Lakshmi and Saraswati - Tales in Mythology and Art

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I have put together a short piece on the Hindu Goddesses Lakshmi

and Saraswati. Hope it is enjoyed.

 

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Lakshmi and Saraswati - Tales in Mythology and Art

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While the great goddess as a cosmic force may be a deity of

compelling dynamism and fearsome power, it is in the guise of the

gentle and beneficent giver of the devotees' desires, that the

female divinities of India first appeared. This role of the

goddess as one who fulfills wishes has remained one of enduring

strength and consequence. In the ancient collection of sacred

hymns known as the Veda, this aspect of the goddess already

becomes manifest. The two most shining examples in this context

are The Great Goddesses Lakshmi and Saraswati.

 

LAKSHMI:

 

Goddess Lakshmi, also known as Shri, is personified not only as

the goddess of fortune and wealth but also as an embodiment of

loveliness, grace and charm. She is worshipped as a goddess who

grants both worldly prosperity as well as liberation from the

cycle of life and death.

 

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(size : 34 kb)

 

Lore has it that Lakshmi arose out of the sea of milk, the

primordial cosmic ocean, bearing a red lotus in her hand. Each

member of the divine triad- Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva (creator,

preserver and destroyer respectively)- wanted to have her for

himself. Shiva's claim was refused for he had already claimed the

Moon, Brahma had Saraswati, so Vishnu claimed her and she was

born and reborn as his consort during all of his ten

incarnations.

 

Though retained by Vishnu as his consort, Lakshmi remained an

avid devotee of Lord Shiva. An interesting legend surrounds her

devotion to this god:

 

Every day Lakshmi had a thousand flowers plucked by her

handmaidens and she offered them to the idol of Shiva in the

evening. One day, counting the flowers as she offered them, she

found that there were two less than a thousand. It was too late

to pluck any more for evening had come and the lotuses had closed

their petals for the night.

 

Lakshmi thought it inauspicious to offer less than a thousand.

Suddenly she remembered that Vishnu had once described her

breasts as blooming lotuses. She decided to offer them as the two

missing flowers.

 

Lakshmi cut off one breast and placed it with the flowers on the

altar. Before she could cut off the other, Shiva, who was

extremely moved by her devotion, appeared before her and asked

her to stop. He then turned her cut breast into round, sacred

Bael fruit (Aegle marmelos) and sent it to Earth with his

blessings, to flourish near his temples.

 

A few texts say that Lakshmi is the wife of Dharma. She and

several other goddesses, all of whom are personifications of

certain auspicious qualities, are said to have been given to

Dharma in marriage. This association seems primarily to represent

a thinly disguised "wedding" of Dharma (virtuous conduct) with

Lakshmi (prosperity and well-being). The point of the association

seems to be to teach that by performing Dharma one obtains

prosperity.

 

Tradition also associates Lakshmi with Kubera, the ugly lord of

the Yakshas. The Yakshas were a race of supernatural creatures

who lived outside the pale of civilization. Their connection with

Lakshmi perhaps springs from the fact that they were notable for

a propensity for collecting, guarding and distributing wealth.

Association with Kubera deepens the aura of mystery and

underworld connections that attaches itself to Lakshmi. Yakshas

are also symbolic of fertility. The Yakshinis (female Yakshas)

depicted often in temple sculpture are full-breasted and

big-hipped women with wide generous mouths, leaning seductively

against trees. The identification of Shri, the goddess who

embodies the potent power of growth, with the Yakshas is natural.

She, like them, involves, and reveals herself in the

irrepressible fecundity of plant life, as exemplified in the

legend of Shiva and the Bael fruit narrated above, and also in

her association with the lotus, to be described later.

 

Illustration : http://www.exoticindiaart.com/sculptures/za30.jpg

(size : 61 kb)

 

An interesting and fully developed association is between Lakshmi

and the god Indra. Indra is traditionally known as the king of

the gods, the foremost of the gods, and he is typically described

as a heavenly king. It is therefore appropriate for Shri-Lakshmi

to be associated with him as his wife or consort. In these myths

she appears as the embodiment of royal authority, as a being

whose presence is essential for the effective wielding of royal

power and the creation of royal prosperity.

