In the previous episode, we had witnessed an overview of the all-important “Lakshmi-Vaibhavam”, which is nothing but the significance of Bhagawan being in consortium with Goddess Mahalakshmi. We’ve witnessed the key role that Goddess Mahalakshmi plays, when it comes to Bhagawan protecting all His devotees. Goddess Mahalakshmi serves as a “bridge” between the “Paramatma” and the “Jeevaatma”, and this is why She has the divine name called “Kamala”. In fact, this is a very interesting Shabdha here – “Ka” stands for Jeevaatma and “Ma” stands for Paramatma. “La” stands for being a bonding between both the Jeevaatma and the Paramaatma and hence the name “Kamala”. Thus, Goddess Mahalakshmi’s grace is very important before we even go in front of Bhagawan Vishnu. The reason behind this is, Goddess Mahalakshmi is the one who forgives us of all our sins and misdeeds that we’re keeping on doing every passing day. As She is the divine mother, she is so kind-hearted and is full of compassion for all Her children, no matter how much ever we’re deviating from our spiritual path. Thus, if we surrender ourselves completely to the Divine Mother, She ensures that we’re taken care of by Bhagawan.
It is for this reason that in our tradition, whenever we visit a temple, we directly shouldn’t go to Bhagawan’s sanctum sanctorum. We first visit Goddess Mahalakshmi and submit our forgiveness and surrender to Her. We’ve to pray to Her thus, “Oh Mother! Please forgive us for all our mistakes and please make sure that He doesn’t start punishing me for all whatever I’ve done!” Goddess Mahalakshmi would in turn reply to us thus, “Okay! No problem! I’m hereby forgiving you for all what you’ve done. But just give me only one assurance – You should not repeat these mistakes again ever in your life! Don’t worry! You go straight to Bhagawan. Meanwhile, I shall talk with Him and make sure that He doesn’t punish you!”
As Goddess Mahalakshmi says thus, we would reply, “I hope I wouldn’t commit the same mistakes again! Maybe I might commit different mistakes in the future, and again, I shall come back to you, seeking forgiveness! :)” Saying thus, we would circumvent Her sanctum sanctorum and we would slowly slowly reach Bhagawan Vishnu’s place. Meanwhile, Bhagawan Vishnu would be raging with anger thus, “Oh wow! Look at him! He has committed all possible mistakes and with what courage and guts is he coming towards me? I shall make sure he would get all possible punishments according to the Vedas!” As Bhagawan Vishnu is raging with anger towards us thus, here is where Goddess Mahalakshmi comes in – She asks Bhagawan thus, “Oh Bhagawan! Aren’t you known as an embodiment of compassion towards your devotees? Why’re you raging with anger towards someone who is coming with an attitude of seeking forgiveness?” Bhagawan replies thus, “Oh Lakshmi! What are you saying? I can be compassionate towards people who do not commit any mistakes! But here’s a person who has committed all possible mistakes, and how can you expect compassion from me towards him? Are you mad?”
Hearing thus from Bhagawan Vishnu, Goddess Mahalakshmi laughs a bit and replies, “Oh Bhagawan! How do you expect people in this world who would be devoid of any mistake? If Jeevatmas become perfect like you, they would become Bhagawan, isn’t it? If you’ve to wait for someone who is going to be as perfect as your expectation, you’re not going to get any devotees at all! So it’s always good to forgive people if they come up with that attitude, isn’t it? Hence, why don’t you forgive this child of yours and accept him?” As Goddess Mahalakshmi says thus, Bhagawan Vishnu’s heart starts melting slowly. He replies thus, “Oh Lakshmi! Whatever you’re saying is right too! Now tell me what should I do! Should I accept or reject this person?” This is where Goddess Lakshmi heaves a huge sigh of relief! Only if Bhagawan gets confused like this, would Her agenda work, isn’t it? 🙂 Thus She replies, “Oh Bhagawan! Let’s come to a conclusion here – Whoever comes to you and me, with a complete surrender attitude, let us accept them as our ardent devotees. Whereas who doesn’t come near us at all, and who have ego within them to such an extent that they do not even consider us as an entity, you might feel very free to show all your punishments to them!”
As Bhagawan Vishnu hears thus, He thinks “Oh yes! This seems a good deal! So whoever comes to me with surrender, I shall accept them without asking a question! Whereas, those who do not surrender to me, and who keep doing mistakes after mistakes, I shall make sure that they do not escape unpunished!” As Bhagawan Vishnu decides thus, Goddess Lakshmi comes back to us and says, “Wow! Now that I’ve brought Him under my fold, I shall ensure that all the people in this world would surrender to Him!” 🙂 If such a thing happens, there’s no question of giving punishments, isn’t it? This is where we’re seeing the “motherly” attitude of Goddess Mahalakshmi. This is why we describe Her as the bridge between the “Paramatma” and the “Jeevatma”, through the Shabdha called “Kamala”. Thus, the significance of Goddess Mahalakshmi here is to make sure that She protects all Her children with the motherly love and compassion, and makes sure that all Her children would ultimately walk the path to attain the highest “Moksha”. This is exactly what She’s doing here too for Indra and the Devas.
So for today, let us understand these important points and let us wait till the next episode to witness how Goddess Mahalakshmi is going to bless Indra and the Devas, in their pursuit of the divine nectar called “Amrita”! Stay tuned! 🙂
The Indian Dharma 