Lord Venkateshwara has two wives, but those two wives are the same Lakshmidevi. How? Let me tell you the story. So, be ready for a long story.
STORY OF LORD SRINIVASA, LAKSHMIDEVI AND PADMAVATI DEVI
Long ago, during the time of pralaya, when everything was in water, a demon by the name of Aadi Hiranyaksha came and was drowning the earth in the pralaya water. At that time, Lord Vishnu assumed the form of Lord Varaha and killed that demon with His tusks. After this, Lord Varaha lifted the earth on His tusks and placed it in its right place.
After this, Lord Varaha instructed Lord Brahma to continue the task of creation. Obeying the Supreme Bhagavan, Lord Brahma continued the creation. Here, Lord Varaha called Garuda, His vaahana, and asked him to bring the Kridachala Parvata to the earth in the south. Listening to the Lord’s instructions, Garuda brought the Kridachala Parvata down to earth. Lord Varaha also stayed there as Bhuvaraha.
Now, what is this Kridachala Parvata? It is a special mountain in Vaikuntha, the abode of Lord Vishnu, where Lakshmidevi and Lord Vishnu do vihaara, or they have their lovely pastimes there. So, Lord Varaha instructed Garuda to bring that mountain down to the earth. This Parvata got a lot of names in different yugas.
In Krutayuga, there was a demon by the name Vrushabhasura, who was a devotee of Lord Narasimha and used to worship Narasimha Shaligrama. He would offer his head to the Narasimha Shaligrama with devotion, and he did so for 500 years. Plus, he even used to cause trouble for the sages. Frustrated by this, the sages approached Lord Vishnu.
Lord Vishnu pleased by the devotion of Vrushabhasura, appeared in front of him, and asked him to ask for a boon. So, Vrushabhasura asked for a fight with Lord Vishnu. The fight took place. Vrushabhasura would copy whatever Lord Vishnu did. Lord Vishnu, in the end, defeated Vrushabhasura and asked him for a last wish.
Vrushabhasura said, “Let this parvata be known by my name.” And then Bhagavan said, “So be it,” and beheaded Vrushabhasura. That’s why in Krutayuga it was known as Vrushabhachala. Lord Narasimha also took avatara here, so it is also known as Simhachala. A Brahmin by the name Narayana did penance here; therefore, this parvata got the name Narayanachala.
Anjana Devi, the mother of Hanumanji, did penance here and had Hanumanji as her son. Therefore, this Parvata is known as Anjanachala. Like this, it has many names, such as Kanakachala, Garudachala, and Neelachala. In the Dwapara Yuga, once Mukhyaprana Vayudeva came to meet Lord Narayana. At that time, Lord Narayana had kept Aadishesha as the gatekeeper.
Aadishesha stopped Mukhyaprana Vayudeva from entering inside. A quarrel between Vayudeva and Aadishesha started, as Aadishesha, due to asuravesha, had assumed himself greater than Vayudeva, who is equal to Lord Brahma in the hierarchy. Lord Narayana appeared there and asked Aadishesha to tie himself to the mountain named Anandaadri.
Mukhyaprana Vayudeva just touched that parvata, and it flew away yojanas far and landed where the kridachala was. Due to that, today too we can see the Parvata in the form of the serpent’s hoods. That’s Aadishesha himself present in the form of the Parvata. Therefore, this Parvata is also known as Sheshachala.
In the Kaliyuga, a Brahmin named Maadhava lived. He was a very educated person and had mastery in the Vedas, Puranas, Shaastras, and Upanishads, and was very kind-hearted. He had a wife named Chandralekha, a pativrataa woman, and old-age parents. At that time, once Maadhava and Chandralekha were in the forest to collect wood, Maadhava saw a chaandaala stree by the name of Kuntala.
Maadhava was very much attracted to Kuntala. He asked Chandralekha to go home. After that, he approached Kuntala and asked her to marry him. Kuntala said, “You are a Brahmin. You eat the food offered to Lord Vishnu. You do Lord Vishnu’s pooja. You do agnikaarya and yagyas. You do Veda Parayana and wear a sacred thread (janeu). Marrying a low-caste woman like me, who eats gomaamsa, is not good for you. Please go away, and don’t commit this sin.”
