Lakshmipati () is an epithet of the

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

deity

Vishnu Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" within t ...

. It refers to his status of being the consort of the Hindu goddess

Lakshmi Lakshmi (; , sometimes spelled Laxmi, ), also known as Shri (, ), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism. She is the goddess of wealth, fortune, power, beauty, fertility and prosperity, and associated with ''Maya'' ("Illusion"). Alo ...

, as well as being associated with her attribute of prosperity. Krishna in Tirumala

Legend

After the events of the

Samudra Manthana The Samudra Manthana ( sa, समुद्रमन्थन; ) is a major episode in Hinduism that is elaborated in the Vishnu Purana, a major text of Hinduism. The Samudra Manthana explains the origin of the elixir of eternal life, amrita. Nom ...

, the churning of the ocean of milk by the

devas Devas may refer to: * Devas Club, a club in south London * Anthony Devas (1911–1958), British portrait painter * Charles Stanton Devas (1848–1906), political economist * Jocelyn Devas (died 1886), founder of the Devas Club * Devas (band), ...

and the

asuras Asuras (Sanskrit: असुर) are a class of beings in Indic religions. They are described as power-seeking clans related to the more benevolent Devas (also known as Suras) in Hinduism. In its Buddhist context, the word is sometimes translated ...

, Lakshmi emerged from the ocean as the goddess of prosperity.

Varuna Varuna (; sa, वरुण, , Malay: ''Baruna'') is a Vedic deity associated initially with the sky, later also with the seas as well as Ṛta (justice) and Satya (truth). He is found in the oldest layer of Vedic literature of Hinduism, such ...

offered her a garland of lotus buds and

Vishvakarma Vishvakarma or Vishvakarman ( sa, विश्वकर्मा, Viśvakarmā, all maker) is a craftsman deity and the divine architect of the devas in contemporary Hinduism. In the early texts, the craftsman deity was known as Tvastar and the ...

offered her jewels to wear, and rivers such as

Ganga The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...

appeared so she could bathe. After these preparations, Lakshmi garlanded Vishnu and embraced him, choosing him as her consort, which restored the natural order of the cosmos. According to the

Vishnu Purana The Vishnu Purana (IAST:, sa, विष्णुपुराण) is one of the eighteen Puranas#Mahapuranas, Mahapuranas, a genre of ancient and medieval texts of Hinduism. It is an important Pancharatra text in the Vaishnavism literature c ...

, Lakshmi manifests herself upon the earth as the wife of each of Vishnu's

avatars Avatar (, ; ), is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means "descent". It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, goddess or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appearance ...

on earth:

Hymns

In his position as Lakshmipati, the husband of Lakshmi, Vishnu is offered a number of epithets in the Vishnu Sahasranama: ''Sarva-Lakshana-Lakshanyah'' (He who is distinguished by all the features that define him as supreme), ''Lakshmeevaan'' (He who is always with Lakshmi), and ''Samitinjayah'' (The victor of battles). Each of these honorifics is accompanied by a sloka. It is recommended that Vishnu be meditated upon as he "Who is the consort of Lakshmi, who has the splendour of the inner part of a lotus, and whose hands are decorated by the ''Kamalalaya''", the lotus that is represented as the abode of Lakshmi. He is stated to have revealed that the Ultimate Reality was a ''Dvaya'' (Duality) in the form of

Lakshmi-Narayana Lakshmi Narayana or Lakshmi-Narayan ( sa, लक्ष्मी-नारायण, IAST: ) is the dual representation of the Hindu deities Vishnu, also known as Narayana, and his consort, Lakshmi, traditionally featured in their abode, Vaikunth ...

, and that Lakshmi was as timeless as he was, as the personification of Prakriti, which he embraced in his hands.{{Cite book , last=Makarand Joshi , url=http://archive.org/details/vishnusahasranamawithbhashyaofparasarabhattarsanskritengprofasrinivasaraghavan1983 , title=Vishnu Sahasranama With Bhashya Of Parasara Bhattar Sanskrit Eng Prof A Srinivasa Raghavan 1983 , pages=392-394

References

Names of Vishnu Names of God in Hinduism Vaishnavism

Legend

Hymns

See also

References