Lakshmi – Farmerette – {Ep.216} – Stories From India – Podcast

This episode is about Lakshmi – she’s the Goddess of Wealth and Fortune, who temporarily becomes human – a farmerette – complete with an adoptive human family on a farm, all because she plucked a flower despite Vishnu’s words of caution!

Welcome to “Stories From India”. This is a podcast that will take you on a journey through the rich mythology, folklore and history of the Indian subcontinent. I am Narada Muni, the celestial storyteller and the original “time lord”. With my ability to travel through space and time, I can bring you fascinating stories from the past, the present, and the future. From the epic tales of the Mahabharata and Ramayana to the folktales of the Panchatantra to stories of Akbar-Birbal and Tenali Raman, I have a story for every occasion.

The purpose of the stories is neither to pass judgment nor to indoctrinate. My goal is only to share these stories with people who may not have heard them before and to make them more entertaining for those who have.

Today’s Story

Some of you requested a story about Lakshmi. So here we are.

Let’s jump right in and begin in the Ocean of Milk. This is where Vishnu and Lakshmi hang out often. If you don’t know who Vishnu is, he’s the preserver of the Universe. Together with Brahma who created the Universe and Shiva who can destroy it, the three of them are the holy trinity in Indian Mythology. 

Lakshmi is the Goddess of Wealth, Fortune, Power, Fertility, Beauty and of Maya or Illusion. She’s also Vishnu’s wife. Not surprising since Vishnu is a bit of an expert at Maya himself. If you recall Episode 0 – Rock Star, he gave me quite a jarring lesson on Maya.

Anyway, this power couple were in the friendly coils of Sesh Naag, the Ultimate Snake, as he floated in the ocean of milk. But it wasn’t just the two of them. I was there too! You see, I’m a bonafide mythological character myself. My father is Brahma the Creator. And I am Vishnu’s number 1 fan and president for life of his fan club.

Naturally I’m looking for every opportunity that I can get to visit Vishnu. 

I was going on and on about my latest visit down to Earth, when Vishnu cleared his throat to say that it was about time for him to go to work. Business trip. It was time for him to visit Earth.

Lakshmi asked if she could go along. Now that might sound weird, what with me being right there and all, but I’m not a standard guest. I’m sort of, part of the family don’t you know. 

Vishnu politely refused just as he had done the last few times. It was a boring place, quite monotonous, he said.

I raised my eyebrows at that. I wondered out loud that it was surely not as monotonous as being in the middle of an ocean of milk. Honestly you couldn’t even tell the directions here. Turn any which way, the landscape looked the same. The only excitement in the last century was when Sesh Naag once flicked his tail and a tiny little ripple spread out over the ocean of milk. That was exciting because this ocean of milk hadn’t seen any waves, not since the Devas and the Asuras had churned it long ago. Coincidentally, Lakshmi had been born then. She had emerged from this very Ocean, and we’ve covered that story before in Episodes 51, 52 and 53.

“Well alright,” Vishnu reluctantly agreed. But he added that he had two conditions. One was that Lakshmi could not go North, and two – she could not take anything. Absolutely no souvenirs. He said that as preserver of the Universe he had to enforce a strict policy not to interfere.

Maybe I was feeling a little mischievous that made me bold enough to intervene a second time. “Seriously – no interference? The losers of the Mahabharata war, and all of Lanka in the time of Ramayana war might beg to differ.”

“That was different, Narada and you know it!” Vishnu. “I took an oath to wipe out injustice. And I was really preserving justice and peace”

He was right of course. I know. I can see alternate timelines and I don’t think you humans would have been happy if Ravana had won in the Ramayana or if the Pandavas had lost the Mahabharata war, to take just two examples.

I pointed out that in order to meet Vishnu’s conditions Lakshmi just needed a Compass and a Compass. I meant a Physical Compass and a Moral Compass.

No one laughed. Besides Lakshmi wasn’t interested in technicalities about interference and such – she was just eager to go see Earth. So she quickly agreed with Vishnu’s terms and conditions. And the cookie policy, which was that she had to accept any cookies any Earthperson might offer her. Not so different from the 21st century I guess.

