How does Goddess Lakshmi really distribute wealth? — Her wealth distribution plan unravelled

Photo by Vivek Sharma on Unsplash

The festival of lights ‘Diwali’ is upon us and it is probably one of the most celebrated festivals in India with a very distinctive aura around it — pleasant weather, lights all around, the coming together of friends and family and just the general feeling of happiness. Also, one of the most prominent religious rites done during this period is praying to the Goddess of Wealth — ‘Lakshmi’. We ask her for wealth and prosperity for us and our families.

In this article, I will delve into what some of the mythological stories which speak of the Goddess Lakshmi, how she distributes wealth among humans on earth and the nature of wealth distribution among humans.

Let’s begin.

In the Markandeya Purana, Brahma’s second son, the great sage Atri and his wife Anasuya received a boon, wherein they would have 3 children born from the portion of the 3 gods — Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. As a result, Dattatreya was born from Vishnu’s portion, who himself became a great sage and saviour of the gods.

The story continues wherein there was a war between the gods and their opponents — the demons’ also knows as Daityas and Danavas who were headed by Jambha and Viprachitti respectively. The gods lost the war and were asked to seek Dattatreya’s help to regain their lost kingdom of heaven.

When Dattatreya agreed, the war began again and it was during this war that the demons came across the beautiful Lakshmi, who was Dattatreya’s wife. Driven by her beauty and their desire, they forgot about the fight and carried Lakshmi away on a palanquin, which they placed on their heads.

While the gods were shocked at this behaviour, Dattatreya began to laugh and pronounced — there are 7 places where Lakshmi can be placed on a man’s body which in turn decides whether she will bring luck and wealth and of which type or destruction. Here are the 7 places:

1. When placed on a man’s foot — she gives him a house
2. When placed on the bones of a thigh — she gives him garments, jewels and other kinds of riches thereby meaning that the person earns through trade in these materials
3. When placed on genital organs — she gives him a wife
4. When placed on the lap — she gives him offspring
5. When placed in a man’s heart — she satisfies all his wishes
6. When placed on a man’s throat, which is the best place to be — there is union with the beloved and relatives and men become very prosperous
7. When placed in the mouth — food and speech are sweet and graceful, person’s commands and carried out and he has the qualities of a poet
8. When placed on the head — she abandons the person and goes to another person for refuge.

Since the demons had placed her on the head, Lakshmi abandoned them and they eventually lost the war and the riches as well.

The Markandeya Purana has another interesting read on the subtle aspects of wealth and how divinity is associated with the same. The goddess Lakshmi is known to be the presiding deity of the knowledge of Padmini which provides all the objects of pleasure. Padmini in-itself has 8 Nidhis, which decide on how wealth is distributed, how it is earned and how long it stays with that individual or family.

Photo by Michael Longmire on Unsplash

Here are details about the 8 Nidhis, their names and their nature:

1. Padma — This Nidhi makes a man immensely fortunate, generous and religious and is passed on to the sons and grandsons.
2. Mahapadma — This Nidhi results from previous wealth and remains in the family for 7 generations.
3. Makara — This Nidhi grants wealth to a person from trade in weapons and from dealings with powerful people. His wealth remains with him and does not pass on to his sons.
4. Kacchapa — This Nidhi too remains for only 1 generation. Here, the person is wealthy but is very anxious and scared and is therefore not able to enjoy his riches properly.
5. Mukunda — This Nidhi generates wealth for a person who in-turn uses it to lavish on people from creative community. This Nidhi also remains only for this particular generation and does not pass on to the next one.
6. Nandaka — This Nidhi grants wealth and a long lifespan to a person and stays on with his family for 7 generations. Each successive generation’s wealth is reduced by 1/8th. This person sustains relatives, distributes wealth to those who sing praises about him and cannot tolerate disrespect. He however ignores the world after that and is not affectionate with people he lives with.
7. Nila — This Nidhi allows a person to generate wealth by dealing with articles associated with water and remains with him for 3 generations.
8. Shankha — This Nidhi stads by just that 1 person. While he enjoys all the comforts and luxuries, even his wife and children suffer from poverty.

I am actually waiting to see what people reading this article think of all the things mentioned above. Do write in or comment your thoughts on this Twitter thread..

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