Lakshmana, also known as Lakshana, is the seventh wife from the list of Ashtabharya. She is the consort of Lord Krishna who in turn is the supreme Lord Vishnu. Her alternate names are Dwarkeshwari, Madri and Charuhasini. The details of her father and mother are yet to be discovered and hence remain unknown to the world right now. What is known is that she belongs to the kingdom of Madra. Padma Purana has attempted at specifying the king.
They have said that it can either be Madra or Brihatsena. Lakshana describes Brihatsena to be a talented veena player in certain dialogue. If we carefully observe the deduction of the word Madri, we can take it back to Madraa or Madra and say that this could have been the name of her father. Vishnu Purana has mentioned Lakshmana as a part of the list but has also mentioned a completely different princess Madri to be one of the wives too. She hails from the kingdom of Madra. Hence, it can be declared that the legacy and lineage of Lakshmana or Lakshana is uncertain at the moment.
She is being addressed by one more name which is Charuhasini. This means someone who has a beautiful and attractive smile. Charu means beautiful or gorgeous and Hasini means smile. She who has a beautiful smile can be addressed as Charuhasini. The text Harivamsa also describes and speaks about her by calling her Charuhasini. She is kept separate from the other associations made by Vishnu Purana like Madra, Madri or Subhima.
Lakshmana’s father had organised a Swayamvara ceremony for her just like Mitravinda, Nagnajiti and Bhadra’s family. Swayamvara is a ceremony that gives the right to the princess and the family to choose the best groom for the bride. Bhagavata Purana has mentioned that Shri Krishna has kidnapped Lakshana from the Swayamvara. He has made the comparison of the act of abduction to the act of Garuda stealing the jar of amrita (elixir of life) from the supreme deities. Just like Bhadra, there are two stories regarding the Swayamvar ceremony of Lakshmana.
The other story narrates that Shri Krishna entered the competition of Swayamvara and won the archery contest. The other kings present at the ceremony could not pass the challenge. Jarasandha of Magadha and Duryodhana of Hastinapur were present at this competition too. They missed the aim as well losing their chance to marry Lakshmana. Arjuna, being the dear friend of Shri Krishna, purposely missed his aim so as to make sure that Krishna wins the competition. Arjuna was one of the best archers and could have easily won. But to him, his friendship with Lord Krishna was much more important. Bhima, the second-born Pandava strictly refused to take part in the competition as he did not want to compete against his cousin and beloved friend Shri Krishna. Krishna hit the target perfectly and won the competition.
Lakshana was the shy one amongst all the other wives of Lord Krishna. Draupadi made her feel comfortable when she visited Hastinapur with Shri Krishna and the rest of the wives. Lakshmana also narrated to Draupadi how she got married to Krishna and how exciting it all was. Pargosha was the eldest son of Lakshmana and Aparajita was the youngest. Lakshana and Krishna had ten sons. Lakshmana burned herself alive after she was attacked by robbers as described in the Mausala Parva of Mahabharata.
Click here to read about Mitravinda – The Sixth Wife Of Krishna.
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