God please bless me and also others: July 2012

Lakshmi - The Beautiful Goddess of Prosperity and Light.

If you're struggling to find an unusual and interesting present for a friend, perhaps as a wedding, house warming or birthday gift, how about a beautiful woman? No, I'm not suggesting a leap into the slave trade, rather an exploration of symbols and mythology. There can be no better gift than one which promises health, wealth, beauty and while it might take an entire pantheon of Greek or Roman gods to cover all those promises, you can do it with just one goddess statue, a Lakshmi sculpture of the hindu goddess of light.

A Lakshmi statue is full of symbolism. The figure is of a beautiful woman, seated or standing on a lotus flower. According to legend, Indra, the King of the Hindu guardian angels, was given a garland of flowers which he put on the trunk of the elephant he was riding. Unfortunately the elephant didn't like the flowers and threw them off, insulting the sage who had given Indra the garland. The sage had given the flowers as an offering and filled the garland with good fortune.

As a result the sage cursed Indra and all the gods with weakness. There were many battles between gods and demons which resulted in victory for the demons, so the gods turned to Vishnu, the protector of the universe, for help. Vishnu suggested diplomacy. Gods and demons formed an alliance and embarked on a joint project, to churn the ocean of milk for amrit, the drink which grants immortality. The churning was very productive, herbs were thrown into the ocean and fourteen treasures were forthcoming, one of which was Lakshmi, the beautiful goddess of good fortune and sister of Chandra, the moon. As soon as Vishnu saw her, he took her as his consort.

How does the story end? As you would imagine. Eventually the ocean gave up the nectar and the gods and demons fought to possess it. Again the demons won and the gods turned to Vishnu. This time he intervened directly, took the form of a woman and distracted the demons, stole the amrit and gave it to the gods.

The story is told again and again in Hindu literature and in the carvings on temple walls, there is a particularly beautiful version in the temple of Angkor Wat in Cambodia. Like many myths, it has a meaning. The churning represents the search for self - the gods and demons the positive and negative aspects of personality while the ocean of milk represents the mind, and the amrit the ultimate goal.

Legend aside, many Lakshmi sculptures are very beautiful. A lovely woman, standing on a lotus flower, with coins falling from her fingers bestows wealth on those around her. When Lakshmi is alone she has four arms (in common with many Hindu deities) Two grant wealth to her devotees while the other two hold lotus flowers. Her arms symbolize the four aims of life, righteousness, desire, wealth and liberation from the cycles of death and birth. Lakshmi grants good fortune, but not to those who are lazy or immoral, hence the lotus. The lotus flower blooms from muddy water, but remains untainted. As a result the lotus is regarded as a powerful symbol of purity.

Lakshmi has many aspects. In one she is another aspect of the divine feminine, the mother of the entire universe, but she is also the wife of Vishnu a major Hindu god usually easy to recognize by his blue color. When shown with him Lakshmi has only two arms and fulfills a different function. Lakshmi intervenes on behalf of his worshippers, interpreting their requests to her husband.

Lakshmi is primarily a domestic goddess. Lakshmi statues can be found in many Hindu homes, she is worshipped in all Hindu regions but her special time is the festival of Diwali, the festival of lights. There is no fixed date for Diawali which is calculated by the phase of the moon, but it usually in late October (as in 2011) or early November (as in 2010). This is the time of Lakshmi's birthday, when people hope she will come to visit them, bringing wealth prosperity and beauty. Because of this association with prosperity, Diwali has become a major time of shopping and gift giving in India, much as Christmas is in the USA.

An understanding of the symbolism behind a gift or work of art always increases the enjoyment of it, but with or without knowledge of Lakshmi, her birth and her role, goddess statues are still very beautiful and make a thoughtful addition to any home.

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Rob Mabry is a former military journalist, screenwriter and father of five.

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