Mahalakshmi is the eternal wife of Lord Narayana or Mahavishnu. Different devatas preside over different aspects. For example, Lord Shiva presides over the mind; Indra presides over rain; Agni presides over fire; Varuna presides over water; etc. But then, Mahalakshmi Devi is the presiding deity of all of these things.
At the time of creation, Lord Narayana expanded Himself into Vaasudeva (Moksha), Sankarshana (cosmic dissolution), Pradyumna (creation), and Aniruddha (sustainance). At that time, Lakshmidevi too expanded Herself into Maayaa, Jayaa, Kruti, and Shanti, respectively. As Maaya, She is the wife of Vaasudeva. As Jayaa, She is the wife of Sankarshana. As Kruti, She is the wife of Pradyumna. As Shanti, She is the wife of Aniruddha.
Lord Narayana, for giving immense pleasure to Lakshmidevi, placed the brahmanda in Lakshmidevi’s womb, and from there the whole Brahmanda came into existence. She is the one due to whom Brahma got the Brahma Padavi, Rudra got the Rudra Padavi, and Indra got the Indra Padavi. All these devatas are yearning to get one glance of Mahalakshmi Devi. She is the mother of Brahma, the one who sits on lotus.
She is infinitely greater than Brahma and Shiva and is free from all flaws. She has the capability of creating, sustaining, and destroying the entire universe, just by a movement of Her brow. She has three forms through which She performs sustenance along with Lord Vishnu. Those are:
1. Sridevi
2. Bhudevi
3. Durgadevi
Sridevi is the presiding deity for Sattva Guna. Bhudevi is the presiding deity for Rajoguna, and Durgadevi is the presiding deity for Tamoguna. Sridevi gives the correct knowledge required for Moksha. Bhudevi presides over Rajoguna, whereas Durgadevi deludes the people who are ineligible for Moksha (means evil people) onto the wrong path and blesses the noble ones with correct knowledge.
Corresponding forms of Lord Vishnu, along with Sri, Bhu, and Durga, are Narayana, Varaha, and Narasimha. So it is: SriNarayana, BhuVaraha, and DurgaNarasimha. Apart from this, whenever Adharma rises, Lakshmi and Narayana incarnate on Earth to re-establish them. Unlike other devatas, Lakshmi and Narayana don’t attain praakruta shareera like us while they incarnate.
They incarnate with the same transcendental body in which they stay in Vaikuntha. When Narayana is Ajita, She is Lakshmi; when Narayana is Varaha, She is Bhudevi; when Narayana is Narasimha, She is Durga/Lakshmi. When Narayana is Trivikrama or Vaamana, She is Ramaadevi; When Narayana is Parashurama, She is Harinidevi.
When Narayana is Rama, She is Sitadevi; when Narayana is Krishna, She is Rukmini and Satyabhama. When Narayana is Kalki, She is Padmavati; When Narayana is Srinivasa, then She is Padmavati and Karaveeravaasini Mahalakshmi; When Narayana is Vedavyasa/ Narayana, then She is Ambhruni; When Narayana is Rishabhadeva; She is Jayanti; When Narayana is Dhanvantari; She is Tulasi; When Narayana is Dattatreya, She is Anagha Devi; When Narayana is Vitthala, She is Rukmini.
Like this, in different forms of Lord Vishnu, Lakshmidevi also has Her own forms with which She incarnates along with Lord Narayana. Lord Vishnu is all-pervading. Along with Lord Vishnu, Lakshmidevi is also all-pervading; thus, both Lakshminarayana are protecting us. Lakshmidevi is present everywhere in Lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu has infinite incarnations; Lakshmidevi also has infinite incarnations along with Lord Vishnu.
She is present in the Vishnu Chakra as Durgadevi; She is present in the Vishnu Shankha as Sridevi; She is present in the lotus that Lord Vishnu holds as Bhudevi; She is present in the ornaments Lord Vishnu wears; She is present in the heart of Lord Vishnu; She is present in the Peetambara of Lord Vishnu; She is present as Vaikuntha itself, where Lord Vishnu stays.
Lakshmidevi is not only the Goddess of wealth, but also the Goddess of power, knowledge, devotion, speech, and everything. She is beyond the cycle of birth and death and is Nitya Mukta. That’s why whenever Lakshmi incarnates She comes either from a Kalasha (like Sita) or on a lotus (like Padmavati). She doesn’t take birth and appear for the sole purpose of being the eternal companion of Lord Narayana. She doesn’t have even a tint of sin and is fully pure.
