Aishwarya Lakshmi is one of the forms of Mahalakshmi. She is the epitome of the form of goddess Lakshmi who bestows aishwarya (opulence) in all forms, shapes and sizes. Her luxuries and abundance are not only limited to material luxuries and abundance but the inner bliss too. As per Lakshmi tantra, “bliss” is the ultimate form of Lakshmi because Lord Vishnu is portrayed always in the state of bliss. Bliss is his constant companion and his consort Lakshmi is the source of all his bliss.

Etymology

Etymologically, Aishwarya Lakshmi is made up of two words, Aishwarya (opulence) and Lakshmi. The synthesis of the words clearly gives the impression that, Aishwarya Lakshmi is one of the forms of Lakshmi who bestows opulence to her worshiper unconditionally.

As per “Siddha Dharma”, to understand Aishwarya Lakshmi, one should first understand her collective and her source form i.e. Lakshmi. There are many interpretations of her name. Some say that her name Lakshmi is derived from lakshyam “लक्ष्यं” (aim) and some also refer her name to Lakshana “लक्षंण” (attributes). The “Siddha Dharma” is more inclined to the latter interpretation of Lakshmi name being derived from “Lakshana”. Lakshana means attributes. There is a saying in English, “Morning shows the day as the child shows a man.” The Lakshana in morning and child is used to predetermine or predict the virtues and characters related with the attribute. Therefore, Lakshmi is the goddess who is the master of all Lakshana or attributes. Her binary opposite is Dhumavati goddess who is also called “Alakshmi” because Dhumavati swallowed her husband and her lord, so is devoid of her husband and saubhagya (fortunes). But, Lakshmi is portrayed serving her husband, which signifies the raja tatwa (passion) in her and also signifies the creation virtues and it also means that he who masters Lakshmi, she serves him.

Iconography

As per “Siddha Dharma”, goddess Lakshmi is always portrayed in red color dress with yellow border which signifies that she is the goddess of “rajasic tatwa”. She is also seen sitting on a top of a fully bloomed lotus which signifies that she has perfected her inner kalpvriksha which can fulfill her every wish. The petals of the lotus are facing downwards which means that she provides opulence and wealth to the worshiper and the worshiper would start to fall in love with this creation because Lakshmi is herself the epitome of bliss.

She is further portrayed with 4 hands out of which the two opposite upper hands hold lotus while the other two remaining hands shows “vara” and “abhaya” mudra. The vara mudra means she bestows boon and she also provides them with wealth and support. The abhaya mudra means she dispels the fear from her worshiper and keeps them tranquil from inside to experience the ultimate bliss.

Furthermore, she is portrayed by two royal elephants bathing her which is also the symbolic form of abundance and opulence. She is simply the goddess of opulence.

Lastly, on top of the lotus flower on her hand stands a khadga (sword) and shankh (conch shell). Conch shell is her symbolic form because she also originates from the sea while the sword in the hand means she makes her devotees rajasic warriors.

As per “Siddha Dharma”, there is always a presence of owl near her proximity because owl is her divine vehicle. It also has a symbolic meaning that whoever is enriched with Lakshmi becomes blind like the owl and if the person does not perfect the Lakshmi then the person changes from wise to ullu (stupid person). Lord Vishnu is portrayed as the lord of Lakshmi and she is shown massaging the legs of Lord Vishnu while he lays down in a deep sleep. This is not an enslavement of women but symbolical meaning that wealth or opulence serves lord Vishnu.

Origin story of Lakshmi

As per “Siddha Dharma”, there are numerous stories of the manifestation of Goddess Lakshmi. The Puran or the scriptures mentions that she manifested from the “samundra manthana” and lord Vishnu married her. Some other legends also mention that she was the daughter of Maharishi Bhrigu.

But the tantric origin story of Lakshmi is different than that of the Purans and scriptures. As per the Shakta tradition of Mahalakshmi, she is believed to be the manifestation of rajasic Shakti of Maha Yogmaya while Saraswati, the satwik form while Mahakali, the tamasic form. Therefore, she did not originate from the oceans but she was in existence before that. She manifested as Lakshmi from samundra manthan, the daughter of Sagar in this earth for her own purpose.

Since, she is the rajasic form of Maha Yogmaya therefore her prime duty is to maintain the universe and the world. She also manifested as the daughter of King Sagar to aid lord Vishnu for his purpose of maintenance of this universe. She also takes avatara with him when the nature demands them.

Origin story of Aishwarya Lakshmi

As per “Siddha Dharma”, after goddess Lakshmi manifested in this world, she married lord Vishnu because he is considered to be the best among men in this universe. After the marriage, the whole Lakshmi and her attributes got established in Vaikuntha loka and she remained consecrated and cut off from other loka. Then after, only Vaikuntha loka was full of wealth, opulence compared to the other lokas which created an unequal creation of Lord Brahma. She and her attributes had to be equally distributed to other parts of the universe because the main pragmatic essence of goddess Lakshmi is to deliver Justice (not to be confused with judiciary justice) for the attainment of aishwarya.

