Invoking Lakshmi: The Goddess of Wealth in Song and Ceremony

CHAPTER 2: Living the Good Life: Lakṣmī of the Purāņic Traditions

CHAPTER 2 Living the Good Life Lakƒm¥ of the Purå£ic Traditions The Burgeoning World of the Puråˆas When we move from the Vedic hymns into the literature of the Puråˆas, we discover a world that has exploded into myriad expressions of form. The Puråˆas are a group of texts composed from approximately 200 bce to 1000 ce, a period that also produced the two great epics of India, the Råmåya£a and the Mahåbhårata.1 The expansive, elaborate cosmology of the Puråˆas extends through eons of time and vast stretches of space, describing cycle upon cycle of world-creation, world-preservation, and world-dissolution. The “three worlds” (triloka) of heaven-earth-netherworld are displayed as a multileveled expanse of realms stretching above, through, and below the earth. Here we find narratives about the gods and goddesses and their encounters with beings of all kinds. The inhabitants of the various realms move rather freely from place to place in this vast universe. All three realms constitute saμsåra, that is, the world of birth and rebirth, and as such an embodied “living being” (j¥va) does not necessarily inhabit any of these forever. The motif by which gods and goddesses change shape—shifting into versions of each other, or being created from the essence of one another—highlights the concept that ultimately these forms and personalities are simply external expressions, guises adopted for mere l¥lå, or play. Divine activity, of course, is distinct from human activity, which is usually less play (l¥lå) and more work (karma). But the underlying substratum shared by both humans and gods is their essence, their “own true form” (svar¶pa), which consists of consciousness . This helps to explain the often-quoted pronouncement that there 23 24 INVOKING LAKSHMI is one God and yet 330 million gods2 —both attest to the infinitude of the divine and its presence at all times, in all places. The gods may appear and reappear in subsequent world cycles, sometimes in forms similar to their previous existence, and sometimes in forms seemingly unrelated. Once embodied, all manner of beings may change from one form and situation to another, moving from divine to human to animal or to hybrid human-animal, or yet to plant or even to a part of the earth itself, as a mountain or a stream, and then back again. Even demons are included in this great shifting of modes, as they may undergo spiritual transformation to such an extent that they evolve into a higher category of being. Sometimes the circumstances motivating these changes may appear as mere caprice, and at other times they may appear to be warranted by the fruits of one’s “good deeds.” Ultimately, one never knows fully what lies in store; after all, such is the illusory quality that characterizes saμsåra. If this all seems like the a game of Chutes and Ladders—riding high one day and sliding down the next—it should come as no surprise that a similar boardgame, intended to teach about patterns of karma, was played in India centuries ago. Nothing embodied, then, is entirely fixed or stable in the realm of qualified existence, which goes a long way in explaining the high level of concern for stability, security, and the wisdom to perceive life behind its appearances. So it is that those struggling to stay afloat in the turbulent ocean of saμsåra would understandably seek refuge in a deity who generates and embodies the qualities of cosmic order, social harmony, and a joyous existence on earth, as well as success in achieving eventual liberation from this existence. Lak∑m¥ and the Lords of the Three Realms: Indra, Vi∑ˆu, and Bali As the goddess who sustains the entire creation, Lak∑m¥ benevolently embodies herself in time and space, ever pervading each realm to maintain harmony, fullness, and equanimity. When the creation is in danger of losing its balance and falling into irreparable decay, she descends into the world, manifesting in a specifically recognizable form. All prosperity, all that nourishes the earth and its inhabitants, all that ensures benevolent increase—all of this is the expression of the auspicious goddess Lak∑m¥. Through her pervasive auspiciousness she reveals herself in myriad ways, expressive of her luxuriant bounty 25 LIVING THE GOOD LIFE and beneficence...