Padukasahasra 29

When a ritual has commenced, whatever substance is prescribed by the Vedas
through qualities, consecrations, and names as the means to the highest good—
may that foot-covering be such to me.

Possessing the charm of pearls like a sweet smile, producing a charming sound,
you alone, slender-waisted one, O jewelled sandal,
enter the bedchamber together with the king of Raṅgam.

Accompanied by ritual acts that resort to auspicious special sounds,
you, O foot-protector of Śauri,
surely perform an unprecedented pacification of all distress for those who take refuge [in you].

O footwear of Muravairi, expanding during the stride,
you, with your gems, produced in the sky at once
the splendor of the suns at the time of cosmic dissolution.

Seeing you, melodious in sound and possessing plumage in the form of gem-rays,
being placed beside the matted hair [of Śiva],
the hissing ornaments of the enemy of the Tripura cities hide themselves, O footwear of the Garuḍa-bannered Lord!

With an spotless moon and stars radiating in the center,
and possessing diverse colors at the edges through a multitude of jewels,
you, O jewelled sandal of the king of Raṅgam, foster the suspicion
of being a special mystical diagram for captivating the eyes.

Being enjoyed by the foot of the king of Raṅgam,
with drops of sweat revealed by your pearls,
with bristling hair through lofty hundreds of gem-rays, O foot-protector,
you seem to utter sighs of pleasure through your tinkling sounds.

With rays outstretched like hands, repeatedly saying through the tinkling of gems,
"The enemy of the Daityas is coming,"
I think, O sandal of Mādhava, that out of compassion arisen [within you]
you hold back the lords of Daityas who are facing him.

Having a team of jewels arranged in unbreakable lines like horses held by unseverable reins,
and possessing a knob resembling a steady carriage-pole,
you are the sedan-chair, O golden footwear,
for the beauty of Madhujit's lotus foot during his playful walks.

Melodious in sound, with a body dark like emerald stones,
and charming with a beak-like ruby, O jewelled sandal,
you take on the role of a caged myna bird
for that supreme youth who delights in sports with Padmā.

O foot-protector, immersed by way of his reflection in your emeralds
studded with rubies, Śauri imitates his very self
lying in the middle of a banyan leaf,
resplendent with a row of fruits all around.

O foot-protector, moist in form from the bath of consecration, an abundant net of gem-rays
spread out from you as far as the ocean,
encompassed by the circle of which the demons
became an easy target for the son of Raghu.

At that time, O jewelled footwear, with their forms tinged red by your gem-rays,
the trees growing near the city of Sāketa
were seen at nightfalls to have suddenly attained
the nature of luminous great medicinal plants.

When Rāma had gone to the forest and Daśaratha to heaven,
you, abounding in jewel-rays, quickly became the dawn
that dispelled the darkness of the entire universe
before the rising of the sun of prowess of the Raghus once again.

O foot-protector, who ought to be bestowed by the pleased Lord,
whose sweet sound rises at every step,
those who have crossed the ocean of the scriptures and their recitations know you
as the lore worthy of explaining the Lord.

Possessing a mane of pearl-rays, firm diamond fangs,
and golden mountings splitting apart suited to the wealth of Prahlāda,
you become, O footwear of Mādhava, an embodiment of Śrī
truly worthy of the Lord whose form is Narasiṃha.

Poets conceive of you, graceful in movement, melodious in sound,
with limbs feathered by celebrated pearls, having all the worlds under your sway,
O jewelled sandal, as a royal female swan
for the lotus feet of the sovereign king of Raṅgam.

Charming with pearl-rays, O jewelled footwear, melodious in sound,
producing classes of syllables through your gems,
I consider you to be another presiding deity of the uncreated words [of the Veda]
for the female bees at the lotus feet of Mukunda.

Having reached the evening of distress, the root of which was the boon given to the Kaikeya princess,
and not seeing the companion of Ramā,
you, O jewelled footwear, bereft of charming sounds,
surely observed some kind of vow of silence.

With delightful water of lapis lazuli, honored by the winds,
offering shade through the networks of rays of emerald stones,
you, O foot-protector of Śauri, are like a resting place
for a living being who is a traveler on the path of ceaseless delusion.

O foot-protector, strengthened by the network of your rays gleaming at the coronation, / the primal Sun of the kings of Raghu's line, his fear removed, / dimmed the rays of the moon that was the face of Mandodarī.

Venerable to all the worlds, dark blue from cut gems, naturally fitted to his foot, / O gem sandal, like a shadow you follow the graceful comings and goings / of the King of Raṅgam in the inner apartments.

