Lord Shani's wives

Jyestha or Jyeshtha is the Hindu goddess of inauspicious things and misfortune.She is regarded as the elder sister and antithesis of Lakshmi, the goddess of good fortune and beauty.

Jyestha is associated with inauspicious places and sinners. She is also associated with sloth, poverty, sorrow, ugliness and the crow. She is sometimes identified with Alakshmi, another goddess of misfortune. She is associated with bad luck, illnesses, disorder, polygamy everything that a good Indian wife should never bring into the house. Housewives used to worship her to keep her away from their homes.

Jyestha is usually depicted with two arms. Her nose is long and prominent to the extent that she is sometimes called elephant-faced.Jyestha is described as having "large pendulous breasts descending as far as her navel, with a flabby belly, thick thighs, raised nose, hanging lower lip, and is in colour as ink." Her large stomach is described to support her swollen pendulous breasts. Her complexion is black or red. She wears blue-black or red garments. She is often depicted seated comfortably on a throne with her feet on the ground.

According to textual descriptions, Jyestha holds a blue or white lotus in her right hand. A water-pot is held in her left hand or placed near her throne or placed in the hand that makes the abhaya mudra - gesture of protection. Her left hand usually rests on her seat or on her thigh.Sometimes, Jyestha holds a broom, in her hand.

Jyestha wears different ornaments and a tilaka mark on her forehead, a sign of her married status. Her hair is usually braided and piled on top of her head or wound around her head.

Jyestha has a banner depicting a crow, and is popularly called "crow-bannered" . A group of two attendant goddesses sometimes stand beside her, usually carrying a crow and a broom.Sometimes a crow stands next to her. Jyestha is often depicted with two attendants, sometimes interpreted as her son and daughter. The man is bull-faced and holds a rope or cord. The woman is depicted as a beautiful damsel with a conical crown.

Though Jyestha is almost never depicted astride on a mount, she is described in most texts as riding a donkey like Alakshmi. In other texts, she is drawn in a chariot by lions or followed by tigers or astride a camel or lion.

During the churning of the ocean commences, the poison first appears from the ocean. It is swallowed by the god Shiva and then Jyestha appears from the ocean, wearing red garments. When she asks the gods what she is supposed to do, she is ordered to dwell in inauspicious places. She is described to bring sorrow and poverty. She is said dwell in houses with quarrel, where liars use harsh language, where evil and sinful men live, where there is long hair, skulls, bones, ashes or charcoal (signs of an unorthodox mendicant).It is said that she is independent and strong and doesn't put up with crap. She doesn't rely on someone else to fill her needs and take care of her...she owns herself, protects herself.

There are three stars associated with the Jyeshta nakshatra, all lying within the middle to end part of the constellation of Scorpio: Alpha-Scorpionis (Antares), Sigma-Scorpionis, and Tau-Scorpionis. Of these, Antares is obviously the brightest. Antares literally means "anti-Ares as in the Greek god Ares.

Jyeshta is the imperfect woman within us. During Saturn's transit through Jyeshta nakshatra , it teaches us that each woman should rather chose to accept their bodies the way they are, and love themselves with all their imperfections. Accept yourself the way you are. Strive to perfect your character, not your appearance.He teaches us to control our negative emotions and redefine the meaning of perfection and perfect woman.

Jyeshta's dark complexion signifies that she absorbs all the impurity. She reminds us, that we should not get scared of "getting dirty while fulfilling our duties, or while purifying ourselves internally.It is said that where Jyeshta is respected, there Lakshmi comes. When we are not afraid to "get dirty, our external or internal work is going to be rewarded with prosperity and luck, as well.Interesting thing about Jyeshta is that one of her attributes is a blue lotus. Blue lotus is an extremely rare flower, and its essence is one of the most expensive perfumes in the world. Yet, like every other lotus flower, it grows in the mud. Similarly, our soul gets perfected in the mud of earthly experiences, which are not always pleasant but if we accept them and strive to reach the surface by perfecting ourselves, our soul will bloom like a lotus flower, and reveal its rare beauty. Lotus flower is also associated with goddess Lakshmi. Lotus flower in the hand of Jyeshta reveals the important connection between the two goddesses, showing that one cannot exist without the other.