Why Do Hindus Never Touch Books with Their Feet?

A foreigner who is visiting India will often be surprised to see Hindus touching papers or books respectfully and then touching their eyes when they step on them accidentally. If he enquires about this, he will be told that Hindus don’t touch books with their feet, as it is disrespectful.

 Among Hindus, it is ingrained right from childhood that one should not touch books, papers, musical instruments, educational tools, or people with one’s feet. If our feet accidentally touch such things, our elders tell us to respectfully touch them with our hands and then touch our eyes in a gesture of apology.

 This is because we give great importance to education and knowledge in Indian culture. Hindus have a deep reverence for books and education. This is why we worship books, vehicles, and instruments every year during Saraswathi Pooja or Ayudha Pooja, a day that honors the Goddess of Learning.

In many Hindu households, children utter the following prayer before starting their studies:

Saraswati namasthubhyam

Varade kaama roopini

Vidyaarambham karishyaami

Sidhirbhavatu me sadaa

O Goddess Saraswati, the giver of

Boons and fulfiller of wishes,

I prostrate to You before

starting my studies.

May you always fulfill me?

 It is not just books, even touching other people with our feet is considered impolite. It is akin to disrespecting God himself, as Hinduism believes that God lives within each one of us. So, when Hindus touch someone with their feet by accident, they immediately apologize to the person with reverence and humility. Even if the person is younger than us, we should apologize to them.

 Hinduism teaches us to respect all the things (even if they are not living things) from which we gain benefits because it believes that God is present in them. Goddess Saraswati is the deity of learning and the arts. She represents books, pens, musical instruments, and other study materials. So when we touch such things with our feet, it is like stepping on the goddess herself. This is considered sinful. IndiSet featured imageans regard knowledge as sacred and divine. So, it must be given due respect.

 It is believed to attract bad karma if we touch, kick, or nudge a book with our feet, and it can have some bad consequences. For instance, we may find it difficult to gain knowledge, or our education may suffer, leading to poor academic performance.

 Hindu children even show respect to new notebooks, pens, pencils, etc., by taking them to the nearest temple and getting them blessed by the priest who will place them at the feet of the deity. Getting such divine blessings for such things is believed to help the children do well in academics.

 If our feet accidentally touch a book or a person, we should utter a prayer for forgiveness in our mind and then bow down and touch that person’s feet and ask them to forgive us. This imparts humility and is good for developing character. A Sanskrit sutra says: vidya vinayena shobhate, meaning ‘knowledge is useful for only he who is humble’.

This is just one of the many Hindu traditions and customs that remind us of profound philosophical truths.

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