Animals and birds as vehicle of gods and goddesses-A glimpse

Part-2

Lakshmi- The goddess of beauty, fortune and wealth is said to have sprung from the ocean during its churning and she is the wife of Vishnu, the preserver of the universe. The owl is shown as her carrier vehicle. It looks rather odd and strange that the goddess of fortune and beauty should have an ugly bird.
If we look at the character of owl, it gives a different picture altogether. All birds jump towards their food but owl remains calm. Two owls sit on the same tree, yet will be indifferent to each other. It is like a sage among the birds. It is a nocturnal bird and avoids sunlight. Owls generally live near the fields and granaries and feed on the rats, squirrels which damage the crops. In fact in some countries they are reared for this purpose. They are called barn-owls. In olden days since agriculture was the main occupation, crop was the financial base of a country. So as a protector of crop-wealth, this bird might have got associated with the goddess of wealth. Even now in places like Bengal( India), Japan, it is considered auspicious. The English poet Richard says,
' A wise old owl sat on an Oak,
The more he sat the less he spoke,
The less he spoke the more he heard,
Why are n't we like that wise old bird?.
The owl is an appropriate vehicle for Lakshmi. It is said that the bird is blind to sun light. The symbolic meaning can be that people are blinded by wealth. They forget the good aspect of the riches such as proper use, charity etc which are supposed to be the real aim of wealth.
In the light of owl being recognised as the symbol of wisdom, it can be explained that without wisdom wealth cannot serve its lofty and useful purpose.