Goddess of Ground Zero
“A temple dedicated to the goddess of Anima”
The only temple in India dedicated to misfortune is found at Thacha-nattu-kara. The presiding deity of this temple is Jyeshta, the elder sister of Goddess Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, auspiciousness and of all prosperity. Which makes Jyeshta the goddess of of poverty, indigence and inauspiciousness.
This WAS news. It provided food for thought, firepower for imagination and immense consolation to the soul. NOW I knew where to turn to when the neighbour’s daughter brought an astounding 99% in her exams, whom to dedicate the burnt toast to, whose shoulder to lay my head on when I felt like a four letter word…. The possibilities were immense and I wholeheartedly saluted the master creator of Jyeshta… above all I felt here was one deity who wouldn’t be hung on a 108 flattering names to open her eye to the devotee’s humbling prayers, who could be buzzed ‘hey Jyests!’ or ‘hi Jay’ and who didn’t care a damn about antiseptic offerings…
Jyests wouldn’t be draped in a gold bordered sari flaunting her slender waist and ample bosom, but would be unadorned by jewels and paraphernalia. Her temple wouldn’t have intricate carvings- it would be a mere cobwebbed shelter where birds, animals, insects, the afflicted mind and the incorrigible drunkard all would find refuge.
Going back to folklore,
The two sisters are born rivals. When one is in, the other is out. So the Indian household is engaged in a constant fight to keep Lakshmi in and Jyeshta out. Waste, dirt, slovenliness, indolence, idleness, disorder, anger and all such undesirable things show the presence of Jyeshta in the house. Until she is turned out, Lakshmi wouldn’t enter and stay. In some houses, it is a custom for the lady of the house to open the back door first, send Jyeshta out and then open the front door and let Lakshmi in.
Fine. It was easy enough to imagine Jyeshta ‘physically’ but … what exactly would be the significance of a goddess of – say disorder? Or disgrace? How can a goddess preside over dirt? By definition a god/goddess listens to prayers and gives…. What would Jyeshta give her devotees? Would she condone slovenliness, encourage idleness and provoke anger? She’d be the teenager’s goddess par excellence! Would she then also preside over divorces, abortions and the like? …….Perhaps quite simply, by building her an abode, it was hoped that she would stay put there and not haunt households. This persona non-grata among the Hindu pantheon could be kept busy presiding over her own little empire keeping out of Lakshmi’s haloed pathway.
One probably went there not to ask her for favours but to request her not to radiate inauspicious boons in one’s direction.
On second level thoughts…..
Burnt toast would probably teach me more than a steady pocketmoney …from the need to replace it with something else (when the last of the slices are gone) on the breakfast table to the difficulty in disposing off. Doubts, fears, insecurity and risks cannot be wished away by worshipping Lakshmi. If we consider the innermost regions of our soul, we would find there a Jyeshta temple too. Don’t we in fact feel safer musing over problems in its solitude?
But Jyeshtya is a more formidable personality than that. Unlike the fleeting glitter and glamour of Lakshmi, her roots go deep. She seems to say…your life may have cobwebs and undusted corners; don’t feel wretched about it. A vacuum cleaned life is a myth.…A crisis can be a friend..just as an earthquake, tsunami or volcano-rased land is rebuilt, very often better than before, let a crisis regenerate you. Do not fear fear, trouble…so what if you have an autistic child? You are not only protected from society’s envy, you have been granted a unique extra dimension to view life and enrich others’..
Lakshmi is known to be chanchala-unsteady and fleeting. She is also dukhamoola-the cause of misery and misfortune. Lakshmi is the source of happiness only in appearance. In truth, underneath, she is the source of misery. The fight for Lakshmi (moolah, dukhamoolah) debases and often dehumanizes man. The world loves and worships Lakshmi because it is cursed to love and worship appearances. Lakshmi is the goddess of appearance.
Jyeshta is poor and indigent, but she has strength of character. She is not chanchala. She is not seductive. She discounts appearance. She is steady and unflinching. She has grit. It is the strength of soul which gives man real strength and happiness, not moolah. Beneath the level of appearance, Jyeshta is the giver of strength and happiness. Actually the roles of Lakshmi and Jyeshta are interchanged. In the deep spiritual sense, Lakshmi is Jyeshta and Jyeshta is Lakshmi. The wise worship Jyeshta not Lakshmi.
Lakshmi is the goddess of persona and Jyeshta is the deity of anima.
So…
Jyeshts then would be my goddess of Ground Zero; of the aftermath of ravage, not of post-mortem; the goddess of the just orphaned baby, of the terrorist victim, the abandoned doggie, the laid-off worker, of the parents of the disabled child; one who doesn’t answer to ‘why did you do this to me?’ but who asks with you ‘what can be done now?’ and counselor-like, helps one find self-acceptance and regeneration of the soul.
