CHENNAI: Guroh padodakam yattugaya sau soksayo vatah, Tirtha rajah prayagasca gurumurtyai namo namaha... The water of the guru’s lotus feet is the holiest water. He is Gaya — the holy centre. He is the holy banyan tree Ashwatha where the grace flows as akshaya — perrenial, and he is the most sacred prayaga, the confluence of three holy rivers. Salutations again and again to the guru.
Lord Shiva continues to narrate the magnificence of sipping the guru padodaka — holy water that has washed the lotus feet of the guru. He further tells mother Parvathi that when we seekers sip padodaka remembering guru as Shiva, the holy water becomes Ganga which cleanses us from our sins.
When we sip padodaka remembering guru as Vishnu, the holy water becomes ksheera sagara, milky ocean that nourishes us with the wisdom of the guru himself. The padodaka, will spark divine feelings in us. It will penetrate, activate and clear the negativity in all our five sheaths or the pancha koshas that are — the sheath of food — Annamaya kosha, sheath of the vital airs — pranamaya kosha, sheath of the mind — manomaya kosha, sheath of the intellect — vijnanamaya kosha, sheath of bliss — anandamaya kosha. Thus, by removing negativity, the guru padodaka — the holy water that has washed the lotus feet of the guru brings the five sheaths or pancha koshas in tandem to work in harmony.
Like this the guru padodaka is our life source. It is like the plasma, the vital constituent in our blood which energises four litres of blood in our body. Lord Shiva says that when we partake the guru padodaka, it should touch the fontanel or brahmarandhra as it is the source of life and the force — shakti we receive when we sprinkle it on our head. It takes us safely across the ocean of mundane existence — samsara sagara, which is nothing but attachment and bhava sagara, which is the ocean of our emotions by making us as soft and subtle as a lotus flower.
Padodaka makes our feelings soft, our thinking becomes soft, tender, subtle, sensitive and gentle. Only with these divine feelings can we become a receptacle to the wisdom of the guru. That is why in all our ancient scriptures, lotus flower has been depicted as a symbol of wisdom.
By becoming benign, subtle and sensitive we will now be able to receive the divine vibrations as well. The powerful vibrations of the guru padodaka transform us from merely being sensitive from the ego point of view, to develop sensitivity and subtlety to feel divinity. Lord Shiva instructs, “After attaining this knowledge about the power of the guru padodaka, bow down to the lotus feet of the guru. Let the divine vibrations and grace of the guru flow into you through your fontanel. The holy water that has washed the lotus feet of the guru. Guru padodaka will make you focused and centred in your soul. It is like a funnel through which grace of the guru flows into you from your fontanel and reaches your soul. Then you become precise and astute in your awareness. Remember what comes out of the guru’s lotus feet is wisdom”.