Lakshmī and Daridrā at the Gautamī
Lakshmī Daridrā · lakshmī-daridrā, “Lakshmī and Poverty”
In the Gautamī Māhātmya of the Brahma Purāṇa, Brahmā tells Nārada the account of Lakshmītīrtha, which directly increases wealth and prosperity: “Listen to the sacred narrative that destroys Alakshmī.” Lakshmī, Śrī herself, and Daridrā, Poverty, disputed which of them was greater. Brahmā sent them, with the Earth and the Waters, to the Gautamī Gaṅgā for judgement, and the Gautamī declared that the whole universe is pervaded by Lakshmī and told Daridrā to go. From then on the waters of the Gaṅgā are hostile to poverty.
The dispute
Long ago Lakshmī and Daridrā came into the universe as rivals, and there is nothing in the three worlds not pervaded by them. Each said, “Superiority is mine,” and Daridrā said to Śrī, “It is I who was born first.”
Lakshmī said: “I alone am nobility of birth, good conduct and the very life of embodied beings. Even while alive in body, beings without me are like the dead.”
Daridrā said: “I am greater than all. Moksha always depends on me. Desire, anger, greed, arrogance and malice never stay where I am, and fear does not arise; madness, jealousy and haughtiness never stay where I am.”
Lakshmī said: “Every creature adorned by me is honoured and worshipped; a man without wealth is attacked by all, even if he is equal to Śiva. Five devatās dwell in the body and leave it at once at the word dehi, ‘please give’: Dhī, intellect; Śrī, splendour; Hrī, modesty; Śānti, peace; and Kīrti, fame. Good qualities and honour remain in a man only as long as he does not beg of others; he is the abode of all good qualities and worthy of the bows of the worlds only so long as he does not beg. Lack of wealth is the fruit of great pāpa; people neither honour nor speak to nor even touch a man without wealth. Therefore I alone am the most excellent.”
Daridrā said: “O Lakshmī, are you not ashamed to keep saying ‘I am greater’? You forsake the excellent person and keep company with pāpīs; in gaining you one gets less happiness than regret, and men, even learned men, are not so elated and haughty from liquor as from your mere presence. I live in men of righteous conduct: in those devoted to Śiva and Vishṇu, in the grateful, in the calm and good, in those eager to serve their elders, in the learned and the heroic, in men of developed intellect, in pure brāhmaṇas, in bhikshus, and in those who perform holy rites and are fearless. But you are found with pāpīs who hover round kings, with the cruel and the wicked, scandal-mongers, misers, rogues, the ungrateful, those who break the rules of dharma, those who betray even their friends, the frustrated and the evil-doers. Hence superiority abides in me.”
Brahmā’s word
Arguing so, they came to Brahmā. Brahmā said: “The Earth is older than I, and the Waters older still. Only women know the intricacies of a dispute between women. Among the waters, those that arise from the sacred kamaṇḍalu are better than all others, and among them the devī Gautamī will be able to decide. She dispels all agonies and all doubts.”
At Brahmā’s word they went to the Earth and the Waters, and with them to the river Gautamī. The Earth and the Waters bowed to the Gautamī and, as neutral arbiters, told her in full the claims of Lakshmī and Daridrā in the very words of each.
The Gautamī’s verdict
While the guardians of the quarters, the Earth and the Waters listened, the Gautamī Gaṅgā spoke to Daridrā in praise of Lakshmī: “Everything in the world of moving and unmoving beings is pervaded by Lakshmī. She is the splendour of Brahman, of tapas, of yajñas, of renown, wealth and reputation; of learning, intellect and speech; of enjoyment and of moksha; of modesty, forbearance and forgiveness; of siddhi, contentment, nourishment and peace; of the waters, the earth and the oshadhis; of the Vedas and of purity; of night, svarga and moonlight; of blessings and greetings; of māyā and of the auspicious dawn. Whatever is beautiful in these is the display of Lakshmī’s power, in brāhmaṇas bold, patient and good, and in the learned who walk the path of moksha or of worldly enjoyment. Why say more? The whole universe is pervaded by Lakshmī; whatever excellence is seen in anyone is her power, and there is nothing without her. Are you not ashamed to compete with her?”
Then the Gaṅgā said to Daridrā: “Go away, go away.” From then on the waters of the Gaṅgā are hostile to poverty, and the torment of poverty lasts only as long as the Gaṅgā is not resorted to.
The phala of Lakshmītīrtha
From then on that tīrtha became auspicious, dispelling Alakshmī. By bathing and giving dāna there one becomes wealthy and full of puṇya. In that holy place there are six thousand tīrthas, frequented by devas, devarshis and ṛshis, which bestow every siddhi.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 67
Sources
- Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 67