Temples and shoes (fwd)

[Benjamin Preciado Solis]

I am forwarding a message from Prof. R.V. Joshi that was sent earlier 
without success.


---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 8 Apr 1996 13:25:32 -0900 (PDT)
From: Romer Cornejo <rcornejo at colmex.mx>
To: indology at liverpool.ac.uk
Cc: Members of the list <indology at liverpool.ac.uk>
Subject: Re: Temples and shoes

Dear list members
In reference to the verses kindly given by my dear friend Prof. 
Aklujkar, Prof. Deshpande, and others, regarding temples and 
shoes, it so happened that in a very recent trip to India to 
receive the Sahitya Akademi Award for Sanskrit Literature on my 
latest kavya S-rii Raadhaapancas-atii, I had the opportunity of 
visiting Govardhan. There I found the following verses in an old 
inscription in an abandoned temple. To my surprise these verses 
refer to the very same issue treated by our learned coleages. 
These verses are very simple but in the penultimate one there 
appears a query that I am unable to answer. If there is someone 
out there who can explain the answer to me I shall be most thakful.

upaanahor mano dhRtvaa ye yaanti harimandiram
niSphalam dars-anam~ teSaam~ gajasnaanam~ yathaa vRthaa. 1

sopaanatkaan vadantyetaan upaanatsu dhRtaatmanah
niSphalam~ dars-anam~ teSaam~ haanis-copaanahoh kvacit. 2

sarastiire baalukaayaam~ nihitaaNDaa hi kacchapii
sarovaariNi tiSThantii dhyaayati dhyaanabindunaa. 3

yathaaNDaanaam~ karotyeva kuurmii dhyaanena poSaNam~
tathaa sam~cintayet kRSNam~ baistiSTham~s-ca mandiraat. 4

mandire gamanam~ kim~ vaa mandire}gamanam~ tathaa
saarthakam~ tu bhavennuunam~ yasyopaanatsu no manah. 5

devaalaye}pi sam~gamya cittam~ yeSaamupaanahoh
Daaridryam~ rogabaahulyam~ teSaam~ sam~jaayate dhruvam. 6

kvacit sam~padyate laabho nuutanopaanahorapi
dRSTe sam~moSaNe teSaam upaanadbhih prataaDanam. 7

yeSaam~ sam~moSaNe cittam~ kim~ tadaa dars-ane dhiyaa
govardhane kRtam~ paapam~ vajralepo bhaviSyati. 8

   aalokyate yadi harir manasaa, tatah kim~
   devaalayeSu gamanena, nirarthakam~ tat
   naalokyate yadi harir manasaa, tatah kim~
   devaalayeSu gamanena, nirarthakam~ tat. 9

   devaalayaad bahirathasti manah kadaacit
   svopaanahostadiha kim~ haridars-anena
   sam~tyajya sarvaviSayaan haripaadamuulam~
   sam~dRSyate yadi tadaiva sudars-anam~ syaat. 10

govardhanagiricchatradaNDataam upayaati kah
gRdhraa ityuttaram~ yasya tadevaasyottaram~ bhavet. 11

antimasyaasya padyasya tattvam~ jaananti ye budhaah
dars-anam~ saarthakam~ teSaam~ teSaam~ vyaakaraNam~ dRDham. 12

By the way the verse first quoted by Narayan S. Raja, found in 
Srirangam, seems to me to be an alteration of an original 
appearing in Skanda PuraaNa as follows

aakaas-aat patitam~ toyam~ yathaa gacchati saagaram
sarvadevanamaskaarah kes-avam~ pratigacchati.

If my esteemed friend Prof. Richard Solomon could not find the 
verses in the Epigraphia Idica, surely the ones discovered by me 
may also not be there.
I write this from Prof. Preciado^s e/mail address. Any answer is 
welcome in this address.

Rasik Vihari Joshi.