But Maadhava was so attracted to her that, even after being refused, he chased her and hugged her lustfully. Kuntala then asked him to remove his shikha, remove his janeu, and gave him gomaamsa to eat. He left his home, his wife, and his old parents and stayed with Kuntala for about 12 years. After 12 years, Kuntala died. After her death, Maadhava realized his mistake. He repented of his mistake and came to the southern region where Sheshachala Parvata was.
There, a king had come from the North with his ministers to Sheshachala. Maadhava would eat their leftovers. He went to the Kapila teertha (a sacred kund where doing Pitru Shraadhha is considered to be a great thing). So, he did pinda daana with mud balls and did the pitru kaarya there. But as he kept his feet in the Sheshachala, he suddenly vomited. That vomit was none other than his sins, which he incurred because of the Kuntala sanga dosha.
So, since this Parvata destroyed the sins of Maadhava brahmana, this parvata got the name Venkatachala. Vem means sins, and kata means getting cut or getting destroyed. Because Bhagavan destroys our sins, He is known as Venkateshwara, Venkatesha, or Venkataramana. Lord Brahma appeared in front of Maadhava Brahmana and asked him to do darshan of Lord Varaha and do deha tyaaga.
Lord Brahma even told him that he would be born as King Aakasharaaja, the king of Narayanapura, in the Sheshachala Parvata, and even told him that Lakshmidevi Herself would appear as his daughter and Lord Narayana would be your son-in-law. Thus, Maadhava did deha tyaaga there, and was born as the son of King Sudharma, by the name Aakasharaaja. He was born in the Chandravamsha.
[Image of Sheshachala Parvata]
This was the story before the arrival of Lord Vishnu on Sheshachala. Now, what happened is, the sages were doing a yagya at the banks of the Ganga River. Sage Narada came and asked them as to for whose pleasure are they performing the yagya? At this, the sages were quiet and couldn’t answer the question. At this, Sage Narada asked Sage Bhrigu, who was one of those sages, to go and test the Trimurti Brahma, Vishnu, and Mahesha and then decide who is supreme among them.
At this, Sage Bhrigu went to Brahmaloka first. Lord Brahma was praising Srihari with the Veda Mantras with four of His faces, and Sarasvati Devi was playing Her veena. Sage Bhrigu paid his obeisance to Lord Brahma (his father), but then Lord Brahma didn’t respond. Enraged by this, Sage Bhrigu cursed his father, Lord Brahma, that henceforth, He wouldn’t be worshipped on the earth, and went away.
Sage Bhrigu now came to Kailasa to meet Lord Shiva. But here, Lord Shiva was in ekanta with Umadevi. On seeing Sage Bhrigu, Umadevi told Lord Shiva that Sage Bhrigu had come. Listening to this, and having their ekanta disturbed, Lord Shiva was very angry and ran after Sage Bhrigu to kill him. But He was stopped by Sage Bhrigu, and Sage Bhrigu cursed Lord Shiva to be worshipped in the form of a Linga on the earth.
Now, Sage Bhrigu went to Vaikuntha and saw Lord Vishnu sleeping on the couch of Aadishesha being served by Lakshmidevi. Sage Bhrigu was already in anger, and in anger he approached Lord Vishnu and kicked His chest, which was the place of residence for Lakshmidevi. Lord Vishnu woke up and said, “O revered sage! Welcome to Vaikuntha. Today this Vaikuntha got purified by your presence. Lakshmi! bring warm water for Sage Bhrigu.”
Lord Vishnu washed Sage Bhrigu’s feet and sprinkled the water all over in Vaikuntha, on Himself and on Lakshmidevi. Lord Vishnu further said, “O Sage! You kicked my chest, which is even harder than diamond. You must have got hurt a lot. Bring that leg to me O Sage, I will press your feet.” And then served Sage Bhrigu. Sage Bhrigu was humbled and asked for forgiveness and left Vaikuntha.
