Srimate Srivan Satakopa Sri Ranganatha Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:

The Puzzle of the Padukas

K. Satakopa Iyengar

The Ramayana of Sri Valmiki is a wonderful document and its novelty and beauty has not palled on its
admirers, despite its being around for innumerable millennia. Despite a simple storyline, the Epic has
been the subject matter of countless reverential recitals and enlightening expositions over the ages.
We can safely declare that there never was a work in all the worlds, in any language and at any time,
which has continued to grip popular interest and imagination and been the object of such reverence,
as Srimad Ramayana. You and I must have heard any number of discourses on the Epic since our
childhood; does it ever prevent you or me from attending one more? For regular readers of Srimad
Ramayana, it never fails to offer a fresh insight or inspire a new thought, every time it is perused.

The master story-teller that he is, Sri Valmiki knows when to wax voluble about an event and when to
adopt a reticent narrative, saying just enough to pique the readers’ interest. Admirers of the Epic
would find certain episodes which would bear elaboration, but which Sri Valmiki has deliberately left
to the readers’ imagination. The venerable commentators on the Epic have given us clues to interpret
such episodes, with their enlightening glosses. One such event relates to Sri Rama’s Padukas.

The scene is the picturesque Chitrakootam, where Sri Rama, Sita Devi and Sri Lakshmana have built
themselves a pretty cottage. Their idyllic existence is suddenly disturbed by the arrival of the large
Ayodhya army, headed by Sri Bharata, accompanied by all the ministers and the Kulaguru Sri Vasishtta
Maharshi. And what is his mission? To take Sri Rama back to Ayodhya at any cost and ensconce Him
on the throne of the Ikshvakus, to set right the injustice meted out by his cruel mother Kaikeyi and in
the process, cleanse the stigma that he, Bharata, had usurped the throne through a palace intrigue.
Despite all his impassioned entreaties, Sri Rama remains steadfast on completing the 14-year exile in
the woods, to honour the promise of his beloved father Dasaratha to Kaikeyi. No amount of persuasion
by all the assembled denizens of Ayodhya is able to convince Sri Rama to return. However, moved by
Bharata’s sentiments, Sri Rama gives the former His sandals, to reign over Kosala Desam as His
representative, till His return after 14 years. This is in response to Bharata’s alternate entreaty to step
on the gold-studded sandals and give them to him (Bharata). And though disappointed at not having
secured Sri Rama’s return, Bharata returns to Ayodhya, carrying the Padukas reverentially on his head.

Now, the question arises as to where the Padukas Sri Rama gave Bharata came from. It is logical to
presume that Sri Rama relinquished the sandals He was currently wearing, to satisfy Bharata’s need
for a symbolic authority representing Sri Rama. But we are confronted by the question, would Sri Rama
really do this? Facing 14 long years of existence in the wilderness, necessitating frequent treading on
stones and thorns on wild jungle paths, with reptiles galore running around, would Sri Raghava give
away the only protection He had for His delicate feet? Remember, what we are talking about here is
a Prince who has been used to all the creature comforts that the royal residence could offer and whose
feet are so delicate as to become reddish at being massaged by the incredibly soft-handed Sita Devi!
Such being the case, wouldn’t the sacrifice of His sandals expose Sri Rama’s gentle feet to the rough
routes of the jungle, causing blisters, sores and swelling to appear with painful regularity? And since
the giving away of the Padukas would cause Sri Rama such hardships on top of all those imposed on
Him by a stone-hearted step mother and a fickle-minded father, would Bharata even dream of
depriving his revered elder brother of His footwear?
And if Sri Rama were to give away His Padukas and walk barefoot in the jungle, would the ever-
protective Lakshmana and His concerned Consort permit it? And in case Sri Rama were to be adamant
about parting with His footwear, would His two companions continue to wear their own and let Rama
walk bare-footed? And a jungle is a jungle—there are no conveniently-located footwear shops
enabling Sri Rama to acquire a spare pair after giving His own to Bharata!