 

Several myths of this genre describe Shri-Lakshmi as leaving one

ruler for another. She is said, for example, to dwell even with a

demon named Bali. The concerned legend makes clear the union

between Lakshmi and victorious kings. According to this legend

Bali defeats Indra. Lakshmi is attracted to Bali's winning ways

and bravery and joins him along with her attendant auspicious

virtues. In association with the propitious goddess, Bali rules

the three worlds (earth, heavens and the nether-worlds) with

virtue, and under his rule there is prosperity all around. Only

when the dethroned gods managed to trick Bali into surrendering

does Shri-Lakshmi depart from Bali, leaving him lusterless and

powerless. Along with Lakshmi, the following qualities depart

from Bali: good conduct, virtuous behavior, truth, activity and

strength.

 

Lakshmi's association with so many different male deities and

with the notorious fleetingness of good fortune earned her a

reputation for fickleness and inconstancy. In one text she is

said to be so unsteady that even in a picture she moves and that

if she sticks with Vishnu it is only because she is attracted to

his many different forms (avataras)! She is thus also known as

'Chanchala', or the restless one.

 

Her notorious fickleness has convinced her devotees that she may

desert them at the slightest pretext. They have thus devised

numerous ingenious strategies to retain Lakshmi, and thus

prosperity in their establishments. One such sect is known to

offer only the worst netlike fabric as vastra (clothing) to

Lakshmi; for they say, 'It is much easier for Goddess Lakshmi to

abandon our houses clad in ample folds of cloth rather than

scantily dressed in the minimum fabric we offer to her as

garment'!

 

In a mythological sense her fickleness and adventurous nature

slowly begin to change once she is identified totally with

Vishnu, and finally becomes still. She then becomes the

steadfast, obedient and loyal wife who vows to reunite with her

husband in all his next lives. As the cook at the Jagannatha

temple in Puri, she prepares food for her lord and his devotees.

In the famous paintings on the walls of the Badami caves in

central India, she sits on the ground near where her lord

reclines upon a throne, leaning on him; a model of social decorum

and correctitude.

 

Physically Goddess Lakshmi is described as a fair lady, with four

arms, seated on a lotus, dressed in fine garments and precious

jewels. She has a benign countenance, is in her full youth and

yet has a motherly appearance.

 

Illustration : http://www.exoticindiaart.com/batik/ba74.jpg (size

: 61 kb)

 

The most striking feature of the iconography of Lakshmi is her

persistent association with the lotus. The meaning of the lotus

in relation to Shri-Lakshmi refers to purity and spiritual power.

Rooted in the mud but blossoming above the water, completely

uncontaminated by the mud, the lotus represents spiritual

perfection and authority. Furthermore, the lotus seat is a common

motif in Hindu and Buddhist iconography. The gods and goddesses,

the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, typically sit or stand upon a

lotus, which suggests their spiritual authority. To be seated

upon or to be otherwise associated with the lotus suggests that

the being in question: god, Buddha, or human being-has

transcended the limitations of the finite world (the mud of

existence, as it were) and floats freely in a sphere of purity

and spirituality. Shri-Lakshmi thus suggests more than the

fertilizing powers of moist soil and the mysterious powers of

growth. She suggests a perfection or state of refinement that!

transcends the material world. She is associated not only with

the royal authority but with also spiritual authority, and she

combines royal and priestly powers in her presence. The lotus,

and the goddess Lakshmi by association, represents the fully

developed blossoming of organic life.

 

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No description of Goddess Lakshmi can be complete without a

mention of her traditionally accepted vehicle, the owl. Now, the

owl (Ulooka in Sanskrit), is a bird that sleeps through the day

and prowls through the night. In a humorous vein it is said that

owing to its lethargic and dull nature the Goddess takes it for a

ride! She is the handmaiden of those who know how to control it;

how to make best use of her resources, like the Lord Vishnu. But

those who blindly worship her are verily the owls or 'Ulookas'.

The choice is ours: whether we wish to be Lord Vishnu or the

'Ulooka' in our association with Lakshmi.

