Editing Lakshmi (section)

==Literature==
{{Infobox
| title            = Goddess Lakshmi
| image            = {{image array|perrow=2|width=125|height=115
| image1 = Gajalaxmi - Medallion - 2nd Century BCE - Red Sand Stone - Bharhut Stupa Railing Pillar - Madhya Pradesh - Indian Museum - Kolkata 2012-11-16 1837 Cropped.JPG| caption1 = [[Bharhut]] [[Stupa]], circa 110 BCE
| image2 = Coin of Azilises showing Gaja Lakshmi standing on a lotus 1st century BCE.jpg| caption2 = Coins of [[Gandhara]], 1st century BCE
| image3 = Coin of Vikramaditya Chandragupta II with the name of the king in Brahmi script 380 415 CE.jpg| caption3 = Coinage of [[Gupta Empire]]
| image4 = Prasat Kravan 0637.jpg| caption4 = Cambodia
| image5 = Sandstone Lakshmi statue (10th century), Museum of Vietnamese History, Ho Chi Minh City - 20121014.JPG| caption5 = Vietnam, 10th century
| image6 = Ganesha Saraswati Lakshmi in Hindu Temple Malaysia.jpg| caption6 =  Malaysia
}}
| caption          = Lakshmi is one of the [[Tridevi|tridevi of Hindu goddesses]]. Her iconography is found in ancient and modern Hindu and Buddhist temples.
}}

===Vedas and Brahmanas===
The meaning and significance of Lakshmi evolved in ancient Sanskrit texts.<ref name="jmuir">Muir, John, ed. 1870. "Lakshmi and Shri." Pp. 348–49 in {{Google books|ymLZAAAAMAAJ|Original Sanskrit Texts on the Origin and History of the People of India – Their Religions and Institutions|348}}, volume 5. London: Trubner & Co.</ref> Lakshmi is mentioned once in [[Rigveda]], in which the name is used to mean 'kindred mark, sign of auspicious fortune'''.''
{{Verse translation|{{lang|sa|भद्रैषां '''लक्ष्मी'''र्निहिताधि वाचि}}
''{{IAST|bhadraiṣāṁ '''lakṣmī'''rnihitādhi vāci}}''|"an auspicious fortune is attached to their words"|italicsoff=off|attr2=translated by [[John Muir (indologist)|John Muir]]<ref name=jmuir/>|attr1=Rig Veda, x.71.2}}

In [[Atharvaveda|Atharva Veda]], transcribed about 1000 BCE, Lakshmi evolves into a complex concept with plural manifestations. Book 7, Chapter 115 of Atharva Veda describes the plurality, asserting that a hundred Lakshmis are born with the body of a mortal at birth, some good, ''Punya'' ('virtuous') and auspicious, while others bad, ''paapi'' ('evil') and unfortunate. The good are welcomed, while the bad are urged to leave.<ref name="jmuir" /> The concept and spirit of Lakshmi and her association with fortune and the good is significant enough that Atharva Veda mentions it in multiple books: for example, in Book 12, Chapter 5 as ''Punya Lakshmi''.<ref>"{{lang|sa|अप क्रामति सूनृता वीर्यं पुन्या लक्ष्मीः}}"; [http://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/अथर्ववेदः/अथर्ववेद:_काण्डं_12 अथर्ववेद: काण्डं 12] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161008103125/https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/%E0%A4%85%E0%A4%A5%E0%A4%B0%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B5%E0%A4%B5%E0%A5%87%E0%A4%A6%E0%A4%83/%E0%A4%85%E0%A4%A5%E0%A4%B0%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B5%E0%A4%B5%E0%A5%87%E0%A4%A6:_%E0%A4%95%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%A3%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%A1%E0%A4%82_12|date=8 October 2016}} Atharva Veda Sanskrit Original Archive</ref> In some chapters of Atharva Veda, Lakshmi connotes the good, an auspicious sign, good luck, good fortune, prosperity, success, and happiness.<ref name="mmwlak" />