We now have a question: did Sri Rama give Bharata the sandals He was currently wearing and, since
no replacements were available, spend the rest of His 14 year jungle sojourn barefooted? And if so,
what did Sri Mythily and Sri Lakshmana do—agree meekly to Sri Rama inviting more trouble by walking
on rough jungle terrain on unclad feet and continue to wear their own footwear unmindful of Rama
being barefooted? And did Bharata agree to this, knowing full well what he was exposing Sri Rama’s
delicate feet to? Sri Kulasekhara Azhwar tells us that Dasaratha was specifically afraid of Sri Rama’s
lotus feet being hurt by the tiny, sharp stones strewn across jungle paths, and bleeding profusely:

Porundaar kai vel nudi pol paral paaya, melladigal kurudi sora

Virumbaada kaan virumbi veyil uraippa, vempasi noy koora indru

Perum paaviyen magane! pogindraai Kekayar kon magalaai pettra

Arumpaavi sol ketta aruvinayen enseigen ando yaane!

An alternative is to say that Sri Bharata brought the Padukas with him from Ayodhya, offered them Sri
Rama and took them back to Nandigramam. However, this would involve crediting Bharata with
remarkable foresight: he must have known that his saranagati to Sri Rama for the latter’s return to
Ayodhya would fail and that he must carry a pair of sandals to be sanctified by Sri Rama, which he
could later treat as the royal representative at Nandigramam. This also seems improbable, because
Bharata obviously never even thought that his mission would fail.

Sri Valmiki doesn’t offer any help in answering these questions, tantalizingly leaving the puzzle for
commentators and Acharyas to solve as best as they can. Here is the verse with Bharata’s prayer for
Sri Rama to step on the golden sandals and of Sri Rama complying with the same:

Adhirohaarya paadaabhyaam Paduke hema bhooshite

Ete hi sarva lokasya yogakshemam vidhaasyata:

Sodhiruhya naravyaaghra: padukehyavaruhya cha

Praayacchat sumahaatejaa: Bharataaya mahaatmane (Srimad Valmiki Ramayanam, 2.112.20)

One Commentator is of the definite opinion that the golden sandals that Sri Rama stood on and gave
to Bharata, were not the ones He was wearing currently. He wonders (with good reason) how the
cruel Kaikeyi would have permitted Sri Rama to leave for the jungle with His foot in golden sandals,
having insisted on His leaving behind regal apparel and sporting a Spartan dress made of deerskin. He
therefore feels that these sandals must have been brought by Bharata from Ayodhya: ete cha paduke
Bharatena saha aaneete iti bodhyam; anyathaa, Ramasya vastraani griheetvaa ajinaadi dattavatyaa:
Kaikeyya Ramaya hema paduka daanasya anuchitatvaat.

Tilaka, another commentator, has a diametrically opposite opinion: he says that these were the
padukas Sri Rama was wearing then—ete utaja sannihite—and these were the ones given to Bharata.

Another school of thought has it that Bharata did indeed bring the golden sandals with him. His idea
was that if Sri Rama were to agree to return to Ayodhya and ascend the throne, it was best that the
coronation be done right where Sri Rama was, in the jungle itself, to avoid the possibility of a change
of mind that a long interval could entail. Hence Bharata, while leaving Ayodhya, carried with him all
possible paraphernalia required for the coronation, which included a pair of golden sandals. And when
his prayer was not granted, he offered the padukas to Sri Rama, asked Him to step on them and took
them back to Ayodhya with reverence, for ruling over Kosala Desam as Sri Rama’s representatives.

There are some “extremists”, who aver that when Sri Rama left Ayodhya, He left His golden padukas
also behind (or probably gave them away as He did with His other possessions) and walked the jungle
barefoot, from the beginning. However, this is refuted by Swami Desikan, who clarifies in Sri Paduka
Sahasram (Sloka 102) that though Sri Raghava did leave behind everything, including the throne He
was rightfully entitled to, His beloved subjects and the land He loved dearly, He did not leave His
Padukas, and took them with Him as His principal companions, realizing their importance:

Raajyam vihaaya Raghu vamsa maheepateenaam

Pouraamscha paada rasikaan prithiveem cha raktaam

Tvaameva hanta!Saranaavani samprayaasyan

Aalambata prathamam Uttara Kosalendra:

In fact, Swami Desikan tells us that even Sita Devi was so envious of the yeoman service performed by
the padukas (Sitaapi yat vrittim iyesha) in smoothing the Lord’s way by trampling on stones and
thorns, that She Herself wanted to perform this service too. This is what She tells Sri Rama, when He
refuses to take Her along for the vanavasam—I shall go ahead of You, clearing your path, so that Your
delicate feet do not step on thorns, sharp stones and other impediments—agrata: te gamishyaami
mridnantee kusa kantakaan.

