A form of the Goddess (see Devī) as the wife of the cosmic Hindu preserver god Viṣṇu (see Viṣṇu), Lakṣmī, or Śrī (see Śrī), stands for prosperity and good fortune in this world. In short, she is the worldly reflection of Viṣṇu's power, literally, the world that emerges from the god. Lakṣmī is Viṣṇu's śakti (see śakti), the energy without which he cannot be active or material. Thus, when Viṣṇu sleeps on the serpent Śeśa (see Ananta) during the cosmic night before the creation of the world, Śrī is at his feet as Bhu (Earth), ready to be united with him when he awakens. By extension, the wives of the great Viṣṇu avatars (see Avatars of Viṣṇu), such as Rāma's (see Rāma) Sītā (see Sītā), are incarnations of Lakṣmī. She is also incarnate in Draupadī (see Draupadī), the wife of the Pāṇḍavas (see Pāṇḍavas) in the Mahābhārata (see Mahābhārata). Prosperity in India is associated with gold, so when a bride brings gold in some form to her marriage, she comes to the marriage as Lakṣmī. To preserve Lakṣmī—prosperity—proper sacrificial rituals must be performed, because, as in the cosmos, prosperity on earth depends on sacrificial destruction.
