LAWS OF PROSPERITY IN THE HOME : 2&3. - Swami Chidananda

01/01/2019
2. GODDESS OF AUSPICIOUSNESS :-

In the domestic sphere the concept of  Goddess Lakshmi is wonderful and unique in this blessed land of Bharatavarsha. For the home itself  is regarded as the abode of Lakshmi, where the  Mother manifests Herself in the worshipful form of  the Grihini (house-wife or mistress of the house).  Therefore, we are familiar with the expression  Grihalakshmi, the Mother who presides over the  auspiciousness, welfare and progress of the home-life and family. She is conceived of as the very embodiment of Goddess Lakshmi.

In the West the woman is more conceived of as the wife, an equal partner to the man, vying for privilege with him in all spheres of activity and trying to assert not only her equality but even further her personal independence. Whereas, to the Hindu heart, woman is the mother. It is the motherhood of the woman that is ever present in the consciousness of the true Hindu. This is the blessing of being born in this Punya-Bhumi (sacred land), for out of this concept we shall be able to rise to the realisation of the Motherhood of  God. This Matri-Bhava or the attitude and vision of the woman as the mother is a means of purifying our hearts and minds and elevating us.

3. HOME :-

I have four or five things which I wish to tell you. Where elders are respectfully honoured, there prosperity prevails; and where elders— father and mother, grandfather and grandmother, uncles and aunts—are treated with contempt, with harshness, with scant respect, there is no prosperity.

These things are not known. So when people are miser able, when people are unhappy, when people lack prosperity, it is not known why it comes about that way. It is brought about by oneself by a total breaking of these laws. And then you try to find out the consequences of the bad situation by looking at the diary, or statistics, or expenditure and income account.

Perhaps you blame economic conditions. But, no—you create your bad conditions by breaking the spiritual laws. Where elders are treated with respect and honour, are treated with reverence, there, in that family, in that house, prosperity will abide. In the life of that person who honours his elders, prosperity will always rest.

To be continued ..