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Dear Members of the Bhakti List,

 

I am overwhelmed by the affection, encouragement and support offered to

me by several members of the list for disseminating Bhagavad Vishayam.

It is impossible for me to say no to the appeals of Srimans Rengarajan,

Sadagopan, Mani, and Sudarshan to stay on this forum and in accordance

with their request, I shall continue to participate in Bhagavad and

Bhagavata Kainkaryams and also to share with all of you my limited

knowledge about Lord Narayana. I shall continue to write about Bhagavad

Vishayam according to the dictates of my Acharyan, Srimad Andavan

Swamigal of Srimad Paundarikapuram Ashramam.

 

I am amazed by Sri Rengarajan's insights into Kumbhakonam and its

related significance to the Sudarshana Chakram of our Lord. His

summaries on the Bhaskara Kshetram and Chakrapani and Charanga Pani

Perumal were brilliant. It brought great joy to me to read his posts.

I request him to continue writing such articles which provide hard-to-

come-by information. The term "Desika" means one who is extremely

familiar with a place. It would be an understatement to say that Sriman

Rengarajan is KumbhakoNam Desikan. There is nothing like seeing a place

with the help of a local guide (Desikan). In this respect, Sriman Rengarajan

has provided us with extremely useful information in his posts on Srirangam

and KumbhakoNam.

 

The term Desikan brings to mind two outstanding Acharyas, i.e., Sri Ramanuja

Maha Desika and Swami Vedanta Desika of Thuppul. As stated above, Desika

means one who is very familiar with a place. Sri Ramanujacharya was extremely

familiar with the path leading to Lord Vishnu as evidenced by his Gadya

Trayam compositions on Panguni Uttaram day. Deeply moved by the sight of

Lord Ranganatha and his consort in Utsavam in the Royal court, the Acharya

burst out in an intensely personal and highly emotional SharaNagati in the

SharaNagati Gadyam. The concluding part of the Gadyam is especially touching

where the Acharyan states "Make my life, my all thine" and in response, the

Lord of Srirangam broke his Archa Samadhi and declared "Remain in Srirangam

practising the Dvaya Mantram until Thy body falls to the earth". Overjoyed

by this Anubhavam of the Lord, Ramanujacharya longs for more of the same

and pours out his feelings in another intensely personal SharaNagati in the

Ranganatha Gadyam where he declares that he would like to be distinguished

service to the Lord in all forms at all times under all conditions. In

response, he was blessed with a brilliant vision of Sri Vaikuntam which

he exquisitely described in the Sri Vaikunta Gadyam. The beauty and majesty

of Sri Vaikunta Gadyam defy translation.

 

One can spend an entire lifetime reading the works of Swami Vedanta Desikan and

discover that one has merely scratched the surface of this genius' colossus.

A great deal can be said about the brilliance of the Ghanta Natha Swaroopi of

Tiruvenkatan. I shall very briefly refer to his mastery through titles showered

on him. Sri Ranganayaki Thayar conferred upon him the title of Sarva Tantra

Swatantarar in recognition of his mastery over all skills. Periya Perumal

conferred upon him the title of Vedanta Acharya due to his brilliant

explanations of Vedas and Ubhaya Vedanta Siddhantam. The noted critic

Sri Appiah Dikshitar gave him the title of Kavi Tarkika Simham. There is a

great deal to be learnt from his numerous works.

 

Sriman Sadagopan beautifully summarized that each one of us has a unique

point-of-view to offer about Bhagavad Vishayam based on our different

backgrounds. In keeping with this spirit, I shall humbly remain in your

service. Thanks again to all of you for your support.

 

Namo Narayana,

 

Muralidhar Rangaswamy