The two of them went on to Earth. I couldn’t go along, as much as I wanted to. I had a party to go to in Swarg, which was where most of the Devas were. Indra hosts these fabulous parties, and normally I’d skip them to go along with Vishnu and Lakshmi, but this time Indra had specifically asked me to perform at the party. And me? I’m always willing to belt out songs whenever I have an audience. So I could not say no.

Meanwhile Lakshmi went down to Earth with Vishnu. Vishnu said he had a few things to take care of, some devotees to bless, some evil guys to stop, some people to meet and so on. Lakshmi would be free to explore on her own of course. She just had to get back to the rendezvous in an hour.

Lakshmi agreed. An hour would be plenty of time. If you’re wondering whether they synchronized their watches, sure. Let’s say they did. Except being supernatural beings they didn’t really need to.

With Vishnu gone, Lakshmi looked around at the beautiful fields rolling off in every direction. There were fruit trees, fragrant flowers, babbling brooks, the weather was perfect, the grass smelled sweet. This was wonderful! She wandered on until she came to a farm. It was a bit of a run down farm. The farmer must be down on their luck. Or maybe they had been put out to pasture – pun unintended.

There was hardly anything growing in the fields. Except for one small tree at the very edge of the farm which had one single flower growing on it. Lakshmi stood there next to the tree, wondering what misfortune had fallen on this farm. And then something strange happened. The flower fell from the tree. But not to the floor, a gentle greeze softly deposited that flower straight into Lakshmi’s hair. 

Lakshmi thought it looked good, so she kept it. But now, it was time to go back. She went back to the rendezvous with mixed feelings. She’d loved the sights and sounds of Earth, but she was eager to go back home with Vishnu.

Vishnu was eager to go back home with Lakshmi, but one look at her and he realized that they couldn’t. The flower in her hair had not belonged to her. It didn’t matter that it was going to fall to the ground. By keeping it, Lakshmi had violated one of the conditions. And even if there seemed any sort of ambiguity in this, there was absolutely no ambiguity about the other condition. Because that rundown farm that Lakshmi had visited had been in the North.

Well there was only one way out of this – Lakshmi would have to live on Earth, as a Human. For 3 years. And she’d have to live with the family she had wronged. That might be enough to pay back the debt of the flower to them. 

Now you might think that to a Goddess – 3 years is nothing. And you’d be right. But you’re forgetting that Lakshmi had now suddenly become human. She did retain her memory. She probably retained her powers too, but she was just unable to use them.

Vishnu went back to his home. The 3 years would pass quickly for him, he remained a God after all.

Lakshmi meanwhile had transformed into the appearance of a poor, hungry and tired woman. She couldn’t very well just walk in with rich clothes and jewels into a family that was way below the poverty line. When she reached the farm, she knocked on the door.

The door was answered a little reluctantly, but when the farmer saw who was at his doorstep he seemed relieved. “Come in dear lady,” he invited her in. “For a moment I thought the bill collector had come knocking”

The family had just sat down to dinner. And it seemed dinner was radish salad. Well technically, it was a salad made from a single radish. That seemed to be all that was available to feed their family of 5.

Madhav’s wife, whose name coincidentally was Madhavi, was a tired old lady. But she did not forget her manners. She insisted that Lakshmi sit down to dinner with them. And what’s more she gave up her own share of the Radish Salad.

Lakshmi explained that she was in a bit of a situation at the moment. It was her own fault for having ignored the fine print. And it meant for a few years she’d be homeless.

“The Chickens have come home to roost”, the eldest daughter, Badi, said as she came into the room and seated herself at the table. She looked at the confused stares and explained that what she said was meant to be taken literally. It wasn’t a metaphor or anything. Really, the chickens on the farm had scattered in every direction during the day. Now Badi had just returned from the coop, where they had all come back to roost for the night. It was a bit surprising to be honest given that you’d expect them to all wander away to freedom, but she wasn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Speaking of which, the middle daughter, Madhya, spoke, shouldn’t they sell their last remaining horse, or even give it away as a gift? He was a bit of a white elephant. And that she meant metaphorically, not literally. The family were spending a lot of their hard earned savings in taking care of the horse. And that horse wasn’t really helping them bring home the bacon.

