Deceiving Mother Lakshmi
A villager was quite rich and prosperous. He knew that his good fortune was coming from his worship of Mother Lakshmi. This goddess gives wealth and prosperity, so he was extremely grateful to Mother Lakshmi. Unfortunately, for some reason, Mother Lakshmi became displeased with him. He had done a few undivine things, so in a dream Lakshmi came to him and said, “I am leaving you.”The villager said to himself, “If Mother Lakshmi leaves me, then I will lose my fortune. I will be totally ruined.”
He said to Mother Lakshmi, “Mother, Mother, please do not go! But if you are determined to leave me, then please allow me to worship you one last time in this lifetime with all my heart. I shall cover your statue with gold. I shall spend thousands and thousands of rupees and invite all my friends, neighbours and relatives to participate in my worship of you. Please, please stay.”
Mother Lakshmi said, “All right, if this is your last wish.”
The man said, “Yes, this is absolutely my last wish. But until I worship you in that way, please promise to stay.”
Alas, that red letter day never came. Mother Lakshmi was waiting and waiting. Previously this rogue had been quite regular in his worship early in the morning. Now he had given up his worship completely. He was not worshipping the Goddess Lakshmi any more.
Once again the Goddess Lakshmi appeared to him. This time she said, “You are a rogue! You are not even worshipping me, let alone making preparations for that special worship. Before you used to worship me quite regularly, but now you have stopped. What is wrong with you? How can I stay here any longer? I am going away.”
The man said, “O Mother, I am just an ordinary human being. I am in the habit of telling lies. But whoever thought that the Supreme Goddess Lakshmi would tell a lie? You promised, Mother, that until I worship you in a grandiose manner, you would stay with me. True, I am taking my time. But since you have promised, you also have to wait for that time.”
Mother Lakshmi said, “You rogue! Enough is enough! I am not going to stay with you any more.”
So she left and almost immediately this rogue became very, very poor — utterly bankrupt. Then he started praying and praying to the Goddess Lakshmi to come back. At last the Goddess Lakshmi came to him once again in a dream. She said, “Opportunity comes only once in a lifetime. I will not give you another chance. You must stay poor to the end of your life.”
