Kámala

For an aspect of the goddess Durgá, see Kámala (Durgá).

Kámalā is the goddess Laksmí in her most pleasing aspect. She is shown seated on a lotus, a symbol of purity.

Kámalā

Kámala is a Sanskrit name that could come from kâma (‘desire’).^{[citation needed]}

The feminine term kámalaa means:

• Laksmí, the Hindu goddess of fortune (according to Bhagavata-purana, the Sajitia-darpanaand the Kathá-sarit-ságara)
• wealth, prosperity (according to Subhashita-vali)
• name of Daksiaiani, daughter of Daksa and wife of the god Shiva (according to the Matsia-purana).
• the name of one of the six Kritikás, the rots that nursed Skanda, the god of war (according to the Mahabharata).
• name of the wife of King Yaiapida
• an excellent woman
• an orange or citrus fruit
• a metric type (four times three short syllables)
• a particular constellation (according to Brijat-samjita of the astronomer Varaja Mijira)
• water
• copper
• the bladder
• a particular drug or drug

Kamala

The masculine Sanskrit term kámala means:

• lotus, lotus flower (Nelumbium, nelumbo nuciferous)
  • Kámala-nabha: ‘lotus navel’, the god Visnú, who is born a lotus in the lake of his navel.
  • Kámala Bāndhava or Kámala Bandhu: ‘friend of the lotus’, the Sun.
• pink or very pale red (according to Taitiriia-samjita 7.3.18.1)
• another name of the creator god Brahma of four heads, who was born on a reddish lotus [kámala] and has reddish [kámala])
  • Kámala-garbha: ‘[born from the] uterus of the lotus’, name of Brahmā
  • Kámala-ioni: ‘[born of the] lotus vagina’, name of Brahmā
  • Kamalaya: ‘born from a lotus’, Brahmā
  • Kámala-bhū: ‘born of a lotus’, Brahmā
  • Kámala-bhava: ‘surrected from a lotus’, Brahmā
  • Kámala-bhavana: ‘surrected from a lotus’, Brahmā
• name of a disciple of Vaiśampāiana (according to the Kashika-vritti)
• ‘despite, lust’ (according to the dictionaries of Böhtlingk and Roth, and Atharva-veda)
• name of a demon asura (according to the Ganesha-purana)
• in music, it's the name of a dhruvaka particular
• a kind of deer
• species of guild of India (Ardea Sibírica).

Description and symbolism

Kámala Lakshmi is related to three important and interrelated themes: prosperity and fortune, fertility and harvests, and good luck in the coming year.

Kámala is a beautiful young woman with glowing skin. She is flanked by two elephants and showered with water while she sits on a lotus and holds lotuses in each of her four hands. The lotus is related to life and fertility. The cosmos, considered as a lotus, suggests an organic, vigorous and beautiful world. It is the fecund vigor that suggests the lotus of Kamala. She is the life force that is in all creation.

Kámala's association with the elephant suggests other aspects of her character that are ancient and enduring. Elephants have two meanings: according to Hindu tradition, elephants are associated with clouds and rain, and therefore with fertility. They also suggest royal authority.