Later, Lakshmi is referred to as the goddess of fortune, identified with Sri and regarded as the wife of ''{{IAST|Viṣṇu}}'' ({{IAST|Nārāyaṇa}}).<ref name="mmwlak" /> For example, in [[Shatapatha Brahmana]], variously estimated to be composed between 800 BCE and 300 BCE, Sri (Lakshmi) is part of one of many theories, in ancient India, about the creation of the universe. In Book 9 of Shatapatha Brahmana, Sri emerges from Prajapati, after his intense meditation on the creation of life and nature of the universe. Sri is described as a resplendent and trembling woman at her birth with immense energy and powers.<ref name="jmuir" /> The gods are bewitched, desire her, and immediately become covetous of her. The gods approach Prajapati and request permission to kill her and then take her powers, talents, and gifts. Prajapati refuses, tells the gods that men should not kill women and that they can seek her gifts without violence.<ref>Naama Drury (2010), The Sacrificial Ritual in the Satapatha Brahmana, {{ISBN|978-81-208-2665-6}}, pages 61–102</ref> The gods then approach Lakshmi. [[Agni]] gets food, Soma gets kingly authority, [[Varuna]] gets imperial authority, Mitra acquires martial energy, Indra gets force, [[Bṛhaspati|Brihaspati]] gets priestly authority, Savitri acquires dominion, Pushan gets splendour, [[Saraswati]] takes nourishment and Tvashtri gets forms.<ref name="jmuir" /> The hymns of Shatapatha Brahmana thus describe Sri as a goddess born with and personifying a diverse range of talents and powers.

According to another legend, she emerges during the creation of universe, floating over the water on the expanded petals of a lotus flower; she is also variously regarded as wife of [[Dharma]], mother of [[Kāma]], sister or mother of {{IAST|Dhātṛ}} and {{IAST|Vidhātṛ}}, wife of Dattatreya, one of the nine Shaktis of {{IAST|Viṣṇu}}, a manifestation of {{IAST|Prakṛti}} as identified with {{IAST|Dākshāyaṇī}} in Bharatasrama and as [[Sita]], wife of [[Rama]].<ref name="mmwlak" /><ref name=":0">[[Monier Monier-Williams|Williams, Monier]]. ''[https://archive.org/stream/religiousthough00wilgoog Religious Thought and Life in India]'', Part 1 (2nd ed.). {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160316110338/https://archive.org/stream/religiousthough00wilgoog#page/n125/mode/2up|date=16 March 2016}}.</ref>{{Rp|103–12}}

===Epics===
In the Epics of Hinduism, such as in [[Mahabharata]], Lakshmi personifies wealth, riches, happiness, loveliness, grace, charm, and splendor.<ref name="mmwlak" /> In another Hindu legend about the creation of the universe as described in [[Ramayana]],<ref>Ramayana, i.45.40–43</ref> Lakshmi springs with other precious things from the foam of the ocean of milk when it is churned by the gods and demons for the recovery of {{IAST|Amṛta}}. She appeared with a lotus in her hand and so she is also called Padmā.<ref name="mmwlak" /><ref name=":0" />{{Rp|108–11}} Some scholars propose a theory that Sri and Lakshmi may have originally been different goddesses, who merged into one figure.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Dalal|first=Roshen|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zrk0AwAAQBAJ&q=Shri+Lakshmi+Draupadi+Rukmini|title=Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide|date=2014-04-18|publisher=Penguin UK|isbn=978-81-8475-277-9|language=en}}</ref>

[[Sita]], the female protagonist of the ''Ramayana'' and her husband, the god-king [[Rama]] are considered as [[avatar]]s of Lakshmi and Vishnu, respectively. 

In the ''[[Mahabharata]]'', [[Draupadi]] is described as an incarnation of Sri (Lakshmi).<ref name = "Draupadi as Goddess Sri">{{cite web|url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m18/m18004.htm| title=Svargarohanika parva|publisher=Sacred-texts.com | access-date=13 July 2015}}</ref> A later interpolation attempts to reinterpret Draupadi as [[Shachi]], associating Lakshmi instead with [[Rukmini]], the consort of [[Krishna]], who is an incarnation of Vishnu. However, scholars affirm that the original tradition identifies Sri with Draupadi, as evidenced in the Critical Edition.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Brodbeck|first1=Simon|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=56fr2p5f7l0C&q=Sri+Rukmini&pg=PA193|title=Gender and Narrative in the Mahabharata|last2=Black|first2=Brian|date=2007-08-09|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-11995-0|language=en}}</ref>

