JESHTA LAKSHMI OR ALAKSHMI Dear friends,
I have provided the picture ofAshtalakshmi on the opening screen of my lap top. On seeing the picture ofMahalakshmi/Dhana Lakskmi in the centre, I thought today to write about hersister ALakshmi or Jeshta Lakshmi. While worshipping Mahalakshmi we should not totally neglectJeshtalakshmi. I searched for some informationabout Alakshmi. I could get some information in Wikipedia. This posting isbased on the reading from Wikipedia and some other information from elders. Sincerely, Gopala Krishnan 2-5-2021 1 Introduction In Hinduism, Alakshmi(Devanāgari: अलक्ष्मी; fromthe roots अ (a):"not" and लक्ष्मी (Lakshmi): "goddess of fortune",figurative meaning "goddess of misfortune") meaning "notLakshmi". She is described as being“cow-repelling, antelope-footed, and bull-toothed." Or she “has dry shrivelledup body, sunken cheeks, thick lips, and beady eyes and that she rides a donkey. She is not mentioned by name inthe Vedic, Upanishadic or early Puranic literature, but all aspects of Alakshmi match those of the RigVedic goddess Nirṛti. In Padma Purana, the cosmology includes her wherethe samudra manthan creates both good and bad of everything that emerges. That which is inauspicious and bad emergesfirst, more effort creates the auspicious and good, according to Padma Purana. First Alakshmi emerges, thenLakshmi appears during the Samudra manthan. Gods send Alakshmi to go dwellamongst pernicious persons, give them poverty and grief. 2 What Alakshmi do? She as the asura ofinauspiciousness and grief is the opposite of Lakshmi the goddess ofauspiciousness and joy. Alakshmiis sometimes referred to be another name of Jyestha. Alakshmi is also known asKalahapriya and Daridara, and the elder sisterly opposite of Lakshmi. According to Chakrabarty, “It wassaid that when she entered a household, Alakshmi brought jealousy and malice in her trail.Brothers fell out with each other, families and their male lineages (kula)faced ruin and destruction."The spouse of Alakshmi is demon Kali. 3 Other information about Alakshmi When she enter a home, Misfortuneand grief starts Her mount is Donkey.She is mentioned in texts Lingaa Purana and Shri Suktam Personal information-Siblings Lakshmi and Spouse Kali (demon) 4. Given below are a few Alakshmi items 4.1. Chuttu vilakku at Krishna temple, Pandalam. While I wanted to add aboutAlakshmi, the first thing coming to me is the imperfection in the chuttuvilakku in my home temple. In the western nada, north side about 6’x4’ areathere are no brass lamps fitted in the frame, noted in my childhood days. Chuttu vilakku is fitteduniformly on other sides in all areas. It might not have been difficult to fixthe lamps in the area in the coming years, but Lampsare not fitted till date. 4.2. Unfinished entrance in Madamakkam temple In our local Madampakkam Siva temple, a temple underarcheological department, the Eastern side entrance is half -completed. 4.3. Alakshmi principle Alakshmi is the elder sister ofLakshmi. The normal place of Lakshmi is in neat areas and Alakshmi in not neatand imperfect areas. In the evening when we light the lamp, it is believed, bothLaksmi and Alakshmi come together. Depend on the conditions Lakshmi/ Alakshmiremains in the home. If the home is neatLakshmi remains, other way Alakshmi remains. When we purchase a new coconutbroom we do not discard the old one. We use it as Kuttichool, for roughcleanings like sumps, overhead tanks etc. If it is poonthodappam (Smooth broom)the older one is kept in portico, to clean out side areas. But they should be kept in their proper places well tied and kept. Even in cobweb stick, if the coirportion get damaged or worn of, but still we keep the bamboo, finding some use forit. Cobweb stick is necessary, but we have to keep in back side. 4.4 Coconut broom inside. Normally in all homes, a goodcoconut broom is kept inside, in some place like work area, the purpose is notfor cleaning, but to deal with creeping beings like Pazhuthara / pooran. The day you keep the broom outside,thinking it mar the appearance, a big pooran would appear in a crucial area, so far neverimagined. These brooms should be well tied and kept . The being should not bekilled, but using the broom, they should be put outside. A small amount of HIT applied would make them faintfor a short while. 5. Cob-web. The day we remove cobweb, if wehave cleaned in the morning, evening we would see some cobweb. Cleaners alsowill not clean perfectly either knowingly or unknowingly giving a place forAlakshmi. Recently I read some cobweb should remain so that the spiders wouldeat other small creature in the home. 6. Waste box. I do not know the arrangement inother areas, but in Chennai, my area, municipality collect all wastes fromhouse through contracted employees.Degradable and non-degradable items have to be kept in two boxes and they wouldcollect it in the morning. These boxes ARE KEPT IN THE FRONT for collecting. Afterwardsthey are cleaned and kept in work area. In the evening when Lakshmi enters, shefeels happy her sister is also well accommodated (Cleaned kitchen and oven and in work area dustbinwith some items). 7. Lakshmi principle Where Alakshmi is not caredLakshmi is not happy, I have read elsewhere. Lakshmi want perfection and cleanliness, with some imperfection andun-cleanliness at some areas for her sister. 8. Provision for Alakshmi Knowingly or unknowingly we givesmall provision for Alakshmi along with larger provision for Lakshmi. Alakshmido not require large space. 9. Provision for Alakshmi. As I said earlier knowingly orunknowingly we make provision for Alakshmi. Cleaning cloth of Kitchen- Can anyperson keep it neat? Some surplus cement, broken brick are provision forAlakshmi. 10. Dust in door and window covers, tube lights and fans etched. We can periodically clean, butnot perfectly any of them. Bed sheet and pillow covers – nobody can practicallyreplace before every use- like non-tidiness non-perfection is also Alakshmi. 11. Conclusion We have to maintain things 95%neat and tidy, the 5% not possible, keep it off for Alakshmi. It automaticallyoccurs in the most neatly maintained homes also. Lying in the bed during Sandhya,not lighting lamp before Tulsiplant, keep things haphazard in kitchen andstore, all invite alakshmireside in the home. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. 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