Padukasahasra 28

Reaching the pinnacle in all the arts, the sandal of the Sovereign of Raṅgam,
for the greatness even of its associates, attained the state of being worshipped by Bharata.

Virtuous men, alas, do not abandon their blameless conduct,
which makes no distinction between their own country and another;
indeed, the footwear of the foremost of Raghus, whether in the kingdom or in the forest,
did not abandon its innate eradication of thorns.

A dispatched blade of grass became the Brahmā-missile; a foot-covering, abandoned by the foot, ruled the earth.
What indeed cannot come to pass in the play of the almighty lords?
Or was the ocean a worthy target for arrows?

Even when other sons of the king exist, one who is fallen by fate from his position
appropriates that position if he is worthy of it;
this is illustrated mostly by the first of Raghus,
or else by the jewelled sandals, the representatives of his feet.

Whoever, having attained the foot of someone of blameless conduct,
always walks in the path of the good for the protection of all the worlds,
obtaining great honor from kings, just like the sandal,
becomes at proper times worthy of worship by those discerning what is opportune.

The kingdom was intended for Rāma by his father and approved by the subjects;
his mother, however, chose it for Bharata, and the truthful king gave it [to him];
then the supreme consecration of the sandal came to pass beyond all expectation.
Ah, fate, whose inner intent is incomprehensible, is the sole authority in this matter!

From bearing the feet, the sandal should not surpass the footstool,
or, at best, it always shines close beside the royal throne in this world;
and yet, alas, the kingdom was placed by Rāma solely in the former!
I suspect that partnership in stride is an object of great regard to the master.

Though unsteady at every step, the sandal, placed by the Lord of the Raghus upon his own throne,
became steadfast in its station;
for those who have attained sovereignty, such [steadiness] becomes a virtue.

At one step the jewelled sandal was the cause of motion, at another, the cause of standing firm;
for there is no fixed determination of the power in objects;
all order exists solely by the Lord's will.

Though brought low by a great person, one desiring prosperity should serve him alone with respect;
for the sandal, though trampled underfoot, obtained the kingdom from Rāma in due time.

Thus ends the twenty-eighth section, the Section on Wise Sayings, in the thousand verses on the sandals of the glorious Raṅganātha, a work of the Lion among poets and logicians, master of all systems, the venerable Veṅkaṭanātha, the venerable Vedānta teacher.

29. Miscellaneous Section (80)