CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED SIXTEEN

AlaksmVs Episode

The sages said:

1. O Suta, how has this As'vattha tree become untouchable, and similarly how has it become fit to be touched on a Saturday? Please tell us all this in detail. Suta said:

2-3. Out of the gems that the lordly gods obtained after churning the ocean, the gods gave Lakshmi and Kaustubha to Vishnu. When he accepted Lakshmi as his wife, she respectfully said to him having the disc in his hand. Lakshmi said:

4-5. How will you marry me, the younger one, without getting this elder one married? Therefore, O Vishnu, having first married this ALakshmi, my elder sister, take me. This is an old practice. Suta said:

6-10a. Hearing these words of her, Vishnu, the creator of the world, gave according to his own words, to sage Uddalaka who had practised penance for a very long time, that ALakshmi, of a big face, white teeth, having a bright body, tall, having red eyes, and having rough and tawny hair. That sage, in accordance with Vishnu's words, accepted her and he, knowing Dharma, brought her to his hermitage full of sounds of (the recital of) the Vedas, rich with the fragrance of sacrificial fire, and resounding " with the sounds of (the" recitals of) lores. Seeing that hermitage, she who was afflicted, said these words: Jyesthd said:

10b. This abode full of Vedic sounds is not proper for me. O brahmana, I shall not come here. Take me somewhere else. Do not delay. Uddalaka said: II. Why do you not come? What is here that you don't like? Tell me at which place an abode proper for you would be (found). Jyesthd said:

12-15. I shall not stay there where the sound of (the recital of) the Vedas is heard, guests are honoured, and sacrifices etc. are (performed). So also I shall not stay there where a pair of lovers live, and where the dead ancestors are honoured. I love a place where there are men engaged in gambling and taking away others' wealth, and where there live adulterers. I am interested in that place where cow slaughter takes place, drinking is indulged in, so also where sins like the killing of a brahmana take place. Suta said:

16-17. Hearing these words of her, sage Uddalaka's face was dejected; and recollecting Vishnu's words, he did not say (anything). He went here and there. Seeing his worship she said, " I will not come". Then through confusion, he too became very much afflicted. Then Uddalaka spoke these words to that ALakshmi: Uddalaka said:

18. O ALakshmi, stay " for a moment at the root of this Asvattha tree till I return after finding a place for (our) stay. Suta said:

19-21. Thus keeping her there, Uddalaka went (away). When she who was waiting for him for a long time did not see him, she, afflicted due to being forsaken by her husband, wept piteously. Lakshmi, in her abode in Vaikuntha heard her weeping there. Then with her mind dejected, she respectfully said to Vishnu: Lakshmi said:

22. O lord, O kind one, my elder sister is afflicted due to being forsaken by her husband. If I am dear to you, then go to console her.

Suta said:

23. Then Vishnu, full of compassion, came there with Lakshmi, consoled that ALakshmi, and said these words to her: Shri Vishnu said:

24-25. O ALakshmi, being in possession of this Asvattha tree, be stable. I have made from my portion this abode for you. May this younger sister of you be stable with those householders who everyday worship you, the elder one. Suta said:

26-28. Those who listen to and recite this (account of) the greatness of Kartika, would live in Vishnu's city till the final deluge. There is on the earth no other (vow) than that of Kartika, dear to Vishnu, which removes diseases, which destroys sins, which is a great giver of intelligence, which is a means of getting sons, wealth etc., which is the cause of salvation. What is the use (the need) for going to and resorting to holy places for the man who, with restraints, observes the Kartika vow which is dear to Vishnu, which destroys all sins, which brings about prosperity in the form of good sons and grandsons, wealth and grains?

 

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