Those desirous of attaining moksha should seek the feet of God, and this has clearly been indicated by many men of God. With our limitations, we do not have the capacity to enjoy all of His grace. But we can at least try to focus on His feet, Ilampirai Manimaran said in a discourse.
Arunagirinatha says Lord Subrahmanya’s shoulders are strong and huge, but His feet are small. This is to enable us to embrace them. Had they been as large as His shoulders, would mortals be able to put their hands around them? Lord Narayana measured the three worlds with His feet. His nephew Lord Subrahmanya measured three places too, says Arunagirinatha. They are the head of the peacock, which is Subrahmanya’s mount, the heads of the celestials and also Arunagirinatha’s verses.
Tamil scholar Ki.Va. Jagannathan had a novel explanation for this verse of Arunagirinatha’s. One would have noticed in offices that if a person wants to affix a seal on an important document, he first checks whether the seal leaves its imprint clearly, by stamping it on a piece of paper. If the imprint is without any blotch or smudge, he knows he can go ahead. Likewise, Lord Subrahmanya put the seal of His footprint on the head of the peacock, and to make doubly sure that it left a perfect imprint, He put His feet on the heads of the celestials too. Now sure that the imprint came out well and clear, He then put His seal of approval on Arunagirinatha’s verses, by resting His feet on them! This explanation shows how much the Lord values the prayers and words of His devotees. He wants nothing to go wrong when it comes to showering His grace on them.
Our experiences on this earth are all due to our past karma. Sanchita Karma is what we have acquired over our many births. We have to keep accounting for all of our actions in many births. So it seems as if the cycle of births and deaths could never be broken, and our karma would always keep us chained to this earth. But there is a way out. If Lord Subrahmanya’s feet touch our forehead, even the fate decided for us by Brahma can be rewritten.