Sage Bhrigu came down on earth and praised Lord Vishnu as the only Supreme Bhagavan and decided to submit the yagya to Lord Vishnu. Here, one must note that, Sage Bhrigu is far inferior to Lord Brahma and Lord Shiva. But both of them accepted the curse of Sage Bhrigu as per Srihari’s will. Now, in Vaikuntha, Lakshmidevi and Lord Narayana had a mild quarrel, which is not actually a quarrel but a pranaya kalaha or a playful sport of Lakshminarayana.
Lakshmidevi left Vaikuntha, because Sage Bhrigu had kicked Lord Vishnu’s chest, where Lakshmidevi resides. After leaving Vaikuntha, Lakshmidevi came to Kolhapura. There was a demon by the name Kolhasura, who used to kidnap young girls and used to provide nuisance to the Sages performing austerities and yagyas. So, frustrated by that, earlier too the devatas and rishis had approached Lord Vishnu.
Lord Vishnu had instructed Lakshmidevi to destroy that demon. So, keeping the fight as an excuse, Lakshmidevi came down to earth to Kolhapura (which was anciently known as Karaveerapura). There, Lakshmidevi killed Kolhasura, and stayed there. Today too the Ambabai being worshipped in Kolhapura is Mahalakshmi Devi, the wife of Lord Vishnu.
Now, Lord Vishnu left Vaikuntha and came to Sheshachala Parvata and stayed there by the name of Srinivasa. Srinivasa, now stayed in an anthill, which was under a Tintrinee tree and sat there for 1000 years. Srinivasa remembered His pastimes. He remembered His Ramavatara. The anthill was King Dasharatha, the Tintrinee tree was Kausalya. The Sheshachala Parvata was Lakshmana.
Similarly, He even remembered His Krishnavatara. The anthill was Vasudeva, the Tintrinee tree was Devaki, and the Sheshachala Parvata was Balarama. Like this Srinivasa stayed in the anthill. Here, after sometime, there was a king named Cholaraja, who was ruling that area. Lakshmidevi came to him in the form of a female cowherd girl, with a cow and a calf. This cow was Lord Brahma and the calf was Lord Shiva.
Lakshmidevi came there and asked Cholaraja to use the milk of the cow only for Bhagavan and not for self-use. Saying thus, Lakshmidevi came back to Kolhapura. But then, Cholaraja ignored Her words and kept the cow and calf, and started using the cow’s milk for his own use. There was a Gopalaka of Cholaraja who used to take the cows for grazing. So, he even took the cow (Lord Brahma) and the calf (Lord Shiva) for grazing.
The cow used to come near the anthill where Srinivasa stayed and used to do abhisheka to Srinivasa with it’s milk. The Gopalaka noticed it. Once, the Gopalaka followed the cow and came near the anthill with an axe. He was about to hit the cow with the axe, suddenly, Srinivasa stood up and the axe hit his forehead. Srinivasa started bleeding. The blood flowed in the quantity of a river.
Since, the Gopalaka, thought that Srinivasa, was a common man and bled because of that, He died on the spot and fell down. The cow returned back to Cholaraja and took him towards the anthill. Cholaraja saw the dead Gopalaka and Srinivasa standing there. Cholaraja came to scold Srinivasa. But then, because it was the responsibility of Cholaraja to be alert about the things going on in his own kingdom, and in his presence, Srinivasa was hurt like that, and was irresponsible towards his duty, Srinivasa cursed Cholaraja to become a pishaacha.
Cholaraja repented and asked for forgiveness. Srinivasa too acted to repent and said, “You would remain like this till the end of this Kalpa. On the next Friday, I would be marrying the daughter of Aakasharaaja. Then Aakasharaaja would make me wear a 1000 tola kireeta on my head. At that time, for 7 minutes you would be freed from your curse. After that, your curse would resume.” Saying such, Srinivasa went away from there.
Srinivasa called Brihaspatyacharya, the guru of the devatas, for recommending Him medicines for the injury He had on His head. Brihaspatyacharya gave Him the medicines and went to Svarga. He applied those medicines and came further. As Srinivasa was coming, He met Lord Varaha, who was hunting with His boars. Lord Varaha and Srinivasa talked to each other.
