from the 4th to the sixth day during the 9 day Navratri festival

Where the first three days are spent in physically cleansing onself

of bodily flaws and toxicity and acquring physical illuminance so necessary

for commiting actions, the second phase is one that is spent

on utilising the fruits of the first phase in serving our fellow humans

Compassion and Sharing

That's the underlying mantra or mindset to be acquired or worked for

during this phase .. Three days may seem to be a microcosm in time

to acquire the gift of mindset, but the idea is to make one experience 

at least the effect of it even if ever so small ...

When the mind is single mindedly fixed on understanding and then

ingraining in oneself the sentiment of sharing, even a glimpse of it

would ignite in one the single minded desire to acquire it ...

The powers acquired in the first three days of worshipping Kali

are to expended for the good of society .. or ones spiritual progress,

for in sharing we gain much more than if we were to selfishly hoard it

There is a metaphorical significance attached to the image of

Lakshmi as the consort of Vishnu ..

One of the names of Vishnu is "Nara"

which is also used for denoting water

And "Ayan" refers to residence ...

Vishnu's name Narayan thus denotes one who resides in Water

Lakshmi is also referred to as residing in Rice - rather grains of rice ..

And we all know that rice is cooked in the presence of water ...

The fire required for cooking it is the effort...

In other words, only when one makes the effort and sweats it (releasing

water via perspiring) that one can attract Lakshmi (wealth and abundance)

The message is simple -

hard work has no substitute for abundance ..

Legends

The appearance of goddess Lakshmi is related to an ancient story.

Durvasa the short-tempered sage once presented Indra, the king of the

gods (devas) with a garland of flowers which would never wilt. Indra gave

this garland to his elephant Airavata. Sage Durvasa saw the elephant

trampling the divine garland and cursed Indra, for he had shown disrespect

to the sage. The sage cursed Indra that he and all the gods would lose their

power because it had made them so proud and vain.

Due to the curse, the demons vanquished the gods out of the heavens.

The defeated gods then went to seek refuge to the Creator Lord Brahma

who asked them to churn the ocean of milk, Ksheersagar, to obtain the

nectar of immortality. The gods then went to Lord Vishnu, to seek his

assistance. Lord Vishnu took the Avatar Kurma (Tortoise) and supported

the Manthara Parvata (mountain) as a churning rod, while the king of the

serpents, Vasuki, became the churning rope. The gods and the demons

(under the leadership of the pious and wise King Bali Chakravarti) both

helped each other in churning the ocean of milk.

Amongst the host of divine gifts which appeared from the ocean,

goddess Lakshmi appeared and then chose Shri Vishnu as her consort,

as only He had the power to control Maya (illusion).

Because of this, Lakshmi is also called the daughter of the sea;

since the moon also appeared from the ocean during the churning,

the moon is called her brother. Alakshmi, the goddess of misfortune,

is Lakshmi's older sister.

She is said to have also arisen from the sea of milk.

According to the Vishnu Purana, Lakshmi is the daughter of Bhrigu and

Khyaati and resided in Swarga but due to the curse of Durvasa, she left

Swarga and made Ksheersagara her home.

The reappearance of Lakshmi after Samudra manthan and her marriage

to Vishnu thereafter, remain the same. Laxmi is the power and Maya

of Lord Vishnu. In some places She is seen in two forms, Bhudevi and

Sridevi, both either side of Vishnu. Bhudevi is the fertility form in which

She is Mother Earth. Sridevi is the wealth and knowledge of Her which is

seen with Narayan. Most people are mistaken that they are separate

beings although they are one, Laxmi.

Celebration in Hindu society

Hindus worship Lakshmi the most on Diwali, the festival of lights.

According to tradition people would put small oil lamps outside their

homes on Diwali and hope Lakshmi will come to bless them.

The prefix Sri (also spelled as Shri, pronounced as shree) renders as

'one who takes delight in Sri' Lakshmi, meaning wealth,

wealth of any kind.

Primarily eight kinds of wealth are established,

associated with goddess Lakshmi.

They are:

Any thing that need be affluent gets the auspicious prefix or suffix

'Lakshmi', or 'Sri' like Rajya Lakshmi (Wealth of Empire),

Shanti Sri (Wealth of Peace), etc.

In modern India, common titles standing in for the English Mr. and Mrs.

are Shri (also Sri or Shree) and Shrimati (also Srimati or Shreemati),

as in "Sri Gupta" or "Srimati Mangeshkar".

Goddess Lakshmi is worshipped by those who wish to acquire or to

preserve wealth. It is believed that Lakshmi (wealth) goes only to those

houses which are clean and where the people are hardworking.

She does not visit the places which are unclean/dirty or

where the people are lazy.

In Uttarakhand, after the worship of the goddess on Diwali night,

the Shankh or Conch is not blown. This is because the shank is also

from the ocean like the goddess herself, so it is given a day of rest.

Laxmi is the patron goddess of Kolhapur city, Maharashtra.

Lakshmi is also known by the name "Chanchala"

meaning  one who is fickle which is again a misnomer

and misunderstanding of a great concept

Its said that Lakshmi doesn't stay (remain stable) at any one place ..

One never knows when she'll just get bored and get up and leave ..

If one were to study the history of money and how it came into being,

one comes across metal as a medium of exchange that gave way

to coins ... in different shapes and ultimately stabilised in the round one

It denoted a key concept of economics

That money must circulate inorder to increase

A stagnant water body decays and harbours disease

while a flowing water body (river) is not only fresh in itself

but also fertilises all the lands that it passes through (even if it is

not the son ..ooopppss .. river of the soil)

 ” Then there are two other symbols  that we see.

With Her hand

She gives.

If you open one door the air won’t come in.

You have to open the other door.

She must give.

So people think what they have to give, but they give the worst they have,

just like the waste paper basket. “O, this is useless so I can give to this

friend”. All friends are used as waste paper baskets.

Whatever is the worst is given.

How can you touch your depth like this?

Whatever is the best, you should give.

If you are free to give then you should give the best. …..

we are very ego oriented, we understand what will give joy to us.

We don’t understand what will give joy to others

and when we understand this

then the joy reflects on us thousand times more.

This river ultimately merges into the ocean

where it experiences tranquility ...

Compassion and sharing is what keeps your

abundance and prosperity

moving and multiplying, ultimately increasing it ..

When you share, you bond with another heart ..

The joy of giving multiplies your happiness and

inspires one to give ever more

resulting in more coming your way ...

and

VOILA

you are suddenly prosperous and popular and liked by everyone

Vishnu also represents compassion and Love for one's fellow beings

and all of creation ... and only a compassionate force is the ideal

receptacle of the favours of the Goddess

who represents wealth and abundance

The Heart of Vishnu is the seat of Divine compassion and discrimination

It does not dole out favours indiscriminately but with an awakened mind

and thus it is that the in the Heart of Shri Hari Vishnu, Lakshmi resides,

secure in the knowledge that her powers and abundance will find their

optimum and ideal purpose in creation ...

And where Vishnu (Hard work, compassion and discrimination ) is,

can Lakshmi (Wealth and abundance and prosperity) be far behind??

Something that the Goddess is asking you to consider

and think over .... Will you do that and more importantly,

once you do, will you ACT on it ??

May the Goddess bless you all with the abundance mindset