Lakshmana () or Lakshana is the seventh of the ''
Ashtabharya
The Ashtabharya or Ashta-bharya(s) is the group of eight principal queen-consorts of Hindu god Krishna, the king of Dvaraka in the Dvapara Yuga (epoch). The most popular list, found in the '' Bhagavata Purana'', includes: Rukmini, Satyabhama ...
'', the eight principal queen-consorts of
Hindu god
Krishna
Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is on ...
, an
avatar
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 appeara ...
of the god
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 ...
and the king of
Dvaraka in the
Dvapara Yuga
''Dvapara Yuga'' ( Dwapara Yuga), in Hinduism, is the third and third best of the four '' yugas'' (world ages) in a '' Yuga Cycle'', preceded by '' Treta Yuga'' and followed by '' Kali Yuga''. ''Dvapara Yuga'' lasts for 864,000 years (2,400 divi ...
(epoch).
Family and names
The ''
Bhagavata Purana
The ''Bhagavata Purana'' ( sa, भागवतपुराण; ), also known as the ''Srimad Bhagavatam'', ''Srimad Bhagavata Mahapurana'' or simply ''Bhagavata'', is one of Hinduism's eighteen great Puranas (''Mahapuranas''). Composed in S ...
'' mentions Lakshmana, who is endowed with good qualities, as the daughter of an unnamed ruler of the kingdom of
Madra.
The ''
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 Brah ...
'' specifics the name of the king of Madra as Brihatsena. Lakshmana describes Brihatsena to be a good
veena
The ''veena'', also spelled ''vina'' ( sa, वीणा IAST: vīṇā), comprises various chordophone instruments from the Indian subcontinent. Ancient musical instruments evolved into many variations, such as lutes, zithers and arched harps ...
player in a dialogue.
Some texts give her the epithet ''Madri'' or ''Madraa'' ("of Madra").
[
] However, the ''
Vishnu Purana
The Vishnu Purana ( IAST:, sa, विष्णुपुराण) is one of the eighteen Mahapuranas, a genre of ancient and medieval texts of Hinduism. It is an important Pancharatra text in the Vaishnavism literature corpus.
The manusc ...
'' includes Lakshmana in the Ashtabharya list, but mentions another queen Madri, who is explicitly mentioned as the princess of Madra. The lineage of Lakshmana is not alluded to in the text. The text also calls her ''Charuhasini'', one with a lovely smile. The ''
Harivamsa
The ''Harivamsa'' ( , literally "the genealogy of Hari") is an important work of Sanskrit literature, containing 16,374 shlokas, mostly in the '' anustubh'' metre. The text is also known as the ''Harivamsa Purana.'' This text is believed ...
'' also calls her Charuhasini, but is not associated with Madra and another queen called Madri or Subhima is mentioned like the ''Vishnu Purana''.
Marriage
Lakshmana's father had organized a ''
svayamvara
Svayamvara ( sa, स्वयंवर, svayaṃvara, translit-std=IAST), in ancient India, was a method of marriage in which a woman chose a man as her husband from a group of suitors. In this context, in Sanskrit means 'self' and means 'g ...
'' ceremony, in which a bride chooses a groom from assembled suitors. The ''Bhagavata Purana'' mentions that Krishna abducts Lakshmana from the svayamvara, just like the demigod-eagle
Garuda
Garuda (Sanskrit: ; Pāli: ; Vedic Sanskrit: गरुळ Garuḷa) is a Hindu demigod and divine creature mentioned in the Hindu, Buddhist and Jain faiths. He is primarily depicted as the mount (''vahana'') of the Hindu god Vishnu. Garuda i ...
had stolen the jar of the elixir of life (''
amrita
''Amrita'' ( sa, अमृत, IAST: ''amṛta''), ''Amrit'' or ''Amata'' in Pali, (also called ''Sudha'', ''Amiy'', ''Ami'') is a Sanskrit word that means "immortality". It is a central concept within Indian religions and is often referred to ...
'') from the gods.
Another tale describes how Krishna wins Lakshmana in the svayamvara, by acing an archery contest. The kings
Jarasandha and
Duryodhana
Duryodhana ( sa, दुर्योधन, ) also known as Suyodhana, is the primary antagonist in the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata.'' He was the eldest of the Kauravas, the hundred sons of the blind king Dhritarashtra and his queen Gandhari. Being ...
miss the target. The
Pandava
The Pandavas ( Sanskrit: पाण्डव, IAST: Pāṇḍava) refers to the five legendary brothers— Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva—who are the central characters of the Hindu epic '' Mahabharata''. They are acknowle ...
prince and Krishna's cousin
Arjuna
Arjuna (Sanskrit: अर्जुन, ), also known as Partha and Dhananjaya, is a character in several ancient Hindu texts, and specifically one of the major characters of the Indian epic Mahabharata. In the epic, he is the third among Pand ...
, described as the best archer at times, missed his aim at the target with the arrow so that Krishna could win the hand of Lakshmana. Arjuna's brother
Bhima
In Hindu epic Mahabharata, Bhima ( sa, भीम, ) is the second among the five Pandavas. The '' Mahabharata'' relates many events that portray the might of Bhima. Bhima was born when Vayu, the wind god, granted a son to Kunti and Pandu. ...
refused to participate in deference to Krishna. Ultimately, Krishna wins by hitting the target. Krishna and his queens once visited
Hastinapura
Hastinapur is a city in the Meerut district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. ''Hastinapura'', described in Hindu texts such as the ''Mahabharata'' and the Puranas as the capital of the Kuru Kingdom, is also mentioned in ancient Jain texts. ...
to meet the Pandavas and the wife of Yudhishthira,
Draupadi
Draupadi ( sa, द्रौपदी, draupadī, Daughter of Drupada), also referred to as Krishnaa, Panchali, and Yagyaseni, is the main female protagonist of the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata,'' and the common consort of the five Pandava brother ...
. The proud and shy Lakshmana tells Draupadi that her marriage was also very exciting and narrates its tale.
Children and death
The ''Bhagavata Purana'' states that she had ten sons: Praghosha, Gatravan, Simha, Bala, Prabala, Urdhvaga, Mahashakti, Saha, Oja and Aparajita.
The ''Vishnu Purana'' says that she has many sons headed by Gatravan.
The ''Bhagavata Purana'' records the wailing of Krishna's queens and their subsequent leap in Krishna's funeral pyre immolating themselves (see ''
sati''). The ''
Mausala Parva'' of the Hindu epic ''
Mahabharata
The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the '' Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the K ...
'' which describes the death of Krishna and end of his race declares that only four committed, others kill themselves by burning themselves alive after being attacked by robbers.
References
{{Reflist
Consorts of Krishna
Characters in the Bhagavata Purana