Lakshmipati Srinivasa told Bhoomipati Varaha the circumstances which led to Srinivasa leaving Vaikuntha and coming to Sheshachala Parvata in search of Lakshmidevi. Srinivasa said, ‘O Varaha! I promise that, if you give me land to live here, the devotees in future would do your darshan first and then would come to my darshan.”
Saying thus, Lord Varaha granted Srinivasa land and asked Him to go to Bakuladevi, who was waiting for Him. Srinivasa went to Bakuladevi. Here, one must note that, Srinivasa and Lord Varaha are the same and have no difference between them. They were just having a playful pastime. Now, who is Bakula Devi? In Dvapara Yuga, Yashoda wasn’t able to see Krishna’s weddings. So, during the Suryagrahana, when Krishna met the Gopikas and Yashoda Devi, Yashoda Devi prayed to Krishna to make her see His marriage.
At this Krishna said, “In the 28th Kaliyuga, I would appear as Srinivasa, and Lakshmi would appear as Padmavati. I would marry Padmavati at that time.” And thus, that Yashoda was now born as Bakuladevi, and the same Krishna had came as Srinivasa and was coming to her. Bakuladevi welcomed Srinivasa and gave Him food to eat. Now, once, Srinivasa wanted to go for a hunt.
He decorated Himself with ornaments and put Urdhva Pundra Tilaka on His forehead, and then wore Pitambara. He remembered Vayudeva, who came there in the form of a horse. Srinivasa sat on the horse and went on the hunt. On the way, He saw an elephant and chased that elephant. That elephant came near a garden where some girls were playing with a ball. Those girls on seeing that elephant were scared and had closed their eyes.
As Srinivasa approached the elephant, the elephant bowed down to Him and disappeared. Now, who were these girls? Out of these girls, one was the daughter of Aakasharaaja, by the name Padmavati. She was not born to Aakasharaja by his wife’s womb, but was found on a lotus, in the baby form. He had brought that baby and took care of Her. She was named as Padmavati. He even had a son by the name Vasudaana, who had the amsha of Chandra.
Sage Narada had came to Padmavati and had said, “You are very fortunate to have Lakshmipati Narayana as your husband.” And blessed Her outwardly, and bowed to Her inwardly and went away to the devaloka. The other girls were the friends of Padmavati Devi who were playing with Her. Now, as these girls opened their eyes, they saw Srinivasa in front of them.
He was a tall, handsome, youthful and possessed such a beauty that, even Kaamadeva would faint on such a beauty. Padmavati asked Srinivasa, “Who are you?” At this Srinivasa said, “My name is Krishna. Since I was born dark in color, I was named as Krishna. I am from Chandravamsha. My mother is Devaki, and father is Vasudeva. Balarama is my elder brother, and Subhadra is my younger sister. The Pandavas are my cousins.”
Padmavati said, “My name is Padmavati. I am also from Chandravamsha and am the daughter of King Aakaasharaaja, the king of Narayanapura. Now, you go from here.” At this Srinivasa said, ‘O Padmavati, I have came to marry you. I am even ready to die at the hands of your father, O Padma, I want to marry you.” At this, the friends of Padmavati and Padmavati started throwing stones. One stone hit the horse and it died (Vayudeva went away from the horse).
Srinivasa ran away from there and came back to Bakuladevi and slept in her lap quietly. Bakuladevi asked, “Srinivasa! What happened? Had you been attacked by the robbers, or did you see any raakshasa, bhoota or pishacha in the way? Tell me.” At this Srinivasa said, “Mother! I haven’t seen any bhoota, pishacha, nor have I been attacked by the robbers. There is the king of Narayanapura by the name Aakaasharaaja. He has a daughter named Padmavati. I fell in love with Her. I want to marry Her. I came from Vaikuntha with the sole purpose to marry Her. And if I don’t marry Her, I will die. Please mother! make me marry Her?”
