Kubera had been dispossessed by
Ravana and his brothers.
Lankalakshmi
In the Ramayana, the earlier of the two
great Indian epics, Lankalakshmi is the
name of the guardian deityof Lanka,
the demon-king Ravana’scapital city.
Lankalakshmi is also the rebirth of the
goddessVijayalakshmi, who has been
cursed by the god Brahmato serve as
Lanka’s guardian deity. The cursewill
last until an intruder to the city manages
to defeat her, foretelling the fall of
Ravana. This defeat comes with the
arrival of the monkey-god Hanuman,
who leaps across the ocean in search of
the goddess Sita, whom Ravana has kid-
napped. Lankalakshmi recognizes
Hanuman as an intruder and attacks
him, fulfilling her duty as a guardian
deity. Hanuman knocks her flat with a
powerful blow, breaking the curse and
signalling Ravana’s fall.
Lasya
One of two general categories in Indian
dance, which is soft, lyrical, and conveys
a mood of love. Its contrasting form,
tandava, is athletic, dramatic, and con-
veys violence and power.
Lava
In the Ramayana, the earlier of the two
great Indian epics, Lava is one of the
twin sonsof Rama, the epic’s protago-
nist. After their mother, Sita, has been
cast into exile at the ashramof the sage
Valmiki, Lava is born in the usual man-
ner. His brother, Kusha, is magically
created by Valmiki out of kusha grass.
Later, Lava and Kusha go with Valmiki
to Rama’s court in Ayodhya. It is in
Rama’s court that they first recite the
epic poem composed by Valmiki, the
Ramayana. After Rama gives up his
throne, he divides his kingdom between
Lava and Kusha.
Leap Philosophy
(“ajativada”) Leap philosophy affirms
that one can attain complete freedom
from bondage—which in the Indian
context is identified as the end of rein-
carnation (samsara) and final liberation
of the soul (moksha)—but such free-
dom cannot be gained by a precisely
specified sequence of causes and
effects. Since gaining freedom is not a
matter of cause and effect, there is no
way to stimulate or influence this
process through one’s actions. Leap
philosophers tend to denigrate the
effectiveness of ritual action as a way to
gain final liberation, except as a
preparatory phase, stressing that
liberation comes only through gaining
inner realization. Sureshvara and
Shankaracharya, members of the
Advaita Vedantaschool, dismiss ritual
action, except as preparation for wis-
dom. Both philosophers believe that
release from bondage comes through
insight gained in a moment of realiza-
tion, which radically and permanently
shifts one’s perspective on the world.Leather
Considered an impure substance by
many traditional Hindus, because it is
the product of a dead animal. They
believe that leather is an appropriate
material for shoes, however, because the
feet are deemed the lowest and most
impure part of the body. For this reason,
many people put on their shoes by slip-
ping their feet into them without using
their hands, thus avoiding touching the
leather with a higher part of the body.
Leather’s associations with ritual impu-
rity (ashaucha) make it inappropriate
for other sorts of clothing—clothing
which the hot Indian climate would ren-
der problematic—although now it is
sometimes used for handbags and brief-
cases. In earlier times people who
wished to avoid leather would wear
wooden clogs instead; in modern times,
footwear options also include plastic,
rubber, and canvas.Lankalakshmi