Resting on the lotus foot of the Sovereign of Raṅgam, golden, surrounded by sapphires, / O gem sandal, you are conceived by the virtuous / as if an undivided form shared by the ocean's daughter and Dharaṇī.

Perpetually worshipped by multitudes of gods, having the beauty of sprout-like toes with nails of pearls and red gems, / O golden sandal, you assume a beneficent radiance, / as if a second pair of feet belonging to the slayer of Mura.

O gem sandal, your lovely form cleansed and wiped, fragrant with bathed cosmetics, variegated with fresh garlands, / when the hour for strolling arrives, you enjoy the experience / of Murāri's lotus feet—an attainment unobtainable by the unfortunate.

O foot-protector, wishing to remove the intolerable order of succession in experiencing / your sound and your structure, / the lord of serpents came to have hearing / with the very hundreds of eyes through which he beholds you.

O foot-protector, visible with a thousand clear rays, having your motion arranged by Viṣṇu's foot / and by Viṣṇu's realm, / you imitate the sportful form born of the Sun belonging to Śambhu, / the foremost among people bound by devotion to you.

Remembering how you, suited to the hero of Raghu's line, protected Gautama's wife / both in the kingdom and in the forest, / I think the lawful wives of sages, their minds composed, / daily adore you with their heads, O gem sandal.

Resting upon you, who are visible through thousands of gem rays, and rising together with your tinkling, / Raṅgapati is conceived by wise minds, O gem footwear, / to be the companion of knowledge dwelling within the solar orb.

O gem sandal, having touched Hari's foot with your ray-hands resting upon jewels, / and possessed of a sweet sound that is an elixir to the ears, / you properly instruct the various wrong-seers who deceived the Vedas, / as if saying, 'That is this ultimate reality!'

Bringing forth joy for your lovers, flawless in grace, O protector of the Sovereign of Raṅgam's feet, / by the luster of your jewels you bestow, as it were, a coloured garment / upon the earth, who attains stability as her own burden is cast repeatedly [upon you].

You are the sun through your connection with distinguished jewels; by your own abundance you nurture the nature of fire; / through your own self, O foot-protector of Śauri, you have the form of the moon: / having combined, as it were, the triple light, you dispel our darkness.

Radiant with full coral, solely worshipful to the universe, O foot-protector of the Sovereign of Raṅgam, / possessed of a delightful moon and beautiful camphor, intermingled with pearl-splendour, / like the starry twilight you constantly bestow upon people the cessation of heat.

Before the Lord of Raṅgam, O gem sandal, with an evident arrangement of devotion, / through the rays of your gems you scatter, for his feet of wondrous delicacy to stroll upon, / what is likely a row of petals of lotuses, white lilies, and blue water-lilies.

Having close access in the inner chambers of Śauri, / O gem sandal, whose gem-rays cling, and who possess a pleasant chime, / you produce at every step of the fair-complexioned women / the suspicion of the clashing of Love's arrows.

Possessed of nails of abundant pearls, with clear rubies, charming with special line-marks, graceful in movement, / O gem sandal, adored by all, / you appear to have attained complete union with the two feet of the Sovereign of Raṅgam.

Having attained consecration, O gem sandal, your jewels ablaze, / through the circuit of circumambulation / you formed, as it were, a rampart of fire around the capital of Raghu by your rays.

Blazing upon the jewelled throne, O foot-protector of Rāghava, / your rubies were, in truth, the shooting flames / of the fire of prowess of victorious Bharata against [hostile] kings.

Possessed of an auspicious sound, O gem footwear, / upon the necks of the Śrutis who choose the Lord of Vaikuṇṭha as their husband, / you surely bind the auspicious bridal cord / with your nets of gem-rays.

Having diverse colours, sweet in your sound to the ear, / attended by the heads of heaven-dwellers, / O gem footwear, you are this beneficent written edict / of the enemy of Madhu.

Unwavering by nature, O gem sandal, all-enduring, bringing forth sweet fruit, / like the earth, O goddess, you are joined / to the two feet of the Supreme Person, and you are separated from them.

During your worship, O foot-protector of the Lord of Raṅgam, the doe-eyed women / see your row of sapphires, upon which a cluster of flowers is placed, / as the bowstring of the god of love equipped with variegated feathering.

With the lofty rays of flashing gems, sweet-sounding, O sandal of Mādhava, / you seem to forbid the entrance of Kali / into the marshy region of the golden river.

