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Once while Ãchãrya (Sri Shankara Bhagavatpãda) was in Kasi he saw Sanandana (one of his prime disciples) standing on the other bank of the Ganges. Sanandana was drying Ãchãrya’s clothes. At that moment, Ãchãrya decided to reveal Sanandana’s Guru bhakti to the world. So, after his bath in the river, and with his wet clothes on, the Ãchãrya asked Sanandana who was on the other bank to bring the dry clothes to him.

Sanandana wanted to fulfill his Guru’s wish immediately since he had intense devotion (Bhakti) towards his Guru. He could not bear to see Ãchãrya with wet clothes on. When ardent love or devotion springs up in one’s heart, the mind loses its rationality. So, Sanandana could not wait to find a boat to cross the Ganges. While he was oblivious of the deep, vast Ganges flowing before him in all her splendor, how could he even think of a boat? His mind was totally engrossed in the thought that Ãchãrya was standing with wet clothes at a calling distance and has asked him to bring the dry clothes over to him.

So, he started walking over the flowing Ganges, just as he would walk over plain dry land! He did not think twice that he might get drowned. He did not swim since the Ãchãrya's clothes would get wet and the purpose of his Ãchãrya's call would be defeated.

When such an act of ardent devotion is witnessed, won’t the Lord (In the form of his Ãchãrya) Himself acknowledge it and show everyone its greatness? So, a miracle did happen! As Sanandana walked over the Ganges big lotuses sprung up supporting his every step. Keeping his feet on these lotuses, Sanandana walked over the river. But he was not aware of the lotuses that supported his feet. Just as one who walks over fire as part of a ritual (Thee midhi) does not feel the heat, Sanandana could not feel the cool, soft flowers beneath his feet. While everybody was witnessing this rare show of intense devotion and were awestruck by the miracle, Sanandana reached the other side of the bank and handed over the dry clothes to his Guru.

The Ãchãrya asked Sanandana, teasingly “How did you cross the Ganges?” Even then Sanandana did not turn back to look at the river or the lotuses that had sprung up. He felt strongly that it was Ãchãrya who had ordered him to do so. That being the case, how can it remain without being fulfilled? It was his blessing that had taken him to this place.

So he said, “The very thought of you reduces the deep ocean of samsãra to shallow knee-deep waters. So, there is nothing to wonder about how I crossed the Ganges when you had ordered me to do so.” After this, the Ãchãrya himself showed Sanandana, the lotuses that had sprung in order to support his feet and thus named him ‘Padmapãda’. Though in one state the Ãchãrya himself is the Lord, he is also thought of to be the lotus feet of the Lord (Bhagavatpãda). It is indeed apt that such a guru had a disciple named ‘Padmapãda!

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