Upanishads · Bhāvanā p44
॥
Devanāgarī
स्वयं तत्पादुकानिमज्जनं परिपूर्णध्यानम्
Transliteration (IAST)
svayaṃ tatpādukānimajjanaṃ paripūrṇadhyānam
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
स्वयं तत्-पादुका-निमज्जनंsvayaṃ tat-pādukā-nimajjanaṃoneself, the immersion into her sandals
परिपूर्ण-ध्यानम्paripūrṇa-dhyānamis perfect contemplation
Translation
The immersion of oneself into her sandals is perfect contemplation.
Version
9984c20da407 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The last of the services is named paripūrṇa-dhyāna, "perfect contemplation," and it is described by a word one would not expect from this book: pādukā, "sandals." Guru-pādukā is, in this tradition, a designation of the teacher's feet, and their worship is a widespread custom: the teacher's sandals are placed on the altar, bowed to, touched with the head. This custom seems strange from outside, and is worth explaining. One bows not to the footwear, but to the trace: sandals are what touched the feet of one who has gone, or who is not present. This is a sign of presence in absence, and it is understood by anyone who has kept someone's belonging after a parting.
The Vaiṣṇava side uses these same words constantly, and for her they mean the same and more. Pāda-padma, "lotus feet"; śrī-pādukā, "holy sandals"; and the famous story of how Bharata, unable to bring Rāma back from exile, took His sandals, placed them on the throne, and for fourteen years ruled in their name, as a regent. This is, to my mind, the finest explanation of this whole custom, and none better is needed. Bharata did not sit on the throne himself, for the throne was not his; and he did not leave it empty, for a kingdom without a king perishes. He placed there the sign of the absent one — and thereby said at once: I do not rule, and the place is occupied.
And it is on this word, at the very end of the mapping, that the book, which explains everything through itself, utters a word that means another's belonging and another's feet.