Her justice has two primary aspects a) abhaya b) vara. She bestows abhaya and vara to her devotees for the attainment of justice and aishwarya in their life. Goddess Lakshmi is only fruitful if a person is filled abhaya (fearlessness) and vara (the act of giving) because the wealth utilization and enjoyment is not possible without this two means. Therefore, goddess Lakshmi then showed the vara and abhaya mudra to the universe as a sign that she is open to bestowing her two aspects and also bestowing aishwarya to the creation.

Meanwhile, the Sapta Rishis and other Rishis observed that although Aishwarya Lakshmi had to be equally distributed to the whole universe, as of her marriage to Lord Vishnu, she got concentrated only on Vaikuntha loka. The Rishis took the concern to lord Brahma and he then took it lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu accepted the offer of lord Brahma and requested Lakshmi to be available in the whole universe.

As per “Siddha Dharma”, after the request of lord Vishnu, goddess Lakshmi manifested her new form which was decorated with gold. She had golden complexion and she was effulgent and radiated effulgence from all parts of her body. She held two lotus flower and on top of it were conch shell and a sword. Her other two hands showed vara and abhaya mudra.

From the lotus flower, “anna” or different kinds of grains, foods and fruits started to manifest while from the vara mudra; wealth, gold, riches started to manifest. Aishwarya Lakshmi then totally manifested and through the abhaya and vara mudra, she gave a boon that she will eternally be situated everywhere within the creation as “Lakshmi Tattwa” alongside “Vish Tattwa”(poison) or “Dhumavati Tattwa”.

Aishwarya Lakshmi Tattva and Dhumavati Tattva

As per “Siddha Dharma”, Lakshmi tattva and Dhumavati tattva are binary opposite where Lakshmi tattva is favored more than the Dhumavati tattva because she represents amrita or ambrosia while Dhumavati represents poison and tamas.

As per “Siddha Dharma”, the universe is the divine play between these two elements. When Lakshmi element increases then Dhumavati decrease and vice versa. When Lakshmi tattva increases then the world enjoys wealth, abundance, opulence but the world heads to destruction, if Dhumavati tattva increases.

The divine play between these two tattvas can be explained from the analogy of flower and thorns of a rose plant. The rose plant is the creation, thorns are Dhumavati tattva while the rose flower is the Lakshmi tattva because the pollen grains are not present in thorns but in flowers. The thorns can only prick but the flowers, they can procure and only flowers are desirable because thorns only give pain and protection, but not bliss.

As per “Siddha Dharma”, the gurumandala lays so much importance to Aishwarya Lakshmi sadhana for the siddhas of Kaulantak Peeth because the sadhana enables the siddhas  to extract Aishwarya from the universe like the bee extracts the pollen from the flowers and then transforms it into honey.

 

Why lord Vishnu and Lakshmi have no children?

The “Siddha Dharma” which is also a rajasic lineage bears resemblance to the attributes of lord Vishnu and goddess Lakshmi. The whole purpose of the “Siddha Dharma” is the maintenance and preservation of Sanatana dharma propounded by 9 Naths, 84 Siddhas, Sapta Rishi along with other Rishis, and also predominantly the teaching of Lord Shiva so that they do not perish away from the civilization.

Lord Vishnu and goddess Lakshmi has this world and universe to look after. They have to take care of each and every aspect of this universe and not let the vital aspects of universe perish. Therefore, for them, the whole creation is their children so they specifically did not bear any children like Lord Shiva. Therefore, she is also known as the mother of this universe.

Eight forms of Lakshmi

As per the “Siddha Dharma”, there are eight main forms of Asta Lakshmi and they are:

1. Maha Lakshmi

2. Dhanya Lakshmi

3. Dhana Lakshmi

4. Gaja Lakshmi

5. Santana Lakshmi

6. Vijaya Lakshmi

7. Aishwarya Lakshmi

8. Dhana Lakshmi

The eight forms of Lakshmi are also the “asta siddhi” or the “eight perfections” of Lord Vishnu. It is believed that when Lord Vishnu takes an avatara in this world, he radiates the eight powers and affluence of Lakshmi. It is through the powers of those “Asta Lakshmi”, he serves his purpose for his avatara.

The “Siddha Dharma” also believes when Mahakali is separated from Mahakala, the Mahakala becomes a corpse. The whole essence of Mahakala is Mahakali, similarly the whole essence of Lord Vishnu are “Asta Lakshmi”. Without them, Lord Vishnu is also nothing more than a corpse as per tantric teachings.

