Lakshmītīrtha (Gautamī)
Lakshmītīrtha · lakshmī-tīrtha, “the tīrtha of Lakshmī”
Lakshmītīrtha is a tīrtha on the Gautamī Gaṅgā (the Godāvarī) where Gautamī herself decided the dispute between Lakshmī (Śrī) and Daridrā (Poverty), praised Lakshmī, and sent Daridrā away. Brahmā tells its account to Nārada in the Gautamī Māhātmya of the Brahma Purāṇa. The tīrtha directly increases wealth and prosperity, and its narrative destroys Alakshmī, ill fame and want. By snāna (holy bath) and dāna (giving) there one becomes wealthy and full of puṇya (merit), and six thousand tīrthas are gathered in that holy spot.
The dispute of Lakshmī and Daridrā
Long ago Lakshmī and Daridrā came into the universe as rivals, and there is nothing in the three worlds that they do not pervade. Each said, “Superiority is mine.” 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. Without me, even the living are like the dead.”
Daridrā said: “I am above all. Moksha always depends on me. Desire, anger, greed, arrogance and malice never stay where I am, and fear does not arise there. Madness, jealousy and haughtiness never stay where I am.”
Lakshmī answered: “Every creature I adorn is honoured. A man without wealth is set upon by all, even if he is equal to Śiva. Five devatās dwell in the body, Dhī (intellect), Śrī (splendour), Hrī (modesty), Śānti (peace) and Kīrti (fame), and they leave it the moment one says ‘dehi’ (‘please give’). Good qualities and honour remain only as long as one does not beg. Want is the fruit of great pāpa; people neither honour, nor speak to, nor touch a man without wealth. So I am the most excellent.”
Daridrā said: “Are you not ashamed to keep saying ‘I am superior’? You sport with the wicked and forsake the excellent one; even liquor does not make men as haughty as your presence. I live 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 and the heroic, in pure brāhmaṇas, in bhikshus (mendicants), and in those who perform holy rites and are fearless. You live in the wicked who hover round kings, in the cruel, the scandal-mongers, the misers, the rogues, the ungrateful, those who break the rules of dharma, those who betray their friends, and those who do evil.”
Brahmā sends them to the Gautamī
Arguing thus, both came to Brahmā. Brahmā said: “Bhūmi (the Earth) is older than I, and the Waters are older still. Only women know the depths of a dispute between women. Among the waters, those that come from the kamaṇḍalu (water-pot) are the best, and among them Devī Gautamī will be able to decide. She dispels every pain and every doubt.”
At Brahmā’s word the two went to Bhūmi and the Waters, and with them to the river Gautamī. Bhūmi and the Waters bowed to Gautamī and, as neutral arbiters, told her the claims of each in their own words.
Gautamī’s praise of Lakshmī
While the guardians of the quarters, Bhūmi and the Waters listened, Gautamī Gaṅgā spoke to Daridrā in praise of Lakshmī. “All that moves and does not move is pervaded by Lakshmī. She is the splendour of Brahman, of tapas and of yajñas; of renown, wealth and good name; of learning, intellect and Sarasvatī (speech); of enjoyment, worldly pleasure and moksha; of modesty, forbearance and forgiveness; of siddhi, contentment, nourishment and peace; of the Waters and the Earth; of ahaṅkāra, the healing herbs and the Vedas; of purity, night and svarga; of moonlight, blessings and greetings; of pervasion, of māyā and of the auspicious dawn. Whatever is beautiful in bold, patient and good brāhmaṇas, and in the learned who walk the path of moksha and of enjoyment, is her power. The whole universe is pervaded by Lakshmī; there is nothing without her. Are you not ashamed to compete with her?”
Then Gaṅgā said to Daridrā, “Go away, go away.” From that day the waters of the Gaṅgā are hostile to Daridrā, and the torment of poverty lasts only as long as one has not come to the Gaṅgā.
The tīrtha and its phala
From then on that tīrtha became auspicious, dispelling Alakshmī. One who bathes there and gives dāna becomes wealthy and full of puṇya. In that holy spot there are six thousand tīrthas, frequented by devas, devarshis and ṛshis among men, and they bestow all siddhis.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 67
Sources
- Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 67