The Feet of The Lord

[Guest guest]

Dear Members of The List:

 

I have a basic question for a non-hindu born student of Advaita.

Could someone explain me the symbolic meaning of the importance of the

Lord's Feet or the Lotus Feet of the Lord? (Why not Heart? since is

the core of Being for example...). I did search in the internet

without very much success.

I am not sure if the topic is relevant to Advaita Vedanta, or it has a

place within our Teachings, but we find it all over the place and even

Acharya Shankara's other name is Bhagavatpada Acharya (the guru at the

feet of Lord), so I would like to give some thought to this matter if

its possible.

 

Thank you.

Yours in All,

 

Mouna

[Guest guest]

Mouna - PraNAms

 

Here is my understanding.

 

1. Like all of us Lord also can stand on the two feet. The feet are grounded on

the ground - BhuuHpaadou .. says scriptures - His feet are on the earth. Hence

it is easy to reach than head which is in the heavens.

 

2. Lord stands on Dharma - hence feet represent the dharma that he is standing -

Hence we worship Lord or even teacher for the values that he is standing on.

 

3. Lotus is flower that grows out of mud - called pankaja - born of mud - yet

untouched by the mud - It beautifies by its grace even while it is in the midst

of unwelcome surroundings. In fact it brings beauty to the surroundings.

 

4. Therefore Lotus also implies not only beauty but detachment with its

surroundings. Hence we have Lotus for every God - they are pasteurized as

standing on the lotus flower.

 

These are some of the reasons I can think off.

 

 

Hari Om!

Sadananda

 

 

 

 

 

--- On Thu, 5/29/08, Mouna <solracartist wrote:

 

Could someone explain me the symbolic meaning of the importance of the

Lord's Feet or the Lotus Feet of the Lord? (Why not Heart? since is

the core of Being for example...). I did search in the internet

without very much success.

....

Thank you.

Yours in All,

 

Mouna

[Guest guest]

Correction of typo!

 

 

 

--- On Thu, 5/29/08, kuntimaddi sadananda <kuntimaddisada wrote:

 

kuntimaddi sadananda <kuntimaddisada

 

4. Therefore Lotus also implies not only beauty but detachment with its

surroundings. Hence we have Lotus for every God - they are pasteurized as

standing on the lotus flower.

-----------

I am not sure if they are pasteurized or not but what I meant was picturized! My

fingers do the typing and have their own way of putting things I guess!

PraNAms

Sadananda

[Guest guest]

advaitin , " Mouna " <solracartist wrote:

>

> Dear Members of The List:

> Could someone explain me the symbolic meaning of the importance of the

> Lord's Feet or the Lotus Feet of the Lord? (Why not Heart? since is

> the core of Being for example...). I did search in the internet

> without very much success.

> I am not sure if the topic is relevant to Advaita Vedanta, or it has a

> place within our Teachings, but we find it all over the place and even

> Acharya Shankara's other name is Bhagavatpada Acharya (the guru at the

> feet of Lord), so I would like to give some thought to this matter if

> its possible.

>

 

Sri Mounaji, the feet of a person is the lowest part in the person. So

to surrender at the feet of the Lord is to surrender completely my

whole self to the Lord's will and being. The Lord's feet is therefore a

most sacred remembrance for the pure devotee, which resembles a " full-

blown lotus " . The Lotus is considered in India as specially reflecting

beauty and grace, hence it is a common reference to the feet of the

Lord, remembering which gives deepest fulfillment.

 

You will also find in English translations to pranaam as " take the dust

of the feet " ; again the feet of the Guru is the lowest physical aspect,

but which is sacred and to be placed at the head of the sishya. It

symbolizes surrender.

 

" Heart " is more for one's own reference to the inner Self, rather than

one's approach of another in a reverential manner. When we say namaste,

we can conceive of God/Self as residing in the Heart of the other; but

there is no question of equality with pranaam or surrender at the feet.

The latter reflects the attitude of the Bhaktha where duality is

maintained at the vyavahaarika level. [symbolically however we can also

suggest that, the small " i " perceived in this body is surrendered to

the real I idolized in the other; and this surrender is emphasized by

placing the head/mind of the lower self at the Feet of the Higher/Real.]

 

thollmelukaalkizhu

[Guest guest]

Namaste Sri Mouna:

 

Your question is quite relevent and has relevance to advaita

vedanta. Sadaji has already provided answers that cover the major

aspects of your question. You will likely receive more insights from

others. Here I want to provide you my observations with respect to

the symbolism behind touching or doing namaskar to the feet of the

Lord. This gesture has symbolic relevance to all vedantic schools

(advaita, dwaita and visitadvaita). The ultimate goal of every seeker

is God realization which requires practicing (sadhana) of humility.

