Lakshmi- the Goddess of wealth as per hindu mythology was questioned?

 

That’s what happened once when Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, found herself cornered by all the other gods. Together, they accused her of one thing—that she never stayed in one place for too long! ‘No sooner are you comfortably settled in one house, do you decide to leave it, and off you go elsewhere!’ they said to her.

Lakshmi sniffed and said, ‘That’s not true. I stay in a house as long as I am welcome. If people think ahead, work sincerely and spend money wisely, I stay with them forever. Unfortunately often when I am in one place for a while, people behave strangely, and I have no choice but to leave.’ The other gods pooh-poohed this and refused to believe her.

Lakshmi God decided she needed to show them proof of what she had just said. Here is what she did to show that she was correct and she had shown what was happening in booloka (Earth) between the couple named Mahendra and Avantika.

A Young couple named Mahendra and Avantika were farmers living in a village. They worked hard in their fields and earned enough money to feed their children and meet their other needs. They were not rich and sometimes had to make do with fewer new clothes and not very nice food. 

One day, Avantika was digging a corner of her garden in order to plant a tree. As she dug deeper, there was a loud clang! Her shovel had hit something metallic hidden underground. Excited, she dug faster, till she pulled out a large metal box. When she opened it she could not believe her eyes. It was filled with gold and silver jewels! For a while Avantika stood dumbstruck. Then she did a happy whoop and ran home with the box under her arm. ‘Mahendra, Mahendra, see what I found buried in our garden!’ she screamed. Mahendra was writing up the accounts for the month, and for a while paid no attention to his wife. Only when she came up to him and did a happy jig around him did he look up. Imagine how his mouth fell open in surprise when he saw the box of jewels. Soon Mahendra and Avantika were the richest people in the village. They stopped going to work—after all, what was the need, they told each other. Why work in the hot sun when they had piles of money at home? They left their small cottage and moved into the biggest house in the village. They had servants who worked day and night doing every small job, so the two did not need to lift even a finger. There was a cook who cooked delicious meals, a person to serve it, another just to clean shoes and one person to even fan Mahendra as he sat on his bed the whole day and gossiped with his newfound friends. 

After a While Mahendra decided village life was too boring and they moved to the big city. There they had another big house, more servants and lots of fun at various parties. Slowly they forgot the good things that had once made them a well-loved family. They forgot to work hard, to help others in their need, or to just be nice people. They thought that with money they could buy anything, including respect. They behaved rudely to others. They spent more and more money on clothes and parties, and as they did not work at all, the money started dwindling. They started borrowing from others which they soon could not pay back. 

One day, Mahendra looked sadly at his account book. It was now filled with numbers that showed he only needed to pay others; there was hardly anything left for himself. In a heavy voice he called out to his wife, ‘Avantika dear, the good days are over. 

I think we forgot to be the kind of people Goddess Lakshmi likes. She has gone elsewhere, and we are left with nothing.’ Avantika stood silently for a while, then replied, ‘Never mind, Mahendra. We have learnt our lesson. I now think of the days when I would work all day long and go to sleep a tired person and sleep soundly. I would fall into a deep slumber as soon as I Iay down on the bed. Now I lie awake all night, wondering which sari to wear the next day and what to do with our money. 

I am too fat to even dig, like I did when I found the treasure!’ Mahendra smiled and hugged his wife. ‘We’ll go back to our village, and to our old ways. We will work hard like we did once, and we will help everyone around us. Maybe that will make Lakshmi come back to us one day. And even if she doesn’t, we will try and be happy with what we have.’ So Mahendra and his family went back to their old home. And do you know what? They did live happily ever after!

The gods watched what was happening with Mahendra and Avantika from the heavens as Lakshmi entered and then left their house. They had to agree with her—if the people of the house she entered became nasty, then what could she do except to leave them. Hence when you are rich use your money to do good to others, do service in whatever form you could so that you remain to be humble and you will never loose your values