The most famous story about Bhrigu is that he wanted to find out who was the greatest god in the world: Brahma, Vishnu or Shiva. Bhrigu found Brahma too busy meditating, and so he cursed Brahma that he would never be worshipped by humans. Shiva was busy making love to his wife, Shakti, so Bhrigu cursed him, too, saying that Shiva would only be worshipped in his symbolic form. Vishnu was sleeping when Bhrigu arrived. So Bhrigu kicked him on the right side of his chest to wake him up. Once Vishnu Vishnu awoke, he apologised to Bhrigu and Bhrigu told him to descend on earth to replace anarchy with dharma.
Lakshmi was furious that Bhrigu had kicked her husband, and Vishnu had done nothing to counter the disrespect. So, she descended to earth, giving Vishnu another reason to come down to earth. Even today, in orthodox Vishnu temples, one finds the footprint of Bhrigu on the right side of Vishnu’s chest. This is called Bhrigupada. As Bhrigu was responsible for Vishnu and Lakhsmi both coming down to earth, he is venerated as the most important of the seven ancient sages. When Lakshmi descended on earth, he is venerated as the most important of the seven ancient sages. When Lakshmi descended on earth, she appeared in a lotus flower and was raised in the house of Bhrigu which is why she is called Bhargavi. She is also called Padmavati, born of a lotus. To marry her, Vishnu took a huge loan from Kubera. Until he repays the loan, he is trapped on earth. And so even today, at Tirupati temple, devotees give Vishnu money to repay his loan to Kubera. But by taking wealth from devotees, he is indebted to them and so obliged to fulfil their wishes. Thus, we find in these narratives how Bhrigu is linked to fortune in various ways which is why he is called the father of fortune.