 

Illustration : http://www.exoticindiaart.com/madhuban/pc26.jpg

(size : 129 kb)

 

 

SARASWATI:

 

Saraswati is one of the few important goddesses in the Vedas who

have retained their significance to the present day. Literary

evidence suggests that right from the ancient times down to the

modern, she is perceived in three major roles, as a river, as Vak

(speech), and as a goddess.

 

 

In the Vedas her character and attributes are clearly associated

with the mighty Saraswati River. She is the earliest example of a

goddess who is associated with a river in the Indian tradition.

In a symbolic sense she suggests the sacrality inherent in rivers

or water in general. While the symbolism of water is rich and

complex in the religions of the world, two typical associations

are important in Vedic descriptions of Saraswati. First, she is

said to bestow bounty, fertility and riches. Her waters enrich

the land so that they can produce. Second, Saraswati represents

purity, as does water, particularly running water. It is stated

frequently in the Vedas that the banks of Saraswati were

especially sacred for ritual purposes. This also suggests the

purifying powers of the river.

 

Another particular association with rivers is the imagery of

crossing from the world of ignorance or bondage to the far shore,

which represents the world of enlightenment or freedom. The river

in this metaphor represents the state of transition, the period

of birth, in which the spiritual sojourner undergoes a crucial

metamorphosis. The river represents a great purifying power in

which the pilgrim drowns his old self and is born anew, free and

enlightened.

 

In addition, a curious legend surrounds Saraswati, the river:

 

Once the celebrated Vedic sage Vasishtha was practising penance

on the banks of the river Saraswati. Suddenly, the warrior turned

saint Vishvamitra, a sworn enemy of Vasishtha, appeared on the

scene and said to her, 'Flow on and bring Vasishtha floating on

your waves.' Saraswati hesitated for a while, but seeing that

Vishvamitra was determined, she broke through her banks where

Vasishtha sat meditating. Vishvamitra was very pleased. But

Saraswati did not stop at that. She flowed on towards the east,

with Vasishtha on the crest of her waves. Vishvamitra realizing

her intention was to protect Vasishtha rather than harm him, grew

indignant and cursed Saraswati, turning her into a river of

blood.

 

When the poor sages, who lived in hermitage on her banks, came

for a bath, they were shocked to find a flowing stream of blood.

Saraswati prayed to them, ' I was a river of pure water. But the

sage Vishvamitra ordered me to bring his enemy, the good sage

Vasishtha, floating to him. I sensed mischief but was afraid of

Vishvamitra's ire. So I carried Vasishtha away from where he sat,

but instead of delivering the innocent sage to his ill-tempered

colleague, I took him to a safer place. Vishvamitra realized my

intention and cursed me. I feel so unclean and humiliated. Can't

you sages cleanse my water and restore my purity?'

 

'We surely can and are definitely going to do just that,' said

the kind-hearted hermits, who were moved by her courage. So,

through their magic powers Saraswati regained her purity and

again became a river flowing with water. This is why she is also

referred to as Shonapunya, a Sanskrit word meaning 'one purified

of blood'.

 

Conception of Goddess Saraswati as a flowing blood river is open

to interpretation as a symbol of the menstrual blood flow in

women, particularly since Saraswati is conceived of as an

ever-flowing stream which purifies and "fertilizes" the Earth.

 

Later ancillary Vedic literature consistently equates her with

the goddess of speech, known as Vak. The importance of speech in

Hinduism is both ancient and central. The entire creative process

is said to be held in the sacred syllable OM, and the idea of

creation proceeding from shabda -brahman (ultimate reality in the

form of sound) is often mentioned in the ancient texts. A mantra

too, which may consist of words or of sounds alone, is said to

possess great power. Indeed, the mantra of a given deity is

declared to be equivalent to the deity itself. To pronounce a

mantra is to make the deity present. There resides in sound a

potent quality, and this quality is embodied in Saraswati, the

Goddess of speech.

 

As the embodiment of speech, then, Saraswati is present wherever

speech exists. And so it is that she is pre-eminently associated

with the best in human culture: poetry, literature, sacred

rituals, and rational communication between individuals.

