Thursday

(Brhaspativar) The fifth day of the week,
whose presiding planet is Jupiter
(Brhaspati). Since in Hindu mythology
the sage Brhaspati is the religious preceptor (guru) of the gods, another common name for Thursday is Guruvar. In
Hindu astrology (jyotisha) Jupiter is an
extremely powerful planet, and because
in religious life one’s spiritual preceptor
is often likened to a god, this makes
Thursday a ritually important and powerful day. One of the “deities” to be honored and served on this day is one’s
religious preceptor.
Another deity worshiped on this day
is the goddess Lakshmi, who is worshiped mainly by women. Lakshmi is
the wife of the god Vishnu and the
embodiment of wealth, prosperity, and
good fortune, which she brings with her
wherever she goes and removes when
she leaves. As the human counterpart to
Lakshmi, married women worship her
to obtain these things or to retain them
if they already have them. Because it is
well known that good fortune is not permanent and can often change, Lakshmi
is also seen as a capricious and somewhat fickle divine presence. One of the
taboos for women, at least in parts of
696
Thug
northern India, is changing their jewelry
on that day because this is said to annoy
Lakshmi and raise the danger that she
might depart because of her vexation.