Lord krishna's footprints

May 2, 2006

In the Harihareshvar Mahatmya there is an interesting mantra that describes three holy places in this earth planet where the incarnation of Lord Vishnu, Vamana, left His footprints. The mantra goes as follows:

"Ekam Padam Gayayantu

MAKKAYAANTU Dwitiyakam

Tritiyam Sthapitam

Divyam Muktyai Shuklasya Sannidhau"

MECCA

In this Verse it is not so surprising that the Lord left His footprints in Gaya and Shukla Tirtha but it is very amazing that it is also there in Mecca – the most holy pilgrimage place of all the Muslims. This can suggest that although, the Muslims consider that the divine footprints are the footprints of Mohamed, according to the above Vedic reference they actually worship and bow down to the lotus footprints Lord Vamana. A further nice explanation is given by Sri Nandanandana. “Worshipping such carved, holy foot impressions is a holy Vedic custom which convert Muslims are inadvertently perpetuating. But in doing this they delude themselves and mislead others that these foot-impressions which are on reverential display in several mosques and tombs around the world are in fact Muhammad's own. There are several snags in this argument. Firstly worshipping a foot -impression amounts to idolatry and should therefore be taboo for a true Muslim. Secondly Muhhamad disclaimed having performed any miracles. Therefore there can be no foot-impression of his on stone. Thirdly foot-impressions must always be in pairs like shoes. Yet in most of these shrines, it is usually a single footprint which suggests that Muhammad walked on only one foot. Another question that crops up is whether the foot-impression is of the same size and foot in all the shrines. The fact appears to be that when the Vedic Kaba shrine in Mecca was invaded by Muhammad, the pairs of foot impressions of Vedic deities there were plundered and later traded to the gullible and devout as Muhammad's own footprints for some favour, reward or personal gain by unscrupulous muslims. That is why they are single and not in pairs”.

Muslims from all over the world pay homage to this shrine. This shrine is actually the pedestal of Brahma. Notice that the word, Ibrahim is actually a corruption of the word, Brahma. The octogonal grill which is a Vedic design, protects the holy footprints which represent the start of the creation nearly 2000 million years ago. Before it was captured by the Muslims it was an international shrine of the Vedic trinity.

GAYA

In few puranas like Vayu, Agni and Garuda puranas but especially in the Gaya Mahatmya there is a story of the demon called Gayasura who acquired so much divine powers that anyone who saw or touched him went straight to heaven. Because this interfered with the duty of Yamaraja, the Lord of death and because other demigods began to suffer too due to Gayasuras required power, Lord Vishnu requested by the demigods decided to kill the demon. He, however, also granted a boon to Gayasura that the ground covered by his body—some ten miles in extent—would become the holiest place on the earth and be known as Gaya Ksetra. At the time of killing Gyasura, Vishnus footprint remained in the block of basalt that is now called Dharmasila and is the object of worship. Performing Sraddha ceremony or offering oblations to the ancestors at this place frees the ancestors from the cycle of repeated birth and death. It was at this place that Lord Caitanya met Isvara Puri, His spiritual master thus considering His coming to Gaya completely successful. Lord Caitanya said: "Now my visit to Gaya has really been fruitful, as by coming here I have had the chance to see your lotus feet. By traveling to a holy place and offering pinda one may deliverer one's ancestors - that is the person who offers the pinda may deliver only his ancestors. But one who sees you automatically delivers millions of ancestors, and not only will they become free from certain of their sins, but they will all attain eternal deliverance from material bondage. Therefore this pilgrimage I have undertaken is unparalleled, because of your holiness having rendered everything perfectly auspicious."

SHUKLA TIRTHA

The thirteenth chapter of Skanda Purana describes the place of Shukla Tirtha to be the place where the great sage Bhrigu muni together with other bramanas and sages were chanting the four Vedas. Close by is the river Reva which is established through the middle of the entire universe. By remembering it once, one can obtain happiness lasting for seven kalpas or 7x 4.300.000 years; and one who glorifies this river becomes sanctified by it.

