The Nepalese know very well that work is worship. They like to work and love to see Laxmi in Labour and Labour in Laxmi. Laxmi Puja is the perfect example of that aspiration common to the Nepalese society. As such the massive amount of Puja materials the Nepalese buy for Laxmi Puja. It does not necessarily mean that they want to show their status. It is an indicative of their sincere devotion to their duty or say, the symbolical of their aspiration for wealth or say enthusiasm to translate their toils and talents into the enjoyable treasures of desired fruits. Laxmi Puja thus is not for the lazy people. Instead, it is a day for enthusiastic labourers. Hence a religious labour day. Puja and Parishram (worship and work) can never be Separated from each other. No wages can be obtained without doing any work. In the same way. Puja. no matter how simple it is, can never be performed without Parishrama. Despite the fact that no wealth can be gained without work what could be more foolish for us than to perform the Puja of Laxmi without any Parishrama or devotion and aspire to be a rich man overnight! This reminds me of a very famous mythological story about the churning of the milky ocean.
The churning of the ocean was a very ambitious project to carry out. It cost the entire energy of demons and deities both. Each of them had to work very hard. It was only by dint of their joint efforts that they became successful to discover the tremendous amount of jewels, elixirs, and many other invaluable medicinal herbs including the Beauty queen like Laxmi, the goddess of wealth from the ocean. Had the gods differed in opinion with demons when they were jointly working by putting their entire strength and soul on their super project, they would never have met with Laxmi- a divine success. All this tells us how devoted one Laxmi- a divine success. All this tells us how devoted one has to be to one's duty if one aspires for success. What I am trying to emphasize is that work does not have any class. If it has any, it is only the reflection of one's own dubious mind. Work is one as worship is one. That is why it always demands a deep devotion. As one cannot reach god without single-minded devotion, so one cannot work any better either without plunging oneself deep into it. When we look at every piece of work we do in this life, it won't take us long to understand the symbolical meaning of the churning of the ocean. The central theme of this story is designed simply to symbolize the strength and soul one needs to put in the project no matter how big or small it is, since one has already undertaken to work it out. Such is the significance of Laxmi Puja
. There is a very strong belief in Nepal that nobody should sit idle on this day. If one does, it is said that Laxmi won't enter his house even by mistake. So everybody in the family on this particular day is advised to keep himself busy doing something. This also reflects a lot into the significance of Laxmi Puja. Another interesting aspect of this festival is deanliness. Women in every family on this day get up very early in the morning and start cleaning the whole house. They all try every possible means to create the pleasant atmosphere so they can make themselves feel good and perform Puja rites to Laxmi and pray to her for prosperity and peace.
There is an interesting story of how Laxmi Puja came into being. It goes this way: Once there was a king who was very proud of his wealth. He had three daughters. The youngest and most beautiful among them was named Deepa, who was very intelligent. One day the king called all the three of them in his person and asked them if they could tell him what made his kingdom so prosperous. The elder ones took no time to answer his question rather in a very flattering style. They said that this was all because of their great father's wise rule and bravery. But Deepa with great sincerity simply said that this was all because of the grace of Heaven. At this, the king got so furious that he immediately banished her out into a far-flung forest. Surprizingly enough, ever since she left, a series of problems enveloped the country. It did not rain. Rivers and streams dried . Nothing grew the fields. The king was quite upset
. He could not do any thing. He was absolutely helpless. Lk' On the other side. poor Deepa. all alone in a dense dark , forest, kept praying to Laxmi to gain her grace. In no time • highly pleased with her devotion, Goddess Laxmi appeared . , to her and said that now she should go home to see every , going alright. again. To say the least, soon. after she .. home, it rained to great relief of everybody. Rivers and streams were filled with water. Crops came up rich and fresh. A kind of divine brightness spread out all over the country. It did not take the king long to understand that this dramatic change was all because of the great mercy of goddess Laxmi on Deepa. This put the king to a great shame. He could not stay relaed until he finally apologized to her daughter Deepa for his hollow pride and stupid desire for flattery. This made him feel relieved. Then the king affectionately asked Deepa to illuminate the entire shrine of goddess Laxmi with oil lamps. This was the dawn of Deepavali, the festival of lights.
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