Lakshmi – the Goddess of Abundance
You must have seen her. Sitting a top a lotus flower dressed in a pink sari, flowing long black hair, almond eyes which beam with compassion, and emanating golden light. Lakshmi has long been worshiped as the goddess of abundance.
The story of Lakshmi begins with the powerful king of the gods - Indra, proudly riding his elephant through his lands. As his royal procession slowly makes its way through his lush and bountiful kingdom a sage with matted hair steps forward. He offers Indra a garland of flowers which he tells the king has materialized through his deep meditation. This precious garland, he says, contains the energy of the goddess Lakshmi.
Indra takes the garland and absentmindedly places it around the neck of his elephant. This gesture of carelessness shocks and infuriates the sage, who then places a curse on Indra and all the lands. At this moment all the flowers of the natural world wither.
As the garland was a form of Lakshmi, the insensitive disrespect to her by the proud king caused her to retreat from the world. With her when the qualities of love, beauty, generosity, songs and prayer, and all auspiciousness.
The gods recognised that the world was in a state of desperation, so they went to Vishnu, the ruler of the worlds. He knew what needed to be done. Lakshmi had dissolved herself into the boundless sea which holds the creative energy out of which all life is born. The gods and demons gather together to churn the milky oceans and draw forth Lakshmi. Vishnu becomes both a serpent, to wrap around the churning stick and a tortoise, to support it from beneath. As the oceans churn white and frothy, enormous waves ripple out in all directions. Slowly Lakshmi begins to rise out of the center of the whirlpool. She stands gracefully on a lotus flower, with golden glowing skin, dark almond eyes, flowing black hair, she is so beautiful that she takes all the gods and demons breath away.
As she re-enters the world it once again bursts into bloom. The sun once again begins to shine radiantly. Love and generosity once again blossom in the hearts of the people and the world shines with love, beauty, and abundance.
The story of Lakshmi is a potent teacher in our own time. Just as the proud king Indra carelessly tossed aside the gift of beauty, auspiciousness, and abundance, so have our generations tossed aside the precious treasures of the earth, misused our innate gifts, and disrespected the natural world. We can see Lakshmi’s withdrawal from our world in the form of natural disasters, disease, greed, lack of generosity, and disregard for beauty and creativity.
In order for us to invoke the blessings of Lakshmi, we need to be willing, like Vishnu, to return to the sacred waters of life within ourselves from which all goodness, generosity, love, and beauty are born. We need to recognize and honor the gifts of Lakshmi when she comes to us.
“Lakshmi is the brightness of day and the expansiveness of teeming life. She can be found in rich soil and flowing waters, in streams and lakes that teem with fish. She is one of those goddesses whose signature energy is most accessible through the senses. You can detect her in the fragrance of flowers or of healthy soil. You can see her in the leafed-out trees of June and hear her voice in morning birdsong. She’s chocolate mousse, satiny sheets, the soft feeling of water slipping through your fingers. Lakshmi is growth, renewal, sweetness.” - Sally Kempton
A 2011 study done in Boston on the super-wealthy did a survey of households with a net worth of 25 million or more. When asked if they felt financially secure most of them reported no. They reported having endless fears about the future, anxieties of self worth, and feelings of isolation.
While wealth and good fortune are wonderful gifts to receive, without gratitude, generosity, love, and appreciation of beauty, even enormous wealth will leave us with the feeling of lack. True abundance is not how much we have for ourselves. It is the experience of Lakshmi. It is giving and receiving fearlessly as she does.
Cultivating abundance and calling the return of Lakshmi into our lives is a matter of recognising her gifts that we might be taking for granted. Perhaps these are your own gifts, your abilities and capacities that you were born with, that you did not earn. Consider the gifts of health, wellness, joyful movement and daily nourishment. Remember the gifts of the natural world, the vibrant greens, vast blues, the rivers and oceans that support all life. These are all expressions of Lakshmi in our world. If we choose to continue to honor her she will remain with us. She will continue to bestow her infinite blessings that sustain us to thrive.
About the author:
Anisha fell in love with yoga in 2006, when she took her first class and understood this was an intimate language of movement that her body understood. Yoga became her personal medicine and practice of coming home to herself and her body. She took her first Yoga Teacher Training in 2015 and has been sharing the gift of Yoga throughout Asia since.
Her teachings draw on her background in Classical Hatha Yoga, Yoga Therapy, Somatic Vinyasa, Biodynamic Yin, Yoga Nidra and Meditation, and Self-Inquiry. She compassionately encourages students to remember who they are and experience the bliss of awakening and falling in Love with oneself.
Originally born in Canada, but fascinated with the wisdom traditions of the Eastern world, her travels eventually landed her in Bali, which she now calls home. You can contact anisha in here: anisha.rajguru@gmail.com .
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