===Upanishads===
Shakta [[Upanishad]]s are dedicated to the [[Tridevi]] of goddesses—Lakshmi, [[Saraswati]] and [[Parvati]]. [[Saubhagyalakshmi Upanishad]] describes the qualities, characteristics, and powers of Lakshmi.<ref name="mahadeva">Mahadeva, A. 1950. "Saubhagya-Lakshmi Upanishad." In ''The Shakta Upanishads with the Commentary of Sri Upanishad Brahma Yogin'', Adyar Library Series 10. Madras.</ref> In the second part of the Upanishad, the emphasis shifts to the use of yoga and transcendence from material craving to achieve spiritual knowledge and self-realization, the true wealth.<ref>[http://www.sanskritdocuments.org/all_sa/saubhagya_sa.html Saubhagya Lakshmi Upanishad] (Original text, in Sanskrit). {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141108232748/http://www.sanskritdocuments.org/all_sa/saubhagya_sa.html|date=8 November 2014}}.</ref><ref>Warrier, A. G. Krishna, trans. 1931. ''Saubhagya Lakshmi Upanishad''. Chennai: [[Theosophical Publishing House]]. {{ISBN|978-0-8356-7318-1}}.</ref> Saubhagya-Lakshmi Upanishad synonymously uses Sri to describe Lakshmi.<ref name="mahadeva"/>

===Stotram and sutras===
Numerous ancient [[Stotram]] and [[Sutra]]s of Hinduism recite hymns dedicated to Lakshmi.<ref name="Rhodes" /> She is a major goddess in [[Purana]]s and [[Itihasa]] of Hinduism. In ancient scriptures of India, all women are declared to be embodiments of Lakshmi. For example:<ref name="Rhodes" />
{{Vaishnavism}}
{{Blockquote|Every woman is an embodiment of you. <br /> You exist as little girls in their childhood, <br /> As young women in their youth <br /> And as elderly women in their old age.|Sri Kamala Stotram|title=|source=}}
{{Blockquote|Every woman is an emanation of you.|Sri Daivakrta Laksmi Stotram|title=|source=}}

Ancient prayers dedicated to Lakshmi seek both material and spiritual wealth in prayers.<ref name="Rhodes" />

{{Poem quote|text=Through illusion,
A person can become disconnected,
From his higher self,
Wandering about from place to place,
Bereft of clear thought,
Lost in destructive behavior.
It matters not how much truth,
May shine forth in the world,
Illuminating the entire creation,
For one cannot acquire wisdom,
Unless it is experienced,
Through the opening on the heart....|char=|sign=|title=|source=}}

===Puranas===
Lakshmi features prominently in [[Purana]]s of Hinduism. Vishnu Purana, in particular, dedicates many sections to her and also refers to her as Sri.<ref name= buitenen/> [[J. A. B. van Buitenen]] translates passages describing Lakshmi in Vishnu Purana:<ref name= buitenen/><blockquote>Sri, loyal to Vishnu, is the mother of the world. Vishnu is the meaning, Sri is the speech. She is the conduct, he the behavior. Vishnu is knowledge, she the insight. He is dharma, she the virtuous action. She is the earth, the earth's upholder. She is contentment, he the satisfaction. She wishes, he is the desire. Sri is the sky, Vishnu the Self of everything. He is the Sun, she the light of the Sun. He is the ocean, she is the shore.</blockquote>

===Subhasita, genomic and didactic literature===

Lakshmi, along with Parvati and Saraswati, is a subject of extensive [[Subhashita]], genomic and didactic literature of India.<ref name="ls">Sternbach, Ludwik. 1974. ''Subhasita, Gnomic and Didactic Literature'', A History of Indian Literature 4. [[Otto Harrassowitz Verlag]]. {{ISBN|978-3-447-01546-2}}.</ref> Composed in the 1st millennium BCE through the 16th century CE, they are short poems, proverbs, couplets, or [[aphorism]]s in Sanskrit written in a precise meter. They sometimes take the form of a dialogue between Lakshmi and Vishnu or highlight the spiritual message in Vedas and ethical maxims from Hindu Epics through Lakshmi.<ref name=ls/> An example Subhashita is ''Puranartha Samgraha'', compiled by Vekataraya in South India, where Lakshmi and Vishnu discuss ''niti'' ('right, moral conduct') and ''rajaniti'' ('statesmanship' or 'right governance')—covering in 30 chapters and ethical and moral questions about personal, social and political life.<ref name="ls" />{{Rp|22}}