Generally speaking wealth means all assets owned by an individual Money is commonly used to define or measure wealth but all wealth is not money Besides money knowledge good health strength children strength among others are also our wealth Our wealth or assets can be described by Ashta Lakshmi the eight forms of Goddess Lakshmi which denote different aspects of wealth 1 Dhana Lakshmi represents wealth in the form of money or riches 2 Dhanya Lakshmi Dhanya literally means food grains This form of Lakshmi represents agricultural income 3 Gaja Lakshmi Represents strength and depicts your sena or your team which helps you to achieve your goals and objectives They can also be called as gana which literally means flock troop multitude number tribe series or class Wikipedia 4 Santana Lakshmi Children too are our wealth they bring us joy and happiness as part of family and represent our future 5 Veera or Dhairya Lakshmi Represents patience status courage character i e aura of a person how we tackle the hardships of life One can sense the positive or negative aura of the person with whom you are talking Absence of any worries itself creates a healthy aura or a healthy environment around us 6 Vijaya Lakshmi Vijaya as we know means victory This form of Lakshmi represents our achievements and awards other than the material income that we earn 7 Vidya Lakshmi Represents knowledge or vidya which is essential for dharma righteous living or the right action According to the Bhagavat Purana righteous living or life on a dharmic path has four pillars truthfulness satya austerity tap purity shauch and compassion daya Manusmriti describes ten essential rules to observe dharma as patience dhriti forgiveness kshama piety or self control dama honesty asteya sanctity shauch control of senses indriya nigrah reason dhi knowledge or learning vidya truthfulness satya and absence of anger krodha Maharishi Yagyavalkya the great Vedic philosopher had two wives Maitreyi and Katyayani In the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Maitreyi is described as Yajnavalkya s scholarly wife Katyayani was a housewife When Yagnavalkya wanted to divide his assets between his two wives Maitreyi chose knowledge while Katyayani chose material wealth 8 Adi or Maha Lakshmi All the above seven forms of Lakshmi together are called Adi Lakshmi Adi means the beginning or eternity Adi Lakshmi represents my total wealth so far Disclaimer The views expressed in this write up are entirely my own .