Long long ago the righteous Pandavas lost their fortune to the Kauravas due to the deceit practiced by Shakuni.
Long long ago the righteous Pandavas lost their fortune to the Kauravas due to the deceit practiced by Shakuni.
Therefore a period of 13 years had to be spent in exile. The five Pandava brothers - Yudhishtra, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula, Sahadeva and their wife Draupadi reached the forest and set up a hermitage amidst the wilderness. The Akshaya Patram (vessel of plenty) was given by Lord Surya to Yudhishtra and according to the lore, an unending supply of food would flow from the golden vessel until such time the chaste Draupadi has her meal.
The food will stop flowing thereafter and the vessel would become operational only the next day. On learning about this boon of the Pandavas their cousin, the wicked Duryodhana decided to play mischief. He requested the fiery Sage Durvasa to visit the Pandavas with a thousand disciples for a meal. the great Durvasa who was ever keen to test the good landed up at the hermitage of the Pandavas one fine day.
An unsuspecting Yudhishtra requested Durvasa and his entourage to have a bath in the nearby jungle stream and have a lunch in the Pandava hermitage.
The chaste Draupadi became quite worried about the lunch for she had finished her meal for the day and according to the boon the Akshaya Patram would grant food only the next day.
She immediately thought of her saviour Lord Krishna and sought his grace. Lord Krishna made an appearance at the Pandava hermitage that very instance and asked Draupadi to dispel his hunger by serving food from the Akshaya Patram immediately.
He did not seem to pay any attention to her entreaties and quickly went into the kitchen, took the Akshaya Patram and found a morsel of grain with greens in a corner and consumed it that very instant. Even before Draupadi could express her embarassment regarding the cleanliness of the vessel, Lord Krishna gave out a big burp which indicated satisfaction and lo! The whole world felt that it had been served a satisfying meal.
Thereafter Lord Krishna asked Bhima to bring Durvasa and company to the hermitage. Meanwhile the satisfaction felt by the omnipotent Lord Krishna made everyone in the world including the entourage of Durvasa experience a fullness in the stomach.
Therefore Durvasa had to excuse himself from Bhima and move over from the region. This day connected with this incident is celebrated as ' Akshaya Tritiya ' for almost 5000 years in India. Any good act done on this day is said to provide many merits. Therefore purchase of gold, property, doing charity is done on this day in order to get the best out of the situation.
Akshaya Tritiya is the day which confers the maximum and it’s therefore the apt time for good things. A number of noble people share their good fortune by feeding the needy on this day. It’s not just Akshaya Tritiya but also Ugadhi, Vijayadasami and Bali Patya which confer the same merit. One need not see the almanac on these days for undertaking tasks for the whole period is held to be auspicious. It’s pertinent to read about the wisdom of our elders and the grace of the Goddess of fortune, Lakshmi on this day. The Holy Ganta or bell at Tirumala had incarnated as Swami Vedanta Desika (1268 - 1369) in Tamilnadu. Vedanta Desika was a noble and righteous soul who took forward the tradition propounded by the great Vaishnavite Seer Saint Ramanuja (1017 - 1137).
He used to abhor comforts and lived a simple life for over a century. He spent his time contemplating on Lord Narayana and a number of compositions poured out as a consequence of his devotion. The devout preceptor Swami Vedanta Desika used to seek alms every day and take home the grains recieved from the devout. The grains were cooked, offered to Lord Varadaraja and only then did the composer of Paduka Sahasram have his meal for the day. He considered good thoughts, good conduct and good actions backed by devotion to Lord Devanatha to be the real fortune.
One day, a few jealous individuals sent a youngster who was in need of money in order to get married to Vedanta Desika with the idea of playing a practical joke on him. On learning about this from the hopeful seeker of fortune, Swami Vedanta Desika instantly offered his prayers to Goddess Lakshmi and that very instance the blessings of the Divine Mother visited the home of the great soul in the form of a shower of gold. The wise Desika gave away the gold to the youngster and continued with his life. Thereafter it has been a practice to render the 'Sri Stuti', which yielded this shower of gold in order to seek the all the 16 forms of wealth from the Divine Mother, Lakshmi.
The 25 verse Sri Stuti by Vedanta Desika is a true master piece and a cursory read is sure to draw the seeker to recite it with complete devotion. He calls Lakshmi as the one who is kind hearted while decorating the chest of her Lord Vishnu with her effulgence. He states that the whole world is her wealth and that she was born in the Milk Ocean and ever resident on the chest of her spouse Lord Narayana. The preceptor goes on to say that he is offering his servitude as the last resort. He goes to talk about the love of the Lord for his spouse and the auspicious nature of their union. Vedanta Desika further extolls the Goddess by adding that one would get out of the cycle of sins due to her grace.
Swami Vedanta Desika goes on to add that she is the cooperative companion of the divine force who is ever ready to provide succor to the ones mired in sorrow. He describes her beauty by stating that her lovely slender-waisted body which bears the weight of her bust shines forth while leaning on the emerald coloured person of Lord Vishna due to the golden lustre emanating from her persona. He also adds that the wealth of knowledge belonging to Goddess Saraswathi, the brow of Rati which captivated Manmatha, the empire of Indra are all due to her noble quality. The poet talks about the appearance of Goddess Lakshmi at the time of the churning of the milk ocean (Ksheersagara Mandanam). It was at this time she was made to sit in front of her Lord and given a bath with the aid of golden pitchers by numerous elephants while there were huge rain bearing clouds in the background. He calls her the sister of Amritam, the life giving elixir and recalls the story of the ego ridden Devas who had come to beseech her grace, while she was seated in the temple of fortune located on the chest of Lord Narayana in order to regain their lost their powers due to a curse by the powerful Sage Durvasa.
Lakshmi the Supreme Mother is further praised by Desika who calls her as the one who helps and blesses the needy. It’s in the seventeenth verse that the author states that the feet of the Divine Mother are the ornaments decorating the diadem of the Vedas and that the ones who carry them in their hearts with devotion will become so great that they would come around the world under the shade of a marvellous white umbrella while being surrounded by the people governed by them. In another place, he calls her as the spouse of his Divine Father, Lord Narayana. On reaching the twenty-second verse Swami Vedanta Desika is emphatic that the fear of samsara is expelled due to her grace and they confer the boon which makes the seeker ever devoted to Lord Narayana. The author furthers the devotion of the seeker by calling her as the Prarthana Kamadhenu (wish fulfilling Divine Cow) of the world.
The devout who read this fabulous composition of Swami Vedanta Desika on this auspicious day are sure to be blessed with the riddance of the ill effects of Kali and the infinite grace of Goddess Mahalakshmi.