Glorious Goddess

||Aum Sri Ramakrishna Sharanam||

||Aum Namo Narayanaya||

 

It was definitely encouraging and an unusual breath of fresh air to see the town painted red on Friday this week... in the literal sense of the word. It is not unusual whilst gazing through Facebook on a Sunday morning to see posts between friends declaring how they “painted the town red” whilst partying the previous night. However on Friday, culture and tradition took pole position when mothers, daughters, wives and sisters departed their homes adorned in inspiring hues of red to celebrate Varalutchmee Viratham. Even before Surya could usher in the day, families were up and about in a devoted exalted mood making preparations to glorify and offer worship to the Goddess of fortune and prosperity. Every human being wants success and prosperity in life, therefore even if somebody fails to obverse any other pooja, they make it a point to glorify Mother Luxmi with sincerity and devotion to seek Her blessings on the family.

8 Forms of Ma Luxmi    -Google Images

 

Swami Vimokshanada posted a link to His captivating blog which He composed a while back on the occasion of Luxmi Prayers. Maharaj so wonderfully constructed and crafted the concept of Mother being integrated into the evolution of our lives through her 8 qualities namely: creation, wealth, food, fame, fertility, strength, knowledge and success or victory. After reading this, I am sure that all doubts as to why people make every effort to observe this occasion is self explanatory. These qualities are what every human being strives to achieve... which brings us to the concept and meaning of Mother Luxmi.

 

The puranas relate a picturesque account of how Mother Luxmi appeared. We must once again be mindful that puranic stories are mediums to convey great spiritual truths in simple ways to the mass of society and therefore they should never be taken literally but should be the subject of study and discussion to unveil the masked treasures of spiritual wisdom in their payload.

It is said in the mythology that a long time after creation, the Gods and were in search of rejuvenation and were directed to churn the ocean which would present an amrith (nectar) of immortality that would resolve their predicament. The Gods realised that this task was impossible without the collective efforts of the asuras and therefore convinced them that a 50% share was awaiting them if they collaborated. They all agreed and immediately set about using Mount Madura as the churning stick and the serpent Vasuki as the rope. Although 50% was agreed upon for the asuras, they were never to receive it as that would make them more powerful and invincible. Therefore on advice from Lord Vishnu, the Gods took the tail-end of the serpent while the asuras took the other end. The idea was that as the churning went on, the heat and venom from Vasuki would weaken the asuras and eventually make them collapse and allow the Gods to feast of the amrith.

 

In the course of the process, the mountain began to sink and Lord Vishnu assumed the form of a tortoise (Kurma) and raised the mount on His back... thus facilitating the activity to continue. The hard work and efforts started to pay dividends... as from the ocean emerged many things both positive and negative: Mother Luxmi, Sura the God of wine, the Moon, the jewel Kasturba, the white horse, white elephant, the wishing tree, the poison halahal and the amrith.

 

A glorious idea of life came to me when I read this episode from the purana. The ocean is symbolic of the ocean of samsara or our life. Madura in Sanskrit means bird. Our atman which is eternally free like a flying bird is bound by our past samskars (the serpent Vasuki) and is pulled in both directions by the divine and asuric qualities within us. As we live in the world, our life is churned by the various experiences we encounter. Lord Vishnu in the form of the tortoise supporting Madura has two connotations: one being that all our activities and this creation is supported and perpetuated by the divine Lord and the other is that our soul and the divine are essentially one. Luxmi is derived from the Sanskrit root Lakshaya meaning goal. The emergence of Mother Luxmi first tells us that we all have a primary goal in life. Our asuric qualities may tempt us to pursue the fleeting pleasures and quick gratification mechanisms forgetting our higher goal. These qualities also make us despondent, weak and lethargic by expending all our energies on the worldly activities (heat from Vasuki). Those who follow the instructions from the Guru and God through reading scriptures, practicing sadhanas and leading a life gain relief and guidance from the divine. Like how Lord Shiva consumed the halahal poison... the Lord and the strength you have derived through discipline and sadhana shall protect you from the poisons of the world.

 

Leading a noble life in pursuant of righteousness and divinity, you will reach the goal of life (amrith) which is the knowledge of the self. This knowledge after being known... nothing else need be known. Man’s intellect is constantly challenged as the frontiers of his knowledge and is edged further and further with new discoveries and theories about his greatest quest to find out the purpose of this creation, the nature of the universe and the source of life. Dwelling between the region of Adi Luxmi and Vidya Luxmi (8 Luxmis) all this time... after tasting the amrith (nectar) of immortality, man shall transcend the realm of body consciousness to Aishwarya Luxmi (absolute bliss and prosperity).

 

We are about to commence the auspicious Gita week on Monday and we will learn more from Sri Krishna Bhagawan on how we should live and interact with the world. The Gita is essentially a recipe for peace, progress and prosperity. Swami Vivekananda said that Mother Luxmi Herself dwells in the home of a noble man. When we say that Hinduism is a way of life, we refer to a path or process of helping you to achieve the best results and highest potential that you are in the short space of time that have been accorded to on this earth. Hindu Dharma has practically been proven as a fail-proof method of achieving this through the lives of great avathars, saints, sages and common men.

 

Hence we can safely conclude that liberation, peace , prosperity and joy is not for the Gods, high caste or famous... but is accessible to man at every level so long as he is sincere and has a strong thirst for it. May Mother Luxmi bless us all, is my sincere prayer.

With sincere love and affection

Yogan Naidoo
www.sudarshanavidya.blogspot.com