Goddess Lakshmi and the no moon night of Diwali

As per “Siddha Dharma”, Lakshmi pooja or worship festival “Diwali” falls in the night of amavasya or no moon night. Goddess Lakshmi who is the goddess of grandeur, opulence, wealth etc. is observed and celebrated at a dark night because Goddess Lakshmi dispels the darkness of ignorance through her light. She is like the sun, when the sun sets, the darkness takes over and so does the dark forces but when the sun rises, all the darkness and energies related to it are dispelled.

Furthermore, in Diwali, people lit oil lamps in their houses. The meaning and the reason behind doing so are forgotten by people but it is directly related to goddess Lakshmi. As per “Maha Lakshmi” tantra, our body is equipped with seven kundalini centers or chakras. All the chakras in her tantra are represented as lotus flower. The highest lotus is the “Sahastrahara” or crown chakra which is inside our head and has 1000 petals. The root chakra has lotus with 4 petals. The sahastrahar chakra has 1000 petals but 52 vital points.

People may not know that in Diwali, the tantric “Siddha Dharma” prescribes illuminating or lighting 52 oil lamp which is also the symbolic representation or act of activating the 52 points of sahastrahara chakra. The darkness of the no moon night is dispelled by lighting the oil lamps and the inner darkness of our existence is dispelled by activating the crown chakra and the only thing that remains inside is divine light of the existence and nothing more.

Therefore, the whole Diwali is the perfect time for a person to perfect the Lakshmi sadhana and attain the real Lakshmi which is hidden inside like a pollen grain is hidden inside the flowers.

Lakshmi Sadhana and Maharishi Vishwamitra

As per “Siddha Dharma”, Maharishi Vishwamitra is the leading seer for the Lakshmi sadhana. Whatever the “Siddha Dharma” teaches about goddess Lakshmi along with her eight forms are mostly related to the sadhana propounded by Maharishi Vishwamitra. He had perfected the sadhana through rigorous penance.

As per the legends of “Siddha Dharma”, Maharishi Vishwamitra was cursed by goddess Lakshmi to be deprived of Lakshmi in all her forms, shapes and sizes. He sought the help of lord Vishnu but in vain. When the curse took over and when it started to show its effect, his life was taken over by extreme misfortune, misery, poverty and various ailments. He was also ignored by other seers and kings. Wherever he reached, the place used to be hit with famine and drought. The crops used to die because of the effects of the curse. He was not welcomed anywhere because of the curse and he had to hide from people because of the inner depression.

Having nowhere to go in the world, he dug a pit and started living inside it. He covered the pit with grasses so that nobody would spot him. He had nothing to eat, nowhere to go and no one to look up to. All his penances went in vain. As he was hunger stricken, one day a pilgrim people passed nearby the pit. They ate food and threw the food near the pit. A food eaten by an old lady fell in the pit. Maharishi Vishwamitra looked at the food and the rice grains were covered with mud. He lifted the rice grains that were covered with mud and he ate it. When he ate it, he was such touched inside by his state of misery that he took a resolution that he will perfect Lakshmi anyhow.

He started the penance and performed it rigorously. After his penance started to be fruitful, the effects of the curse were gone. One day in the mid of his penance, a king and his queen passed nearby and they spotted the pit and found him meditating. He was in such a state of bliss that he didn’t need any attention whatsoever. The royal couple asked his blessings and asked Vishwamitra to give something to them as blessings. Maharishi Vishwamitra replied that he had nothing to give nor anything to offer because he was in his penance. But with constant insistence, he picked up the mud and gave it to the couple.

As soon as he touched the mud and gave it to the royal couple, it turned into gold. He had perfected Lakshmi so profoundly that whatever he touched through his will turned into gold. Soon after, his opulence, name and fame started to spread and everywhere he went, he was greeted with utmost respect. Ultimately through the use of Lakshmi sadhana, as per “Siddha Dharma”, he established himself as the highest teacher of “rajas kula” of tantra.

The Lineage of Lakshmi sadhana

In “Siddha Dharma”, the sadhana of Lakshmi Devi was first revealed to Ma Parvati and from her to Nandi, Shukracharya, sapta rishis and other Rishis. The Lakshmi sadhana of Maharishi Vishwamitra reached the siddhas of Kaulantak Peeth and through Mahasiddha Siddhanta Nath, His Holiness Mahasiddha Ishaputra received the wisdom.

Another lineage is also of Mahasiddha Matsyendra Nath Ji Maharaj. He heard the ‘agama-nigama’ about Lakshmi sadhana from Lord Shiva and Ma Parvati and initiated the siddhas of Kaulantak Peeth and the same sadhana reached Mahasiddha Siddhanta Nath and through him, Mahasiddha Ishaputra received it.

Texts

Aishwarya Saar Tantra

Links and reference