The Lotus Feet

The worship of the lotus feet of the Lord is a unique feature of Bharatiya [Indian] culture from time immemorial. Padasevanam [worship of the feet of the Lord], as Baba stresses, is the fourth of the nine steps in the “pilgrimage of man toward God along the path of dedication and surrender.” He says,  “Enter upon the worship of the Lord, by concentrating upon the feet or footprints.”  Srimantha Sankara Deva, the great vaishnava saint of Assam, a contemporary of Lord Chaitanya, prays to the Lord, “I do not even want your feet, but give me the dust of the feet of your devotees”. The padadhuli [dust of the feet] is considered very sacred indeed.

The Lord’s feet are full of splendor and power. In the Vamanavatara [the dwarf incarnation of Vishnu], the Lord measured the earth and sky with His feet and with the third step he stepped on the head of the king, who learnt a profound lesson of humility. In the Krishnavatara [another incarnation of Vishnu], the Lord’s feet danced on the Kaliya serpent; this brought out all the poison and saved the cows and human beings from destruction. In Ramavatara [incarnation of Vishnu as Sri Rama], the mere touch of the Lord’s feet returned Ahalya to life years after she was cursed to turn into stone.

One of the unique aspects of the message of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba is that He brings out the inner meaning and significance of our ancient culture. In one of His discourses Baba explained, “Krishna is hiding in the recesses of your heart; you have to trace Him there and hold fast. He runs away, but leaves footprints marked by the spilled milk on which He has trodden in His hurry to be beyond your reach. Yes, the lesson is to recognize His footprints in every thing of beauty, every act of goodness, every tear of gratitude, every sign of compassion, and discover Him in the bower of your own heart, filled with the fragrance of love and the light of virtue.”

On another occasion, He said, “Think of the sublimely sweet love that Krishna was evoking in the hearts of those who had the good fortune to be His contemporaries! Every one of them, from the unlettered cowherd to the most profound scholar and sage was drawn to Him as a magnet, and held by Him in unshakeable devotion. Whatever the hardships and troubles that came upon them, they did not give up the Lord’s feet to which they clung ever fast and firm. As you walk along the road, your shadow follows you through dirt and dust, bush and bramble, mound and midden, and, brook and boulder. But, note how the shadow has constant contact with the feet; so long as the shadow (man) has fast and firm contact with the feet of the Substance (the Lord), no hardship can affect him. Hold onto the Lord; that is the way to peace and joy.”

Baba said on another occasion, “Krishna is the visualization that the repetition of the name by the tongue grants, the vision that was gained by Yashoda [Krishna’s mother]. You must foster that Krishna on your tongue; when He dances on it, the poison of the tongue will be ejected completely without harming any one, as happened when as a child He danced on the hoods of the serpent Kaliya.”

By the footprints He leaves, Yashoda traces Krishna to His hiding place, by following the footprints He leaves after He breaks the pot in which she was churning the curd. This is a symbolic story to illustrate how the Lord breaks our identification with the body, and leads us to Himself through the  signs and signals that He provides all around us. These signs are ever-present in the sun, ecstasy of the rainbow, melody of the birds, lotus-spangled surface of lakes, and silence of snow-crowned peaks. In fact, since God is rasa, [sweetness, ecstasy], nature that is nothing else but He Himself in action, is sweet and ecstatic.”

The feet are the support for the human frame; in fact for all beings that move. Without the feet, no being can move. The feet are the adhaara—the support, the base, and the sustenance for the body. The Lord’s feet form the adhaara for all beings, the sustenance of all nature.

The foot is also a measure of length in English and; distance is measured in terms of feet! The number of steps we take toward the Lord also measures our progress on the spiritual journey. Baba says, “If you take one step toward Me, I shall take ten steps toward you.” Although western people do not worship the feet of the Lord, in the metaphorical sense, they value the ‘footprints’ left on the sands of time by elders, leaders, and men of character.

In this sense also, footprints have a deep meaning. Baba’s footprints are examples of His message; “My life is a commentary on My message,” He declares. “I eat as you do, move about as you do, talk in your language, and behave so that you can recognize and understand. It is for your sake, not for Mine! I turn you toward the Divine, winning your confidence, your love, your submission, by being among you as one of yourselves, and one whom you can see, listen to, touch and treat with reverence and devotion. My plan is to transmute you into seekers of truth. I am present everywhere at all times. My will must prevail over every obstacle. I am aware of the past, present, and future, of your innermost thoughts and carefully guarded secrets. I am sarvantaryami [universal indweller], sarva sakta [power of all], and sarvajna [knower of all]. Nevertheless, I do not manifest these powers for display. I am an example and an inspiration, whatever I do or omit to do. My life is a commentary on My message.”

Why do we use the epithet lotus for the Lord’s feet? Aside from beauty and tenderness, the word lotus signifies detachment. Although it grows in water, water does not wet the lotus. This is how the Lord’s feet are. Although everything is His footprint, although there is nothing without Him, yet He Himself is beyond this, above this, and not involved in this! Baba is the Lord. His feet are everywhere, sarvathapanipada. He is fully involved in all activities, yet He is completely detached. He enters the very fabric of our lives; He gives us what we want until we begin to want what He has come to give.

In the interview room, He speaks to us as if (and that is the truth) he has known us through and through, our past, present, and future. He pours out love that no earthly father or mother can. Yet, as soon as we come out, there is no sign of recognition, and we suffer because we think He has forgotten us! But we forget that He wants us to learn a lesson from this. We must learn detachment; he expects us to wean ourselves from attachment even to His physical frame. He wants us to get strongly attached to the very core of His substance, ie, to the sat-chit-ananda-swarupa [embodiment of being, awareness, and bliss] that He is.

Baba declares: “When your wishes fail, you deny God; when wishes fructify, you adore Him with greater pomp, and put a few more pictures in your shrine, and you spend more money on flowers and incense. God has no preferences and prejudices. God is not involved in either rewards or punishments. He only reflects, resounds, and reacts! He is the eternal unaffected witness! You decide your own fate. Do good, be good, and you get good in return; be bad, do bad deeds, and you reap bad results. Do not thank or blame God. Thank yourself, blame yourself. He does not even will that creation, protection, and destruction shall take place. They follow the same law, the innate law of maya [illusion]-ridden universe. God comes to confer ananda [bliss], to foster ananda, and to teach ways of acquiring, and activating ananda. He takes upon Himself the pain and sorrow of the world in order to prepare the hearts of men for love!”

In His very first message to the world, the day when He declared Himself to be Sai Baba, He taught His devotees the first song,

Maanasa bhajare guru charanam
Dustara bhavasagarataranam

He called upon “all those suffering in this endless round of birth and death to worship the feet of the guru. The guru who was announcing Himself, and who has come again to take upon Himself the burden of those who took refuge in Him.” Blessed was that day; and blessed are we today!

~Narayana Murthy
Source: Santhana Sarathi, Sept 1973