SB 12.11.20
anapayini bhagavati
srih saksad atmano hareh
visvaksenas tantra-murtir
viditah parsadadhipah
nandadayo ’stau dvah-sthas ca
te ’nimadya harer gunah
Translation:
The goddess of fortune, Sri, who never leaves the Lord’s side, appears with Him in this world as the representation of His internal potency. Visvaksena, the chief among His personal associates, is known to be the personification of the Pañcaratra and other tantras. And the Lord’s eight doorkeepers, headed by Nanda, are His mystic perfections, beginning with anima.
Purport:
According to Srila Jiva Gosvami, the goddess of fortune is the original source of all material opulence. Material nature is directly controlled by the Lord’s inferior energy, Maha-maya, 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 Sri Hayasirsa Pañcaratra:
paramatma harir devas
tac-chaktih srir ihodita
srir devi prakrtih prokta
kesavah purusah smrtah
na visnuna vina devi
na harih padmajam vina
“The Supreme Soul is Lord Hari, and His potency is known in this world as Sri. Goddess Sri is known as prakrti, and the Supreme Lord Kesava is known as the purusa. The divine goddess is never present without Him, nor does He ever appear without her.”
Also, Sri Visnu Purana (1.8.15) states:
nityaiva sa jagan-mata
visnoh srir anapayini
yatha sarva-gato visnus
tathaiveyam dvijottamah
“She is the eternal mother of the universe, the goddess of fortune of Lord Visnu, and she is never separated from Him. In the same way that Lord Visnu is present everywhere, so is she, O best of brahmanas.”
Also in Visnu Purana (1.9.140):
evam yatha jagat-svami
deva-devo janardanah
avataram karoty eva
tatha sris tat-sahayini
“Thus, in the same way that the Lord of the universe, the God of gods, Janardana, descends to this world, so His consort, the goddess of fortune, does also.”
The pure spiritual status of the goddess of fortune is described in the Skanda Purana:
aparam tv aksaram ya sa
prakrtir jada-rupika
srih para prakrtih prokta
cetana visnu-samsraya
tam aksaram param prahuh
paratah param aksaram
harir evakhila-guno ’py
aksara-trayam iritam
“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 Visnu. 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.”
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 Purana (256.9-21) lists eighteen doorkeepers of the Lord: Nanda, Sunanda, Jaya, Vijaya, Canda, Pracanda, Bhadra, Subhadra, Dhata, Vidhata, Kumuda, Kumudaksa, Pundariksa, Vamana, Sankukarna, Sarvanetra, Sumukha and Supratisthita.