Hindus practice humility through symbolic gestures as follows:

 

Shashtanga Namaskaram - generally done at the temples or in front of

an altar or to Gurus, parents, grand parents and elders:

 

Lies flat on the stomach with arms extended beyond his head and then

clasps the feet of the Lord:

It is called Shastanga because eight parts of the body touch the

ground. Those parts are: knees, belly, chest, chin, nose, temple,

hands and elbows. Symbolically the entire body, mind and intellect

are surrendered at God's feet in order to merge with the ultimate

reality.

 

Upasangrahan - touching the feet of elders or teachers

Touching the feet in prostration is a sign of respect for the age,

maturity, nobility and divinity that our elders personify. It

symbolizes our recognition of their selfless love for us and the

sacrifices that they have done for our welfare. The good wishes

(Sankalpa) and blessings (Aashirvaada) of elders are highly valued in

India. By prostrating the elders, the youngsters seek the elders'

blessings. Good thoughts create positive vibrations. When we

prostrate with humility and respect, we invoke the good wishes and

blessings of elders which flow in the form of positive energy.

 

Namaskar or Namaste (Symbolic gesture with folded hands) to everyone:

This is a symbolic silent communication between two: Inspite of any

differences between us (5 Koshas), I put these aside and with all my

physical strength (folded hands) and my intellect (bowed head) I pay

respect to the Atma/Divinity in you.

 

Five Koshas (sheaths:

Physical - Annamaya kosha

Energy - Pranamaya kosha

Mental - Manamaya kosha

Wisdom - Vijnanamaya kosha

Bliss - Anandamaya kosha

 

Symbolically the differences between us are only in appearance and

detaching these differences. The `me' in you can recognize identity

of the `you' in me.

 

with my warmest regards,

 

Ram Chandran

 

advaitin , " Mouna " <solracartist wrote:

 

> I have a basic question for a non-hindu born student of Advaita.

> Could someone explain me the symbolic meaning of the importance of

the

> Lord's Feet or the Lotus Feet of the Lord? (Why not Heart? since is

> the core of Being for example...). I did search in the internet

> without very much success.

[Guest guest]

From : H.N. Sreenivasa Murthy

Pranams to all.

 

advaitin , kuntimaddi sadananda

<kuntimaddisada wrote:

>

> Mouna - PraNAms

 

Dear Sri Mouna,

Further to what Sri Sadananda has stated in his own unique

way , I would like to add this :

You may be aware that in India it is the tradition that one

touches the feet of the elders . The significance is that one should

have the attitude (BAva) of reverence and humility whenever he touches

the feet of elders. Similarly whenever the seeker thinks of his Guru

who is none other than The Lord himself , he should be in that frame

of mind. In order to point out to the seeker of Truth the necessity of

possessing this nature of reverence and humility by him ,this word

'pAda' is used.

 

With warm and respectful regards

Sreenivasa Murthy

[Guest guest]

advaitin , " Mouna " <solracartist wrote:

>

> Dear Members of The List:

>

> I have a basic question for a non-hindu born student of Advaita.

> Could someone explain me the symbolic meaning of the importance of

the

> Lord's Feet or the Lotus Feet of the Lord? (Why not Heart? since is

> the core of Being for example...). I did search in the internet

> without very much success.

> I am not sure if the topic is relevant to Advaita Vedanta, or it

has a

> place within our Teachings, but we find it all over the place and

even

> Acharya Shankara's other name is Bhagavatpada Acharya (the guru at

the

> feet of Lord), so I would like to give some thought to this matter

if

> its possible.

>

 

Namaste all.

 

You may want to read the following article:

 

http://www.geocities.com/profvk/gohitvip/padmapAdadhUlipAdukA.html

 

It is also published under the title 'Lotus Feet, Holy Dust, and

Divine Sandals' in the Kadambari e-magazine of 2006 on page 33, which

can be seen online at

 

http://www.devipuram.com/mailables/archive_kadambari/kadambari2.pdf

 

PraNAms to all advaitins.

profvk

[Guest guest]

Namaste ProfVKji:

Thanks for the link and it is an excellent article and good to see your

participation.

With my warmest regards,

Ram Chandran

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Dear Members/Teachers of The List, pranams:

 

I thank all and each of the contributions made to deepen the knowledge

of the symbolism of The Lotus Feet of The Lord.

As usually happens in this list, the responses are more than expected,

and if one is open to them, they not only give more " information " ,

they make one go beyond that information.

 

I prostrate to those Lotus Feet of The Lord, which in this case,

manifested in all of your responses.

