do not ever separate them again <3
seen from South Korea
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seen from United States

seen from United States
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seen from United States

seen from United States

seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Slovakia
seen from Malaysia
seen from United States
seen from China
seen from China
seen from Türkiye

seen from Russia

seen from Malaysia
do not ever separate them again <3
Sri lanka leopard cub - by Mandenno Photography
They found the leghugger
Its actually frustrating to do Lakshmi Saadhna. (Not because of Maa ofcourse!)
I decided to try going a route similar to Shree Vaishanavism and was reciting her hymns for evening aarti.
I went from Mahalakshmi Ashtakam, to Lakshmi Chalisa, to Lakshmi aarti.
The transition of the contents of the successive hymns is such a good example of how view of Lakshmi maa has evolved with our civilisation.
The Ashtakam, which is in Sanskrit, praises her as God. It refers to her with multiple names which refer to her attributes (such as one with mace, chakra and conch, slayer of kolhasur, vishnu's beloved) the same way Gods are generally reffered to in their hymns.
Then, there is the Chalisa, which is in an older, seemingly medivial version of Awadhi. This one does not refer to her attributes as God as much, but refers to her as a goddess of prosperity and companion of Vishnu ji (which is a beautiful thing! I am the biggest Lakshmi Narayan maniac their is, but it refers to her in a way that makes her sound more like Prabhu's subordinate rather than his Shakti).
And finally, the aarti which is more or less in old hindi. There is little mention of her attribute outside her role in providing prosperity. This is where the faith has completely leaned on recognising her DhanLakshmi aspect over her other aspects.
Again, DhanLakshmi saadhna is a good thing! That is still Maa. But her primary form is MahaLakshmi, which should be recieving more reverence than it does now, as is the case with primary aspects of other Gods.
But instead if that, her iconography or lore as MahaLakshmi is rarely present in modern Hindu households or media, replaced by just DhanLakshmi aspect. The religious loss of confining the Mother Goddess to the aspect that benifits humans the most (wealth) needs to be studied.
I never really related to when authors talk about characters doing stuff on their own
when I am writing I am like a helicopter parent, I make sure the characters do what I want when I want
Jax is going to learn to communicate and he will like it
अङ्गं हरेः पुलकभूषणमाश्रयन्ती भृङ्गाङ्गनेव मुकुलाभरणं तमालम् । अङ्गीकृताखिलविभूतिरपाङ्गलीला माङ्गल्यदास्तु मम मङ्गलदेवतायाः ॥१॥
Salutations to the one who always dwells in the body of Sri Hari like an ornament of ecstatic love, Like the bees that delightfully dwell over the half-open flowers of the Tamala tree, Who has contained within her body the entire opulence of the universe through the play of her divine glance, May that glance bring auspiciousness in my life.
मुग्धा मुहुर्विदधती वदने मुरारेः प्रेमत्रपाप्रणिहितानि गतागतानि । माला दृशोर्मधुकरीव महोत्पले या सा मे श्रियं दिशतु सागरसम्भवायाः ॥२॥
Salutations to Mother Lakshmi Who is charmed (by Hari), and incessantly directs Her Glances on the Face of Murari, (The Glances) Filled with Love and Bashfulness, directed towards Hari, go out in this moment (Out of Love) and return in the next moment (out of Bashfulness), As if the series of Glances has taken the form of Female Bees who go round and round a Huge Water Lily, May She bestow on me her glance filled with good fortune, She Who has arisen out of the Ocean.
・❥・ Kanakdhara stotram (verses1,2)
A small appreciation post for my Sri ❀♡
Sigiriya