Whenever in temples images of Gods are seen, they are always shown as a couple: Bhagvaan Vishnu with Mahalakshmi, Shri Ram with Sitaji, Krishna with Radha. The idea of presenting them (the various Avtaars of Gods) as a couple is that the supreme God and his power – both, together, are responsible for creating nature and living beings, their sustenance and growth as well as their eventual demise. Therefore, the supreme God whenever shown in the male form is simultaneously also depicted in the female form which represents his power.
The second meaning of such a depiction is that though a woman might be very beautiful or wealthy, she must never separate herself from her husband. Similarly, the husband might be superior to his wife, or even God himself but, he still should respect his wife and treat her as his equal. Couples having such an understanding are respected in society and they lead a very successful and happy family life.
The third meaning is that Goddess Lakshmi who provides wealth and every comfort of life lives as a servant of Bhagvaan Vishnu but Bhagvaan Vishnu does not become her slave. Therefore, every devotee of Bhagvaan Vishnu should not be enslaved by riches and thus, sacrifice the qualities of humanity for wealth. Ideally the wealth should be the slave of his good senses i.e. he should spend the wealth earned for helping orphans, the poor, widows or other helpless and sick people.
Always in the company of Bhagvaan Vishnu, Mahalakshmiji reminds us that she is very fond of her husband and she cannot live without him. Mahalakshmiji says that if you want to see her in your home, then you must also worship Bhagvaan Vishnu and in order to please him one must do good deeds, Japa (worship), give donations etc – only with such good deeds would he stay in your home. In the absence of such good deeds, he would never stay in your house. And, I will not be able to bear the separation from him. So one day, I will also quit your home and leave you in poverty, sickness, sorrow and insult. So if you want to earn fame and all the good things in life, you must worship Mahalakshmi along with Vishnuji, everyday. Worshipping one’s mother, but throwing one’s father out of the house does not behoove anyone.