Muslim Invasion& Abhithi Stavam

[Guest guest]

Dear Memebrs of the Prapatti Group:

 

On htis Birth day of Thirumazhisai Azhwar, I

wish to share some thoughts on Abhithi Sthavam

and the circumstances underwhich it was

composed by Swami Desikan.

 

Recent postings covered

the events associated with

the creation of Abhithi Stavam by Swami Desikan. I

wish to add a few more Information points on that

Topic from a different perspective.. As a reference time frame,

Swami Desikan"s

period on this earth is 1268 to 1369 AD. He lived the

proverbial 100 plus Veda Praayam . He witnessed

many historical events and contributed

enormously to the sustenance and growth of Sri

Bhagavad Ramanuja Siddhantham. One of the most important

events in his life crowned with accomplishments

as a "vEDANTHAACHARYA" a name given to him by

Sri Ranganatha and as "Sarvatantra Swatantar" , a

title bestowed on him by Sri Ranganayaki, is connected

with Muslim Invasion of Srirangam and the creation of

Abhithi Stavam.

 

Muslim Invasions: The first of the invasions took

place in the year 1311 , when Swami was 43 years old.

It was headed by Malik Kafur, who was a general

in Allaudin Khilji"s court. He was a converted Hindu from Gujerat

and had fierce ambitions to please his master. He

was feared widely. He hit hard, plundered and

went back with his loot. The fear created by

him lasted.

 

Another invasion by Ulugh Khan followed during

1323 Ad, when our Acharya was 55 Years old. He was by that

time,one of the most revered Vaishanva Acharyas.

He had composed many granthams at the command

of Sri Ramanuja , who appeared in his dream .

He was deeply absorbed in the

Kainkaryam of the Divya Dampathis and Ubhaya Vedantha

Kalakshepam to advance the glorious tenets of Ramanuja..

 

A disturbing incident happened

that had influence on his choice of

Satyamangalam as a place

where he stayed during the invasion by

Ulugh Khan.The background is as follows:

A learned scholar by the name of Kanthaadai Lakshmanaacchaar

committed Apachara to the Swami and fell ill. It made Swami very

unhappy. Few days later , Kanthaadai sincerely regretted his

trespass and sought Swami"s pardon . He became cured and he

ingested Swami"s Sri Paada Theertham and was blessed with

a child . The father named the child Theertha Pillai inview of

the blessings caused by the Sree Paada Theertham of Swami Desikan.

Our Acharya was disturbed by htese events and decided to go

away from Srirangam for awhile and travelled to Satyamangalam

with his family and disciples and continued his Pravachanam and

worship of the Divya Dampathis from a distance .After few months,

he could not stay away from the Srirangam Divya dampathis and

he returned to Srirangam.This was his introduction to Satyamangalam,

which will again host him duringthe time of the second Muslim

Invasion.

 

The second invasion news spread as Ulug Khan torched his way south

towards Srirangam. The residents of Srirangam including Swami Desikan and

Sudarsana Bhattar worried about the calamities that could

ensue. Sudarsana Bhattar was the author of Srutha Prakasikai ,

the commentary on Sri Bhashyam following strictly the Sri Bhashyam of Ramanuja

as preserved by his disciples. Sudarsana Bhattar had two young sons .

He w as also the chief priest at Srirangam temple. Both the Bhattar

and the key people involved with the temple wanted to move

the Archa Murthys of Srirangam away and sit out the invasion at a safe

distqance. They raised a stone wall to hide the Moolavar and transported

Sri Ranganatha and Sri Ranganayaki in special boxes and left at the

middle of night.With difficult travel, they reached Thirumalai and

conducted the daily Aradhanam for the Divine couple there without

attracting too much attention. Swami Desikan could not stay behind, once

The Divya Dampathis had left Srirangam. He joined Sudarsana Bhattar

in Thiruppatthi hills . There Sudarsana Bhattar pleaded with Swami

Desikan to protect Srutha Prakasikai and his two sons and stay

somewehre deep beyond reach of the Muslim invaders, who might

track down those , who removed Sri Ranganatha from Srirangam.

Out of his great affection for Sri Bhashyam, Swami agreed and left for

the peace and quiet of Satyamangalam, where he was welcomed earlier

by the residents with great affection .He gave pravachanams on Srutha Prakasika

raised the two sons of the Bhattar as his own. He left from Satyamangalam for

Thirunarayanapuram to offer his worship to Sri Ramanuja and Selva Pillai.

There he composed Yatiraja Sapthathi. There he suffered from separation

from Sri Ranganatha and composed Abhithi Stavam in the stavam style of

Kuresa , the author of five stavams. He recited many times his stavam on

Ranganatha and peace returned to Srirangam as a result of the victory

of Chenji king Koppanaaryan. The Chenji king went to Thirupathi and

brought Sri Ranganatha Back to Srirangam after a breif sojourn at

Chenji.

 

Swami Desikan heard about the good news and returned to Srirangam

and regained his mental peace through reunion with the Divya Dampathis.

He started the Margazhi Adhyayana Utsavam , which had been halted during

the turbulent period of invasion and argued with those , who objected to

the celebration of the works of Azhwaars , who were born in dfferent

Varnaas. He won in the debates and asserted the holiness of the

works of Azhwaars as divine works that have a status similar to

Arya Vedams. Sri Ranganatha like Sri Varadaraja before was pleased

with Swami's defense and instruced that the invocatory verse

"Ramanuja Dayaapathram---" be recited first by Prabhanda

Ghoshtis at tthe beginning of their recitations of Divya

Prabhandham. This Invocatory verse was composed by

BrahmaTantra Swatantra Swamy (BTST) , a key disciple of Swami

and was the founder of the Parakala Matam, where Hayagreevan

is the Araadhana Murthy. BTST had composed it during the

occasion of his Acharya's pravachanam on Aaraayirappati ,

which later was released as Nigama Parimalam by the

Acharya. There Swami Desikan covered the Vedic similarity of

Azhwaar's work and showed the roots of The Azhwaar's work as

originating from Veda Samhitas and Upanishads.That Invocatory

work was the one chosen by Sri Ranganatha to honor the

service of Swami Desikan. Ramanuja Dayaapathram was

composed in Satyamangalam, a plac elinked with Acharya"s

stay duringthe invasion of Srirangam.

 

In the next posting, I will share with you.some of the special

features of Abhithi Stavam.

 

Achaaryaar, Azhwaar Thiruvadigaleh Saranam,

Oppiliappan Koil Varadachari Sadagopan

 

Thirumazhisai Janma Nakshtra Dinam,1996.

any

Sri Bhashyam commentaries that