Shukla tirtha destroys all the sins

There is one interesting story related to this place that is given in the Skande Purana. Once a washerman who was responsible to wash the cloths of important brahmanas, mistakenly put their cloths in the indigo after which the cloths became unwashable. Being very much afraid from the curse of the brahmanas he decided to leave with his whole family to some other place. When her daughter visited her girlfriend to tell about the reason of leaving and to say the last good-bye, she was told about one pond in the nearby forest. By the touch of the water from that pond everything immediately becomes white. Moreover, even the grass growing around that pond grows white or shukla. Giving to her father the proposal to try to wash the clothes in that pond, although doubtful about the outcome the washerman decided to go there since there was nothing to lose anyway. Without using here too many words, the whole story turned out to be true and the news about the miraculous water of that pond quickly spread far and wide. The benefits of taking bath with faith in the water of this Sukla Tirtha are many. One can attain purity; get the benefit of bathing in all holy places; deliver his forefathers from hellish condition. The benefit of performing a horse sacrifice or Shraddha ceremony at Gaya is also easily attained at Shukla Tirhta and ultimately one can attain liberation. How it came that the Shukla Tirtha is so powerful place for purification? The Skanda Purane says that Shvetadvipa was brought here by the powerful Lord Vishnu because He was concerned that this holy place doesn’t lose its whiteness due to the influence of Kali. The color of Shvetadvipa doesn’t become dark although in contact with Kali Kala. So, at this amazing holy place Shukla Tirtha one can have a darshan of Lord Vishnu’s footprints, praying to which one can attain the His spiritual abode.

THE FOOTPRINTS OF KRSNA AND BALARAAM

In the Srimad Bhagavatam 10.38.30 we can find the following wonderful verse:

"The two great personalities, Krsna and Balarama, had both made the land of Vraja extremely beautiful by decorating it with Their footprints, which had many auspicious markings, such as the flag, thunderbolt, rod for controlling elephants, and lotus flower. With great mercy, They cast Their smiling glance upon Akrura."

Jiva Goswami gives an interesting comment on this verse writing that both Krsna and Balarama are described as having the markings of the Supreme Personality of Godhead on the soles of Their feet that not any sakty-avesa incarnations (empowered living entities) have such as Prthu Maharaja and others. These auspicious markings are seen only on the feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself.

Here, before we proceed to mention some auspicious places where Krishna left His divine footprints let see which marks are on His sole that are the sign of His position as the Supreme personality of Godhead. In the following verses the Skanda Purana states the particular places on His feet where Krishna carries the mark of the flag and also other marks, and the reasons for these marks:

'At the base of the large toe on His right foot, the unborn Lord carries the mark of a disc, which cuts down the six (mental) enemies of His devotees.'

'At the bottom of the middle toe of that same foot Lord Acyuta has a lotus flower, which increases the greed for Him in the minds of the beelike devotees who meditate on His feet.'

'At the base of His small toe is a thunderbolt, which smashes the mountains of His devotees' reactions to past sins, and in the middle of His heel is the mark of an elephant goad, which brings the elephants of His devotees' minds under control.'

'The joint of His right large toe bears the mark of a barleycorn, representing all kinds of enjoyable opulences.'

"The Skanda Purana also states,

'A thunderbolt is found on the right side of His right foot, and an elephant goad below that.'

"The acaryas of the Vaisnava sampradaya explain that since the particular feet under discussion are Lord Krishna's, we should know that the thunderbolt is at the base of His small toe and the elephant goad below the thunderbolt. An elephant goad on the heel belongs rather to Lord Narayana and other visnu-tattva expansions.

"Thus the Skanda Puräëa describes six marks on Krishna's right foot-the disc, flag, lotus, thunderbolt, elephant goad and barleycorn. And the Vaisnava-tosani mentions even more marks-a vertical line beginning at the middle of His foot and continuing as far as the juncture between His big toe and second toe; an umbrella below the disc; at the base of the middle of His foot, a group of four svastikas in the four cardinal directions; at the four points where each svastika meets the next, four rose apples; and in the middle of the svastikas, an octagon. This makes eleven marks on Krishna's right foot."

Shrila Vishvanatha Cakravarti Thakura describes the marks on Krishna's left foot as follows:

"At the base of the large toe is a conchshell with its mouth facing the toe. At the base of the middle toe are two concentric circles, representing the inner and outer sky. Below this mark is Cupid' s unstrung bow, at the base of the bow is a triangle, and surrounding the triangle is a group of four waterpots. At the base of the triangle is a half-moon with two more triangles touching its points, and below the half-moon is a fish.

