Aradhika

(Images from here)

Dear readers,

I was reading Bilvashtakam, when I came across a verse:

laxmyAstanuta utpannaM mahAdevasya cha priyam.h .

bilvavR^ixaM prayachchhAmi hyekabilvaM shivArpaNam.h .. 6..

Bilvashtakam is a short poem consisting of ten verses. The first nine verses speak of the glory of the bilva leaves. The leaves are considered sacred and are particularly suited for offering to Lord Shiva. They are to be offered in cluster of three leaves and are said to have features that identify them with the Lord Himself.

One can find the text in Sanskrit here and in English here.

I digged deeper into the lines to find the legend behind it and the findings were quite startling and related to a particular story about none other than Shri, Maa Lakshmi, the consort of Vishnu.

There is a similar tale about Vishnu worshiping Shiva with 1000 lotuses.

Vaikunth Chaturdashi: The fourteenth day of the first half of Kartik is said to be sacred to Vishnu, the Lord of vaikunth. It is revealed on this day in Krita Tuga Vishnu went to Benaras and worship Shiva at the Manikarnika Ghat. While offering 1,000 lotus flowers and invoking Shiva with praises, he found the thousandth lotus missing. But Vishnu, unshaken, completes his worship by replacing the missing lotus with one of his own eyes. Shiva veritably pleased with this gesture presented Vishnu the Sudarshan, the enchanted disc. Since then devotees of Vishnu offer him a thousand lotuses and 1,000 praiseworthy appellations or the Vishnu Sahsranama.

We find yet another interesting story about Maha Lakshmi in Skanda Purana.

Vara Lakshmi Vrata: Lord Shiva himself describes the glory of this vrata for Lakshmi in Skanda Purana.

It is performed by a woman whose husband is still living. Maha Lakshmi is the abode of all auspiciousness and prosperity. This worship of Maha Lakshmi is done to obtain good progeny, and for the health and long life of the husband.

The Vrata is observed on the Friday immediately preceding the full moon day of the month of Sravan (August-September). After a purificatory bath, the lady should put on a clean, fresh cloth and make a mandala with the drawing of a lotus upon it. A kalasha filled with rice and topped with fresh mango leaves, a coconut and cloth are placed on the mandala and Lakshmi is invoked therein. Fresh grains are used in the worship as they convey the idea of growth and prosperity.After the worship of the kalasha, follows the worship of Ganesha, then the worship of the raksha or the sacred thread. Now the main worship of Vara Lakshmi begins and the raksha is worshipped a second time. It is then tied to the right hand of the lady. After the worship various auspicious articles are given as charity to some deserving lady whose husband is alive. This lady is also fed with dainties.Lakshmi not only bestows wealth and all sorts of material prosperity, but also imparts divine wisdom to all Her devotees. She is Vidya Shakti. She introduces Her devotees to Her Lord. She recommends them to Her Lord for their salvation.

In the 108 names of Durga, one of the names is Narayanavarapriya meaning One who is Fond of Narayana's Boons. We also see Sri Ramchandra, a purna avataar of Sri Vishnu worshipping Devi Durga before he sets for Lanka to rescue Sita from Ravana.

In the 108 names of Lakshmi, we encounter names like Shivaa (meaning Auspicious), Shivakari (Source of Auspicious Things), Mahakali and Trikala.

Thus, we see the realtionship between these divine families are quite close knit. However, he who is in the realms of illusion perceive Vishnu and Shiva as separate. All is Shiva and that which is not is not.

Please do read on....

Jai Maa Lakhkhi !

(in Bengali dialect Padmanabhapriya is often referred to by this name)

Souvik

(Article from here , here and here)

The word occurs in the Rigveda with the sense of good fortune, and in the Atharvaveda the idea has become personified in females both of a lucky and unlucky character. The Taittiriya Sanhita, as explained by the commentator, makes Lakshmi and Sri to be two wives of Aditya, and the Satapatha Brahmana describes Sri as issuing forth from Prajapati.

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 blessed her to regain her complete form.

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.

This legend finds mention in the Bilvashtakam.

The birth of goddess Lakshmi, is related to an ancient story. Durvasa the short-tempered sage once presented Indra, the king of the gods with a garland of flowers which would never wilt. Indra gave this garland to his elephant, Airavata. Sage Durvasa saw the elephant trampling the divine garland, and short tempered he was, cursed Indra for he had shown disrespect to the sage. The sage cursed Indra, that he and all the gods would lose their power because of which they had become so proud and vain. Due to the curse, the demons vanquished the gods out of the heavens.

The defeated gods then went to seek refuge to the Creator Lord Brahma who asked them to churn the ocean of milk, to obtain the nectar of immortality. The gods then went to Lord Vishnu, to seek his assistance, who took the Avatar Kurma (Tortoise) and supported the Mandarachal mountain as a churning rod, whereas the king of the serpents, Vasuki became the churning rope. The gods and the demons (under the leadership of the pious and wise King Mahabali) both helped each other in churning the ocean of milk.
Amongst the host of divine gifts which appeared from the ocean, goddess Lakshmi appeared and then chose Shri Vishnu as her consort as only He had the power to control Maya (illusion). Hence she is also called as the daughter of the sea and since the moon also appeared from the ocean during the churning, the moon is also called to be her brother.

According to the Ramayana, she sprang, like Aphrodite, from the froth of the ocean, in full beauty with a lotus in her hand, when it was churned by the gods and the Asuras.

Another legend represents her as floating on the flower of a lotus at the creation. With reference to this origin, one of her names is Kshirabdhitanaya, 'daughter of the sea of milk.' From her connection with the lotus she is called Padma.

According to the Puranas, she was the daughter of Bhrigu and Khyati. The Vishnu Purana says, "Her first birth was the daughter of Bhrigu by Khyati. It was at a subsequent period that she was produced from the sea at the churning of the ocean..
When Hari was born as a dwarf, Lakshmi appeared from a lotus (as Padma or Kamala). When he was born as Rama of the race of Bhrigu (or Parasurama), she was Dharani.

When he was Raghava (Ramachandra), she was Sita.

And when he was Krishna she became Rukmini.

In the other descents of Vishnu she is his associate." One version of the Ramayana also affirms that "Lakshmi, the mistress of the worlds, was born by her own will, in a beautiful field opened up by the plough," and received from Janaka the name of Sita.

Goddess Lakshmi is incorrectly connected only with money, popular public perception is that she is the goddess of money. This however is incorrect, as the holy goddess is also the goddess of prosperity, of divinity and purity. She is also the goddess of Brahma-vidya (divine knowledge) and one of her name is "Vidya" - which literally means knowledge. She is the goddess to whom we ask for happiness in family, friends, marriage, children, food and wealth, beauty and health. Hence she is a very popular goddess who is worshipped by every Hindu. As she is the goddess of prosperity, she is also called as Dharidranashini (destroyer of poverty) and Dharidradvamshini (one who opposes poverty).

Lakshmi is also known to very closely associated with the Lotus. Her many names are connected to the flower, such as:

Padmapriya: One who likes lotus,

Padmamaladhara devi: One who wears a garland of lotuses,

Padmamukhim: One who is as beautiful as a lotus,

Padmakshi: One whose eyes are as beautiful as a lotus.

Padmahastam: One who holds a lotus

Padmasundari: One who is as beautiful as a lotus

Bhargavi: As an incarnation of the daughter of Sage Bhrigu

Lakshmi is also said to be the devi of the planet Venus.