By His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Param Padam; The Place Where There Are No Material Miseries

This morning, I stumbled upon the words; param padam, padam padam, when I was reading from the purport to Bhagavad-gita 2.51:

The liberated living entities seek that place where there are no material miseries. The Bhāgavatam says:

samāśritā ye padapallava-plavaṁ
mahat-padaṁ puṇya-yaśo murāreḥ
bhāvambudhir vatsa-padaṁ paraṁ padaṁ
paraṁ padaṁ yad vipadāṁ na teṣām
(Bhāg. 10.14.58)

“For one who has accepted the boat of the lotus feet of the Lord, who is the shelter of the cosmic manifestation and is famous as Mukunda or the giver of mukti, the ocean of the material world is like the water contained in a calf’s hoofprint. Param padam, or the place where there are no material miseries, or Vaikuṇṭha, is his goal, not the place where there is danger in every step of life.” (from purport to Bg 2.51)

I wanted to know the exact meaning of the words param padam, so I did a search and have included it here as a post and as another entry into our ‘Vaisnava Vocabulary’ category.