"All together, then, there are nineteen distinguishing marks on the soles of Lord Krishna's lotus feet."

RADHARANIS FOTPRINTS

Now, it is unavoidable to mention something about the divine footprints of Shrimati Radharani since She is the eternal consort of Shri Krishna, just as Sita is to Rama or Lakshmi to Lord Narayana. Shrila Vishvanatha Cakravarti Thakura quotes the following detailed description of Shrimati Radharani's footprints, as given by Shrila Rupa Gosvami in his Shri Ujjvala-nilamani: "At the base of the large toe of Her left foot is the mark of a barleycorn, below that mark is a disc, below the disc is an umbrella, and below the umbrella is a bracelet. A vertical line extends from the middle of Her foot to the juncture of Her large and second toes. At the base of the middle toe is a lotus, below that is a flag with a banner, and below the flag is a creeper, together with a flower. At the base of Her small toe is an elephant goad, and upon Her heel is a half-moon. Thus there are eleven marks on Her left foot.

"At the base of the large toe of Her right foot is a conchshell, and below that a spear. At the base of the small toe of Her right foot is a sacrificial altar, below that an earring, and below the earring a spear. Along the base of the second, third, fourth and small toes is the mark of a mountain, below which is a chariot, and on the heel is a fish.

"Thus all together there are nineteen distinguishing marks on the soles of Shrimati Radharani's lotus feet."

NEVER TRAMPLED OVER

To the verse of Srimad Bhagavatam 10.16.18 Shrila Sanatana Goswami gives a following amazing purport:

"Since Lord Krishna had passed along the path some time previously, why weren't His footprints, which were surrounded by those of cows, cowherd boys and so on, smudged over and brushed away? Why hadn't His footprints been obliterated by those of the beasts and birds of Vrindavana forest? The answer is indicated by the word vis-pati, master of the cowherd community. Since Lord Krishna is actually the wealth of all living beings, all the inhabitants of the forest of Vraja would carefully preserve His footprints as great treasures, the very ornaments of the earth. Thus no creature within Vrindavana would ever walk upon Lord Krishna's footprints… All the living beings in Vrindavana, including even the forest birds and beasts always carefully preserved the Lord's footprints as their greatest treasures, the very ornaments of the earth, and they were never walked over by anyone”.

May 2, 2006

KALIYA BLESSED BY KRISHNA’S LOTUS FEET

Once when the Kaliya snake demon was poisoning the Yamuna river so much that the fishes begin dying; the vegetation around the river to dry out and even the birds flying above the river to fall down dead due to inhaling the poisonous fume, Krishna decided to punish the nasty demon and jumped into the Yamuna. Seeing this, one cowherd boy immediately run to the village to inform the residents of Vrindavana that Krishna is in danger. Suddenly, the people of the whole village immediately decided to go on the spot to help Krishna running like corpses, following Krishna's footprints to the part of the Yamuna where the Lord's pastime was taking place. Once again, being under the influence of Yogamaya – the spiritual illusory potency of Krishna – they could not realize that there is no danger for Krishna.

Not only the land of Vrindavana was blessed by the Lotus feet of Lord Krishna but others as well whoever was touched by them. Devotees they always pray for the shelter and protection at the lotus feet of Shri Krishna and amazingly, Kaliya, although a demon also attained that blessing by Krishna. Dancing on the many hoods of the Kaliya snake, who was polluting the Yamuna river by its poison, Krishna almost killed the snake demon and it was only because of the request of the wifes of Kaliya that Krishna did not kill him. Promising to Krishna that he will never again poison the Yamuna river and never again return to this place, Krishna blessed Kaliya in the following way: “Because you are now marked with My footprints, Garuda will no longer try to eat you”.

VRINDAVANA AND MOTHER YASODA

When more than 5000 years ago Shri Krishna and Balarama displayed Their wonderful pastimes, throughout the whole Vrndavana Their footprints and the footprints of the gopis were visible. Every day Krishna and Balarama were happily traversing Vrndavana, purifying thus the land with Their lotus footprints. These sacred footprints of Krishna and His eternal companions are the main reason why is Vrindavana glorified by Krishna bhaktas as the most important holy place in the whole universe. Actually, if the footsteps of an elevated devotee makes any place purified and thus, equally good as a holy place, what to say then about Krishna? Even those places where He was steeling butter as a small child, became certainly the most holy, worshipable place. Mother Yashoda, the most fortunate mother in the universe, was able to trace Krishna by following His butter-smeared footprints. Most of the time, when she saw her naughty Krishna, how cleverly He invented different ways to reach the high ceiling to steal butter from the pots that were hanging there, she would just smile.

