Bhagvatam:- Vishnu is described as yajna personified, and mother Lakshmi is described as spiritual activities and the original form of worship. In fact, they represent spiritual activities and the Supersoul of all yajna. Lord Vishnu is the Supersoul even of Lakshmidevi, but no one can be the Supersoul of Lord Vishnu, for Lord Vishnu Himself is the spiritual Supersoul of everyone. Lakshmiji is the constant companion of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vishnu, and therefore she is called anapäyini. She is the mother of all creation. As Lord Vishnu is all-pervading, His spiritual potency, mother Lakshmi, is also all-pervading.
TRANSLATION
One should offer obeisances unto the Lord with a mind humbled through devotion. While offering dandavats by falling on the ground like a rod, one should chant the above mantra ten times. Then one should chant the following prayer.
TRANSLATION
My Lord Vishnu and mother Lakshmi, goddess of fortune, you are the proprietors of the entire creation. Indeed, you are the cause of the creation. Mother Lakshmi is extremely difficult to understand because she is so powerful that the jurisdiction of her power is difficult to overcome. Mother Lakshmi is represented in the material world as the external energy, but actually she is always the internal energy of the Lord.
TRANSLATION
My Lord, You are the master of energy, and therefore You are the Supreme Person. You are sacrifice [yajna] personified. Lakshmi, the embodiment of spiritual activities, is the original form of worship offered unto You, whereas You are the enjoyer of all sacrifices.
TRANSLATION
Mother Lakshmi, who is here, is the reservoir of all spiritual qualities, whereas You manifest and enjoy all these qualities. Indeed, You are actually the enjoyer of everything. You live as the Supersoul of all living entities, and the goddess of fortune is the form of their bodies, senses and minds. She also has a holy name and form, whereas You are the support of all such names and forms and the cause for their manifestation.
PURPORT
Madhvächärya, the ächärya of the Tattvavädis, has described this verse in the following way: "Vishnu is described as yajna personified, and mother Lakshmi is described as spiritual activities and the original form of worship. In fact, they represent spiritual activities and the Supersoul of all yajna. Lord Vishnu is the Supersoul even of Lakshmidevi, but no one can be the Supersoul of Lord Vishnu, for Lord Vishnu Himself is the spiritual Supersoul of everyone."
According to Madhvächärya, there are two tattvas, or factors. One is independent, and the other is dependent. The first tattva is the Supreme Lord, Vishnu, and the second is the jiva-tattva. Lakshmidevi, being dependent on Lord Vishnu, is sometimes counted among the jivas. The Gaudiya Vaishnavas, however, describe Lakshmidevi in accordance with the following two verses from the Prameya-ratnävali of Baladeva Vidyäbhüshana. The first verse is a quotation from the Vishnu Puräna.
"'O best of the brähmanas, Lakshmiji is the constant companion of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vishnu, and therefore she is called anapäyini. She is the mother of all creation. As Lord Vishnu is all-pervading, His spiritual potency, mother Lakshmi, is also all-pervading.'
Lord Vishnu has three principal potencies—internal, external and marginal. Sri Chaitanya Mahäprabhu has accepted parä-shakti, the spiritual energy of the Lord, as being identical with the Lord. Thus she is also included in the independent vishnu-tattva."
In the Känti-mälä commentary on the Prameya-ratnävali there is this statement: "Although some authoritative Vaishnava disciplic successions count the goddess of fortune among the ever-liberated living entities (jivas) in Vaikuntha, Sri Chaitanya Mahäprabhu, in accordance with the statement in the Vishnu Puräna, has described Lakshmi as being identical with the vishnu-tattva.
The correct conclusion is that the descriptions of Lakshmi as being different from Vishnu are stated when an eternally liberated living entity is imbued with the quality of Lakshmi; they do not pertain to mother Lakshmi, the eternal consort of Lord Vishnu.
