Prayers To The Holy Dust

In the Srimad Bhagavata,the great devotee Udhhava prayed ,'Vande Nanada vrja strina padrenuvrikshasha ',i offer my obeisance to the dust of Gopi's feet .According to Sri Sanatana Gosai (Vaishnava Toshini),Uddhava offered this type of prayers only to the Gopis ,not even to Rukmini and other wives of Sri Krsna.This implies the greatness of devotees even above the potency of the Lord.In the book of Bhakti-Ratnavali,Vishnupuri Sannyashi too quoted the Bhagavata to glorify the sacred dust of Vraja.

Surdas,the Bhakti poet wrote - Hum Na vai ye Vrindavan Renu , Alas! I have not become the dust of Vrindavan .

Following the Srimad Bhagavata, Srimanta Sankardeva too composed,

Nadaer Braje jata Gopi jak

sada bandu tar pada dhulak

Let me offer my respects to the dust of Gopi's lotus feet constantly .

As per Madhavdeva's poetry - Tasambar pada renu jitu trina vane pare,Let me be born as a small plant in the land of vrindavan,where I can receive the dust of gopis;Then,this will be my great fate !

Vaishnava Vishnuvat pujayah ,the pure devotees of Vishnu is wish fulfilling tree ,here wish means 'wish of devotion or service'. Madhavdeva termed this devotion as 'Seva Rasasara'.Narottam Das Thakur,a poet in Chaitanaya Mahaprabhu's line sang the glory - Vaishnava Caranar renu ,bhusana karila tanu, adorning the body with the feet dust of the Vaishnavas (pure devotees) .Even according to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu himself, Gopi Bharturh Padakamalayor dasa-dasanudashah.

Such great humbleness can be explained even by the example of Vipra Narayana,one of Alvara Vaishnava Saints of Southern India, He was known as Tondaradipprodi .literary means the dust of devotees or Pada renuh .

Gopala Mishra, a disciple of Deva Damodara ,wrote in his book Ghosha-Ratna :

Kevale Santar Dhuli

Seere Jitu lave tuli Aadariya Kaya Vakya Mane

He who receives the dust of the feet of Saints and offer his respects through speech,body and mind can achieve Lord Hari by singing the holy names .

Here's some scriptural quotes on Greatness of Pure unalloyed devotees :

1. ārādhanānāṁ sarveṣāṁ

viṣṇor ārādhanaṁ param

tasmāt parataraṁ devi

tadīyānāṁ samarcanam (Padma Puran)

2. arcāyām eva haraye

pūjāṁ yaḥ śraddhayehate

na tad-bhakteṣu cānyeṣu

sa bhaktaḥ prākṛtaḥ smṛtaḥ (Srimad Bhagvatam).

3. ye Muktah vapi nirspiha pratipada praunmihladaha nadah

yamastahya samasta mastakamani kurvanti sve vase

tanah bhaktah tancha bhaktamapi tam bhakt priyam hari (Kantimala,Bhakti-Ratnavali ,Sri Visnupuri)

Let us all just glorify the pure devotees and hence,worship Lord Krishna in true humble nature.May he grant us the association of such holy saints. Hari Om ..

Painting courtesy :sanatansociety.com,artist :W.Pieter

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