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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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