Indian Name Kamala Associated With Several Deities

In some cases, love, whether mystical or human, is described as a lotus that blooms in the day, responding to the warmth and brightness of the sun. At night, the lotus closes its petals, much as one might withdraw in the absence of the beloved. Equally, the lotus can be evocative of desire and intimacy, drawing a bee to drink from its nectar.

The lotus, as whole flower or even a single curved petal, is a pervasive motif in Indian art. A famous 18th-century Indian miniature painting depicts the divine couple, Radha and Krishna , facing each other, clothed entirely in lotuses.

Most significantly, the kamala, or lotus, is closely associated with Sri-Lakshmi: the goddess of sovereignty, auspiciousness, fecundity, wealth and good fortune, who is worshiped by Hindus, Buddhists and Jains.

In fact, Kamala is simply another name for Sri-Lakshmi. This goddess either sits or stands on a fully bloomed lotus and holds them in her hands as well.

In Hindu temples in Southern India, she will often be adorned in a garland of lotuses, so complete is her association with this flower.

Lakshmi's divine husband, Vishnu, is also closely connected to this flower. A lotus emerges from his navel to birth the god Brahma, who in turn births the whole universe.

Although Sri-Lakshmi's association with the lotus is most obvious, the religious traditions of Jainism and Buddhism also integrate the bloom in other ways. Buddhist and Jain divine figures may hold the lotus in their hand, as do the Buddhist goddess Tara and the male Buddhist deity Avalokiteshvara. The sixth great teacher of the Jain tradition, Padmaprabhu, is named after a lotus, with“padma” being another name for the flower. Sometimes the lotus serves as a pedestal for the divine being in the Jain, Buddhist and Hindu traditions.

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Statue of Avalokiteshvara. Hideyuki Kamon via Flickr , CC BY-SA

In all cases, the lotus is rarely a bud. Almost always it is a lush, open bloom. This gestures to its deep meaning as a symbol of wisdom, of one's awakening into knowledge from the torpor of ignorance. The kamala's symbolic meaning is rooted in the fact that the lotus blooms in swampy waters but remains untouched by the dirt around it. Similarly, enlightenment and wisdom arise and blossom from the murk of desire and attachment. But when one attains wisdom, like the lotus, one remains above and untouched by the dirt of deluding ignorance.

That is why the kamala is always pictured and described not as a bud, suggesting only potential for wisdom, but as a large, open, unfurled flower.

Kamala Harris' name is a reminder of its significance in these religious traditions. One could argue that a lotus by another name is still a lotus, but as these traditions show, it is also so much more.

Archana Venkatesan is a professor of religious studies and comparative literature at the University of California, Davis .

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article .

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