 

Mouna

[Guest guest]

Namaste Mauna-Ji:

 

Feet are the foundation which supports the whole body. He is always

depicted as standing on both of his legs. This suggested Lotus as

being one of the key ingredients that our ancestors may have found to

be extremely useful to sustain the society in general.

 

Here are my thoughts on this significance of " Lotus " .

 

1. Lotus only grows in mud or shallow lakes with lot of mud.

 

2. Lotus does not grow in rives.

 

Lord ViShNu is often depicted as standing in Lotus.

 

Lord, the " Sustainer " of The Earth is also regarded as being the king

in our puraaNaa's. Society can only take root where there is water,

either a river or through wells and suggests low water table in the

area. What is point in having a king who has no living this to

sustain ? Thus Lotus is a subtle suggesting of existence of an

habitable society.

 

Lotus itself has many medicinal properties.

 

1. It stops bloody chronic amoebic diarrhea.

 

2. Essential oils from Lotus exhibit very potent anti-microbial

activity.

 

3. Seeds have been extensively used to treat spermatorohia in

males. That is why Laxmi vrata seeds are often offered as oblation

in Laxmi Tantra performed by couples desirous of progeny. Modern

allopethic medicine has no known remedy for this. Here, our

ancestors cleverly created specific rituals that have practical

applications. IMO- This practical application is the real

spirituality of many rituals.

 

4. Lotus leaves were used as " Paper " for writing.

 

 

Hope this answers some of your questions.

 

Regards,

 

Dr. Yadu

 

advaitin , " Mouna " <solracartist wrote:

>

> Dear Members of The List:

>

> I have a basic question for a non-hindu born student of Advaita.

> Could someone explain me the symbolic meaning of the importance of

the

> Lord's Feet or the Lotus Feet of the Lord? (Why not Heart? since is

> the core of Being for example...). I did search in the internet

> without very much success.

> I am not sure if the topic is relevant to Advaita Vedanta, or it

has a

> place within our Teachings, but we find it all over the place and

even

> Acharya Shankara's other name is Bhagavatpada Acharya (the guru at

the

> feet of Lord), so I would like to give some thought to this matter

if

> its possible.

>

> Thank you.

> Yours in All,

>

> Mouna

>

[Guest guest]

Hello

 

To touch the feet one has to bend down or do namaskara by lying down.

This signifies total surrender. Once you surrender or fall at ones

feet one loses oneself and allow the other to act through you. Total

surrender is the beginning of devotion to Lord. Am I right?

 

Sakthivel

[Guest guest]

advaitin , " K SAKTHIVEL " <sri.sakthivel

wrote:

>

> Hello

>

> To touch the feet one has to bend down or do namaskara by lying

down.

> This signifies total surrender. Once you surrender or fall at ones

> feet one loses oneself and allow the other to act through you. Total

> surrender is the beginning of devotion to Lord. Am I right?

>

> Sakthivel

>

 

 

Namaste Sakthivel-Ji:

 

This surrender is representation of " ananya bhaava " and the

acceptance of the ultimate superiority of the one that is being

prostrated to.

 

Feet needs to be looked upon only as an iconic representation of

something that bares the entire weight of all the 10 indriiyaa's

(atyatiThddashaa~Ngulam as described in the puruSha suukta). Thus

surrendering to the firmly grounded balance point anything and

everything is possible for human beings. This balance point

is " dharma " that is derived from the root verb " dhR^i - to bare " .

 

For this reason Sage Vyasa emphasized the importance of dharma.

 

uurdhvabaahur viraumyeSha na ca kashcicchhR^iNoti me |

dharmaadarthashca kaamashca sa kimarthaM na sevyate ||

 

Meaning - I am shouting loudly while; raising both hands, but no one

seems to be listening. When kaama and artha are easily achieved

through dharma then why is it that you do not embrace the dharma?

 

The entire significance of mahaabhaarata is given in " bhaarata

saavitri the last four lines of the composition -

 

shrutidharma iti hyeke netyaahurapare janaaH |

na ca tat pratyasuuyaamo na hi sarva vidhiiyate || ma. bhaa.

shaanti.. 109.13 ||

 

Meaning - Some say that dharma is expressed in the shruti, where as

other do not think so. We need not take sides in this case because

everything cannot be said in the shruti (Veda).

 

na jAtu kAmAnna bhayAnna lobhAd

dharma.n tyajejjIvitasyApi hetoH .

nityo dharmaH sukhaduHkhe tvanitye

jIvo nityo heturasya tvanityaH .. 50.. bhaarata saavitrii ||

 

Take home message is remain faithful to dharma, the only permanent

thing and feet represents that dharma.

 

Just some additional thoughts of $0.02.

 

Kind regards,

 

Dr. Yadu