We respectfully named our bamboo after this Hindu goddess and I decided to take a moment to get to know her.
In Hinduism, Lakshmi is the goddess of wealth and beauty. Taking a closer look at the word, the sanskrit word "Laksya" means 'aim' or 'goal'. This goddess is a particular favorite of women and it is said that October is Lakshmi's special month. (Great time to be researching, eh?)
This is one depiction of Lakshmi.
The goddess has four hands that represent the four ends of human life:
- "dharma" or righteousness
- "kama" or desires
- "artha" or wealth
- "moksha" or liberation from the cycle of birth and death
Neat tidbits:
- Lakshmi is the female counterpart to Vishnu, making her the female energy of the Supreme Being, and the mother goddess. Normally godesses are addressed "devi" but because she is a mother goddess, Laksmi is addressed as "mata" which means mother. She is also addresed as "shri".
- An Indian girl was named after the goddess because she was born with many limbs. Life saving surgery was performed to hep her survive past her teen years and was wonderfully covered by the hospital.
Of course there is more to learn, but I invite you to further unfold the story.
Namaste.
[ Information seen here was derived from the following sources:
1. http://hinduism.about.com/od/hindugoddesses/p/lakshmi.htm
2. http://schneidline.wordpress.com/2007/11/07/
3. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-491757/First-pictures-reveal-success-life-saving-surgery-toddler-limbs.html ]
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