PLATE XXI
Lakṣmī
The Goddess of Wealth and Beauty is shown with her characteristic emblem, the lotus. This is particularly appropriate, not merely because of the beauty of the flower, but because it is a water-plant, while Lakṣmī herself is sprung from the waters, having come into being at the churning of the ocean (see Fig. 2). For another conception of her see Plate XIII. From a bronze statuette in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