That’s the fifth time you’re bringing it up – Madhavi said. I think we have to stop beating that dead horse. We’re not getting rid of him. He’s family.

Madhavi might have used that expression very innocently, but everyone let out a little involuntary shudder at her choice of phrase.

The youngest daughter, Choti, wanted to change the subject. She was worried that it had been 3 days since they had lost their only cow. That cow was their only hope of a better life, she was convinced of it.

“We’re worrying too much about all these things,” Madhavi said, with a sudden dash of optimism. “I’m confident we’ll get through these. More importantly, I think we need to make a family decision here. I vote to have Lakshmi live with us, as our new adoptive daughter.”

The vote was unanimous. Maybe there was some lingering influence from Lakshmi’s superpowers as the Goddess of Fortune – but something about her presence seemed to fill the family with a renewed sense of hope. Things would be alright after all. And the salad of a single Radish wasn’t enough to fill their stomachs, but they still slept peacefully that night.

And after that, it was just one bit of luck after another. 

Madhav had no trouble with the missing cow. Dinner was lavish that night. Apparently a passing food truck had somehow prepared double of a very rich customer’s order. And they had a lot of food remaining that they’d rather give away for free rather than to let it go to waste. Everyone walked away happy.

So in between large swigs of Mango lassi, and gulps of golgappe, Madhav explained that finding the cow had been easy. He had tractor down. No one laughed at his dad joke. But he recovered quickly and went on to credit Lakshmi for having suggested a direction to search in.

Everyone was pleased how helpful Lakshmi had been. The recovery of the cow alone made everyone happy. But Madhavi worried that all their eggs were in one basket if they were depending too much on this one cow to change their fortunes.

“But ma, that’s where you’re Udderly wrong. We’re not entirely dependent on the cow” Badi interjected. She was happy to report that the Chickens seemed to have laid twice the number of eggs they normally did. And though she was a habitual pessimist, even she thought it was perfectly alright to count their chickens before those eggs hatched.

She couldn’t tell what she had done differently. But maybe the only thing today was that Lakshmi had come along to the chicken coop and helped to clean it.

Madhya, the Middle daughter, had good news too. Their horse had plowed all the field, entirely by himself. No one was guiding him. And he had done a pretty solid job of it too. Well not entirely by himself. It was Lakshmi who had attached the plow to him.

Choti shared her bit of good news – their farm was going to win an award!

“Yeah, right,” Badi said, skeptically “when pigs fly”

“No, no no,” Choti corrected. “The flying pigs award is in a separate category, the one we won is for best dressed scarecrow, ours was outstanding in his field.  Come to think of it, it was Lakshmi who chose his clothes today”

“The award may not be much,” admitted Madhav, “but it may improve our brand recognition”

And it did. After that things only got better. Good things seemed to happen around Lakshmi, and the family recognized that. I guess they thought she was a bit like Gladstone Gander from Duck Tales – she brought incredible luck to everyone around her. If there had been the concept of a lottery in Ancient India, the family might have tried convincing Lakshmi to buy a ticket.

Let’s fast forward three years. Madhav had bought the farm. And not just one farm, but many other farms around his own. He was now a landlord, and he had a sprawling estate. He owned everything for miles around him. But he remained the same friendly, hospitable farmer as before. So it was even okay for the children in the neighborhood to create crop circles in his fields, with a protractor. Madhavi was a rich landlady, but she hadn’t forgotten her roots, and she remained hospitable as ever. And following on from their parents, their girls had stayed humble as well.

They knew Lakshmi was a big part of their success. She seemed to have a hand in every bit of success they had – whether it was a trade negotiation, or when they found a pot of buried gold, or when they discovered oil in their fields and promptly set up oil wells that were practically minting gold.

