Lakshmi is the Mother Goddess who is married to Vishnu. She is the goddess of wealth, prosperity, love, joy, and beauty. Laksmi is incarnated in The Ramayana as Sita, Rama's beautiful wife. Lakshmi is often seen with one of her two vahanas: the owl and the elephant. When she is with elephants, she is called Gaja-Lakshmi. The elephant symbolizes work, activity, and strength, as well as water, rain and fertility for abundant prosperity. The owl signifies the patience needed to observe and see, especially when surrounded by darkness. As a bird that is blinded by daylight, the owl also serves as a symbolic reminder to not become blinded by greed. In this story from The Ramayana, Sita is taken away by the evil Ravana.
Sita, Rama, and Lakshmana had been exiled for many months now. Lakshmana had built them a nice mud hut on the side of the river where they continued to live in exile as Lakshmana and Rama slayed demons. While Sita did not know of her Lakshmi heritage, her owl still watched over her. He would sit in a tree and hoot if there was darkness nearby to warn her. During the night, he would sit atop the hut as a watchful eye protecting his mistress.
Sita, still shockingly beautiful even in the animal skins and tree bark clothes she wore, was happy to be with the brothers, but was growing bored with her long monotonous days of gathering flowers, tending to the garden, and cleaning the hut. She told Rama, "I dream of an adventure or wondrous sight. Do you believe you could find something for me?" Of course, being the good husband, Rama tried everything in his power to make her happy.
One night, he caught hundreds of fireflies and released them into the night sky where they blinked like the stars. This made Sita's heart so happy, but only for the night. However, her owl loved the sight, as it was not only beautiful but he also got free snacks! The next day, Rama dwelled into the woods and found her favorite berries, which she scarfed down happily. He continued to do these good deeds for her, as he wanted to do so and she was thankful.
One morning, Sita was outside tending to her garden when she saw a strange animal. It appeared to be a glowing, golden deer with antlers that stretched out towards the sun. She begged Rama and Lakshmana to fetch the gorgeous creature. Now, Lakshmana was weary, as there were no such thing as a golden deer. He warned Rama, "Brother, I believe you are being deceived by an unseen evil."
Rama, however, wanting to please his wife brushed off the warning. "Lakshmana, you can remain here with Sita to protect her. I will not be gone long," and then Rama left, chasing after the deer. Sita's owl, of course, watched this scene unfold and knew of the devious creature that appeared to be a deer. He was hooting to warn Sita, but the evil Ravana residing nearby was blocking his sound from Sita's ears. The owl was worried and chased after Rama in hopes of returning him before something bad happened.
Rama continued to chase the deer far into the woods until he finally shot it down with a single arrow to the heart. However, this deer had actually been the demon Maricha. The deer crumbled into the demon and Rama was so shocked that he screamed. He looked around to see if his eyes had deceived him when he saw Lakshmi's owl. The owl stared at Rama and flew towards him, eventually landing on what had been the deer. Rama knew deep down what this owl symbolized, as he himself was Vishnu, even though he did not realize it at the time. However, as the experience was so strange, he realized he had been fooled and began to rush back to the hut with the owl flying above him.
Back at the hut, Sita and Lakshmana heard Rama's cry. Sita begged Lakshmana to go help Rama, as he was her love. Eventually and very hesitantly, Lakshmana left, which gave the evil Ravana time to finish his diabolical plan. The owl flew higher into the sky so that the hut was in sight so that he could see if his mistress safe. His heart sank when he saw Lakshmana leaving, but it quickly rose again when he saw the famous Jatayu coming to aid Sita from Ravana's wrath. The owl began beating his wings faster and faster in hope of reaching the hut to help. Unfortunately, the diabolical Ravana cut off the wings of the mighty Jatayu before the owl could help. The owl began to cry as his brethren fell to the ground and as his mistress was being taken. As Ravana scooped up Sita and the ground beneath her, the owl swore to never leave her again. He continued following Ravana and Sita all the way to Lanka where he remained in the shadows, but always watching and praying for Rama's rescue.
Bibliography
Narayan, R K, and Kampar. The Ramayana. New York, Penguin Books, 1972.
“Lakshmi.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 5 Mar. 2021
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“Uluka Lakshmi's Vahana the Owl.” Goddess Vidya,