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As I discuss in this answer, one of the early movements that was important in the development of Vaishnavism was the ancient Pancharatra movement, whose sacred texts consist of detailed procedures to worship the sage Narayana, an ancient incarnation of Vishnu who was the twin brother of the sage Nara. (Nara and Narayana were the previous births of Arjuna and Krishna, respectively.) One of the Pancharatra texts is the Lakshmi Tantra, which takes the form of a dialogue between Indra and Vishnu's wife Lakshmi.

In any case, in this excerpt from the Lakshmi Tantra, Lakshmi describes to Indra the glories of the Sri Sukta, a famous hymn to Lakshmi from the Rig Veda:

My spotless garland made of silver lotuses is ever sparkling. All creators, who create the worlds are adorned with me (i.e. with my presence). In ancient times the forefather of the Rudras, (propitiating me as) Rajatasraj, went to mount Kailasha and became the lord of silver.

For those who don't know, the forefather of the Rudras is Shiva, as I discuss in this answer.

So my question is, what is the story of Shiva becoming the lord of silver after worshipping Lakshmi? I'm not sure what "the lord of silver" means. The translator just says that Shiva "is often compared to a silver mountain".

But are there any other scriptures which describe Shiva as becoming the lord of silver after worshiping Lakshmi? Also, on a side note there are many scriptures which describe Shiva worshipping Vishnu (like the Mahabharata chapter I discuss here), but I think this is the first reference I've seen to Shiva worshipping Vishnu's wife Lakshmi. Are there any other occasions where he worshipped Lakshmi?

Keshav Srinivasan
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    Don't know about this incident but I have came across some texts where Goddess Parvati is sometimes referred as Lakshmi. One such text is from 'Bilvashtakam' in praise of the Bilva tree. As per Skanda Purana, Bilva tree was born from Goddess Parvati but Bilvashtakam says it differently, ie, 'Lakshmyaha stanat utpannam, Mahadevasya ch priyam' meaning 'Born from the heart of Goddess Lakshmi, the Bilva tree is ever dear to Mahadeva'. I think I definitely have seen some other texts as well where Lakshmi was used instead of Parvati, but can't recall others now. – Aby Sep 07 '15 at 08:10
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    @Aby - The Sri Suktham clearly says that Goddess Sri, Vishnu pathni is Bilva nilaya i.e. She resides in Bilva tree. Moreover the comment of yours is completely out of place and has got nothing do with the question. All names are related Goddess lakshmi only. if you read, Vishnu purana it clearly says, anything that male in this creation is Lord Vishnu and anything that is feminine in nature is Goddess Sri. –  Sep 07 '15 at 09:59
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    @Aby - For your info Shankara in his upanishad commentaries has even said that name UMA applies to Vishnu pathni, Goddess Lakshmi, primarily. I know, it is hard to digest for shaivates and may be even to a few shaktas and also to some pseudo vaishnavas. But, Shankara has said it in his own commentary very clearly. –  Sep 07 '15 at 10:02
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    @Keshav - Yes, i too heard the same in an upanyasam of Sri Vellukudi Krishnan, that Lord Shiva became the owner Kailasa which is called mountain of silver after worshiping Goddess Lakshmi. –  Sep 07 '15 at 10:08
  • @Krishna, I put the comment only to clarify that there are some instances in texts where 'Parvati' is mentioned as 'Lakshmi', so it might be with the case in question and in the other instances that could be found related to Lakshmi and Shiva which Keshav has asked. I just quoted it so that we might not be confused. Btw, Bilva tree origination from Goddess Parvati is described here – Aby Sep 07 '15 at 10:47
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    @Aby - Why only parvati, even saraswati, Sachi are also mentioned as Lakshmi in puranas? That doesnt mean they are Lakshmi. Saraswati, parvati, sachi and other goddesses are referred sometimes as Lakshmi because fraction of Lakshmitva is present in all these goddesses too. Lakshmi Astakam wad taught to parvati by Lord Shiva. Rigveda, Sri suktham says Lakshmi is bilva nilaya. I am not disputing the story of skanda. But, it has got nothing to do with the question. –  Sep 07 '15 at 11:00
  • @Krishna Correct, that's why I mentioned that we should not take the words as it is. Maybe we just get confused by finding references related to stories between Lord Shiva and Goddess Lakshmi and the real story is with some other Goddess who is referred as Lakshmi. My intention was to broaden the search scope. – Aby Sep 07 '15 at 11:05
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    @Aby Yeah, it's certainly true that the word Lakshmi can refer to Parvati sometimes. But in this instance, I think it has to refer to Lakshmi herself, for two reasons. First of all, this is taken from a dialogue between Lakshmi and Indra, where Lakshmi is telling Indra a list of people who have worshipped her in the past. But more importantly the specific context of this passage is an explanation of the first mantra of the Sri Suktam of the Rig Veda: http://www.stephen-knapp.com/prayers_to_goddess_lakshmi.htm And the deity of the Sri Suktam is Vishnu's wife Lakshmi. But thanks for the thought! – Keshav Srinivasan Sep 07 '15 at 11:30
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    @Aby By the way, you may be interested in my answer here about the Sri Suktam: http://hinduism.stackexchange.com/a/8447/36 – Keshav Srinivasan Sep 08 '15 at 20:08
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    "the lord of silver" probably refers to mount Kailāsa, which scriptures often credit as being the abobe or heaven of Śiva. If you google you will see the actual mountain, which appears silver because of the snow. So it probably means Śiva is the Lord of his domain, situated at mount Kailāsa. As for your other questions, you may want to refer to the original Sanskrit text for 50.51-52: rājatairme srajaḥ padmai rājante ca srajo'malāḥ | rājitāśca srajaḥ sarve sraṣṭāro jagatāṃ mayā || 51 || > rajatasrajamityeva rudrāṇāṃ pravaraḥ purā | kailāse samupasthāya rajatādhipatāṃ yayau || 52 || – Gabe Hiemstra Jul 02 '16 at 15:53
  • @GabeHiemstra The same Kailasa appears as if made of gold when Early morning sun and evening sun rays fall on the same snow, its just a metaphorical comparison but here we are talking about the entire existence of silver metal in universe and Lord Shiva being it's autorized god. – Yogi Sep 20 '17 at 04:14
  • @Yogi I'm not aware of any scriptures that link Shiva to silver metal. I think the Lakshmi Tantra is just referring to Shiva being the lord of Mount Kailash. – Keshav Srinivasan Sep 20 '17 at 04:20
  • There was a movie which had the following story: after Brahma’s head was severed, Shiva was cursed to have the skull be fixed to his hand forever and he was to live on alms collected by using the skull. The curse would never allow the skull to fill up leading to subsistence on meager alms. Shiva prayed to Lakshmi and she overloaded the Kapaala and it exploded leading to the curse to be nullified / completed. Don’t know how apocryphal this story is but there are temples in south India with Shiva holding a vessel to collect alms. – user1952500 Dec 10 '17 at 05:39
  • @user1952500 Yes, that form of Shiva is known as Kala Bhairava, and he's mentioned in numerous scriptures. There are lots of temples which claim to be the place where Kala Bhairava got freed from Brahma's skull. It's possible one of them involves Lakshmi. In any case, that wouldn't explain the "Lord of Silver" part. – Keshav Srinivasan Dec 10 '17 at 06:27

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