Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.38.25
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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padāni
—
the footprints
Nominative plural of pada — foot, footprint, step. The same word names "verse-foot" and "refuge." Gauḍīyas regard the dhāma's foot-marks as the highest tīrtha — more concentrated than any pilgrimage place, since the feet that made them are nitya-vraja-stha.
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loka
—
of the planets
Plural locus of the universe. In compound loka-pāla — the regents of the worlds. Gauḍīya cosmology holds these as administrative posts subordinate to Viṣṇu; their crowns bearing this dust is the proper hierarchy depicted.
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kirīṭa
—
upon their crowns
Crown — the symbol of sovereignty. Bhāgavata's recurring image: the dust of Bhagavān's feet on the crowns of the world's kings. Gauḍīyas read kirīṭa-juṣṭa as the only legitimate sovereignty — kingship that owns itself to be lower than Vraja's dust.
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pāda
—
of His feet
Foot. Genitive in pāda-reṇu — the dust of His feet. Gauḍīya sādhana lists pāda-reṇu-sevana among the limbs of bhakti; the Gosvāmīs literally rolled in the Vraja dust and recorded the experience as their highest sevā.
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reṇoḥ
—
the dust
Genitive of reṇu — fine particle, dust. Distinct from raj (gross dirt); reṇu is the high-prestige dust of holy ground. Caitanyacaritāmṛta records Mahāprabhu rolling in this very reṇu when He came to Vṛndāvana.
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abja
—
the lotus (mark)
Lotus — one of the auspicious marks (mahā-puruṣa-lakṣaṇa) impressed on the soles of Bhagavān's feet. Gauḍīya iconography enumerates 19 such marks on Kṛṣṇa's feet; the lotus is the most ubiquitous.
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aṅkuśa
—
elephant goad (mark)
The goad-mark on the sole. Gauḍīyas read this as the sign of Bhagavān's mastery over kāma — the elephant of desire that He alone can drive. The very mark in the soil announces who is walking here.
He saw the footprints (padani) marked with ankusa etc, which were a cause of astonishing good fortune to the earth (ksti kautukam).
Because he soon entered Kṛṣṇa’s area he saw the footprints. The glory of the footprints is described. Because the foot dust destroys all contamination of saṁsāra (amala) it is employed on the crowns of the rulers of the planets. “Since he was seated on the chariot how could he see Kṛṣṇa’s foot prints in the evening, when Gokula was getting dark, since those footprints were mixed with the foot prints of many cowherds?” Those footprints made the earth joyful (kṣiti-kautukam). The earth kept those foot prints explicitly as her ornaments and they spontaneously manifested to the eyes of the devotees. “How did he recognize them as the Lord’s foot prints?” They were specially marked or appeared extraordinary (vilakṣaṇāni) with the lotus and goad.
He saw Kṛṣṇa’s footprints in the pasture nearby, outside of Vraja. Soon Kṛṣṇa would leave the forst and enter the cow pastures of the village. He had a rare opportunity. He saw the beautiful or pure (amala) dust, devoid of even the desire for liberation, which the rulers hold on their crowns for that very reason. They see him from far off and offer respects with great devotion. “Since he was seated on the chariot how could he see Kṛṣṇa’s foot prints in the evening, when Gokula was getting dark, since those footprints were mixed with the foot prints of many cowherds?” Those footprints made the earth joyful (kṣiti-kautukam). The earth kept those foot prints explicitly as her ornaments and they spontaneously manifested to the eyes of the devotees. “How did he recognize them as the Lord’s foot prints?” They were specially marked or appeared extraordinary (vilakṣaṇāni) with the lotus and goad. Ādya means the flag, thunderbolt and other symbols. Or Brahmā, the protector of all the people, holds the foot dust to his crown, after having received Kṛṣṇa’s mercy. dṛṣṭvā tvareṇa nija-dhoraṇato ’vatīrya pṛthvyāṁ vapuḥ kanaka-daṇḍam ivābhipātya spṛṣṭvā catur-mukuṭa-koṭibhir aṅghri-yugmaṁ natvā mud-aśru-sujalair akṛtābhiṣekam After seeing this, Brahmā hastily got down from his swan carrier, fell down like a golden rod and touched the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa with the tips of the four crowns on his heads. Offering his obeisances, he bathed the feet of Kṛṣṇa with his tears of joy. SB 10.13.62 Or he saw the pure dust that Brahmā, Śiva and others hold on their crowns. Somehow they obtain it, and worship it. It is most rare. He directly saw the footprints made of that dust. He was more fortunate than the devatās.
- What 'footprints' has Kṛṣṇa left in your life that you walk past unnoticing?
- Where could you start treating ordinary ground as marked by His passage?
A pilgrim arriving in a holy land scoops up handfuls of its dust because the ground itself is the relic. Akrūra finds in the Vraja-soil the very marks Brahmā and Indra would carry on their crowns — the lotus, the goad, the barleycorn — pressed into common pasture earth.
My note
Source: vedabase.io