吉祥天女

吉祥天女
http://mygod0328.pixnet.net/blog/post/30879245

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本文介紹的是印度教女神吉祥天女。關於同名的日本漫畫，詳見「吉祥天女 (漫畫)」。

吉祥天女吉祥天女（天城體：लक्ष्मी, IAST: lakṣmī，音譯為羅乞什密；其它意譯有大功德天或寶藏天女）婆羅門教-印度教的幸福與財富女神，傳統上被認為是毗濕奴的妻子。她的稱號很多，其中一個比較常見的是「室利」（Śrī）或「摩訶室利」（Mahāśrī，摩訶意為「大」），即「功德」、「吉祥」之義。印度查謨和克什米爾邦的主要城市斯利那加即意為「吉祥天城」（斯利，吉祥天女之名；那加意為城市）。

目錄 [隱藏]

1 神話學

2 神話中的吉祥天女

3 注釋

4 資料來源

[編輯] 神話學

羅乞什密和室利在吠陀文獻里是兩個沒有聯繫的詞彙。最早的梨俱吠陀里沒有提到羅乞什密。有一種梨俱吠陀的附錄里包含獻給室利-羅乞什密的頌歌，[1]但是這份附錄被認為相當晚出（可能晚至佛教時代），而且只有一個吠陀學派傳承的文獻包括這個附錄。只有在阿闥婆吠陀中才開始出現羅乞什密的形象，但與室利無關（可能一個象徵財富，一個象徵豐產和繁殖）。早期的泰帝利耶學派（鷓鴣氏學派）的注釋說羅乞什密和室利是阿迭多（一組太陽神）的兩個妻子。百道梵書則將室利與生主聯繫起來（而不是後來的毗濕奴）。[2]這兩個不同女神的融合大概始於奧義書時代。在兩部大史詩產生的時期，與吉祥天女有關的故事已基本形成。如摩訶婆羅多中已經有攪乳海這個最重要的神話。到了往世書時代，吉祥天女的神話已全部完成，並牢牢地與大神毗濕奴聯繫在一起。此後她又成為性力派的崇拜對象，被認為代表毗濕奴的「性力」（沙克提）。

[編輯] 神話中的吉祥天女

吉祥天女和毘濕奴關於吉祥天女的出生，有幾種不同說法。

毗濕奴往世書認為她的第一次出生是作為梵天之子婆利古（或譯為苾力瞿）仙人的女兒。但更早的神話只認為她生於攪乳海。這個故事的情節大致如下：天神（提婆）與阿修羅聯合起來攪乳海，以望獲得種種寶物。他們用曼陀羅山(須彌山)作攪棍，蛇王婆蘇吉(舍沙)作攪繩，最後攪出了各種寶物，包括不死仙露、酒女神、月亮和吉祥天女等。這時那羅延（即毗濕奴）變身成一個美女，把眾阿修羅迷得魂不守舍，天神們趁機喝光了仙露。阿修羅中只有羅睺眼尖手快偷喝了一口。[3]在瓜分寶物時，毗濕奴要了吉祥天女作妻子。此神話出現於史詩摩訶婆羅多，後來又被往世書複述。在往世書的傳說中，吉祥天女總是與毗濕奴相聯繫。當毗濕奴下凡時，吉祥天女就化為他在人間的配偶，如羅摩與悉多、黑天與艷光等。甚至當毗濕奴化身成侏儒時，吉祥天女也化身成他腳下的蓮花。但是在摩訶婆羅多的附篇訶利世系中，吉祥天女被認為是愛神伽摩之母，而伽摩的父親按吠陀和鷓鴣氏梵書的說法是達磨。

吉祥天女的形象通常是一位美麗的女郎，有四隻手臂（有時兩隻），兩手持蓮花（象徵吉祥），兩手拋灑金錢（象徵財富），身邊有數隻白象（通常為一對）相隨。她的稱號非常多，除室利以外，有乳海之女（Kshirabdhi-tanaya）、蓮花（Padma）、因底羅（Indira）、世母（Loka-mata）等。


