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Essay : Wealth & Virtue.
For those who are unaware; the imagery in the above painting is one of the most famous literary descriptions (in Sanskrit) found in various Hindu scriptures such as the Puranas, Ramayana, Mahabharata, and Harivamsa.
It shows Vishnu - the preserver (one of three supreme deities in Hinduism) to be reclining on the bed created by the serpent ‘Adi-Shesha’ (who is touted to be one of the biggest devotees of Vishnu) amidst ‘Kshir-Sagar’ (Ocean of Milk) and his feet is being pressed by his consort - Goddess Laxmi, who is the goddess of wealth, fortune, prosperity, and abundance in Hinduism.
Believers in various diverse Hindu-sects and other scholars have interpreted this description (and the paintings created out of it) differently. Many sceptics and atheists have also (inaccurately) criticised it for being patriarchal and anti-feminist.
Though the manner in which I'd like to interpret the symbolism behind this image is that Vishnu stands for the upholder of all the virtues there are in existence, while Laxmi stands for every form of wealth.
The anonymous Hindu sages (who wrote the Hindu scriptures) of the fore must be trying to convey a message to all the future generations, that :
“Wealth, no matter how much it is praised by everyone; It will always remain devoted at the feet of virtue i.e wealth will always be subordinate to virtue.”
Another way to explain this dual-principle is that if and when any human tries to possess wealth by unjust means, it will always result in the downfall of that person, sooner or later.
Also, if any man bereft of any virtues is bestowed with riches of all kinds, it wouldn't take much time for that fellow to spiral down from being a millionaire or a billionaire, to a street-roaming pauper.
Hindu fables are filled with narrations of many figures, who, owing to their obsession of possessing wealth, without cultivating any virtues, ultimately resulted in their destruction.
The most famous case being that of the demon-king Ravana - who despite being not just a great scholar, a valiant king, a and fearsome warrior ultimately gets destroyed at the hands of God, owing to his ego, uncontrolled desires, anger, tendency for violence, crimes against women, and obsession with possession of more and more power.
Even if we disregard such fables, in our age, time & again we watch news of many scamsters being taken to jail, for fooling and looting the innocents and hoarding millions & billions out of it.
While on the other hand it's also in our times, we've witnessed the lives of many great entrepreneurs who rose to great fortunes from their bitter struggles on streets, and who later, despite becoming billionaires, never cast away their virtues, their charitable nature, and their philanthropy.
Such findings (arising out of our observations) around us make us realise that Wealth (Laxmi) and Virtue (Vishnu) are eternal soulmates, who can never be separated.
The moment someone tries to chase the former in his life, without first cultivating the latter within him; it would eventually lead that person to ruin.
© Kishan Trivedi
#LordKrishna/Vishnu #essay #laxmi
It shows Vishnu - the preserver (one of three supreme deities in Hinduism) to be reclining on the bed created by the serpent ‘Adi-Shesha’ (who is touted to be one of the biggest devotees of Vishnu) amidst ‘Kshir-Sagar’ (Ocean of Milk) and his feet is being pressed by his consort - Goddess Laxmi, who is the goddess of wealth, fortune, prosperity, and abundance in Hinduism.
Believers in various diverse Hindu-sects and other scholars have interpreted this description (and the paintings created out of it) differently. Many sceptics and atheists have also (inaccurately) criticised it for being patriarchal and anti-feminist.
Though the manner in which I'd like to interpret the symbolism behind this image is that Vishnu stands for the upholder of all the virtues there are in existence, while Laxmi stands for every form of wealth.
The anonymous Hindu sages (who wrote the Hindu scriptures) of the fore must be trying to convey a message to all the future generations, that :
“Wealth, no matter how much it is praised by everyone; It will always remain devoted at the feet of virtue i.e wealth will always be subordinate to virtue.”
Another way to explain this dual-principle is that if and when any human tries to possess wealth by unjust means, it will always result in the downfall of that person, sooner or later.
Also, if any man bereft of any virtues is bestowed with riches of all kinds, it wouldn't take much time for that fellow to spiral down from being a millionaire or a billionaire, to a street-roaming pauper.
Hindu fables are filled with narrations of many figures, who, owing to their obsession of possessing wealth, without cultivating any virtues, ultimately resulted in their destruction.
The most famous case being that of the demon-king Ravana - who despite being not just a great scholar, a valiant king, a and fearsome warrior ultimately gets destroyed at the hands of God, owing to his ego, uncontrolled desires, anger, tendency for violence, crimes against women, and obsession with possession of more and more power.
Even if we disregard such fables, in our age, time & again we watch news of many scamsters being taken to jail, for fooling and looting the innocents and hoarding millions & billions out of it.
While on the other hand it's also in our times, we've witnessed the lives of many great entrepreneurs who rose to great fortunes from their bitter struggles on streets, and who later, despite becoming billionaires, never cast away their virtues, their charitable nature, and their philanthropy.
Such findings (arising out of our observations) around us make us realise that Wealth (Laxmi) and Virtue (Vishnu) are eternal soulmates, who can never be separated.
The moment someone tries to chase the former in his life, without first cultivating the latter within him; it would eventually lead that person to ruin.
© Kishan Trivedi
#LordKrishna/Vishnu #essay #laxmi
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