Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Vishnu

My Love Story

The first time I met Vishnu was day I was born, the day of the churning of the ocean. You can read about that story here! When I emerged from the ocean, he was the first entity I laid my eyes on. He was beautiful. He had a royal blue complexion and four strong arms. Each arm was holding one item. His right hands were holding a glowing conch called Panchajanya shankha and a discus called Sudarshana Chakra. His left hands were holding a mace called Kaumodaki gada and a beautiful lotus flower. I was immediately drawn to the lotus and asked a group of nearby Devas who this deity was. The Devas quickly explained Vishnu is the supreme being of protection and absolute truth. He was the one who helped orchestrate the churning that eventually led to my birth. He was the reason I was created.

Before the Amrita was given...

I started to walk towards the beautiful blue man when the asparas started dancing around me. Everybody began to move around and form a circle around me.

"This is your swayamwara, goddess! You must choose a partner for life!" the asparas exclaimed in a sweet, sing-song voice.

Everyone gathered around and stared at me in anticipation for my choice. I knew there was no question as to who my heart belonged to.

An aspara dancing at my swayamwaraSource

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I looked over at Vishnu, and I could tell by the look on his face he knew too. He approached me so smoothly, and one of the asparas handed me a garland made of lotuses.

"Hello, Lord Vishnu," I said.

"Hello, Goddess Lakshmi."

"How can I be of service?" I said flirtatiously.

"Lakshmi, if you will have me, I will be honored to be your eternal consort. I will love you, honor you, and protect the universe beside you as my friend, my wife, my lover."

I accepted his vows, and placed the garland over his head making him my official consort. When the garland fell on his neck, we began to glow, the crowd gasped.

"My sweet Lakshmi. You are more than I could have ever hoped for from the churning. I shall protect you for the rest of our days," said Vishnu.

We embraced, and the crowd exploded into a loud cheer. The Devas were clapping as loud as they could as their protector has finally found a mate. To this day they still tell people together we make the supreme god with Vishnu's protection and truth and my wealth and prosperity. In fact, many humans have used our marriage ceremony as a part of their own rituals. I owe him my life, and I will spend eternity thanking him.

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Our Marriage

As a married couple, we typically do not leave eachother's side, and our presence can be found all throughout Indian culture. Our avatars can be found together throughout many Indian stories. For instance, his avatar Rama is the husband to my avatar Sita, and together, they go on a fantastic adventure called the Ramayana. In Indian temples, we are often depicted together and many times when people come to ask for my husband's forgiveness, it has to be done in my presence. My love story is still going, and I continue to share the joy of my marriage with the world. I cannot wait to see what the future has in story for us.

Author's Notes: This story is based on the traditional story of how Vishnu and Lakshmi became married. You can read a synopsis here. Much of her love story here is the same. Vishnu was the mastermind behind the churning of the ocean, which is the reason for the creation of Lakshmi. When Lakshmi emerges, everyone immediately begins prepping her for her swayamwara where she chose Vishnu to be her eternal consort. I stayed very true to the original story mostly because I really enjoyed how the chose was Lakshmi's. Vishnu did not force himself upon her, and she did not have an overbearing father standing over her shoulder forcing her to make a decision. I kept the garland and the dancing asparas, however, the vows were of my own imagination. Since many Indian marriages are based off of this ceremony, I included vows Vishnu made to Lakshmi that are very similar to the traditional vows used by the Indian culture today. I also included the impact of Lakshmi and Vishnu in the last paragraph in order to demonstrate to the audience how important this couple is to Hinduism. The last paragraph is all true. Vishnu and Lakshmi do appear throughout Indian epics many times as different characters. They also appear throughout Indian culture. For instance, Lakshmi's wikipedia page documents the many ways the two our celebrated throughout hinduism. I mentioned how people ask for Vishnu's forgiveness through Lakshmi. This is because many stories have Lakshmi playing the mediator between Vishnu and other gods and devotees. This is reflected in Hindu culture as people must ask for Vishnu's forgiveness through a Lakshmi statue or symbol. There are also many temples that display the couple like the Jain temple. This all demonstrated the value of Lakshmi and Vishnu and what they mean to the culture as a whole.

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Bibliography: The Churning of the Ocean, Amar chitra katha Vol. 538

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