Occupying the altar at that time, O sandal, adorned with pearls and red jewels, / you were seen, as it were, like a flame of fire strewn with heaps of parched grains, / for the taking of the hand of the earth by Bharata.

Foliated with hosts of gems, golden, O gem sandal of the Lord of Raṅgam, / you shine, suited for comings and goings to the pleasure pavilion, / as if a stage prepared by Garuḍa.

Reaching then the elevated lotus foot of the foe of Bali, O sandal, / you made the sky, situated within the cluster of pearls, / attain the resemblance of a six-footed bee.

Serrated by the rays of pearls placed upon the binding-thong that enters between delicate toes, / O gem sandal of the King of Raṅgam, / you yourself seem to vomit forth auspicious things for embodied beings.

O sandal, when the Lord of Raṅgam, the companion of the lotus-dwelling goddess, / places the worlds upon you directly after his own feet, / his reclining on the serpent's coils becomes completely unobstructed.

O sandal of the enemy of Madhu, the virtuous accomplish the firm, supreme means,

the ultimate one, accompanied by the cessation of one's own efforts, which is fitting for a lifestyle disciplined by your activity.

The lotus foot of Nanda's son, unable to endure the pressure of Indira's tender sprout-like hand, / overcame through your strength, O sandal, / the hot gravel that was the serpent's head.

Having all colours through the rays arising from the collection of gems, manifesting an auspicious sound, O sandal of the Lord of Raṅgam, / you make known the charming fourth half-mora that belongs to Brahman, the source of all Vedas, and is endowed with Him.

Possessing sound as your quality, O sandal of the demon-slayer, lovely in constant motion, blazing with your own splendour, / producing the growth of the worlds, seen as steadfast, supporting all beings, / you are like the Vaijayantī garland.

Relinquishing the weariness of rulership through contact with the feet of the Lord of the Raghus, / and displaying your own sports once again, / you, with your sonorous jingling, O sandal, / magnified the clamor of joy produced by the countryfolk.

O sandal, when you clung to Hari's foot as your prop, / displaying a glory that attained many branches,

and when the fluid of Dharma was poured into the creator's hand upon you, / the luster of pearls then took on the fullness of buds on those branches.

Possessing a radiance charming as gold, having removed all sorrow, / endowed with the grace of the lotus foot by youthful Mādhava as he plays, / and revealing your greatness on every side through wise beings, / you foster, O sandal, the splendor of the spring season.

Having the lotus foot of the Lord of Raṅgam placed upon you, O sandal, / the cause of an exceedingly auspicious path, adorned with beautiful pearls and corals, / you produce in sages a mental disposition identical to yourself, / one of enduring, mature love and linked with pure realization.

With nine divisions fashioned by varied, wondrous jewels, / with boundaries clearly marked by diverse, extended lines, / you display, O sandal, a nine-naved mystic diagram / worthy of worship by those who long to attain Hari's lotus foot.

Having a network of mature virtues, adorned with rows of pearls, / delightful with the knotted interlacings of diverse jewel rays, / O footwear of the Lord of the Raghus, on the frontal globe of the royal elephant / you appear as an wondrous garland of stars, adorning a magnificent place.

Having practiced all stages of life, seated in a beautiful lotus posture, / wearing a rosary of beads bound from strings of closely-set, choice pearls, / dwelling in the presence of the Lord of Raṅgam, O sandal, / you seem to meditate upon his lotus foot mirrored within.

Unconditionally protecting this entire world / out of affection as if for an only son, / Raṅganātha, O goddess, whether standing or walking, had laid the burden upon you placed under his feet; / why then speak of when he enters his sleep?

During the festivals of spontaneous processions of the glorious Lord of Raṅgam, / who has placed his feet upon you, / the echoing roar of the gods who have swiftly gathered, making a shower of flowers, / fills all the quarters with sound as they become bewildered in your praise.

Present in the controlled minds of sages, / arriving step by step at an order that must be meditated upon, / you alone, O sandal of the Lord of Raṅgam, like the Śruti with its own words, / are fit to reveal his abode, inaccessible to any other.

Lovely to behold with the flawless light of your own moon, / worthy of being enjoyed every moment, O sandal of the Lord of Raṅgam, / you are able to entirely close up the flood of our darkness / with the moonlight of your pearls, like the night of the full moon.

Whose gait is familiar to flocks of swans, taking away sins, / who reached a station upon Śambhu’s head, joined with the charming crescent moon, / you alone safely carry across the kings born in the Raghu dynasty, / having descended to the earth at that time, O sandal, like the Gaṅgā.

