|
Lakshmi：
Goddess Lakshmi is the consort of Lord Vishnu (Lord of Protection Maintenance & Preservation). To go hand in hand with Lord Vishnu's act of maintenance and preservation, Goddesses Lakshmi is the possessor of every form of wealth. "Sri" is consdiered to be a pre-vedic deity associated with fertility, water and this deity was later merged with the vedic deity of beauty, Lakshmi.
The word Lakshmi could have its origin from the sanskrit terms
- lakShyam meaning goal
- lakShaNaM meaning aspect; characteristics
- lakSha meaning Lakh, 100,000 in number, also sight
- lakShaM meaning target
Thus Goddess Lakshmi is the source of wealth, fortune, prosperity, love and beauty. In the avatarams of Lord Vishnu, Lakshmi took various forms to accompany him - Sita with Rama, Rukmini with Krishna.
She is the possessor of great beauty and is depicted in standing as well as in the seated postures, always on a lotus. In her hands she holds two lotuses and wears a garland of lotus. She is often depicted clad in a red saree.
She is accomapnied by two (sometimes four) elephants on either side either garlanding her or spraying water from pitchers. She has four arms. The two upper arms are holding lotuses, while the lower arms are normally in abhaya and varada mudras. She has on her lap, a pot overflowing with gold and other riches. She is also depicted sometimes holding the amirtha kalasam (pot of ambrosia) and bilva fruit.
Ashta Lakshmi are her eight forms which are the commonly worshipped aspects. In each form, she bestows one form of wealth to her devotees.
|