At this Bakuladevi asked for the kula, gotra and all. Srinivasa said, “She is born in Chandravamsha as the grand-daughter of Sudharmaraja and the daughter of Aakaasharaaja. During the Ramavatara, when Sita had to do Agni pravesha, at that time, along with Her, another woman by the name Vedavati, who is Lakshmidevi only, had came alongwith Sita. Sita requested me to marry Vedavati, but I was ekapatnivratasta at that time, so I couldn’t marry Her then. But then, I had promised Vedavati and Sita, that, I would marry Vedavati in the 28th Kaliyuga, as Srinivasa. And the same Vedavati has born as Padmavati.”
Here, it may seem that Srinivasa was being kaamaasakta or lustful, but one must note that Srinivasa is doing all this to delude the ignorant people, so that they think Srinivasa as lustful. In reality He doesn’t possess any lustfulness. Bakuladevi, on hearing Srinivasa, was ready to go and talk to Aakasharaaja about the marriage of Srinivasa and Padmavati. She was on her way to Narayanapura, when Srinivasa thought of making His mother’s work even more easy.
He took the form of a female fortune teller by the name of Dharmadevata. She was very old, with broken teeth, and wrinkled face. She went to Narayanapura. On seeing the teja on Her face, the maids approached the wife of Aakasharaaja, Dharanidevi. Dharanidevi asked the maids to bring the fortune teller with them. But Dharmadevata told them that untill Dharanidevi herself doesn’t come to take Her, She won’t come.
Dharanidevi came to take Dharmadevata to her palace personally, and welcomed Her. Dharmadevata had a baby in Her hand, a basket and a stick. That baby was Lord Brahma, the basket was Lakshmidevi and the stick was Lord Shiva. Dharanidevi gave milk rice for the baby. Dharmadevata, took a handful of rice and fed the baby. But the baby spat that rice. On seeing this, Dharmadevata mildly slapped that baby, ate some of the milk rice and fed the baby. The baby ate then.
By this Lord Brahma is telling us that, He doesn’t eat the food which is not shown to Lord Vishnu. He only eats Lord Vishnu/Srinivasa’s prasaada, and nothing else. Now, Dharmadevata said, “Dharanidevi, your daughter Padmavati is very lucky because, the husband of Lakshmidevi, Lord Narayana is going to be Her husband. Now, Lord Narayana is present in the Sheshachala hill, by the name of Srinivasa. He is balavaan, budhhimaan, shaktimaan, and is a very suitable groom for your daughter. Your daughter has also fell in love with that handsome person. Now, in a while His mother, an old woman would be coming to you for the marriage proposal.” And saying thus, Dharmadevata went away from there.
Srinivasa came in His original form as He reached Sheshachala Parvata. Bakuladevi came to the palace and the marriage-talk took place. Dharanidevi asked, “Why is your son not married yet?” Bakuladevi said, “My son was married at a young age, but He didn’t had any children, so we are marrying Him again.” And thus, both Aakaasharaaja and Dharanidevi agreed for the marriage. Sage Shukacharya (an avatara of Lord Shiva) got to know about the marriage of Srinivasa.
On hearing this, He was so happy that He danced in madness and broke His Krishnajina. Again He wore a new Krishnajina. He approached Srinivasa. Now, here, Aakasharaaja checked the Kundali of Srinivasa and Padmavati, and it came to be known that the Kundali was all perfect. He wrote an Lagna Patrika to Srinivasa. Srinivasa read that Lagna Patrika. He too wrote a letter to Aakasharaaja accepting the Lagna Patrika and sent Shukacharya with the letter. Shukacharya gave that letter to Aakasharaaja.
Now, Srinivasa said to Bakuladevi, “I won’t like to marry now.” Bakuladevi asked, “Why?” Srinivasa said, “I won’t marry, because I don’t have any relative!” Bakuladevi said, “O Srinivasa! That’s it? You have Lakshmidevi as your wife, Brahma and Mukhyaprana as your sons, Lord Shiva as your grandson, and all the devatas are your relatives, why do you worry? They would come to you the moment you call them.”
Srinivasa took loan from Kubera, by writing an agreement to Kubera that, He would be paying Kubera the debt till the end of Kaliyuga. Kubera said, “O Lord! Everything in this universe is yours, as the Ishavasya Upanishad itself says (Ishavaasyamidam sarvam)”, and granted Srinivasa the loan as per the laukika vyavahaara. Even today that letter is preserved.
