Chapter 116 - Alakṣmī’s Episode

[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]

The sages said:

1. O Sūta, how has this Aśvattha tree become untouchable, and similarly how has it become fit to be touched on a Saturday? Please tell us all this in detail.

Sūta said:

2-3. Out of the gems that the lordly gods obtained after churning the ocean, the gods gave Lakṣmī and Kaustubha to Viṣṇu. When he accepted Lakṣmī as his wife, she respectfully said to him having the disc in his hand.

Lakṣmī said:

4-5. How will you marry me, the younger one, without getting this elder one married? Therefore, O Viṣṇu, having first married this Alakṣmī, my elder sister, take me. This is an old practice.

Sūta said:

6-10a. Hearing these words of her, Viṣṇu, the creator of the world, gave according to his own words, to sage Uddālaka who had practised penance for a very long time, that Alakṣmī, of a big face, white teeth, having a bright body, tall, having red eyes, and having rough and tawny hair. That sage, in accordance with Viṣṇu’s words, accepted her and he, knowing Dharma, brought her to his hermitage full of sounds of (the recital of) the Vedas, rich with the fragrance of sacrificial fire, and resounding with the sounds of (the recitals of) lores. Seeing that hermitage, she who was afflicted, said these words:

Jyeṣṭhā said:

10b. This abode full of Vedic sounds is not proper for me. O brāhmaṇa, I shall not come here. Take me somewhere else. Do not delay.

Uddālaka said:

11. Why do you not come? What is here that you don’t like? Tell me at which place an abode proper for you would be (found).

Jyeṣṭhā said:

12-15. I shall not stay there where the sound of (the recital of) the Vedas is heard, guests are honoured, and sacrifices etc. are (performed). So also I shall not stay there where a pair of lovers live, and where the dead ancestors are honoured. I love a place where there are men engaged in gambling and taking away others’ wealth, and where there live adulterers. I am interested in that place where cow slaughter takes place, drinking is indulged in, so also where sins like the killing of a brāhmaṇa take place.

Sūta said:

16-17. Hearing these words of her, sage Uddālaka’s face was dejected; and recollecting Viṣṇu’s words, he did not say (anything). He went here and there. Seeing his worship she said, “I will not come”. Then through confusion, he too became very much afflicted. Then Uddālaka spoke these words to that Alakṣmī:

Uddālaka said:

18. O Alakṣmī, stay for a moment at the root of this Aśvattha tree till I return after finding a place for (our) stay.

Sūta said:

19-21. Thus keeping her there, Uddālaka went (away). When she who was waiting for him for a long time did not see him, she, afflicted due to being forsaken by her husband, wept piteously. Lakṣmī, in her abode in Vaikuṇṭha heard her weeping there. Then with her mind dejected, she respectfully said to Viṣṇu:

Lakṣmī said:

22. O lord, O kind one, my elder sister is afflicted due to being forsaken by her husband. If I am dear to you, then go to console her.

Sūta said:

23. Then Viṣṇu, full of compassion, came there with Lakṣmī, consoled that Alakṣmī, and said these words to her:

Śrī Viṣṇu said:

24-25. O Alakṣmī, being in possession of this Aśvattha tree, be stable. I have made from my portion this abode for you. May this younger sister of you be stable with those householders who everyday worship you, the elder one.

Sūta said:

26-28. Those who listen to and recite this (account of) the greatness of Kārtika, would live in Viṣṇu’s city till the final deluge. There is on the earth no other (vow) than that of Kārtika, dear to Viṣṇu, which removes diseases, which destroys sins, which is a great giver of intelligence, which is a means of getting sons, wealth etc., which is the cause of salvation. What is the use (the need) for going to and resorting to holy places for the man who, with restraints, observes the Kārtika vow which is dear to Viṣṇu, which destroys all sins, which brings about prosperity in the form of good sons and grandsons, wealth and grains?