Perfect Example of Surrender

Perfect Example of Surrender
Srila Santana Goswami
Goddess Laksmi worships Lord Narayana with pure devotion. Only devotional service to the Supreme Lord can attract Her attention. Though Goddess Laksmi willingly accepts any difficulty and any menial service to please Him, Lord Narayana, being satisfied in Himself, does not need anyone’s help to fulfil His desires. Many Vaiṣṇavas look to Mother Laksmi’s example of perfect surrender, hoping to follow in her footsteps. The wives of the Kaliya snake, for example, prayed to Sri Krishna:
kasyānubhāvo ‘sya na deva vidmahe
tavāṅghri-reṇu-sparaśādhikāraḥ
yad-vāñchayā śrīr lalanācarat tapo
vihāya kāmān su-ciraṁ dhṛta-vratā
“O Lord, we do not know how the serpent Kaliya has attained this great opportunity of being touched by the dust of Your lotus feet. For this end, the goddess of fortune performed austerities for centuries, giving up all other desires and taking austere vows.” (Bhāgavatam 10.16.36)
The supreme goddess Maha-lakṣmī is the eternal beloved of the Lord of Vaikuntha; She does not have to worship Him to achieve Him. But Her expansions descend as avatāras to accompany the various incarnations of Narayana, and some of these avatāras of Maha-laksmi, such as the daughter of Bhrgu Muni, are described in Vedic scriptures as performing penances to obtain the Lord as their husband.
— Śrī Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta of Srila SanatanaGosvami, Volume One. Translated by Gopiparanadhana Dasa. 1.3.67