When people start good deeds, it is customary to seek elders’ permission and blessings to complete the task without any hindrance.
Navalpakkam Sri Vasudevaachariar said in a discourse that Acharya Sri Vedanta Desika showed himself as an example. The Acharya invoked the blessings of four persons before starting to write “Sri Paduka Sahasram”, which glorifies the power of the divine sandals (paduka) of Lord Ranganatha.
In the first sloka, Sri Vedanta Desika invokes the blessings of great noblemen who bear on their heads the divine paduka of Sri Ranganatha, which empowers even the dust from their feet to sanctify and protect people from all inauspiciousness.
In the second sloka, the Acharya pays his homage to Bharatha who showed first to the world the greatness of paduka. He worshipped the sandals of Sri Rama, placing them on the throne and ruled the kingdom for 14 years just as a proxy to Rama. The Acharya pays his homage to Sri Nadhamunigal, who was like Bharatha to Sri Nammazhwar.
In the third verse, the Acharya pays his obeisance to Sri Nammazhwar, who bears the name of Sataari (paduka), being absorbed in Sri Ranganatha’s feet. With the blessings of Nammazhwar, we place our heads at the feet of God (Perumal Thaalil Thalai Vaithom Satagopan Arulale). Nammazhwar sang about 1,000 verses in Thiruvaimozhi. Swami Desika also wished to compose 1,000 slokas in Paduka Sahasram.
Swami Desika prays in the 4th sloka to the sage Valmiki, who had written about the glory of padukas in Srimad Ramayanam.
