| Alakshmi | |
|---|---|
| Goddess of Misfortune and Grief | |
| Other names | Jyestha, Nirṛti |
| Devanagari | देवी अलक्ष्मी |
| Mantra | Alakshmi nashana mantra (Mantra for destroying Alakshmi) |
| Mount | Crow, Donkey |
| Texts | Linga Purana
Shri Suktam Padma Purana |
| Genealogy | |
| Siblings | Lakshmi |
| Spouse | Kali (asura), Rishi Uddalaka (according to Padma Purana) |
Alakshmi (Devanāgari: अलक्ष्मी; from the roots अ (a): "not" and लक्ष्मी (Lakshmi): "goddess of fortune", figurative meaning "goddess of misfortune") meaning "not Lakshmi". She is described as being "cow-repelling, antelope-footed, and bull-toothed." Or she "has dry shriveled up body, sunken cheeks, thick lips, and beady eyes and that she rides a donkey."
She is not mentioned by name in the Vedic, Upanishadic or early Puranic literature, but all aspects of Alakshmi match those of the Rig Vedic goddess Nirṛti. She is also said to be the shadow of Lakshmi. In Padma Purana, the cosmology includes her where the Samudra Manthana creates both good and bad of everything that emerges. That which is inauspicious and bad emerges first, more effort creates the auspicious and good, according to Padma Purana.
A hymn describing Alakshmi is as follows:
amangaḷā pradhā jyēṣṭhā krṣṇa varṇā kurūpiṇī |
— Unknown, Verse 1
darda dāmpāhinī dēvī sakala duḳha dāyinī
Jyestha, the woman who provides inauspiciousness, having the blackest complexion and the blackest of clothes, The granter of pain and suffering, the one who gives sorrow to the world.
First Alakshmi emerges, then Lakshmi appears during the Samudra Manthana. Gods send Alakshmi to go dwell amongst pernicious persons, give them poverty and grief. She as the asura of inauspiciousness and grief is the opposite of Lakshmi who is the goddess of auspiciousness and joy. Alakshmi is sometimes referred to be another name of Jyestha. Alakshmi is also known as Kalahapriya and Daridara, and the shadow opposite of Lakshmi.
According to Chakrabarty, “It was said that when she entered a household, Alakshmi brought jealousy and malice in her trail. Brothers fell out with each other, families and their male lineages (kula) faced ruin and destruction."
It is believed that Alakshmi can be warded off by chanting the Alakshmi Nashana Mantra which seeks to banish and destroy Alakshmi and her effects, while at the same time, praising and inviting her good-minded sister Lakshmi. Other methods include hanging a lime and seven green chillies at the doorstep of one's house. It is believed that the sourness of the lime and the pungence of the chillies combined will create a smell that even Alakshmi cannot tolerate.
Worship of Lakshmi during Deepavali in West Bengal by Bengali Hindus consist of rituals where Alakshmi is ceremonially banished from the home.
See also
References
- Linga Purana – Part 2, English translation by J. L. Shastri (1951), Chapter 6: "The origin and activities of Alakshmi".
- ^ Pattanaik, Devdutt. Lakshmi: The Goddess of Wealth and Fortune-An Introduction. Vakils Feffer & Simons Ltd, 2003 (ISBN 8187111585)
- ^ Tracy Pintchman (2005). Guests at God's Wedding: Celebrating Kartik among the Women of Benares. SUNY Press. pp. 48–49. ISBN 978-0-7914-8256-8.
- Krishna, Nanditha. The Book of Vishnu. Penguin Global, 2001 (ISBN 0670049077)
- Kirin Narayan (2011). Storytellers, Saints, and Scoundrels: Folk Narrative in Hindu Religious Teaching. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 223. ISBN 978-0-8122-0583-1.
- Chakrabarty, Dipesh. Provincializing Europe. Princeton University Press, 2000 (ISBN 0691049092)
External links
| Hindu deities and texts | ||
|---|---|---|
| Gods |  | |
| Goddesses | ||
| Other deities | ||
| Texts (list) | ||