She is truly the goddess of the Spirit.
The only temple in India dedicated to misfortune is found at Thacha-nattu-kara. The presiding deity of this temple is Jyeshta, the elder sister of Goddess Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, auspiciousness and of all prosperity. Which makes Jyeshta the goddess of of poverty, indigence and inauspiciousness.
This WAS news. It provided food for thought, firepower for imagination and immense consolation to the soul. NOW I knew where to turn to when the neighbour’s daughter brought an astounding 99% in her exams, whom to dedicate the burnt toast to, whose shoulder to lay my head on when I felt like a four letter word…. The possibilities were immense and I wholeheartedly saluted the master creator of Jyeshta… above all I felt here was one deity who wouldn’t be hung on a 108 flattering names to open her eye to the devotee’s humbling prayers, who could be buzzed ‘hey Jyests!’ or ‘hi Jay’ and who didn’t care a damn about antiseptic offerings…
Jyests wouldn’t be draped in a gold bordered sari flaunting her slender waist and ample bosom, but would be unadorned by jewels and paraphernalia. Her temple wouldn’t have intricate carvings- it would be a mere cobwebbed shelter where birds, animals, insects, the afflicted mind and the incorrigible drunkard all would find refuge.
Going back to folklore,
The two sisters are born rivals. When one is in, the other is out. So the Indian household is engaged in a constant fight to keep Lakshmi in and Jyeshta out. Waste, dirt, slovenliness, indolence, idleness, disorder, anger and all such undesirable things show the presence of Jyeshta in the house. Until she is turned out, Lakshmi wouldn’t enter and stay. In some houses, it is a custom for the lady of the house to open the back door first, send Jyeshta out and then open the front door and let Lakshmi in.
Fine. It was easy enough to imagine Jyeshta ‘physically’ but … what exactly would be the significance of a goddess of – say disorder? Or disgrace? How can a goddess preside over dirt? By definition a god/goddess listens to prayers and gives…. What would Jyeshta give her devotees? Would she condone slovenliness, encourage idleness and provoke anger? She’d be the teenager’s goddess par excellence! Would she then also preside over divorces, abortions and the like? …….Perhaps quite simply, by building her an abode, it was hoped that she would stay put there and not haunt households. This persona non-grata among the Hindu pantheon could be kept busy presiding over her own little empire keeping out of Lakshmi’s haloed pathway.
One probably went there not to ask her for favours but to request her not to radiate inauspicious boons in one’s direction.
On second level thoughts…..
Burnt toast would probably teach me more than a steady pocketmoney …from the need to replace it with something else (when the last of the slices are gone) on the breakfast table to the difficulty in disposing off. Doubts, fears, insecurity and risks cannot be wished away by worshipping Lakshmi. If we consider the innermost regions of our soul, we would find there a Jyeshta temple too. Don’t we in fact feel safer musing over problems in its solitude?
But Jyeshtya is a more formidable personality than that. Unlike the fleeting glitter and glamour of Lakshmi, her roots go deep. She seems to say…your life may have cobwebs and undusted corners; don’t feel wretched about it. A vacuum cleaned life is a myth.…A crisis can be a friend..just as an earthquake, tsunami or volcano-rased land is rebuilt, very often better than before, let a crisis regenerate you. Do not fear fear, trouble…so what if you have an autistic child? You are not only protected from society’s envy, you have been granted a unique extra dimension to view life and enrich others’..
Lakshmi is known to be chanchala-unsteady and fleeting. She is also dukhamoola-the cause of misery and misfortune. Lakshmi is the source of happiness only in appearance. In truth, underneath, she is the source of misery. The fight for Lakshmi (moolah, dukhamoolah) debases and often dehumanizes man. The world loves and worships Lakshmi because it is cursed to love and worship appearances. Lakshmi is the goddess of appearance.
Jyeshta is poor and indigent, but she has strength of character. She is not chanchala. She is not seductive. She discounts appearance. She is steady and unflinching. She has grit. It is the strength of soul which gives man real strength and happiness, not moolah. Beneath the level of appearance, Jyeshta is the giver of strength and happiness. Actually the roles of Lakshmi and Jyeshta are interchanged. In the deep spiritual sense, Lakshmi is Jyeshta and Jyeshta is Lakshmi. The wise worship Jyeshta not Lakshmi.
Lakshmi is the goddess of persona and Jyeshta is the deity of anima.
So…
Jyeshts then would be my goddess of Ground Zero; of the aftermath of ravage, not of post-mortem; the goddess of the just orphaned baby, of the terrorist victim, the abandoned doggie, the laid-off worker, of the parents of the disabled child; one who doesn’t answer to ‘why did you do this to me?’ but who asks with you ‘what can be done now?’ and counselor-like, helps one find self-acceptance and regeneration of the soul.
She is truly the goddess of the Spirit.
posted by meera @ 10:43 PM
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