At this Srinivasa remembered Garuda and asked him to invite Lord Brahma and Aadishesha to invite Lord Shiva. Both did their work. For Srinivasa’s wedding all the devatas decorated themselves and came to Srinivasa. Srinivasa on seeing His son, Brahma, was very happy and hugged Him. Now, Srinivasa again said, “I won’t marry even now.” They all asked, “Why?” Srinivasa said, “Because, I don’t have Lakshmi with me. Surya, do one thing. Go and bring Lakshmidevi from Kolhapura. Tell Her that, I am very sick and cannot even walk properly. She would come here, due to my maaya.”
[Kolhapura Ambabai Mahalakshmidevi, the wife of Lord Srinivasa]
Suryadeva went to Kolhapura and told Lakshmidevi everything. Lakshmidevi too acting as per Srihari’s will came there to Sheshachala Parvata. She saw that Srinivasa was sleeping, keeping His head on Brahma’s lap and keeping His feet on Lord Shiva’s lap. Srinivasa on seeing Lakshmi said, “L-La-Lak-Laksh-Lakshmi…Y-yo-you…c-came?” Lakshmidevi laughed, and said, “First of all stop your drama, and sit here for the tailabhyanjana, my dear Lord!” Srinivasa was happy on seeing Lakshmidevi and came out of His acting and sat for the Tailabhyanjana (Tailabhyanjana means oil-bath).
That day Srinivasa slept with Lakshmidevi. The next day, Srinivasa came to Narayanapura, and was welcomed by Aakaasharaaja, Tondamaanaraaja (the brother of Aakasharaaja). Sage Vasistha took over the department of making the marriage happen. Agnideva took the department of cooking. Subramanya/Kartikeya had 6 heads, so his department was to welcome the people coming from the 6 directions. Srinivasa did the punyahavachana, and was asked to tell His kuladeva.
Srinivasa told that His kuladeva was Shamee tree. He placed the Shamee tree leaf as the kuladeva sthaana and did pooja to it. Now, after that naandi happened, and then Srinivasa and Padmavati’s wedding. It was the day of Friday, when Srinivasa wore the 1000 tola Kireeta gifted by Aakaasharaaja. Srinivasa, was decorated with ornaments dazzling like thunder. His earring’s shine was reflecting on His cheeks. His Pitambara was shining like thunder.
He garlanded Padmavati and Padmavati too garlanded Srinivasa. Srinivasa tied the mangalasootra in Padmavati’s neck. Lakshmidevi was also there. Wasn’t this Lakshmidevi the same Sitadevi, who asked Rama to marry Vedavati? Now, Her desire was now fulfilled. After the marriage, Srinivasa and Padmavati went to Shukacharya’s ashrama. Shukacharya had a very small hermitage. Several rishis, devatas had came to attend the marriage. Shukacharya had called Srinivasa for lunch in his ashrama.
Srinivasa, Padmavati and Bakula devi only went in and had the food. The rishis were angry on Shukacharya and were about to curse him, when Srinivasa burped there itself. Simultaneously, all the rishis too burped at the same time, their stomachs full. Srinivasa after this, alongwith Padmavati Devi stayed in Sage Agastya’s ashrama for 6 months. After 6 months, Srinivasa, went up in Sheshachala Parvata and became a Shaaligrama pratima there.
[Vigraha of Srinivasa in Tirupati]
Padmavati Devi, who is Lakshmidevi Herself, came down in Tiruchanoor and stayed as Alamelu Manga Devi, in a sitting position holding Vara and Abhaya mudras in hands and holding lotus in other two hands, thus indicating that there is no difference between Padmavati Devi and Lakshmidevi. Lakshmidevi here, again returned back to Karaveerapura/Kolhapura and stayed there as Ambabai, who is still worshipped in the Kolhapura.
So, Srinivasa had two wives, but both wives were the same Lakshmidevi only. So, this was the story of Srinivasa’s marriage with Padmavati Devi and Lakshmidevi.
Hope this helps!
Jay SriRam!
SriLakshmi-Padmavati Sameta SriSrinivasa Abhinna SriKrishnarpanamastu!