MADHUVANA AND DHRUVA MAHARAJA

It is described, that when Narada Muni advised Dhruva to meditate on and worship Lord Vishnu, Dhruva started for Madhuvana forest. Even at that time, in Madhuvana there were many footprints of Krishna from His previous pastimes, thus making the whole forest very auspicious for Dhruva’s practice of austerities and meditation. He diligently worshipped and glorified Lord Krishna by chanting the 12-syllable mantra - om namo bhagavate vasudevaya. Accept of the forest of Madhuvana, there are many other places where Krishna’s footprints are imprinted and preserved even nowadays. Let’s now continue with our pilgrimage.

CHARAN PAHARI

Charan Pahari is situated in the land of Vrindavana, 2 kilometers outside of the village Kaman, in the top of a small hill. This place was visited by many acaryas and Lord Caitanya as well. Lord Caitanya, Lord Nityananda, Advaita Acarya, Madhavendra Puri, Madhvacarya, Vallabhacarya and the Gosvamis have all come to this place to have darshan of Krishna’s footprints.

It is said, that when Krishna played His flute at this place the hill started to melt. Actually, Krishna’s flute playing is so amazing that the trees immediately begin to shed tears of honey; the river stops to flow and becomes like a stone or begins to flow in opposite direction; the stones begin to melt; the dears become stunned and the grass falls out from their open mouth. The cows all hear their particular names in the sound of the flute. So, the impressions of Krishna’s footprints can be seen here at Charan Pahari. At this place Krishna used to have many wonderful childhood pastimes and it was also here that Krishna performed a sacrifice for atonement of killing Vyomasura who was a son of a brahmana.

Close to Charan Pahari is one more place called Pichel Pahari (Pichalini-shila), another place where the footprints of Krishna and Balarama are imprinted in the stone. All these different places of Krishna’s pastimes: Charan Pahari, Pichel Pahari, Vyomasura’s cave, and Bhojana Sthali are surrounded by the Kamyavana forest. In the Adi Varaha Purana it is said: ‘The fourth forest is Kamyavana, the best of all. O goddess, a person who goes there is glorified in My abode.’

“O king, next is Kamyavana, where Lord Hari stayed in His childhood. Simply by bathing here, any person will attain all his desires.” (Skanda Purana, Mathura Khanda)

In Vrindavana close to the Govindaji temple there is a cave in which the Deity of Govinda was found. It is said that this was the preferred place where Rupa Goswami liked to perform his japa meditation. Here, also at this place, one can have a darshan of eight armed Yogamaya sitting on a lion and the stone slab with the footprint of Shri Krishna.

THE SALAGRAM SILA OF SANATANA GOSWAMI

Before more then 450 years ago Due to danger from the Muslim invaders many deities in Vrindavana were moved to Jaipur. Among Them are the original Radha Damopdara Deities that were worshiped by Jiva Goswami and the Govardhana-sila of Sanatana Goswami, which is here especially interesting for us to be mentioned because it has Lord Krishna’s footprints on it. The story how Sanatana Goswami got this wonderful Govardhana-sila goes as follows. He used to stay at Chakra Tirha that is close to Govardhana hill and from there he daily went on Govardhana parikrama (more than 21 km) considering Govardhana to be Lord Krishna. As he became old going for parikrama became quite difficult for him and thus out of compassion Krishna came to him disguised as a small boy holding a fan in his one hand. The boy began to fan Sanatana Goswami and said: "Swamy it is very difficult for you to go round the mountain daily walking more than twenty-one miles. Please accept my good advice. This is Sila has Lord Krishna's footprints on it and the pujari can tell you where you can see the walking stick, a flute, and the hoof-print of a calf imbedded. I have brought this Sila for you from the top of this mountain and circumambulating it is as good as circumambulating the whole Govardhan Hill”. After saying this good advice the charming boy disappeared. Sanatana Goswami felt very much happy and accepted His good advice