One day, on the three year anniversary of when Lakshmi had first appeared, Choti was out on a walk. And that’s when she saw her adoptive sister. Lakshmi was standing by a tree. A tree that 3 years ago had borne a single flower. Now it was in full bloom. Lakshmi stood there. But it wasn’t regular old Lakshmi. As Choti looked at her, they realized she looked divine! Maybe it was the halo around her that gave that impression. Or maybe it was the extra pair of arms she now had. Or maybe it was the accompanying elephants that were standing next to her, on bent knees with garlands in their trunks.

Choti rushed home and fetched her family to the scene. As Choti demonstrated, you can’t really keep a secret on a farm. After all, the Potatoes have eyes and the Corn have ears.

The family returned. There was some nervousness – they didn’t know what the protocol was. Had they violated some kind of sacred rule, by making a goddess work on their farm? Lakshmi reassured them – they had not. They had treated her like a Goddess – by opening their hearts and their home to her. And that is what had changed their luck. It wasn’t just Lakshmi’s presence.

And now, she must depart. But their luck would stay. Until the cows came home. Or until they stopped being their kind and humble, selves. Whichever was earlier. They should read the full terms and conditions.

That’s the end of the story.

Some notes on the show

In keeping with the tradition of this show, the daughters are named for the roles they play. Badi is big or elder, Choti is small, or younger, and Madhya is the middle one.

Check out the links in the show notes about previous Lakshmi episodes. Including one where I got to be the judge in a beauty contest. Between Lakshmi and Shani.

Though Lakshmi was created in the churning of the Ocean, there is a conflicting account that says she was a daughter of Brighu, who was one of the Saptarishis or Seven hall-of-fame rishis.

But there’s yet another Lakshmi story that resolves that conflict. And we’ve covered that story before in Episode 100 which was about Tirupati. Another variation of that story has it that Lakshmi was born as Brighu’s and his wife Khyati’s daughter.

The theme of a virtuous person going through a few years of hardship is something that comes up frequently. The pandavas did it in the Mahabharata. Ram, Laxman and Sita had to do it in the Ramayana. Harishchandra had to do it as well – and that is one King whose story I am yet to cover on the show, so we’ll be doing that one soon as well.

Previous Lakshmi episodes: 

https://sfipodcast.com/category/lakshmi/

The churning of the Ocean:
https://sfipodcast.com/episode-51-oceans-rising/ https://sfipodcast.com/episode-52-oceans-rising-higher/ https://sfipodcast.com/episode-53-open-the-quantum-gate/ 

That’s all for now. 

Next Time

In the next episode, we’ll continue the Mahabharata. We’d left off with the Pandavas escaping an assassination attempt, now we’ll find that they may only have swapped the frying pan for the fire. And this metaphorical fire was a demon who was just really really hungry.

Feedback

Also thanks to everyone for the wishes! It feels amazing for this podcast to be named the #1 Indian Mythology podcast according to Feedspot. And this was only possible because of your support. So a big thank you to all of you for your love, support, feedback. Check out the link in the show notes and on the site sfipodcast.com to see Feedspot’s rankings.

Thank you all for the comments on Social Media and on Spotify’s Q&A! I can’t directly reply to the questions there, but I’ll address them here on this show.

Thank you again, for all the messages of concern. I feel I’m back to 100% now.

Thank you Rajul, Rez, Darsh, HYSR, Navya, Vishruth and Nilambari!

Paras – I will get to the story of how Karna meets his end in the Mahabharata, but I have to consider how best to do it without giving away too much.

Maju – I will get to the story of Parikshit as well.

If you have any other comments or suggestions or if there are particular stories you’d like to hear, please do let me know by leaving a comment or a review on the site sfipodcast.com, or tweet @sfipodcast, or reply to the questions on Spotify Q&A. You can also find me on Instagram and Facebook.

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A big thank you to each of you for your continued support and your feedback.

The music is from Purple Planet.

Thanks for listening and I’ll see you next time!