Lalah and Eastern Spirituality

But first, to correct a common misconception: Lalah is not wearing a bindi and she is not necessarily a Hindu herself. I've seen many fan wikis assume this and then make further assumptions based on that. But according to Tomino, she simply has a birthmark in her third eye area, which gives her a bodhisattva-like appearance. (More on that below.) He also portrayed her as agnostic in Secret Rendezvous: Amuro and Lalah, where she wonders if she will be reincarnated as a mouse (more of a Hindu belief) or if she will achieve nirvana (more of a Buddhist belief.) So Lalah is certainly familiar with both Hinduism and Buddhism but she isn't meant to be one or the other. Also, bindis aren't exclusive to Hindus anyway.

Another note: Lalah's comrade has many names but she calls him "Taisa" ("Captain" in English) so that's what I'll be referring to him as here.

Lala's clear voice resonated pleasantly in his ears. She wore a pale yellow one-piece outfit with long billowing sleeves trailing in the air as she walked, and it made her tawny skin appear almost glistening black. There was something quite incongruous about the sight of her in the impersonal lobby of an agency charged with developing new fighters for the Zeon forces. Smack in the middle of her forehead, almost like the light-emitting third eye of a bodhisattva, was a beauty mark. Her real eyes were emerald-green and hinted at an ancestry more complex than that of most Asians. Her limbs moved with grace as she glided directly up to him. She lacked any natural fragrance and had an altogether ethereal quality to her.

Tomino says Lalah looks like a bodhisattva two times in Mobile Suit Gundam: Awakening, the first Gundam novel he wrote. Bodhisattvas are like Buddhist saints- people who have been liberated from samsara (the cycle of birth and death and rebirth) but who choose to stay in this realm to help others.

When Amuro first meets Lalah, she is watching a whooper swan. In the TV version, the swan dies and she says, "Isn't it sad to watch them grow old and perish?" In the movie version, the swan is fine, but Lalah still says, "I was thinking how sad it was that it will grow old and die someday." This scene could be understood as a reflection on samsara.

In Hinduism, the hamsa (swan or goose) is a symbol of moksha (liberation from samsara.) When Lalah appears as a swan after she is killed, this shows she has escaped samsara. She died, but she isn't dead- she is totally outside the life/death cycle.

Lalah is a modern representation of an ancient goddess. I'm not just saying that because I like her! Some of the other Gundam characters are also inspired by deities.

"The enormous giant was painted in a color that resembled the flowers of the bougainvillea, descending like Shiva"- this is how Taisa's mobile suit is perceived by Lalah in the novel Secret Rendezvous: Amuro and Lalah. Shiva is the Hindu god of destruction. It's his job to destroy the universe, so that it can be remade better than before. Hindus believe the universe goes through extremely long cycles where things may be mostly good or mostly evil. When an evil cycle ends, a good one can begin.

Now, if we look at the Zeta proposal that Tomino wrote, it says that Taisa "felt he had to find a way to put an end to this cancerous cycle of history" and that he "may also believe in Shakti."

Shakti is the main goddess in Hinduism. All the other goddesses are incarnations of her. Hindu gods have many different manifestations which are considered different elements of the same god, similar to the Christian concept of the trinity. In my opinion, there are two main avatars of Shakti who inspired Lalah.

The first is Kali. Kali is a warrior goddess of time and destruction. She also happens to be Shiva's consort. You've probably seen art of her even if you didn't know her name. She is known for having dark skin (black symbolizes infinity and the void) and for killing demons. But even though she is strongly associated with killing and death, she is also considered a mother goddess. "Kali is stated to protect and bestow liberation (moksha) to devotees who approach her with an attitude of a child towards mother." Hmm... who does that sound like?

The other Shakti goddess relevant here is Sati. Sati was Shiva's first wife, however, her father didn't approve of the marriage and this upset Sati so much that she killed herself. This caused Shiva to go mad with grief and he attempted to destroy the entire universe, even though it wasn't the proper time for that yet. In the end, he was stopped by Vishnu, the god of preservation, whose job is to maintain the universe. You can see the similarity between this and the Axis drop plot in CCA, where Amuro plays the role of Vishnu.

Tomino would later name a character "Shakti" in Victory Gundam, so he clearly had an interest in this goddess for a long time!