Padukasahasra 21

We revere the foot-covering of Śauri,
a jeweled mirror for the pleasure of the women of his inner quarters,
standing as if it were the embodied form of his grace.

O sandal of the Lord of Kamalā, the king of birds reflected in you sometimes shines,
as if wishing to serve as a cushion for his own self,
even during the graceful walking of the Lord of Raṅgam.

Beholding their own reflections in your rows of gems,
the guardians of the directions approach you, O sandal of Mukunda,
as if through apprehension of the creation of other offices.

Reflected on the hundreds of jeweled diadems
of the gods and demons bowed all around you,
O gem sandal of the Slayer of Mura, through your majesty
you appear to have bestowed yourself simultaneously upon them.

The tribute brought by the chiefs of the gods
has entered into you under the guise of their reflections;
you yourself, O sandal of Mukunda, indeed accept it
through the abundance of your grace.

“How indeed can I, being hard, myself bear the feet
of the Lord of Raṅga, enticing as fresh sprouts?”—
Reflecting thus, O gem sandal, you surely bear
a carpet of lotuses under the guise of their reflection.

O gem foot-protector, charming with emeralds, before placing his foot upon it,
Raṅgapati, reflecting in your center,
reveals, I think, his very own form
that lay on a banyan leaf at the end of the cosmic age.

When Raṅganātha reaches the conclusion of his journey,
you, O gem sandal, bestow at every step
upon the lords of the gods who had been reflected at the time of departure
another immersion in sacred waters, as it were.

O Mother, O gem sandal of the Slayer of Mura, at the time of departure,
when Brahmā’s body is reflected in your diverse jewels,
he suspects that you, [the sandal] of the Slayer of Madhu, conceal within you

a row of future lotus-seated Brahmās for coming cosmic ages.

O gem sandal, when the Lord of Raṅga strolls sportively,
having mounted you who are restrained by rays of light,
the fair-eyed women in the harem, their bodies reflected in you,
enjoy all at once the delight of riding on a swing.

O foot-protector of Rāghava, O Devi, when Bharata, bowed with devotion,
reported the affairs of state to you at the proper times,
he was greatly embarrassed seeing his own status on the royal throne
repeatedly presented by the array of his reflections in your jewels.

When the victorious first of the Raghus returned and placed his foot on you,
O gem foot-protector, they saw you,
with the demons and monkeys reflected in your multitude of jewels,
as if you were the Puṣpaka vimāna that had stood a moment before.

O foot-protector of the champion of the Raghu line,
as you bore the burden of protection to calm the distress of the world,
you swallowed, it seems, the vast fame of rival kings
under the guise of the reflections of abundant chowries.

O Devi, when the world of living beings from every quarter,
having arrived for the festival procession, is reflected in you during your stroll,
you, O sandal, bear by means of your host of gems
a certain singular state of the Lord of Raṅgam in which all things are swallowed up.

When the Lord is mounted on Garuḍa, the chiefs of the gods remain on their mounts;
when his feet are placed on you, they resort only to the ground.
Even so, O foot-guard, with their own limbs reflected in your cluster of gems,
they come to have the very same mount as he.

Approaching you of clear form under the guise of their reflections at the moment of bowing,
O sandal, the celestial maidens are filled with pride,
in order to humble Urvaśī, who was born from the thigh of the sage who is the friend of Nara,
and who was capable of humiliating jewel-like women by her mere creation.

Raṅganātha, placing his feet at every step, enjoys you,
his beloved companion in spontaneous play, delightful with clear jewels;
and when his stroll ends, though he mounts the couch of Śeṣa together with Kamalā
and relinquishes you, he does not abandon you under the guise of his own reflection.

While Padmā and Bhūmi stand at his side gazing intently only at you
who alone have attained the Lord during his playful stroll,
O sandal, you, of ever-visible grace, grant them the service of Murāri's feet
as they are reflected in your gems.

At Dvārakā, he who assumed many forms for his sport through yoga
indeed enjoyed each of the sixteen thousand women singly, O sandal;
but on the pure mass of gems presented by you, O Devi, where he is reflected,
he ever enjoys you through thousands of forms.

You are reflected in the toenails of Hari,
and he too is reflected in your gems;
O foot-protector, between the two of you,
this mutual state of image and reflection is fitting.

Thus ends the twenty-first section, on Images and Reflections, in the thousand verses on the sandals of the holy Raṅganātha composed by the Lion among poets and logicians, the master of all systems, the venerable Veṅkaṭanātha, the venerable Vedāntācārya.

22. The Section on Gold (20)