Almighty Lord Sri Narayana or Mahavishnu is known for looking
after the welfare and well being of the phenomenal world or the
creation. The power or energy of Sri Narayana is Sri Lakshmi.
Mother Lakshmi is always identified with the Lord, and hence they
are known as Sri Lakshmi Narayana. Mother Lakshmi is a mother of
prosperity, peace and illumination. Without Her grace one
can´t have inner peace or perennial joy.
Lakshmi is commonly known as Goddess of wealth. Wealth is not
only the money. Tradition and values of life is also wealth. Our
family and progress is also wealth. Our belongings such as land,
properties, animals, grains, etc as well as virtues like
patience, persistence, purity etc in the form of a character are
nothing but our wealth and so also glory or victory. Thus this
eightfold Sri Lakshmi is known as Sri Ashta Lakshmi.
Mother Lakshmi is the source and provider of the following
enumerated well-known sixteen types of wealth and many more. (1)
Fame (2) Knowledge (3) Courage and Strength (4) Victory (5) Good
Children (6) Valour (7) Gold and other gross properties (8)
Grains in abundance (9) Happiness (10) Bliss (11) Intelligence
(12) Beauty (13) Higher Aim, High Thinking and Higher Meditation
too (14) Morality and Ethics (15) Good Health (16) Long Life. Let
us glance upon the glory of mother Ashta Lakshmi´s
individual nature and forms.
Adi Lakshmi: Mother Lakshmi resides with Lord Narayana in the
Vaikuntha, the abode of Lord Narayana. She is known as Ramaa,
means bringing happiness to the mankind. She is also known as
Indira (who holds lotus or purity in the hands or heart.) Divine
Mother´s this form is normally seen serving Sri Narayana.
Lord Narayana is omnipresent. Adi Lakshmi or Ramaa Lakshmi serves
Sri Narayana is symbolic of her serving the whole creation.
Though Sri Narayana is attended by innumerable devotees, still
she personally loves to serve the Lord. Actually mother Adi
Lakshmi and Narayana are not two different entities but one only.
Many a place we see her form sitting in the lap of Sri
Narayana.
Dhanya Lakshmi: Dhanya means grains. This includes all kind of
purified food containing all essential vitamins, minerals,
protein, calcium, carbohytrade and so on. With the grace of
mother Dhanya Lakshmi one gets all essential nutrients grains,
fruits, vegetables and other foods.
Dhairya Lakshmi: This form of mother Lakshmi grants the boon
of infinite courage and strength. Those, who are in tune with
infinite inner power, are always bound to have victory. Those who
worship mother Dhairya Lakshmi they live and lead a life with
tremendous patience and inner stability.
Gaja Lakshmi: In the holy book of Srimad Bhagavata the story
of the churning of the ocean by Gods and demons is explained in
detail. Author, the Sage Vyasa writes that Lakshmi came out of
the ocean during the churning of the ocean (Samudra Manthan). So
she is known as a daughter of the ocean. She came out of the
ocean sitting on a full-bloomed lotus and also having lotus
flowers in both hands with two elephants by her sides, holding a
beautiful vessels filled with milk and pouring it over Sri
Lakshmi. Many a time we see Sri Lakshmi standing in the lotus and
elephants are pouring nectar over her. During the festival of the
lamps or the Deepavali along with Sri Lakshmi the Ganapati or the
Elephant God also gets worshipped; that signifies the protection
from evils as well as abundant grace and blessings for additional
prosperities!
Santan Lakshmi: In the family life, the children are the
greatest treasure. Those who worship this particular form of Sri
Lakshmi, known as a Santan Lakshmi, are bestowed with the grace
of mother Lakshmi and have wealth in the form of desirable
children with good health & long life.
Vijay Lakshmi: Vijay is victory. Vijay is to get success in
all undertakings and all different facets of life. Some are
strong physically but weak mentally while others are economically
rich but poor in their attitude and cannot exert any influence.
Vijay is to have all encompassing victory. Vijay is to rejoice
glory of our real nature - Vijay is to conquer the lower nature.
Vijay is the victory in external and internal wars and of course
eternal wars! Hence those, with grace of mother Vijay Lakshmi,
have victory everywhere, at all time, in all conditions. Victory
to Vijay Lakshmi !!
Dhana Lakshmi: Dhana is wealth. But as per Rigved´s
Purush Shukta Dhana is not only a wealth in coins and currency.
Even Sun and moon, fire and stars, rains and nature, oceans and
mountains, rivers and streams, all these are our wealth, so are
the progeny, our inner will power, our character and our virtues.
With the grace of mother Dhana Lakshmi we will get all these in
abundance.
Vidya Lakshmi: Vidya is education. Education is not mere
studies to receive the degrees and diplomas certificates from the
educational institutes or universities. Rev. Sri Gurudev Swami
Sivanandaji Maharaj says:
Serenity, Regularity, Absence of Vanity, Sincerity, Simplicity,
Veracity, Equanimity, Fixity, Non-irritability, Adaptability
Humility, Tenacity, Integrity, Nobility, Magnanimity, Charity,
Generosity and Purity are the eighteen "itis" that only can give
immortality.
Education, which cannot give peace to the soul or cannot give
the knowledge of the Self and the inner satisfaction, is not
education. Education, which cannot wipe the tears of others,
known or unknown, is not education. Education is the
understanding the situation and silence or art of living and
leading the life that can make the life, the Life Divine, where
the ultimate Goal of the life is the God-Realisation.
Such Education can come only through discrimination and
dispassion. One can have abundant amount of money, but if he does
not know how to make good use of it, it will work to his
disadvantage. If an alcoholic or a drug addict gets a big sum of
money, it will only hasten his downward journey to destruction.
Vidya Lakshmi is the understanding and the knowledge to mold the
ordinary life into the Divine Life. A life of Service, a life of
feeling for a fellow being, a life of charity and generosity, a
life of purity, a life for seeking a soul within the soul and a
life with an ultimate aim of the realisation of the ABSOLUTE is
the only real education, which can come only with the grace of
Vidya Lakshmi.
Thus all these eightfold Sri Lakshmi is ultimately one single
power only. That is Adishakti.
The perennial and unchangeable, ever lasting, eternal truth or
the absolute is this Supreme blessedness, the mother Adishakti.
She is the origin. She is the light. She is the power, the wisdom
and the strength. She is the Supreme Joy, peace, bliss and
illumination.
Year after year We have seen the lamps being lit for Diwali,
the birth day and the wedding day of Goddess Lakshmi. In the dark
night the glowing flames herald the advent of longer nights-the
early days of an Indian winter.
The essence of this light is Shri Lakshmi-arising, at the
beginning of time, out of the waters at the churning of the Milky
Ocean by gods and demons for a thousand years. Regarded as the
goddess of love, beauty and prosperity, Lakshmi, Kamla or Padma
(Sanskrit words for lotus), the beloved consort of Vishnu, along
with the dearly loved pot-bellied, elephant headed, auspicious
god of the Hindu theogony, Siri Ganesha, is a presiding deity of
the festival of lights. They are worshipped in every household so
that the year may be full of prosperity. Throughout the night a
lamp is kept burning before her image so that she may continue to
dwell in the house and bestow upon it the wealth of life.
May Mother Adishakti´s and Sri Ashta Lakshmi´s grace
be ever upon we all, to receive Her divine grace for being
befitting servant of the mankind in Her cosmic kingdom. Om
Shanti.