But then, Lakshmidevi can do all this because of one reason, and that is the grace of Lord Vishnu on Her. Brahma, Vayu, Shiva, etc., are ekanta devotees of Bhagavan Narayana. They don’t want anything except Lord Narayana. They have immense devotion towards Lord Narayana, and that devotion is so immense that they don’t even want Moksha or Vaikuntha. They just want Bhagavan to be with them. If they are doing that high-level of Bhakti, then Lakshmidevi has infinitely more superior Bhakti than them. She is infinitely supreme to Lord Brahma and Lord Shiva in terms of power, knowledge, bliss, qualities, etc.
She is present as Vedaabhimaani Lakshmidevi, in front of Lord Vishnu, praising Him with Veda Mantras. She is present as Yagyaabhimaani Lakshmidevi within Lord Vishnu’s chest, and is present as Dakshina Devi as the half-body of Lord Vishnu. This roopa in which Lord Vishnu and Lakshmidevi both merge and half body is of Lord Vishnu and half body is of Lakshmidevi or Dakshinadevi is known as Dakshinamurthy roopa or Ardhanaareeshwara roopa of Lakshminarayana.
[Dakshinamoorthy, Lord Narayana along with Dakshina Devi (Lakshmidevi)]
As Sri and Bhudevi, She is present on either side of Lord Vishnu, worshipping Him, and as Durgdevi, She is present in front of Him, worshipping Him with pure devotion. She sees new qualities and forms of Lord Vishnu every second, and hence Lord Vishnu is ever new for Her. Lord Vishnu’s qualities are so many that Lakshmidevi Herself cannot count them. Lord Vishnu is complete and doesn’t need anyone to experience ananda. He doesn’t even need Lakshmidevi for His ananda, because He is full of ananda within Himself and is Svaramana.
It is Lakshmi who is getting ananda from Lord Vishnu. She is pleased only when we worship Her with Lord Vishnu and not solely. Lakshmidevi is dependent on Lord Vishnu for all Her powers. Lord Vishnu, while sleeping on the couch of Aadishesha, glances at the lotus in His hand and, through that glance, provides immense power to Lakshmi, who is present in that lotus. Such is the grace of Narayana on Mahalakshmi Devi.
Lakshmi is the dearest to Lord Vishnu. Nobody is as dear as Lakshmidevi to Lord Narayana/Rama/Krishna, etc. Without Lakshmidevi, Lord Vishnu never accepts anything or anyone. For marrying Lord Vishnu, Lakshmi’s presence must be there, which can be obtained by worshipping Lakshminarayana together with devotion. That’s why the Gopikas did Kaatyaayani Vrata to please Durgadevi, who is Lakshmi Herself, so that Krishna becomes their husband.
Without Tulasi, who is Mahalakshmi Devi Herself, Krishna doesn’t accept the pooja at all. If you don’t have tulasi leaves, offer tulasi stems; if you don’t have that too, then offer the tulasi mud, and if nothing is there, then just say Tulasi, and that much is sufficient. But Tulasi is mandatory for Krishna’s pooja; otherwise, the pooja won’t be successful. That much love Krishna has for Lakshmidevi. No one is beloved to Lord Krishna except Lakshmidevi.
Lord Narayana is the Supreme Bhagavan and is the Aadipurusha, whereas Lakshmidevi is the Moolaprakruti. During the destruction, it is Lakshmidevi who, in Her Durga form, does the samhaara of all, including devatas led by Lord Brahma and Lord Shiva. And then, after everything enters Lord Vishnu’s mouth, and all jivas led by Lord Brahma are in His stomach, He assumes the form of a small baby and sleeps on a banyan leaf. Only Lakshminarayana is present even after the Pralaya.
At this time, Sridevi is the Kshirasaagara, Bhudevi is the banyan leaf, whereas Durgadevi is the utter darkness, which is spread everywhere. Like this Lakshmidevi is eternall inseparable from Bhagavan and is creating, sustaining, and destroying the universe effortlessly, with the grace of Lord Vishnu.
सर्वालङ्कारभरितौ सर्वसद्गुणमण्डितौ ।
शर्वादि सर्वभक्तौघ सर्वसम्पत्प्रदायकौ ॥
सुमुखौ सुन्दरतनौ सुनासौ सुखचित्तनू |
सुराराधितपादाब्जौ रमानारायणौ स्तुमः ||
चतुष्कपर्दा या देवी चतुरास्यादिभिः स्तुता ।
चतुर्वेदोदितगुणा चतुर्मूर्तेर्हरेः प्रिया ॥ 🙏
~SriVaadiraja Tirtha Sripaadaru
Hope this helps!
Jay SriRam!
ShriRamana, Bhooramana, Durgaramana Govinda! Govinda! Govinda!
ShriLakshminarayana Abhinna ShriSaatraajiti Devi Sameta ShriKrishnarpanamastu!