anapÄyinÄ« bhagavatÄ«
śṛīḥ sÄká¹£Äd Ätmano hareḥ
viṣvakṣenas tantra-mūrtir
viditaḥ pÄrá¹£adÄdhipaḥ
nandÄdayo 'á¹£á¹au dvÄḥ-sthÄÅ› ca
te 'ṇimÄdyÄ harer guṇÄḥ
anapÄyinÄ« - inseparable; bhagavatÄ« - the goddess of fortune; Å›rīḥ - ÅšrÄ«; sÄká¹£Ät - directly; Ätmanaḥ - of the internal nature; hareḥ - of Lord Hari; viá¹£vaksenaḥ - Viá¹£vaksena; tantra-mÅ«rtiḥ - as the personification of the tantra scriptures; viditaḥ - is known; pÄrá¹£ada-adhipaḥ - the chief of His personal associates; nanda-Ädayaḥ - Nanda and the others; aá¹£á¹au - the eight; dvÄḥ-sthÄḥ - doorkeepers; ca - and; te - they; aṇimÄ-ÄdyÄḥ - aṇimÄ and the other mystic perfections; hareḥ - of the Supreme Lord; guṇÄḥ - the qualities.
According to ÅšrÄ«la JÄ«va GosvÄmÄ«, the goddess of fortune is the original source of all material opulence. Material nature is directly controlled by the Lord’s inferior energy, MahÄ-mÄyÄ, whereas the goddess of fortune is His internal, superior energy. Still, the opulence of the Lord’s inferior nature has its source in the supreme spiritual opulence of the goddess of fortune. As stated in ÅšrÄ« Hayaśīrá¹£a PañcarÄtra:
paramÄtmÄ harir devas
tac-chaktiḥ Å›rÄ«r ihoditÄ
Å›rÄ«r devÄ« praká¹›tiḥ proktÄ
keśavaḥ puruṣaḥ smṛtaḥ
na viṣṇunÄ vinÄ devÄ«
na hariḥ padmajÄá¹ vinÄ
“The Supreme Soul is Lord Hari, and His potency is known in this world as ÅšrÄ«. Goddess ÅšrÄ« is known as praká¹›ti, and the Supreme Lord KeÅ›ava is known as the puruá¹£a. The divine goddess is never present without Him, nor does He ever appear without her.â€
Also, ÅšrÄ« Viṣṇu PurÄṇa (1.8.15) states:
nityaiva sÄ jagan-mÄtÄ
viṣṇoḥ Å›rÄ«r anapÄyinÄ«
yathÄ sarva-gato viṣṇus
tathaiveyaá¹ dvijottamÄḥ
“She is the eternal mother of the universe, the goddess of fortune of Lord Viṣṇu, and she is never separated from Him. In the same way that Lord Viṣṇu is present everywhere, so is she, O best of brÄhmaṇas.â€
Also in Viṣṇu PurÄṇa (1.9.140):
evaá¹ yathÄ jagat-svÄmÄ«
deva-devo janÄrdanaḥ
avatÄraá¹ karoty eva
tathÄ Å›rÄ«s tat-sahÄyinÄ«
“Thus, in the same way that the Lord of the universe, the God of gods, JanÄrdana, descends to this world, so His consort, the goddess of fortune, does also.â€
The pure spiritual status of the goddess of fortune is described in the Skanda PurÄṇa:
aparaá¹ tv aká¹£araá¹ yÄ sÄ
praká¹›tir jaá¸a-rÅ«pikÄ
Å›rīḥ parÄ praká¹›tiḥ proktÄ
cetanÄ viṣṇu-saá¹Å›rayÄ
taá¹ aká¹£araá¹ paraá¹ prÄhuḥ
parataḥ param akṣaram
harir evÄkhila-guṇo ’py
aká¹£ara-trayam Ä«ritam
“The inferior infallible entity is that nature who manifests as the material world. The goddess of fortune, on the other hand, is known as the superior nature. She is pure consciousness and is under the direct shelter of Lord Viṣṇu. While she is said to be the superior infallible entity, that infallible entity who is greater than the greatest is Lord Hari Himself, the original possessor of all transcendental qualities. In this way, three distinct infallible entities are described.â€
Thus, although the inferior energy of the Lord is infallible in her function, her power to manifest temporary illusory opulences exists by the grace of the internal energy, the goddess of fortune, who is the personal consort of the Supreme Lord.
The Padma PurÄṇa (256.9-21) lists eighteen doorkeepers of the Lord: Nanda, Sunanda, Jaya, Vijaya, Caṇá¸a, Pracaṇá¸a, Bhadra, Subhadra, DhÄtÄ, VidhÄtÄ, Kumuda, KumudÄká¹£a, PundarÄ«ká¹£a, VÄmana, Åšaá¹…kukarṇa, Sarvanetra, Sumukha and Supratiá¹£á¹hita.