Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:
Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:
A Speck of Dust
The evening Sun sent a slanting shaft of light through the window, reminding me
that it was time for Sandhyavandanam. Casually glancing at the beam of light, I
found innumerable dust particles swimming lazily in the shaft of sunlight,
setting me thinking (an exercise I normally don't indulge in, having neither
the mental energy nor the aptitude therefor). I took to wondering how dusty the
atmosphere was, if the millions of dust particles inhabiting the narrow shaft
of sunlight were any indication. And the thought processes led me to some
"dusty" references, with which the Scripture seems to abound.
Normally, particles of dust are considered extremely insignificant, due to
their size, multitude and apparent lack of utility in any form. We hear people
complaining about being treated little better than dust, when they feel they
have been ignored, slighted or not given their due. However, from the highly
complimentary references that Dust finds in our Scripture, the subject is
perhaps worth going into in some detail.
Anything derives its value through association. While the integer 0 is
worthless by itself, when it is preceded by another number, it acquires value
and importance. Similarly, Dust too, though considered too trivial to merit
mention, takes on quite a holy hue, when it emanates from an exalted source.
Thus we are not surprised to find Swami Desikan devoting an entire chapter of
30 slOkAs (ParAga Paddhati) to a "dusty" description, in his Paduka Sahasram.
The dust he takes up for adulation is that emanating from the glorious sandals
of Sri Ranganatha-the PAdukAs.
We have heard only of dust spoiling things by settling on them and having a
generally undesirable effect on anything it comes into contact with. However,
Swami Desikan tells us that dust from the Padukas, instead of dirtying those on
whom they fall, make the fortunate recipients' minds clear as a bell, shorn of
all impurities of thought that normally abound in everyone's mind. We
are used to regarding dust as harmful to health and take all possible effort to
ensure a dust-free environment. However, dust emanating from the Padukas is
panacea for all ills and is used by devotees to smear their children with, to
save them from the influence of evil spirits. Those who adorn their heads
with the dust from Emeperuman's Padukas, reach exalted positions like those of
BrahmA the Creator, with absolutely no further effort on their part, we are
told. Swami Desikan prays to the Padukas to bless him in his final moments
with a shower of dust, to relieve him from the heat and pain occasioned by the
process of parting with the mortal coils.
However, is there any proof or pramANam for all these hyperboles-is the
question that rises in our "reasoning" intellects. To dispel the impression
that all the adulatory references to dust are mere poetic embellishment and
exaggeration, Swami Desikan points to the Ahalya episode, where the hallowed
dust particles from Sri Rama's lotus feet restored the accursed Ahalya,
standing as an inert stone, to her original human form. An ordinary way-side
stone was turned into a venerated RishipatnI, merely by association with the
"pAda dhooLi" of Raghunandana-"Prastarasya padavI gatasya yat vyAchakAra muni
dharma dAratAm". Just imagine-a lady who had been cursed to be a stone and had
been standing by the roadside, all but invisible due to the encrusting dirt,
filth and grime of centuries, being miraculously transformed into an
extraordinarily beautiful damsel, cleansing her in the process of her infamy
and the original misconduct responsible therefor! This is what the dust from
the Lord's lotus feet is capable of.
Lest we conclude that the role of the glorious dust from the divine sandals is
limited to conferring only beneficial effects on its votaries, Swami Desikan
hastens to clarify that this Dust is quite capable of wreaking havoc too, where
the antagonists of the Lord and His devotees are concerned. Since they
comprehensively deal withand vnquish the armies of opponents, the weapons the
Lord sports on His four hands remain as mere adornments, says the Acharya-
"PanchAyudhee bhooshaNam Eva ShourE: yatastava EtE maNi pAda rakshE!
VitanvatE vyApta disha: parAgA: shAntOdayAn shatru chamoo pArAgAn".
