Miscellaneous - Religion   

The Lord's supremacy

CHENNAI : Spiritual tradition accords great significance to the worship of the Padukas (sandals) of the Lord. This practice can be traced to the Ramayana in which Valmiki describes Bharata's reverence to Rama's Padukas after He refused to return to Ayodhya. Bharata stayed in Nandigrama on the outskirts of Ayodhya till His return. It was Rama's Padukas, which ruled the kingdom till the period of exile was over. Vedanta Desika composed the hymn Paduka Sahasram to venerate the Lord's Padukas, in a record time during the last part of a night, which is a testament to his poetic skill and spiritual stature. The poet-saint portrays the Paduka as a goddess, a consort as much as Sita was.

In his discourse, Sri M.V.Ananthapadmanabhachariar said Bharata earned immortal fame by his selfless act of declining an empire even when Rama told him to rule it. Lakshmana, on the other hand, was the epitome of service to the Lord. According to the epic, Rama lived for a thousand years in Ayodhya after Sita left Him but He did not brook separation from Lakshmana at all. During the battle when Lakshmana was injured and lost consciousness in his combat with Ravana, Rama was so stricken with grief that He, who would not even look at another woman except Sita, went to the extent of declaring, "Wives may be found everywhere and kinsmen can be had everywhere. I, however, see no place where a real brother could be had. What object of mine on Earth will be achieved by sovereignty without Lakshmana, who was difficult to overpower?" Such was the special relationship the brothers shared.

Desika establishes the Padukas' singular status in this hymn by noting that even such exceptional brothers like Bharata and Lakshmana did not listen to Rama (Lakshmana when he was told to stay in Ayodhya during His exile and Bharata by declining to rule the kingdom). Rama's Padukas by accompanying Bharata and ruling the kingdom enabled Him to accomplish the purpose of His manifestation in the world and also to fulfil His father's promise to Kaikeyi. From the point of obeying the Lord (thereby establishing His supremacy) His Paduka scored over even Sita who refused to remain in Ayodhya by adducing several arguments that Rama had to allow Her to accompany Him to the forest.

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