Lakshmi, The Goddess of Fortune

Lakshmi is the consort and shakti, or potency, of Lord Vishnu.
Lakshmi, or Sri when she is especially known as the goddess of beauty (though
sometimes considered to be separate entities), is the Goddess of fortune,
wealth, power, and loveliness. Wealth means not only money, but also the higher
values and qualities of life. The power of the mind and intellect is also a must
if one wants to be truly wealthy, which includes spiritual wealth. These are
prerequisites to attaining spiritual knowledge. This is why Lakshmi is worshiped
in the second set of three days during the Navaratri festival before the worship
of Sarasvati, which is explained later.

As the spouse of Lord Vishnu, she appears whenever He does in each of His
appearances, such as Vamana, Parashurama, Rama, or Krishna. In each of these
appearances, she appeared as Padma or Kamala, Dharani, Sita, and Rukmini
respectively. They are inseparable.

Lakshmi is seen as exceptionally beautiful, standing on a lotus with four
hands, two of which hold lotus flowers, and the lower right offering blessings
of fortune, and the lower left held in the upright mudra or posture of
benediction or blessings. The lotus she carries in her hands represents that the
realization of the Self is the supreme goal of life. They also indicate the
various worlds and living beings in different states of development or
evolution. Sometimes she may be holding a potted coconut in one hand, which is
another representation of Lakshmi. However, when she is in the company of Lord
Vishnu, she can be seen with two or four hands. Her four hands indicate the four
main blessings of human existence, namely dharma (acts of righteousness
and duty), artha (wealth), kama (sensual pleasures), and moksha
(final liberation). She always wears a lotus garland, and is often seen with
elephants on either side of her offering items such as garlands or pouring pots
of water over her, which in turn may be presented by celestial maidens. Her
complexion is often dark, or white, pink, or golden yellow. When her complexion
is dark, it represents her connection with Lord Vishnu. When she is seen as
golden yellow, it represents her as the source of all fortune and wealth. When
it is white, she is seen as the highest mode of nature from which the universe
has sprung. And when seen as pinkish, it represents her mood of mercy or
compassion toward all creatures since she is also the mother of all beings.

Occasionally you can see her in a temple of her own, rather than
accompanying Lord Vishnu. When this is the case, she is seen sitting on a lotus
throne with her four hands holding a padma (lotus), shankha (conch
shell), amritakalasha (pot of nectar), and a bilva fruit. The pot
of nectar indicates the blessings of immortality. The fruit that she holds
represents the results of our labors or actions, which comes from her blessings.
When such fruit is a coconut, it indicates that she is the source of the three
levels of creation, namely the gross, subtle, and the imperceptible. If it is a
pomegranate, it means that all the worlds are under her influence, which she is
beyond. And if the fruit is the bilva, which is healthy but not very
appetizing, then it means the blessings of moksha, liberation.

When she is shown with eight hands, she also holds a bow, arrow, mace, and
disc. However, this is actually an aspect of Durga as

Mahalakshmi.

There are not many temples that are dedicated exclusively to Goddess
Lakshmi. She is usually given a spot next to Lord Vishnu, or a small shrine in
one of the temples. Yet, in some rare temples dedicated to Lakshmi you can see
her on a central throne, and her eight other aspects or expansions as well, four
on either side of her. These have different combinations of hands holding
various objects representing her different powers. The most popular of these is

Gajalakshmi, shown with four arms on an eight-petaled lotus. This aspect of her
is most often seen when positioned above door frames of houses or temples. When
seen with two hands, she is known as
Samanyalakshmi and

Indralakshmi.

Other
names for Lakshmi include Hira (jewel), Indira (powerful one), Jaladhi-ja
(ocean-born), and Lokamata (mother of the world). However, she is also called
Chanchala,
which means fickle or never in one place for long. This signifies that fortune
or wealth often does not stay with anyone for extended lengths of time. Only
with the greatest of respect for Lakshmi will she stay in one’s household. This
means not only offering her worship, but also taking care of not letting her go
too easily by spending money on unnecessary items or projects.

In some depictions of her, she is seen riding an owl, which in Sanskrit is
uluka, another name for Indra, the king of heaven. Thus, she rides on the
king of the gods, the holder of all the material wealth and power that a living
being could want in this world, which is still not the spiritual world.

In her first incarnation, Lakshmi was the daughter of the sage Bhrigu and
his wife Khyati. She was later born from the milk ocean when it had been churned
by a cooperative effort of the Devas (demigods) and Asuras (demons). This can be
read in the Bhagavata Purana in Canto Eight, Chapters Six, Seven and
Eight. In summary, the demons and the demigods had been struggling with each
other. Because the demigods had offended and been cursed by the sage Durvasa
Muni, they had lost their heavenly kingdom when they were defeated by the
demons. Thus, the demigods went to Lord Brahma to explain the situation. They
all in turn went to offer prayers to Lord Vishnu, who, being pleased with them,
advised them what they should do. Carrying out these instructions, the demigods
made a truce with the demons so they would work together to churn the huge ocean
of milk, by which the nectar of immortality would be produced, which they all
naturally wanted. Many other things would also come from this churning, such as
a powerful poison that Lord Shiva would ingest. Thereafter, among the other
things, was Lakshmi, the goddess of fortune. She was worshiped by the great
sages and demigods, but she could find no one to be her husband, so she selected
Lord Vishnu who gave her a place to always stay.

Lakshmi - Hindu Goddess