It is no wonder therefore that Swami Desikan prays Lord HayagrIva
to bless him with minute particles of dust from the lotus feet, which are
capable of changing our fortunes for the better and form coveted adornments for
the heads of exalted celestials like Indra and Brahma. Here is the beautiful
sloka from Sri HayagrIva StOtram-
"vilupta moordhanya lipi kramANAm surEndra choodA pada lAlitAnAm
tvat anghri rAjeeva raja: kaNAnAm bhooyAn prasAdO mayi nAtha!
bhooyAt"
ShAstrAs tell us that the glory of the Lord's devotees is much greater than
His. Accordingly, we are told that the dust of their feet is extremely potent
and can destroy all our sins, purifying us completely-"punantu mAm brAhmaNa
pAda pamsava:". This is borne out by the ParAga Paddhati slOka, which says that
those who bear with pleasure the particles of dust from the Lord's padukas
would themselves sanctify the entire world with the dust of their own feet-
"SanchAra pAmsu kaNikA: shirasA vahanta:
Visvam punanti pada padma parAga lEsai:"
Sri Vipranarayana considered the dust of devotees' feet to be so adorable that
he assumed the tirunAmam "Tondaradippodi" or "BhaktAnghri RENu". Such dust from
the soles of the Lord's bhaktAs is capable of curing us of all ills, says Sri
Nammazhwar-"MAyan tamar adi neeru koNdu aNiya muyalin, mattrillai kaNdeer".
Rather than go in for costly and unseemly propitiations of lesser deities, mere
smearing on the patient's body of the dust of devotees' feet would cure them
forever, opines Sri Satakopa Muni.
It is Sri Krishna, however, who comes to our mind, when we think of dust. This
Emperuman is so enamoured of horseplay and boisterous behaviour that He
constantly sports a coating of dust-- "VeNNai aLainda kuNungum, viLayAdu
puzhudiyum koNdu"-- which sits rather well on His black complexion, imparting
it a golden hue. Sri Yasoda might cry herself hoarse pleading to the Kutti
Krishnan not to play in the dust and dirt ("angam ellAm puzhidyAga aLaya
vENdAm"), but the brat doesn't listen. Like a playful elephant calf covering
itself with trunkfulls of dust, the mischievous Lord too acquires a liberal
coat of the same, which sticks to His black body due to the film of sweat cause
by active play-
"veN puzhudi mEl peidu koNdu aLaindadOr vEzhatthin karum kandru pOl
teN puzhudi Adi Trivikraman siru pugar pada viyartthu".
The simile here is really apt. It is a wasteful exercise for an
elephant to have a bath, for, after having a long and purifying sojourn in
water, the pachyderm gathers up a trunkful of dust from the ground and pours it
on its head, getting dirty again. Similar too is the case with Krishna: Yasoda
might scrub off with great difficulty the accumulated dirt and grime from the
little brat's body and make it glistening and spic and span, only to find Him a
little while later, back to His usual state of encrustment with dirt.
We know that devotees of Sri Rudra wear ashes on their forehead and other parts
of the body. There was once an unnecessary controversy concerning this
practice, with reference to Sri Krishna, based on a perfectly inoccuous pasuram
of Sri Nammazhwar, describing the former as "Karia mEni misai veLia neeru
siridE idum peria kOla tadam KaNNan". These lines were interpreted erroneously
(as are others, to suit people's convenience) to mean that Sri Krishna wore
VibhUti on His tirumEni. A perusal of the erudite VyAkhyAnams on the subject
reveals, however, that it is not VibhUti that the Lord wore, but "anjana
choorNam" lovingly applied by Sri Yasoda to enhance (as if such a thing were
possible!) the beauty of His broad and beautiful lotus eyes, just as ladies
wear mascara. Swami Desikan tells us that this "neeru" or white dust was
aromatic camphor ("pacchai karppooram"), which the Lord wore on His tirumEni,
ostensibly to augment His natural fragrance, or, perhaps, to subjugate His
natural and overwhelming odour of dairy products ("mudai nAttram")-"karpoora
AlEpa shObhE".
Not only does Sri Krishna like dust and dirt Himself, He likes to give His
friends too a liberal coating thereof, if Sri PeriyAzhwar is to be believed. He
throws dust in the eyes of other children, complain their mothers-
"kaNNil maNal kodu toovi kAlinAl pAindanai endru endru
eNnarum piLLaigaL vandittu ivarAl murai padugindrAr".
