Lakeniacher, .Johann Gottfried, a German the- ologian and Orientalist, was born at Osterwyck, near Halberstadt.Nov. 17, 1695, and was educated at the uni- versities of Helmstiidt and Halle. In 1724 he was ap- pointed professor of Greek, and in 1727 of Oriental lit- erature at Halle. He died March 16, 1736. His works are, Elementa lingua; A rahicxe (Helmst. 1718, 4to), a work which has been highly commended for its intrinsic value as an introduction to the study of the Arabic language : — Obsei-vationes philologiccp, quihus varia prcecipue S. Codicis loca ex antiquitatihus illustrantur (pars i-x, ibid, 1725-33, 8vo, and often): — Antiquitates Greecorum Sa- crce (ibid, 1734, 8vo). — During, Gelehrte Thcol. Deutsch- lands, ii, 223.
Lakin, Benjajiin, a jSIethodist minister, was horn in :Montgomery Co., J\Id., Aug. 23, 1767 ; was converted in 1791, and shortly after entered the ministry. His first station Avas Hinkston Circuit (Nov. 6, 1794) ; he joined Holston Conference in 1795, and was appointed to Green Circuit. " Diligently and successfully Mr. Lakin labored in the Lord's vineyard until 1818, when his health and .strength so far failed him that he was obliged to retire from the active ranks of the ministry. ... He was at first placed on the list of suiiernumerary preachers, but soon after on the superannuate mil. This relation to his Conference he sustained until liis death," Feb. 5, 1849. See Prof Sam. Williams, in Sprague, A nnuls A mer. Pul- 2nf, vii, 267 sq.
Lakshmi is the name of a female Hindu deity, the consort of the god Vishnu (q. v.). According to the mystical doctrine of the worshippers of Vishnu, this god produced the three goddesses Brahmi,. Lakshmi, and Chandika, the first representing his creating, the second his preserving, and the lliinl his destroying energy. This view, however, founded on the superiority of Vish- nu over the two other gods of the Hindu triad — Brah- mi or Saraswati being generally looked upon as the en- ergy of Brahma, and Chandika, another name of Durga, as the energy of Siva — is later than the myth, relating to Lakshmi, of the epic period ; for, according to the lat- ter, she is the goddess of Fortune and of Beauty, and arose from the Ocean of ^Milk when it was churned by the gods to procure the beverage of Immortality, and it was only after this wonderful occurrence that she be- came the wife of Vishnu. When she emerged from the agitated milk-sea, one text of the Ramayana relates, "she was reposing on a lotus-flower, endowed with tran- scendent beauty, in the first bloom of youth, her body covered with all kinds of ornaments, and marked witli every auspicious sign. . . . TlTus originated, and adored by the world, the goddess, who is also called Padma and (S^'i, betook herself to the bosom of Hari — i. c. Vishnu."'
A curious festival is celebrated in honor of Lakshmi on the fifth lunar day of the light half of the month Ma-
gha (February), when she is identified with Saraswati, the consort of Brahma, and the goddess of learning. In his treatise on festivals, Kaghunandana, a great modern authority, mentions, on the faith of a work called Sam- watsara-sandipa, that this divinity is to be worshipped in the forenoon of that day with flowers, perfumes, rice, and water; that due honor is to be paid to inkstand and writing-reed, and no writing to be done. Wilson, in his essay on the Religious Festivals of the Hindus {Wo7-ks,\\, 188 sq.), thus describes the celebration: "On the morn- ing of the 2d of February the whole of the pens and ink- stands, and the books, if not too numerous and bulky, are collected, the pens or reeds cleaned, the inkstands scoured, and the books, wrapped \i\} in new cloth, are ar- ranged upon a platform or a sheet, and strewn over with flowers and blades of j'oung barley, and that no flowers except white are to be offered. After performing the necessary rites . . . all the members of the family as- semble and make their prostrations — the books, the pens and ink, having an entire holiday ; and, should any emer- gency require a written communication on the day ded- icated to the divinity of scholarship, it is done with chalk or charcoal upon a black or white board." There are parts of India where this festival is celebrated at dif- ferent seasons, according to the double aspect under which Lakshmi is viewed by her worshippers. The fes- tival in February seems originally to have been a ver- nal feast, marking the commencement of the season of spring. — Chambers, Cyclopcedia, s. v.
La'kum (Heb. Lakhim', CliTip, according to Gese- nius, way-stopper, i. e. fortified place; Sept. AoKovf^i v. r. AwSc'tfi and'AK-poj', Vulg. Lecuni), a place on the north- eastern border of Naphtah, mentioned after Jafaiecl in the direction of the Jordan (Josh, xix, S3), and there- fore probably situated not far south of Lake Mcrom. The Talmud (Mcgilloth,ls.s., 1) speaks of a Liikim (Cp"!?), perhaps the same place (see Belaud, Palcvsf. p. 875). The site of Lakkum is possibly indicated by the ruins mark- ed on Van de Velde's Map adjoining a small pool east of Tell- A Iha rati and south-east of Safed.
Lalita -Vistaiia is the name of one of the most celebrated works of Buddhistic literatm-e. It contains a narrative of the life and doctrine of Buddha Sakya- muni [see Buddha], and is considered by the Buddh- ists as one of their nine chief works treating of Dharma, or religious law. It is one of the develojied sutras of the Mahayana system. An edition of the Sanscrit text, and an English translation of this work by BaLu \lt- jendralal Mitra, is publishing under the auspices of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. A French translation from the Thibetan has been made hy Ph. Ed. Foucaux. In Chinese there are two translations of it. See E. Biu:- nouf Introduction a Vllistcire da Buddhisme Indien (Par. 1844); and W. Wassiljew, Dtr Euddhismus, seine Dog- men, Geschichte und Literatur (St. Petersbiu-g, 1860). — Chambers, Cyclopwdia, s. v.