Padma Lakshmi is steering her daughter Krishna away from the runway -- in fact ... it sounds like she's outright discouraging her from following in her footsteps as a model.
We caught up with Padma at LAX Wednesday ... and she tells us that although she had to model to pay off student loans back in the day, her 14-year-old clearly isn't in the same financial situation she was in -- and doesn't have to go down that path.
Watch ... PL tells us she's already batting away modeling offers for her kid -- making it clear ... if Krishna ends up on a magazine cover, it'll be for her talent, not just her looks!
Padma explains she wants to nurture Krishna's intellect, creativity, and talent -- and tells us for now ... her daughter's gearing up to tune into her musical dreams at a performing arts school, which she got into on her own merit. So, she envisions a different journey for her.
Padma also suggests that she's gonna let Krishna pay her own way eventually -- but for now, at age 14, she's happy to support her daughter and her dreams ... just as long as she's hitting the books, that is.
Anyway, it's an interesting chat, especially coming from Padma -- who's a bona fide hottie and who rose to fame, in part, due to her beauty. Here, she's kinda pooh-poohing that.