Daridrā
Daridrā, “poverty”
Lokapāla has other meanings too: see all meanings of Lokapāla.
Daridrā is Poverty in person. Long ago she disputed with Lakshmī over which of the two was greater, and the case went before Gautamī Gaṅgā, who praised Lakshmī and sent Daridrā away. From that day the waters of the Gaṅgā are hostile to poverty, and the place became the Lakshmītīrtha. Brahmā tells Nārada this account in the Gautamī Māhātmya of the Brahma Purāṇa, calling it a sacred narrative that destroys Alakshmī.
The dispute with Lakshmī
Lakshmī and Daridrā came into the universe as rivals, and there is nothing in the three worlds that is not pervaded by them. Each said, “Superiority is mine.” Daridrā said: “It is I who was born earlier.”
Lakshmī said that she alone is nobility of birth, good conduct and the very life of embodied beings, and that without her the living are as the dead.
Daridrā answered: “I am greater than all. Moksha always depends on me. Where I am, desire, anger, greed, arrogance and malice never stay, and fear does not arise; madness, jealousy and haughtiness never stay there either.”
Lakshmī replied that every creature she adorns is honoured, and that a man without wealth is set upon by all. Five devatās in the body, Dhī (intellect), Śrī (splendour), Hrī (modesty), Śānti (peace) and Kīrti (fame), leave it at once at the word “dehi” (give me); one keeps his virtues and honour only so long as he does not beg; and lack of wealth is the fruit of great pāpa.
Then Daridrā said: “Lakshmī, are you not ashamed to keep saying ‘I am greater’? You sport with the doers of pāpa and forsake the excellent one. You break faith; in gaining you one finds less happiness than regret. Men, even learned men, grow more haughty from your mere presence than from liquor. You delight in the doers of pāpa; I live in the deserving, in those of righteous conduct.”
Daridrā named where she dwells: in those devoted to Śiva and Vishṇu, in the grateful, in calm men of good conduct, in those eager to serve their elders, in the good, the learned, the heroic and the wise, in pure brāhmaṇas, in mendicants, and in those who perform holy rites without fear. And she named where Lakshmī stays: in doers of pāpa who hover round kings, in the cruel, the wicked, slanderers, misers and rogues, in the ungrateful and the low, in those who break the rules of dharma, in those who betray their friends, in the frustrated and in evil-doers.
The verdict of the Gautamī
Arguing so, both came to Brahmā. Brahmā said: “The Earth is older than I, and the Waters are older still. Only women know the turns of a dispute between women. Among the waters, those that came from the kamaṇḍalu are the best, and among them the devī Gautamī will be able to decide; she dispels all sorrow and every doubt.”
At Brahmā’s word they went to the Earth with the Waters, and with them to the river Gautamī. The Earth and the Waters bowed to her and set out both claims in full, as neutral arbiters. While the dikpālas, the Earth and the Waters listened, Gautamī Gaṅgā spoke to Daridrā in praise of Lakshmī: everything moving and unmoving is pervaded by Lakshmī; she is the splendour of brahma-tejas, of tapas, of yajñas, of fame, wealth, learning and speech, of enjoyment and of moksha, of forbearance, siddhi, contentment, nourishment and peace, of the waters, the earth, the oshadhis, the Vedas, purity, svarga, moonlight and the dawn. “Whatever excellence is seen in anyone is her power; nothing is without her. Are you not ashamed to compete with her?”
Then Gaṅgā said to Daridrā: “Go away, go away.” From then on the waters of the Gaṅgā are hostile to Daridrā, and the torment of poverty lasts only until one takes refuge in the Gaṅgā.
The Lakshmītīrtha
From then on that tīrtha became auspicious, dispelling Alakshmī, and it directly increases wealth and prosperity. One who bathes there and gives dāna becomes wealthy and full of puṇya. There are six thousand tīrthas in that holy place, visited by devas, devarshis and ṛshis, and they grant every siddhi.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 67
Sources
- Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 67