Birth of Goddess Lakshmi

Sage Bhrigu was married to Khyaati who had two two sons Dhata and Vidhaata and a daughter Lakshmi. Lakshmi then married Lord Vishnu. This was the first appearance of goddess lakshmi. In her second appearance she appeared as the daughter of ocean. Once sage Durvaasa was wandering on the earth. He saw a beautiful girl with a garland. She presented the garland respectfully to the sage. Right at that moment, he saw Indra riding on Airaavat, the elephant. Instinctively, sage Durvaasa put that garland around the neck of Indra but Indra removed it and put it on Airaavat’s head. Airaavat pulled the garland with his trunk and smashed it on the ground. This whole sequence of events frustrated Durvaasa who cursed Indra that he will loose all his wealth. As a result Indra lost his wealth with a passage of time. Goddess of wealth, Lakshmi too didn’t stayed there. She made her abode in the abysmal depth of the sea. Very soon, the demons launched an attack on the gods and drove them out of heaven. Indra along with other gods approached Lord Vishnu. Pleased by their prayers, Lord Vishnu appeared before them and said-the only way to took out the lakshmi from the sea is to perform the churning of ocean with the help of demons. Following the advice of Lord Vishnu, the gods reconciled with the demons and convinced them to carry out the churning of the sea. Then they began the churning using Mandaraachal Mountain. As soon as the churning began, Mandaraachal began to sink. Lord Vishnu took incarnation of Kachchhap (the great tortoise) and bore the weight of the mighty mountain on His back. During the churning, Kamadhenu, the wishful cow was the first to emerge. It was presented to the sages as an aid for their Yagyas. It was followed by the Vaaruni devi, Kalpavriksha (the wishful tree) after which, beautiful apsaras appeared. The Moon followed the apsaras and was taken up by Shiva on His forehead. During the churning, huge quantity of poison had also emerged. It was drunk by Lord Shiva and some parts of it were taken up by the serpents. In the end, Dhanvantari himself emerged from the sea carrying the urn of ambrosia. It was during the churning itself that Lakshmi appeared once again from the sea holding lotuses in her hands. All the sages prayed her. Then taking bath with divine water, goddess Lakshmi took her seat in the heart of Lord Vishnu. When the demons saw that Lakshmi had chosen Lord Vishnu’s heart as her abode, they got perplexed. They at once snatched the urn from Dhanvantari and ran away. Then a row broke out among them over the drinking of ambrosia. Each of the demons wanted to drink ambrosia in maximum quantity. Meanwhile, Lord Vishnu also arrived there in the guise of an extremely pretty woman Mohini and took possession of the urn. Mohini had pleased the demons with her sweet smile while distributing ambrosia among the gods.Thus, the gods came to drink ambrosia. When at last, the demons realised that they had been cheated they immediately attacked the gods. But since the gods had regained their strength, they soon defeated the demons without much ado. Afterwards, the gods prayed Lord Vishnu and returned to heaven to rule it. Indra regain all his wealth. He prayed goddess Lakshmi with devotion and respect. Thus, Lakshmi had appeared as the daughter of Bhrigu and his wife Khyaati. Then second time, she emerged from beneath the sea during its churning. It is believe that one who read this story with devotion will never be deprive of wealth in his life.