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Jyeshta
in feminine gender means ‘elder sister’. She is the elder sister of
Mahalakshmi, the goddess of good fortune. While Lakshmi is the goddess of
riches, her elder sister is the deity of poverty, indigence, odium, reproach and
ignominy. Her very name is a term of reproach. Lakshmi is the idol of the
auspicious and the propitious, of all that is desirable in life, whereas her
sister, Jyeshta, is the symbol of all that is detestable, damnable and
loathsome. The
two sisters are born rivals. Where one is in, the other is out. So the Indian
household is engaged in a constant fight to keep Lakshmi in and Jyeshta out.
Waste, dirt, squalor, slovenliness, indolence, idleness, disorder, anger and all
such undesirable things show the presence of Jyeshta in the house. Until she is
turned out, Lakshmi wouldn’t enter and stay. In some houses, it is a custom
for the lady of the house to open the back door first, send Jyeshta out and then
open the front door and let Lakshmi in. Once
Lakshmi and Jyeshta stood at the doorstep quarrelling over which one of them was
more beautiful. When the householder appeared, the two sisters asked him to be
the judge. The clever householder, wary of displeasing either of them, hedged:
‘‘You, Lakshmi, are more beautiful when you enter, and you, Jyeshta, are
more beautiful when you exit.’’ Both were pleased. Lakshmi entered the house
and Jyeshta exited proudly. Lakshmi
is Sridevi, the goddess of the blessed and Jyeshta is Moodevi, the goddess of
the accursed and the damned. Then how is it that this persona non grata among
the Hindu pantheon was able to find a house of worship for her in
Thachanattukara? Lakshmi
is known to be chanchala — unsteady and fleeting. She is also dukhamoola —
the cause of misery and misfortune. Lakshmi is the source of happiness only in
appearance. In truth, underneath, she is the source of misery. The fight for
Lakshmi moolah, dukhamoola) debases and often inhumanises man. The world loves
and worships Lakshmi because it is cursed to love and worship appearance.
Lakshmi is the goddess of appearance. Jyeshta
is poor and indigent, but she has strength of character. She is not chanchala.
She is not seductive. She discounts appearance. She is steady and unflinching.
She has grit. It is the strength of the soul that gives man real strength and
happiness, not moolah. Beneath the level of appearance, Jyeshta is the giver of
real strength and happiness. Actually, the roles of Lakshmi and Jyeshta are
interchanged. In the deep spiritual sense, Lakshmi is Jyeshta and Jyeshta is
Lakshmi. The wise worship Jyeshta, not Lakshmi. Lakshmi
is the goddess of persona and Jyeshta is the deity of anima. Jyeshta has no
worshippers in the world because the world worships only persona or appearance
and glamour — and not anima or inner soul. The
Jyeshta temple in Thachanattukara is a unique symbol of the Indian psyche, which
is inexclusive by nature. Hence it is the ‘Hindu Sphinx’ to the West.
India’s Sanatana Dharma is in fact a miniature representation of nature where
it is ‘All In, Naught Out’. In nature everything has its role and place. So
is it in Sanatana Dharma. It accommodates all. It expands to take up all. It
extends from advaita to the most grotesque forms of worship. It extends from
dhyana to animal sacrifice. It ranges from passionate bhakti to arch atheism. It
extends from the worship of Lakshmi to the worship of Jyeshta. The Jyeshta
shrine is a fine symbolism of India’s anima.
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