||On this Auspicious Friday, Let us bow and pay our respects to the eternal couple- Lakshmi Narayana||

Author's POV:

Sage Brighu saw her wife's head under his feet.  He was astonished. He wept bitterly and asked, "Who dared to kill my wife? He will be punished severely for separating me from my wife. Who did this?"

"I did this, O Great Sage". Brighu turned and was startled to see Narayana. "O Lord, I never imagined that the criminal was you. But, this time even the Lord will be punished for his crimes. You separated me from my wife forever. So I, Brighu, curse you that-"

"Wait, O Sage. Your curse will not only affect me but someone whom you love the most. Think before you say your words", warned Hari.

"You killed my wife and I don't need your advice. I, Brighu, curse you that you will be separated from your wife and feel terrible pain. It will not happen for once but for thrice!!".

Saying so, He fell and started weeping. A young man entered the ashram with fruits in his basket. As soon as he saw Poulama in the condition, he dropped the basket of fruits and rushed to the corpse.

"O Mother, What happened to you? Who did this heinous crime against you?" yelled Sukra, the son of Brighu. With his yogic powers, he understood the scenario.

"So, it was these Devas and Narayana responsible for this cruel death of my mother. I will surely take revenge for this act against me. I will be always against you, Devas, and will help the Asuras in destroying you." saying so, Sukra helped Brighu to take the corpse for the funeral.

All the devas left the ashram. 

(Disclaimer: Fictional story ahead!!)

Many Years passed-

Sri opened her eyes. She was fuming with anger. Lord Narayana did not respond to her penance still. She said, "Gaja, Become my vehicle and We should advance towards Vaikunta. I need to know the answer to why Lord Vishnu is not accepting my requests."

Sri immediately sat on Gaja, proceeded towards Vaikunta with Ulooka on her hand. She left the earth, crossed many galaxies. She started facing obstacles in the Universe. But with determination, she crossed everything.

She reached the gates of Vaikunta, traversed through all the 7 gates successfully, and entered Vaikunta, the abode of Lord Vishnu.

She saw Hari sleeping peacefully on Adi-Sesha. She was mesmerized by seeing the beauty of Narayana. She touched the lotus feet of Narayana and shed tears on it. The Lord immediately woke up and said, "Finally, You have come."

Sri was stunned. "You have been waiting for me?"

"Yes, dear. You are my power/shakti. I have been waiting for you to come back to Vaikunta. You have been in this Universe ever since I was there. You are not different from me."

"Not different? How? You are the Lord of the Universe, while I am just a normal human."

"Really? Jaya, Vijaya, Come here, dear," called Hari.

Jaya and Vijaya are the Gatekeepers of Vaikunta. They guard the 7th gate. 

"Dear lady, You are none other Lakshmi, my eternal shakti in me. So, you are never different from me. Entering Vaikunta is not that easy as you did. Living entities struggle a lot to enter this divine abode. Only 0.1% of living entities in this Universe manage to attain this highest abode. No one is allowed to enter the 7th gate unless and until Jaya and Vijaya get orders from to allow them. Did Jaya and Vijaya stop you for a while?"

"No."

"Tell me, Jaya and Vijaya, why you did not stop her?"

"O Lord, We did not see her as an ordinary mortal. She highly resembled you, My Lord. So we thought it must be your form and we did not wish to stop you."

"Look, Devi. Understand that You are always the eternal power of mine. You are the eternal consort of mine."

नमस्तेस्तु महामाये श्रीपीठे सुरपूजिते ।
शङ्खचक्रगदाहस्ते महालक्ष्मि नमोस्तुते ॥१॥

"You are the Mahamaya, who is the reason for the creation of this Universe. You adorn Chakra, Conch, and mace which resembles my form. You are not an ordinary mortal. You are Mahalakshmi, the Goddess of this Universe."

Sri immediately understood about her identity. The Lord wiped off her tears and hugged her. 

"As per your and your father's wish, the marriage will happen with great pomp. Happy?"

Sri blushed in joy. 

All the sages and Devas were invited. Sage Brighu looked like the happiest person of the day as his daughter was going to be married to the Lord himself.

Lord Brahma became as the priest. He performed all rituals. The marriage completed successfully with the blessings of all the great sages.

The Lord became Sri Narayana from Narayana. The Lord became complete with his eternal consort. 

TO BE CONTINUED...

(Published on 10th July 2020, Friday)

NEXT WEEK: The Legend of Matsya

||Om Namo Narayana||

(Image courtesy: Indian TV show)