My search for identity: Answered in Speaking Tree
My search for identity: I got an answer
20102014
Almost eleven years back, a small group of senior citizens(in their
sixties and seventies) who were attending a religious function, called me aside
and secretly asked which GOTRA I belonged. I was unprepared
to answer the question at that point of time. In five seconds, a flash of memory came to my mind.
Born in Malabar(Kerala) in a
warrier family, I inherited the religion and caste from my maternal side and
therefore I was SHUDRA though my father is NAMBUDIRI
who was from a traditionally recognized BRAHMIN family of
Payyanur. His forefathers used to participate in the MURAJAPAM conducted by
the royal family of Travancore. Suddenly, I remembered my father telling me
that he belonged to KASHAPA GOTRA and he and his progeny will never be hurt by
snakes(this is a different story).
I answered the question in two words:
‘KASHYAPA GOTRA’ That saved the day.
THIS STORY PROVES ME RIGHT. Please read on:
HAPPY DEEPAVALI
M G Warrier
Maa Lakshmi As VEDAVATI
When the universe first came into existence, there were only
two powerful races — the devas or gods and the asuras or demons. Though the
gods and demons always fought with each other, they had the same father. It is
said that the gods were born to Sage Kashyap and first wife Aditi, and the
demons, to his second wife, Diti. Both the gods and demons were very strong,
but the demons always defeated the gods in wars. This constant fighting and
losing caused great anxiety to the gods.
So,
they all went to Vishnu, the most brilliant among the gods. He thought
for a while and said, “There is only one way to make sure that you become
stronger than the demons. You have to churn the vast ocean, the Kshirsagar.
There are many valuable gems hidden in its great depths. Among them is a
pitcher full of amrit or nectar. If you drink this nectar, you will become
immortal and invincible.
But how
could it be that the gods were up to something and the demons would not find
out about it? The demons expressed their wish to share the delights of the
nectar.
On the
chosen day, the gods and demons came together to accomplish the important task.
After a while, they saw exquisite things emerging from the ocean. They were
awestruck. The first to come out was Surabhi, the cow of abundance. Then
emerged Kalpavriksha, the wish-fulfilling tree. One by one, precious jewels
began to surface. Finally, the gods and demons saw the pitcher full of nectar
emerging from the depths of the ocean. And as everyone stood watching, out of
the ocean emerged a brilliant pink lotus. And seated on this lotus was the most
beautiful woman that the gods and demons had ever seen. The gods offered their
praise to this glorious woman. Vishnu also felt enchanted by her divine aura.
This
was Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity, a jewel among jewels. Later,
impressed by Vishnu’s strength and intelligence, the goddess became his wife
and companion. Goddess Lakshmi is known to dwell in places which are known to
uphold good virtue and morals. And wherever she resides, there is always peace,
welfare and prosperity.This was also the case with King Rathadhwaja. In his
kingdom, Lakshmi was worshipped with a lot of love. His father and grandfather
had been blessed by her. Therefore, there was abundant wealth and wellbeing in
the kingdom. But after some years, the king became very arrogant and proud.
‘All these riches have been acquired by me. It is my intelligence that has made
me what I am. Now, there is no way Goddess Lakshmi would leave me,’ he thought to
himself and stopped offering prayers to the deity. Angry and disappointed with
the king, the Goddess left his palace for good. Slowly, Rathadhwaja began to
lose everything. He lost his wealth, the land he ruled over became poor, and
his people grew dissatisfied.
His
enemies noticed this and attacked his state. They defeated Rathadhwaja and took
over the charge of his territory. His two sons, Kushadhwaja and Dharmadhwaja,
however, were not like him. They knew the value of being humble. “We must do
something to please Goddess Lakshmi again. We must correct our father’s
mistake,” Dharmadhwaja told his brother.
So they
undertook severe penance and invoked the Goddess. She was very pleased by their
meditation
and appeared before them. Kushadhwaja, on seeing her, folded his hands and
pleaded, “O, Goddess! Please forgive our father. We have lost everything
because he stopped praying to you. Give us a chance to change. Please grant us
the good fortune of being born as my daughter.” Happy by the piety of
Kushadhwaja, she agreed to his wish. She also assured the brothers, “You will
soon win back your kingdom.”
As she
had predicted, the kingdom was restored to its rightful rulers and there were
celebrations all over. Soon, Kushadhwaja’s wife gave birth to a beautiful
daughter. From the moment she was born, the child started reciting vedic hymns.
Kushadhwaja looked upon his daughter’s face with love and said, “There can be
no better name for her than Vedavati.” He knew this was none other than Goddess
Lakshmi herself.
Vedavati
grew up to be a beautiful girl. She was devoted to Vishnu. When she came of
age, gods and demons from all over expressed their desire to marry her. But
Vedavati was unmoved. “Father, I cannot marry anyone but Vishnu. I will go to
the forest of Pushkara and meditate to Vishnu to accept me as his wife.” Her
father was saddened, but he did not stop her. After all, he was aware of her
true identity. In the dense forest, Vedavati began her penance, but Vishnu did
not appear. Instead a celestial voice pronounced, “No Vedavati. It is not
possible in this life.
But in the next one, we are destined to be together.”
But
Vedavati did not pay any attention. She continued with her prayers. One day, a
powerful demon was travelling through on his airborne vehicle, the Pushpak. He
saw this beautiful maiden absorbed in meditation.
At once, he brought his vehicle to a halt and addressed the lady, “My fair
lady, what is a young girl like you doing here meditating? Come with me and be
my queen. I will give you all the riches of the world.”
Vedavati did not listen to him, so the demon got angry and tried to pull her by
the hair.
Vedavati
got angry and sheared off her hair with her hands. She said, “O, you evil
demon. You have disturbed me and made me impure by your touch. I curse you that
in a later birth, I will be the cause of your death.”
Saying so, she jumped into a bonfire.
This
demon was none other than the evil and terrible ruler of Lanka, Ravana. Goddess
Lakshmi, indeed, eventually became the cause of his death. When
she was born as Sita, Ravana kidnapped her and Rama followed him
to Lanka and killed him. Adapted from Little Monk’s Lakshmi, Wisdom Tree.
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