Clear in appearance, made fragrant by the Śruti, endowed with sweet flavor, / with greatness celebrated along every path by various holy spots, / cool to the touch, dispelling exhaustion, / into you that youth, fond of play, plunges very gently with hand offered by Lakṣmī.

As both of you practice the matchless gait in the pastimes of the Lord of Raṅgam, / given the proper maturation of musical notes at every station, / from the two feet advanced in turn, O sandals, / your jingling sound bursts forth, noble to the ear and charming like an interlocking chain.

Bringing about a day without night again for those who approach you, / with widespread radiance, free of fault, resorted to all around by sages and by bowing hosts of gods, / you, O sandal of the Lord of Raṅgam, / bestow luster on his lotus foot, like the dawn twilight on living beings.

Charming to look upon, of graceful gait, with lower lip of ruby, / slender in the waist, wearing jeweled bracelets, displaying a smile of pearls, / perpetually youthful with emeralds, O footwear of the wielder of the Śārṅga, / I think you are the Creator's prototype in fashioning a woman.

Having formerly stayed in the middle of the auspicious throne, / your mass of rays emerging from jewels, O footwear of Raṅgin, / you surely drew the line capable of demarcating the boundaries / of the classes and stages of life thrown into confusion by the absence of the king.

O mother, when you are placed at the feet of the Lord of Raṅgam / preceded by words of prayer transformed into sweet sounds, / for the subjects who know that all their welfare rests on you, / does that act of self-surrender not indeed become complete?

Prolonging your tinkling sound, sweet to the ear, / O sandal whose essence is blessed by the continuous placement of the feet of Raṅgam's king, / may the winds bearing the fragrance of fresh tulasī / at that final moment dispel our torment born of the distress of our senses failing!

You are capable, O sandal of the wielder of the Śārṅga, / of immediately extinguishing the fever born of the weariness of the path of saṃsāra for surrendered beings, / through moonstones that drink fresh moonlight when Śiva bows, / with sprays of water droplets pouring in streams.

Seeing you in the sky of Viṣṇu, endowed with diamonds, dark as sapphires, / of sweet rumbling, with showers of pearls, and of pleasing flickering luster, / the blue-throated peacock-Śiva, holding a cloud-like splendor, / constantly dances with excess of joy, tossing his moon crest above, O sandal.

Bearing that lotus foot of the moon of Śrīraṅgam, / with the splendor of the processional festival arranged from time to time alongside Kamalā, / repeatedly going in person to the door of each house with awakening sounds, / you seem, O sandal, constantly to ask the citizens of their well-being.

Skilled in wandering, with radiant beauty of wings, / having a sweet humming fit for the bowstring of the mind-born god of love, / celebrated for sapphires, / at every step let us honor you, the female bee upon the nectar of Hari's lotus foot.

With golden luster you surpass Śiva's matted hair; with gems, the jewels on the serpent's head; / with shimmering pearls, the heavenly river; / and here and there with your curve, the crescent moon, / O sandal of Mura's enemy, when worn upon the head of the destroyer of the cities.

At the time when the couch serpent attains the ultimate limit of servitude, / I recognize that wondrous pair of foot-coverings of Raṅgam's king as a certain marvelous form, / which, on contact with the sloughed serpent-garments that are the diadems of gods and demons bowed in worship, / reveals its connection with a slough again, as it were, through the moonlight of its pearls.

We praise the sandal, thick with the dust of Indra's crown lightly touched by the stream of nectar trickling from the crescent moon on the crest of Śiva; / that sandal which is the very act of the Lord of Raṅgam engaged in the creation, maintenance, destruction, blessing, and punishment of the manifold souls divided into ranks from Brahmā to a blade of grass.

O gem-sandal! May I see before me, arrived along with compassion and with you at some time [at my end], / the supreme deity, lotus-eyed, listening to your sound multiplied by the tinkling of Lakṣmī's anklets, and inhaling the fragrance rising from the garland of basil scented with the Upaniṣads!

Even when separated by the earth, that Lord of Raṅgam carries you during his movements, O sandal, / under the diverse roles of the king of tortoises, the lord of serpents, the finest of elephants, and the mountains.

Thus ends the twenty-ninth section, the Miscellaneous Section, in the Thousand Verses on the Sandals of the Lord of Raṅgam composed by the venerable Vedāntācārya, the venerable Veṅkaṭanātha, the lion among poets and logicians, and the master of all systems.

30. The Section of Verbal Curiosities (40)