Dhanwantri, the Physician of the Gods, the Lord of Ayurveda

Dhanteras – Lakshmi Puja

21 October, 2014

Dhanteras Puja Muhurta : 19:04 to 20:15  (For India)

 I am sending all of you Dhanteras blessings for Shri Lakshmi Puja on this 13th dark lunar fortnight of Kartik for thirteen times dhan, and even more prosperity, health and happiness!

Dhanteras and Lakshmi Puja also mark the arrival of Dhanwantri and begin the Diwali festivities.

It was on the day of the thirteenth (trayodashi) dark lunar fortnight in the month of Kartik, that the Physician of the Gods, Lord Dhanwantri, rose from the Ocean of Milk, as one of the treasures resulting from the Gods’ and Demons’ churning, the Samudra Manthana, holding in his hand a kamandal, a kumbh, filled with the  Nectar of Immortality.

It’s no accident we notice the Physician’s name begins with Dhan which we associate with wealth.  The Daityas had no problem with Lord Vishnu claiming Ma Lakshmi Herself, nor any of the other treasures arising from the depths of the Celestial Ocean.  But when it came to the contents of that kamandal, held securely in Dhanwantri’s hand, the Demons demanded their share. And so it seems that it was this final treasure that was the Wealth to be possessed, whether by Deva or Daitya.

Jayant, the son of Indra, would assume the form of a sparrow, and take off in the skies with the precious kumbh, pursued by all, and spill four drops on the Earth during his flight.  It is at those locations where the drops fell, Prayag (Allahabad), Haridwar, Ujjain, and Nasik (Tryambakeshwar) that we gather for our Kumbh Melas.