 

Till today, whenever a new baby arrives, grandmothers make a five

pointed star-called Saraswati-sign on the newborn's tongue with

honey. The tongue, the organ of speech, is thus expected to get

hitched to Saraswati's star early enough.

 

As Saraswati, the goddess, her identity is not as nebulous as Vak

(speech). There are clear descriptions of her form, dress,

ornaments and mount, together with the articles she is associated

with. She is always referred to as extremely beautiful, fair

complexioned, with four arms, ever youthful and gracious looking.

She is seated on a lotus-accompanied by her swan, and holds a

lute (Veena) resting across her breast. In her hands she holds a

rosary, a book and a water pot. The book associates her with the

sciences and with learning in general. The lute associates her

with the arts, particularly the musical arts, and the rosary and

the water pot associate her with the spiritual sciences and with

religious rites. She is dressed in white and blue garments,

reminiscent of her form as a river. Like Lakshmi and unlike Durga

and Kali, she does not carry any arms or weapons.

 

Illustration : http://www.exoticindiaart.com/hindu/ha10.jpg (size

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Her color is white, the color of peace. Her clothes, the lotus

she sits upon, and also her familiar swan, are all white. Not for

her Kali's dramatic and gory nakedness, or Lakshmi's dazzling red

and gold. Her robe and appearance show serenity and a total lack

of artifice.

 

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Legends say that she sprung from the forehead of her father,

Brahma, as did the Greek virgin goddess Athena who was born from

her father, Zeus's head. As soon as Brahma looked at this

beautiful woman, he desired her, even though she was his

daughter. Saraswati disliked the amorous attentions of this old

god and kept dodging him, but whichever way she moved, Brahma

grew a head in that direction to see her the better. As a result

he grew four faces on four sides of his neck, and even a head on

top of these four, so that she could not escape by moving

upwards. But Saraswati still eluded him.

 

Brahma was angry. He, being the Creator, was also all powerful.

We do not know how, but legend has it that he did manage to marry

the elusive girl, and produced through her mind the four great

Vedas. Lore also has it that Brahma discovered that his girl-wife

was too aloof and absent-minded for his liking. He had arranged

for a major fire-sacrifice, at which his wife's appearance by his

side was a must. He repeatedly warned Saraswati not to take too

long over her toilet and miss the auspicious hour. She must, he

had decreed, take her traditional seat to his left, well in time.

But Saraswati behaved with her characteristic whimsical disregard

for parental diktats. Her prolonged toilet saw to it that the

holy hour passed without the couple's making the supreme joint

offering to the fire God as man and wife. When Saraswati finally

arrived, Brahma was livid. He threw her out, and replaced her

with the daughter of a sage, called Gayatri.

 

Saraswati, thus, though married, never enjoyed domestic bliss

like Durga or Lakshmi. According to most myths she had no

children, possessed a fiery temper, was easily provoked and was

somewhat quarrelsome. She, of all the goddesses, is described as

possessing a very independent will and was not very obliging to

the male gods.

 

As the disinherited daughter and estranged wife, Saraswati lived

perpetually in self-imposed exile. She focuses her calm,

dispassionate gaze upon the past as pure experience. The capacity

to recall without anger or resentment, is Saraswati's greatest

gift to her children: the writers, musicians and creators of

various art forms. All of them have fought with tradition, but

their fight has been cerebral, not emotional. For without cutting

away the umbilical cord, no innovative new beginning may ever be

made, whether one is creating or procreating. This is the message

of Saraswati.

 

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Saraswati's ironical eye, one may be sure, watches Kali's tussle

for power against male demons and Lakshmi's subterfuges in the

male world of power and plenitude. But she remains a witness, a

dispassionate historian. She is the one who believes in the

ultimate futility of all warfare and the trappings of wealth.

 

Understandably, such a Goddess could be venerated by the

simple-minded and earthy householders, but not loved and fussed

over by them, like her regal sister Lakshmi, or even feared and

held in awe like Shakti. Saraswati remains the unblemished

ascetic goddess, to whom no temples are built and who offers

nothing except knowledge, no institution, no protection, no

riches.

 

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(size : 49 kb)

 

(This article was sent as a newsletter from the website:

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Warm regards,

 

Nitin G