Alakshmi ( Devanāgari: अलक्ष्मी; from the

root In vascular plants, the roots are the organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often below the sur ...

s ''अ'' (''a''): "not" and ''लक्ष्मी'' (''

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 ...

''): "goddess of fortune", figurative meaning "goddess of misfortune") meaning "not Lakshmi". She is described as being “cow-repelling, antelope-footed, and bull-toothed."Pattanaik, Devdutt. ''Lakshmi: The Goddess of Wealth and Fortune-An Introduction''. Vakils Feffer & Simons Ltd, 2003 () Or she “has dry shriveled up body, sunken cheeks, thick lips, and beady eyes and that she rides a donkey." She is not mentioned by name in the Vedic, Upanishadic or early Puranic literature, but all aspects of Alakshmi match those of the Rig Vedic goddess

Nirṛti (निर्ऋति, sometimes spelled Nirruti or Nirriti) is a Hindu deity, personifying death, decay and sorrows. In early Hindu scriptures, Nirṛti is a goddess who is lives in the kingdom of the dead. In later Hinduism, Nirṛti and Nir ...

. She is also said to be the shadow of

. In ''

Padma Purana The ''Padma Purana'' ( sa, पद्मपुराण or पाद्मपुराण, or ) is one of the eighteen Major Puranas, a genre of texts in Hinduism. It is an encyclopedic text, named after the lotus in which creator god Bra ...

'', the cosmology includes her where 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 ...

creates both good and bad of everything that emerges. That which is inauspicious and bad emerges first, more effort creates the auspicious and good, according to ''Padma Purana''. First Alakshmi emerges, then Lakshmi appears during the Samudra Manthana. Gods send Alakshmi to go dwell amongst pernicious persons, give them poverty and grief. She as the ''asura'' of inauspiciousness and grief is the opposite of Lakshmi who is the goddess of auspiciousness and joy. Alakshmi is sometimes referred to be another name of Jyestha. Alakshmi is also known as Kalahapriya and Daridara, and the shadow opposite of Lakshmi. According to Chakrabarty, “It was said that when she entered a household, Alakshmi brought jealousy and malice in her trail. Brothers fell out with each other, families and their male lineages (''kula'') faced ruin and destruction."Chakrabarty, Dipesh. ''Provincializing Europe''. Princeton University Press, 2000 ()

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{{Hindu Deities and Texts Alaksmi Fortune goddesses Consorts of Kali (demon)