Lakshmī Avatāras
The Brahma Khaṇḍa of the Garuḍa Mahā Purāṇa holds a teaching from Śrī Kṛshṇa to Garuḍa. It says that Mahālakshmī is never apart from Nārāyaṇa. She takes an avatāra (a descent) alongside each descent of Bhagavān Vishṇu. She appears in different names and forms, so that she stays his consort (wife) and śakti (power) in every manifestation.
The list in the Brahma Khaṇḍa covers her forms beside the four vyūha forms of Vishṇu, her forms that match the guṇas, and her avatāras beside particular avatāras of Hari.
Lakshmī as the abhimāninī of prakṛti
Śrī Kṛshṇa teaches Garuḍa that Lakshmī is jñānasampannā and jñānasvarūpā. She is full of knowledge and is knowledge itself, a devatā of knowledge in her own right. Her one purpose in life is śrī-svāmi-caraṇagrahaṇam: holding on to the feet of her husband and master, Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa. She is the purusha-patnī (wife of the Purusha) and the abhimāninī-devatā (presiding devatā) of prakṛti, the creative power of nature.
When Śrī Hari felt the wish for brahmāṇḍa-sṛjana (creation of the cosmos), Lakshmī herself was the first to take form. She became the prakṛti that can bring forth the guṇas, through which creation (sṛshṭi) goes forward. This is taught in Chapter 15 of the Brahma Khaṇḍa.
Vyūha forms of Lakshmī
Bhagavān Vishṇu is worshipped in four vyūha forms. In each one Lakshmī is his wife, in the following form.
| Vishṇu vyūha | Lakshmī avatāra |
|---|---|
| Vāsudeva | Māyā |
| Saṅkarshaṇa | Jayā |
| Aniruddha | Śāntā |
| Pradyumna | Kṛti |
Guṇa forms of Lakshmī
Lakshmī’s forms match the three guṇa forms of Vishṇu himself.
| Guṇa | Vishṇu form | Lakshmī form |
|---|---|---|
| Sattva | Vishṇu | Śrīdevī |
| Tamas | Vishṇu in his tamas aspect | Durgā |
| Rajas | Varāha | Bhūdevī, the consort of the Varāha avatāra |
When Bhagavān Vishṇu takes the Vedic form (veda-rūpa), Lakshmī goes with him as Annapūrṇā.
Avatāras beside the avatāras of Vishṇu
Lakshmī’s descents match the avatāras of Bhagavān Vishṇu.
| Vishṇu avatāra | Lakshmī’s form |
|---|---|
| Yajña (in the setting of the yajña) | Dakshiṇā, the wife of Yajña |
| Rāma, the son of Daśaratha | Sītā |
| Kṛshṇa | Rukmiṇī and Satyabhāmā, and the other Mahā-Devīs among his wives |
This teaching also names Draupadī and Śacīdevī as avatāras of Lakshmī.
The Garuḍa Mahā Purāṇa gives this list in Chapters 15 to 17 of the Brahma Khaṇḍa.
What the teaching shows
The teaching shows that the wife of each divine form is a form of Lakshmī herself. She is not only a human consort or a consort among the devas. She is Śrī in the particular form that suits that avatāra. Each woman who becomes the wife of Bhagavān Vishṇu through tapas (austerity) and bhakti (devotion) is a form of Lakshmī, who chose that birth and that practice (sādhana).
The same text makes this clear in its account of Jāmbavatī. She did tapas over two lifetimes to win Bhagavān Kṛshṇa as her husband. She is a royal lady, and she is also Lakshmī in a particular form.
Sources
- Garuḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Chapters 15–17