佛教把吉祥天女視為護法神，是毗沙門天的妹妹，金光明經中有大吉祥天女咒。

在印度，崇拜吉祥天女的最主要活動是印度教的第一大節日排燈節。

吉祥天女


　（天名）舊稱功德天。新稱吉祥天。本為婆羅門神。而取入於佛教者。父德叉迦，母鬼子母，毘沙門天之妹。功德成就，與大功德於眾生。或云為毘沙門天之后妃。然無確實經軌之說。金光明經二曰：「功德天品。」最勝王經八曰：「大吉祥天女品。」義釋四曰：「吉祥天女，舊譯云功德天女。」大疏演奧鈔十五曰：「千手觀音二十八部眾釋（定深記）云：次言功德者，吉祥天女也。梵曰摩訶室利Mahāśrī，言摩訶者大也。室利有二義：一者功德，二者吉祥。由此二義，曇無讖及伽梵達摩，阿地瞿多等三藏諸師同云功德天。餘諸三藏翻為吉祥，如文殊師利或云妙吉祥，或云妙德。」其住處近毘沙門之城。最勝王經八曰：「爾時大吉祥天女，復白佛言：世尊北方薛室羅末拏（舊稱毗沙門），天王城名有財。去城不遠有園，名曰妙花福光，中有勝殿，七寶所成，世尊我常住彼。」其天女之形，陀羅尼集經十（功德天品）曰：「其功德天像，身端正，赤白色。二臂畫作種種瓔珞環釧耳璫天衣寶冠。天女左手持如意珠，右手施咒無畏，宣臺上坐。左邊畫梵摩天，右邊畫帝釋天。如散華供養天女，背後各畫一七寶山。於天像上，作五色雲，雲上安六牙白象，象鼻絞馬腦瓶，瓶中傾出種種寶物，灌功德天頂上。天神背後，畫百寶華林，頭上畫作千葉寶蓋，著上作諸天伎樂，散華供養。」其經軌為佛說吉祥天女十二名號經一卷，大吉祥天女十二契一百八名無垢大乘經一卷，功德天法一卷（陀羅尼經十），以吉祥天為毘沙門之后妃者，日本台密有毘沙門吉祥之雙身法。一方犍達羅之刻像中，有男女之二天相並者。為毗沙門天與鬼子母神也。刻像之考證經過不明，故吉祥天與辨才天時相混同。鬼子母神。與吉祥非相混。初之屬性，為毗紐，即那羅延天后也，Laksmi。

Origin

Lakshmi evolved from the Milky Ocean, when gods and demons churned it for amrita, the divine nectar, along with a host of other items such as hälähala (cosmic poison), Chandra (the Moon), kalpa vriksha (benevolent divine tree), and the medicinal sage-god Dhanvantari holding the golden pot of amrita. Hence She is called the daughter of Milky Ocean.

Iconography

Physically Goddess Lakshmi is described as a fair lady, with four arms, seated on a lotus, dressed in fine garments and precious jewels. She has a benign countenance, is in her full youth and yet has a motherly appearance.

The most striking feature of the iconography of Lakshmi is her persistent association with the lotus. The meaning of the lotus in relation to Shri-Lakshmi refers to purity and spiritual power. Rooted in the mud but blossoming above the water, completely uncontaminated by the mud, the lotus represents spiritual perfection and authority. Furthermore, the lotus seat is a common motif in Hindu and Buddhist iconography. The gods and goddesses, the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, typically sit or stand upon a lotus, which suggests their spiritual authority. To be seated upon or to be otherwise associated with the lotus suggests that the being in question: God, Buddha, or human being-has transcended the limitations of the finite world (the mud of existence, as it were) and floats freely in a sphere of purity and spirituality. Shri-Lakshmi thus suggests more than the fertilizing powers of moist soil and the mysterious powers of growth. She suggests a perfection or state of refinement that transcends the material world. She is associated not only with the royal authority but with also spiritual authority, and she combines royal and priestly powers in her presence. The lotus, and the goddess Lakshmi by association, represents the fully developed blossoming of organic life.

No description of Goddess Lakshmi can be complete without a mention of her traditionally accepted vehicle, the owl. Now, the owl (Ulooka in Sanskrit), is a bird that sleeps through the day and prowls through the night. In a humorous vein it is said that owing to its lethargic and dull nature the Goddess takes it for a ride! She is the handmaiden of those who know how to control it; how to make best use of her resources, like the Lord Vishnu. But those who blindly worship her are verily the owls or ‘Ulookas’. The choice is ours: whether we wish to be Lord Vishnu or the ‘Ulooka’ in our association with Lakshmi.

Hindus pray to Lakshmi the most on Diwali, the festival of lights. Accrding to tradition people would put small candles outside their homes on Diwali and hope Lakshmi will come to bless them.

The prefix Sri (also spelt as Shri, pronounced as shree) renders as 'one who takes delight in Sri' Lakshmi, meaning wealth, wealth of any kind. Primarily eight kinds of Wealth are established, associated with goddess Lakshmi. They are —

1) आदि लक्ष्मी Ädi Lakshmi [Wealth a priori]

2) धान्य लक्ष्मी Dhänya Lakshmi [Granary Wealth]

3) धैर्य लक्ष्मी Dhairya Lakshmi [Wealth of Courage]

4) गज लक्ष्मी Gaja Laksmi [Wealth of Animals]

5) सन्तान लक्ष्मी Santaana Lakshmi [Wealth of Progeny]

6) विजय लक्ष्मी Vijaya Lakshmi [Wealth of Victory]

7) विद्या लक्ष्मी Vidyaa Lakshmi [Wealth of Knowledge]

8) धन लक्ष्मी Dhana Lakshmi [Monetary Wealth]

And any thing that need be affluent gets the auspicious prefix or suffix 'Lakshmi', or 'Sri' like Rajya Lakshmi (Wealth of Empire), Shanti Sri (Wealth of Peace), etc. In modern India, common titles standing in for the English Mr. and Mrs. are Shri (also Sri or Shree) and Shrimati (also Srimati or Shreemati), as in "Sri Gupta" or "Srimati Mangeshkar".

Goddess Lakshmi is worshipped by those who wish for wealth or those who wish to preserve their wealth. It is believed that Lakshmi (wealth) goes only to those houses which are clean and where the people are hardworking. She leaves places which are unclean or where the people are lazy.


Laxmi is the patron goddess of Kolhapur city, Maharashtra.