VMA 1.36 :: One speck of Braj dust has such glory…

Krishna lovingly decorates Krishna's feet. PC from Dolls of India 

Glories to Vrinda’s forest,
which renders insignificant
countless wish-fulfilling cows,
heavenly trees and spiritual gems.
Even one speck of its dust has divine glories
that gods like Shankara, Brahma and others
cannot even begin to conceive.

vṛndāṭavī jayati kāmagavī-suradrū-

cintāmaṇīn agaṇitān api tucchavantī |

śrī-śaṅkara-druhiṇa-mukhya-surendra-vṛnda-

durjñeya-divya-mahimaika-rajaḥ-kaṇena ||

Commentary

Brijbasis often talk about three unique features of Vrindavan Dham, namely dhenu, reṇu, and veṇu -- the dust, the cows, and the flute. Indeed, there is a general appreciation in the Vaishnava scriptures for dust, usually the dust of a great devotee or divinity's feet, without which no one can attain love for Krishna.

The system of Indian culture emphasizes feet in a way that is not found in other cultures. The feet are the lowest extremity of the body, where the body contacts the earth. Therefore one does not point or show the feet at anyone, especially not the deity in the temple. If one inadvertently touches someone with the feet, one immediately responds by an apology, through bowing to that person's feet. At the same time, to touch the feet of a superior is the proper way of showing respect. So it seems that the symbolic act of humility par excellence is to place one's head, the highest part of one's own body (uttamāṅga) to the lowest point of the body, i.e., the feet, of the respected person. And to do the opposite is the symbolic act of disrespect. See what Balaram tells the Kauravas:


aho mahac citram idaṁ kāla-gatyā duratyayā
ārurukṣaty upānad vai śiro mukuṭa-sevitam

"Tis truly amazing, this production of indomitable time, that the shoes wish to rise to the head, which is meant to be adorned by a jeweled crown!" (SB 10.68.24)

It is through lowering oneself to the great that their power and grace can be transmitted to the supplicant. And the great souls bless the Earth also by walking upon it, recharging the dust with their spiritual energy and love. One who does not lower himself to the great by taking the dust or their feet or the water that has washed their feet will never know the true meaning of the human form of life.


jīvañ chavo bhāgavatāṅghri-reṇuṁ
na jātu martyo 'bhilabheta yas tu |
śrī-viṣṇu-padyā manujas tulasyāḥ
śvasañ chavo yas tu na veda gandham ||

"The mortal who has never received the dust of a Vaishnava’s feet
is a living corpse.
And the man who has never known the fragrance of the tulasi
that has been placed on Lord Vishnu’s lotus feet
is a breathing corpse." (SB 2.3.23)

What is the glory of Braja’s dust? The Bhāgavata says that without being bathed in the dust of the great souls' feet, one cannot expect to know God by any other means. Vrindavan's specialty is that not only is the dust of Radha and Krishna's feet present there, but all their associates and devotees, all the millions of pilgrims who come every year, make the ground sacred by the touch of their bare feet as they wander to its temples and do parikrama of the holy land itself. It is as though their entire spiritual energy has passed into the dust through their feet. The greater the devotion, the more that energy is channeled into the ground.

Uddhava concludes his prayers to the gopis by worship the dust of their feet:

vande nanda-vraja-strīṇāṁ

pāda-reṇum abhīkṣṇaśaḥ

yāsāṁ hari-kathodgīrṇaṁ

punāti bhuvana-trayam

I constantly glorify the dust of the feet of the women of Nanda’s cowherd pastures. Their chanting of the activities of Lord Kṛṣṇa purify the entire universe. (SB 10.47.63)

And of all the gopis, it is Radha who is chief. Therefore Prabodhananda begins his Rādhā-rasa-sudhā-nidhi by glorifying the dust of Radha’s feet:

brahmeśvarādi-sudurūha-padāraviṁda-
śrīmat-parāga-paramādbhuta-vaibhavāyāh |
sarvārtha-sāra-rasa-varṣi-kṛpārdra-dṛṣṭes
tasyā namo’stu vṛṣabhānu-bhuvo mahimne ||

"I bow down to the glories of the daughter of Vrishabhanu, the supremely astonishing opulence of whose lotus feet dust is incomprehensible to the gods like Brahma and Shiva and so on, and whose compassion soaked glances rain down the nectar of the essence of all human goals." (RRSN 3)

yo brahma-rudra-śuka-nārada-bhīṣma-mukhyair
ālakṣito na sahasā puruṣasya tasya |
sadyo-vaśīkaraṇa-cūrṇam ananta-śaktiṁ
taṁ rādhikā-caraṇa-reṇum anusmarāmi ||
"I constantly meditate on the dust of Shri Radha’s feet, which has limitless power, being the magic potion that immediately brings that Purusha who is imperceptible to even such great souls as Brahma, Shiva, Shukadeva, Narada, and Bhishma under her control." (RRSN 4)

ādhāya mūrdhani yad āpur udāra-gopyaḥ
kāmyaṁ padaṁ priya-guṇair api piccha-mauleḥ |
bhāvotsavena bhajatāṁ rasa-kāma-dhenuṁ
taṁ rādhikā-caraṇa-reṇum ahaṁ smarāmi ||
"I meditate on the dust of Radhika’s feet, which is the cow of plenty bestowing rasa on all those who worship it as a festival of love, just as it was for the noble gopis who by taking it on their heads attained their desired goal, the peacock-crowned Lord endowed with all the dear virtues. (RRSN 5)

Radha’s maidservants give up all other obligations to serve the dust of her feet. Prabodhananda Saraswati again bows down to that dust in the Rādhā-rasa-sudhā-nidhi (33)—

dūrād apāsya svajanān sukham artha-koṭiṁ
sarveṣu sādhana-vareṣu ciraṁ nirāśaḥ
varṣantam eva sahajādbhuta-saukhya-dhārāṁ
śrī-rādhikā-caraṇa-reṇum ahaṁ smarāmi
"Happily abandoning my family and unlimited riches, as well as all kinds of other spiritual practices, in which I have long lost any faith, I simply meditate on the dust of Srimati Radharani’s lotus feet, which rains down on me torrents of amazing, natural joy."

Prabodhananda writes this verse from the standpoint of an acharya teaching his disciples rather than from that of Radha’s sakhi in the lila. Though he appears to be talking of his own situation, he is doing so in order to impart a lesson that is valid for everyone who is engaged in worshiping to attain the rasa of Vrindavan, namely that in order to attain the supreme object of worship, Radharani’s lotus feet, one must abandon all those things that present themselves as alternative sources of happiness. It goes without saying that any spiritual practices that have a different goal should be rejected. Moreover, one must recognize that there is really no other sādhana by which one can attain Radha’s service except through her grace. So the essence of Prabodhananda's instruction is to take exclusive shelter of her lotus feet, from which emanates the ultimate stream of amazing, spontaneous joy.

There is really no difference between Radha and Vrindavan.

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VMA 1.35 : The unlimited mine of nectar
VMA 1.34 : The Vrindavan Desire Tree
VMA 1.33 : The most fortunate person residing in Vrindavan
VMA 1.32 : VMA 1.32 : Meditate on that Eros-addled Couple of colors black and gold
VMA 1.31 : Pull up the root of material hopes.
VMA 1.30 : Know Suffering here to be joy
VMA 1.29 : Real life is to take refuge in Vrindavan
VMA 1.28 : I will raise my ears to hear the sweet flute sounds
VMA 1.27 : …where a swarthy, lusty youth leans on a kadamba and plays the flute
VMA 1.26 : May Vrindavan be like a nourishing mother