Inside temples, Lakshmi is often shown together with Krishna, another of Vishnu’s avatars. In certain regions, Lakshmi plays a special role as the mediator between her husband Vishnu and his worldly devotees. When asking Vishnu for grace or forgiveness, the devotees often approach Him through the intermediary presence of Lakshmi. She is also the personification of spiritual fulfillment universe.

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She is also an important deity in Jainism and found in Jain temples. Some Jain temples also depict Sri Lakshmi as a goddess of artha ('wealth') and kama ('pleasure'). For example, she is exhibited with Vishnu in Parshvanatha Jain Temple at the Khajuraho Monuments of Madhya Pradesh, where she is shown pressed against Vishnu's chest, while he cups her breast (#saucy). The presence of Vishnu-Lakshmi iconography in a Jain temple built near the Hindu temples of Khajuraho, suggests the sharing and acceptance of Lakshmi across a spectrum of Indian religions. This commonality is reflected in the praise of Lakshmi found in the Jain text Kalpa Sūtra. She is also worshipped by Newar Buddhists in Nepal, particularly around the time of Diwali. Additionally, in Buddhism, she has been viewed as a Goddess of abundance and fortune, and is represented on the oldest surviving stupas and cave temples of Buddhism. In Buddhist sects of Tibet, Nepal, and Southeast Asia, Lakshmi Goddess Vasudhara mirrors the characteristics and attributes of the Hindu Goddess, with minor iconographic differences.

The Japanese goddess of fortune and prosperity, Kishijoten (吉祥天, 'Auspicious Heavens'), corresponds to Lakshmi. In Tibetan Buddhism, Lakshmi is an important deity, especially in the Gelug School. She has both peaceful and wrathful forms and is the principal female protector of (Gelug) Tibetan Buddhism and of Lhasa, Tibet. Goddess Vasudhara in Tibetan and Nepalese culture is closely analogous to goddess Lakshmi as well.

Thus, Lakshmi is ubiquitous in South Asian culture and religion, with historic and contemporary relevance across faith traditions and geographical borders.