Diary #4: My best work ever

Vishnu and Lakshmi
wikipedia.org 

Dear Diary,

That's it. I'm officially losing my mind. I can't just "rest and recover" any longer. Honestly, I love Rati but she has been so overprotective in the few days that since my reascension. Just because I got a little overzealous and almost drove a couple insane by accidentally infusing them with too much passion...twice. 

How was I supposed to remember that I had already told Rati to bring them together yesterday??

Okay, so maybe I am still readjusting to actually having the full strength of my powers back. But that doesn't mean that sitting here doing nothing is helping me at all. Rati suggested that I write about the greatest love story I knew of (besides our own of course) to relax myself. 

So here goes...

Despite all of Vishnu's mortal screw-ups, his godly form is a perfect match for his wife Lakshmi, goddess of wealth and prosperity. You see Lakshmi is the daughter of the sea asuras (gods) and was created out of the churning of the sea along with a lot of other powerful beings. From the second she was born the other gods (myself included) knew that she was special and immensely powerful.  

I could feel that all of the gods, especially Brahma, Shiva, and Vishnu, liked Lakshmi. However, at first she did not seem to be drawn to any of them. A goddess this powerful could certainly increase the happiness and prosperity of whichever god she ended up with. However, since she controlled wealth and prosperity I also understood that if she did not marry another god that she truly loved then those same powers could darken and she could cause misery and loss.

I decided to declare right off the bat that for the universe to remain in balance Lakshmi must choose her own husband. While the big three (Vishnu, Brahma, and Shiva) weren’t super pleased that I just declared something without their consent, they also knew that I was right. Also I’m not super pleased that they were offended that the GOD OF FREAKING LOVE DECLARED SOMETHING ABOUT LOVE WITHOUT THEIR EXPLICIT PERMISSION. Like I’m sorry I’m doing my job I guess???

Anyway, annoying leaders aside my plan was a great one. Lakshmi watched the gods, especially when she thought they weren’t looking to judge their character. As she did, I watched her. You see, sometimes people, and gods, deny their brains what their heart has decided. I could tell that Lakshmi respected Vishnu more than any of the other gods and loved that he protected people. Rati weighed in and confirmed that Lakshmi was deeply attracted to Vishnu as well. So, like with so many couple before them I bound Lakshmi and Vishnu’s souls together as one. I ensured that no matter what form their godly selves took their spirits would recognize their other half. And, at least while in their eternal forms, their love has never diminished or wavered. Lakshmi has brought Vishnu happiness, joy, and prosperity. In turn Vishnu preserved the marriage and protected Lakshmi with every fiber of his being.

So I did well.

And, now it’s time for me to continue to do more good. I will rest for a few more days, or until Rati thinks I am ready, and then continue to bring the right souls together and help to maintain the balance of the universe. While my job can be taxing, especially when idiots let pride get in the way of my creations, I still love being the God of Love. 

Author's Note:

Since I had focused so much on Vishnu and Lakshmi's avatars I thought it would be nice to tell their original story while wrapping up Kamadeva's narrative as well. I found a couple of different sources that all seemed to agree that Lakshmi was formed out of the churning sea (almost like Aphrodite in the Greek legends, which I thought was really interesting). Those same sources also all said that she chose Vishnu as her partner, which I thought was fascinating since none of the epics that I have read have a female character choosing her husband (that I can remember anyway). One of the sources I read said that she was originally linked to Indra and then chose Vishnu. I thought that might be a little confusing so I just had her choosing Vishnu for the beginning. Additionally, while I tried not to directly contradict any of the sources, none of them actually say how she and Vishnu actually fell in love, so I created my own narrative.  One source claimed that she was drawn to Vishnu's protective nature and that she respected that he served as the preserver and protector of humanity. I liked that logic so I tried to shape her attraction to him around it. 

Bibliography

Wikipedia, Vishnu

Wikipedia, Lakshmi

Devdutt Pattanaik, Seven Secrets of the Goddess