As usual, we turn to Swami Desikan for enlightenment. It is in this wonderful Acharya’s works that we
find answers for the trickiest of questions, whether they relate to moot points in Shastras or
apparently insoluble problems in Scriptures. In sloka 116 of Sri Paduka Sahasram, Swami Desikan says
categorically that after giving away the Padukas to Bharata, Sri Rama did walk barefoot for the rest of
His exile (almost 14 years) in the jungle. Thus, Swami Desikan implies that it was indeed the sandals
that He was currently wearing that Sri Rama presented to Bharata.

And how did Sri Rama’s feet escape being hurt by the thorns and bushes lying in jungle paths? Swami
Desikan tells us that by stepping on the Padukas (Sodhiruhya naravyaaghra: padukehyavaruhya cha),
Sri Rama drew from it the physical and spiritual strength required to travel barefoot in the wilderness
with absolutely no discomfort! Extolling the power of the Padukas, which were capable of bestowing
on the Lord Himself wonderful powers of protecting Himself, Swami Desikan says this in the following
Paduka Sahasra Sloka:

Niyatam adhiruroha tvaam anaadheya saktim nija charana saroja saktim aadhaatukaama:/

Sa katham itarathaa tvaam nyasya Rama: vijahre drushad upachita bhoomou Dandakaranya
bhaage//

This also answers the other question of how Sri Bharata, in taking Sri Rama’s padukas away, would
have accepted the position of Sri Rama’s delicate lotus feet having to walk the jungles unprotected.
Since he knows full well the powers of the glorious Padukas, it is Bharata who asks Sri Rama to step
on the Padukas (Adhirohaarya paadaabhyaam Paduke hema bhooshite), so that He could charge His
feet with immunity to the rough terrain of the jungle by contact with the Padukas. We saw above how
Sri Mythily too was well aware of the powers of the Paduka; since She and Sri Lakshmana knew that
Sri Rama had derived adequate energy from His Padukas to travel barefoot without harm, they too
did not object to Bharata taking away the golden sandals.

To those who wonder whether an insentient pair of sandals can bestow on the Lord Himself wonderful
powers of protection against rough terrain, we wish to point out that the Padukas are none other than
Adisesha (nindraal maravadiyaam….Tirumaarkku aravu), blessed with comprehensive wisdom, as are
the other ornaments and weapons adorning the Lord’s divine form. Hence, it is no exaggeration to say
that Adisesha passed on his powers of protection to the Lord, aware that they were going to be
separated for a length of time. The Padukas of the Lord are thus no ordinary pair of footwear, but like
all Nitya Suris, blessed with the most comprehensive of knowledge, equal to that of the Lord Himself.
Further, by stepping on the Padukas before parting with them to Bharata, the Lord imbued them with
His own spirit, rendering them capable of reigning over the vast Kosala Desam for fourteen long years,
a reign marked by absolute peace and prosperity (ete hi sarva lokasya yogakshemam vidhaasyata:).

One last question: when Sri Rama refused to return to Ayodhya, why did Bharata specifically seek His
Padukas? The answer to this lies in the next sargam (2.113.11) of Srimad Ramayanam, where Sri
Bharata recounts to Bharadvaja Maharshi what happened at Chitrakootam. He says that when Sri
Rama insisted on staying in the jungle for fourteen years, it was Kula Guru Sri Vasishtta who instructed
Sri Rama to bless Bharata with His padukas, so that Ayodhya could continue to prosper in peace:

Evam ukto maha pragyo Vasishtta: pratyuvaacha ha

Vaakyagyo vaakya kusalam Raghavam vachanam mahat

Ete prayaccha samhrishta: paduke hema bhooshite

Ayodhyaayaam maha pragya yogakshema kare tava.