Additionally, He is fond of dirtying new clothes worn by GOpis, by
throwing dust and dirt on them.
When dust envelops us, as often happens on a highway with heavy traffic, we
immediately think of a cleansing bath to get rid of the pollution. Can you
imagine, however, that exposing oneself to a cloud of dust could be considered
to be a type of bath by itself, more purifiying than that using ordinary water?
Seven types of taking bath are prescribed by Smritis-"SnAnam sapta vidham
smritam". One of these is the "GO dhooLi snAnam", which involves standing by
when a herd of cows passes, in such a way that the cloud of dust from their
hooves envelopes one from head to foot. The cow is considered to be so holy
that even the dust from its hoof is regarded sacred and sanctifying.
While He prescribes bathing in the dust from cow's hooves, Sri Krishna Himself
was to be seen enveloped in the dust emanating from the hooves of war horses at
KurukshEtra, discharging His role as PArthasArathy. Even hearts of stone would
melt down, if we consider the extent to which the Supreme Being, the
Parabrahmam, lowered itself to such a level of Souseelyam as to allow its being
sullied by the dust and grime of the battlefield, holding the reins of Arjuna's
chariot in one hand and a small stick to goad the chariot horses, with the
other, His holy feet (the refuge of exalted beings like Brahma and Rudra)
planted firmly on the KurukshEtra bhoomi. Here are the relative sreesooktis
from Mumukshupadi of Sri PillailOkachArya, describing the SArathya vEsham-
"kaiyyum uzhavu kOlum, pidittha siru vAi kayirum, sEnA dhooLi
saritamAna tiru kuzhalum, tErukku keezhE nAttina tiruvadigaLumAi nirkira
SArathya vEshatthai "MAm" endru kAttugirAn".
Considering that this sreesookti occurs in the Charama slOka prakaraNam dealing
with performance of Sharanagati to the Supreme Lord, it would appear that
Emperuman is to be meditated upon in the aforesaid way during the actual
performance of Prapatti, the dust on His tirumudi and curly locks signifying
the ultimate in Souseelyam and dispelling our misgivings on account of His
unapproachably exalted stature and our own extremely base natures, discarding
forbidding Paratvam in favour of inviting Soulabhyam.
The following pasuram of Sri Nammazhwar also features our subject matter, Dust,
albeit in a sober vein-
"adi sEr mudiyinar Agi arasargaL tAm tozha
idi sEr murasangaL muttratthu iyamba irundavar
podi sEr tugaLAi pOvargaL Adalin nokkena
kadi sEr tuzhAi mudi KaNNan kazhalgaL ninaiminO"
Even exalted Emperors who reign with splendour, with their feet constantly
touched by the submissive crowns of vassals, are reduced to a handful of dust
at the end of their lives, all the pride, magnificence and glory disappearing
in a trice. Such being the case, should we not rid ouselves of all conceit and
delusions of grandeur and meditate upon the Lord's lotus feet, to prevent such
an ignominous end and ensure for ourselves an everlasting and blissful
existence at the most coveted of worlds, viz., Sri Vaikunttam, enquires Azhwar.
To conclude, apart from everything else, dust is also a stark reminder of what
we would be reduced to, at the end of our lives, however long, comfortable or
distinguished. The long arm of Time never spares any mortal, whether he be the
President of a nation with population in billions, or a pauper struggling to
eke out his existence, knowing not from where his next meal is going to
materialise. Erudite scholar, acclaimed artiste, distinguished doctor or a
wrestler of repute-all must indeed return to dust, once their sojourn on earth
draws to an end. The moment life ebbs out of this body, irrespective of the
mode of its disposal, this proud, greedy and up(t)right bag of flesh and bones
is reduced to heap of insignificant dust, all that remains of a life full of
intolerance, cunningness, deceit, hypocricy and other allied virtues that we
proudly sport and display every living moment.
Srimate Sri LakshmINrisimha divya paduka sevaka SrivanSatakopa Sri Narayana
Yatindra Mahadeiskaya nama:
Dasan, sadagopan
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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