Rahasya GranthAs of Swami Desikan

[Guest guest]

Dear Friends :

 

I am truly delighted to learn about

the initiative of the most revered

Poundarikapuram Andavan to undertake

the reprinting of the Sixteen Rahasya-

GranthAs of Swami Desikanin MaNipravALam .

This kaimkaryam is a magnificient one

like the earlier release of Volume 3 of

Chillarai Rahasyams of Swami Desikan

that were made available to us by Navaneetham

Swami Of Oppiliappan Koil . I pledge support

for this kaimkaryam and hope that we can together

help to make progress on this project of

utmost importance to Sri VaishNavAs .

 

Sri Ub. Ve . Vangipuram Navaneetham Srirama-

DesikachAr Swamy and his scholarship is

legendary . Since Swami Desikan's time ,

no one has attempted to write commntarties

on the AmruthasvAdhini Rahasyams . The enormous

and painstaking efforts of Navaneetham Swami

to collect the palm leave manuscripts ,

compare them for authenticity , comment on

them and proof read the pages in print

is beyond imagination . We are truly blessed

to gain insights into Swami Desikan's

multifacted genius thanks to the elegant

and clear commentary of Navaneetham Swami .

His ability to explain complex doctrines

in an easily understandable manner is a true

gift for us . Even when Navaneetham Swami

was recovering from cataract operations

and angina pectoris , he continued with his

extraordinary labor of love and blessed us

with these and other monographs on

Swami Desikan's brilliant master pieces

that serve as foundation stones

for our SiddhAntham .

 

SWAMI DESIKAN'S GRANTHAS

************************

 

The prolific output of the giant of an

AchAryA is housed in 130 works summarized

in Sri Viashnava home page maintained by

Sri Mani Varadarajan . They are usually divided

into the following six categories :

 

1. Those pertaining to Philosophy and Religion

in Sanskrit ( 25 works )

 

2. Kaavya granthAs & other literary works (5 more )

 

3. SthOthrAs ( 30 items )

 

4. Rahasya GranthAs in maNipravALa ( 34 items )

 

5. Tamil Works ( 24 items )

 

6. Miscellaneous Works (12 Items )

 

Rahasya GranthAs

*****************

 

These are the fourth among the six categories

of our AchAryA's illuminating works . There are

34 Rahasya GranthAs in ManipravaLA . Among them ,

TattvasikhAmaNi , Madhurakavi Hrudhaya ,

Steya sangraha and Saara DheepA are no longer

available to us .

 

Navaneetham Swami covered 16 of the remaining 30

chillarai rahasyams in Part I of his series ,

four more in Part II and the seven more in

Part III . Only three are not covered in this

series : (1) Srimadh Rahasyaytraya Saaram (RTS )

(2) GuruparamparaasArA , which is incorporated

in the beginning part of RTS (3) Paramatha Bhangam .

Srimadh RTS and Para Madha Bhangam are magnificient

and huge treatises in their own right and hence ,

they have been covered separately . The GuruparamparAsAram

gets folded into Srimadh RTS .

 

The 16 works covered in Part I to be reprinted

**********************************************

 

They fall into the Following Categories :

 

(1)Padhavis:( Tattva Padhavi , Rahasya Padhavi ).

Padhavi means either a position or path .

 

2. Maathrukais Tattva Maathrukai , Rahasya

Maathrukai , Rahasya mathrukai Hrudhayam ).

The term MaatrikA connotes the 52 letters of

sanskrit , which in turn relates to the 52

aspects of tattvAs including the three types

of souls , three GuNAs , the 24 divisions

of Achith and its relationships to the other

two tatthvAs ( Chith and IsvarA ) .

 

 

3.SandEsams: ( Tattva SandEsam ,Rahasya SandEsam ,

Rahasya SandEsa VivaraNam ). SandEsam means

a message .

 

4. RathnAvaLis: ( Tattva RathnAvaLi , Rahasya

RathnAvaLi , Tattva RathnAvaLi PrathipAdhya

Sangraham ) . RathnAvaLi means a necklace

of Jewels .

 

5. Navaneethams : (Tattva navaneetham ,

Rahasya navaneetham ). Navaneetham

refers to the delicious mixture of

VeNNai and sugar , the favorite food of

Lord KrishNA .

 

 

6. ChuLakams: ( Tattva Traya ChuLakam ,

Rahasya Traya ChuLakam ). ChuLakam is the

small shape of the palm holding water for

Achamaneeyam .This refers to a small tract

of the great doctrines.

 

7. Sri SampradhAya Parisuddhi deals with

the importance of AchAryAs in our sampradhAyam

and the purport of the three rahasya manthrAs .

In this work , the most merciful AchAryA

emphasizes the need to avoid the schisms

among the followers of Sri RaamAnujA . He

reminds us tactfully that among the different

sishyAs of AchArya RaamAnujA , there are no

arthavirOdhams although there might be

Vaakhya YojanAbhedhams .

 

The topics covered in these 16 Rahasya

Granthams are :

 

The three TattvAs ( Chith , Achith and

Isvara/ soul , Matter and God ) , the nature

of the Soul , the three types of Souls ,

the four kinds of Achith , Kaalam , Sudhda sattvam ,

Dharma BhUtha Jn~Anam , Prapatthi , Bhakthi ,

the meditation on the Lord and the experience

of reaching Him , Artha Panchakam , elaborations of

Athmasiddhi of YaamunAchArya , Reflections on

the Mitha gadhyAs ( Sriranga gadhyam and

Vaikuntha Gadhyam ) of AchArya RaamAnujA ,

the significance and purport of the three

sacred Rahasya ManthrAs dear to Sri VaishNavAs .

 

In summary , the opportunity to study these

Rahasya GranthAs of Swami Desikan is a great

blessing , thanks to the yeoman service rendered

by the scion of the illustrious AchArya Paramparai

of Vangeepuram Navaneetham Swami of Oppiliappan Koil .

 

May I invite the AsthikAs of the Bhakthi list

to help with this kaimkaryam and

receive the blessings of Navaneetham Swami

of revered memory and His Holiness Poundareekapuram

AchAryan nourishing our Sacred SampradhAyam

through many timely initatives such as this one .

 

Subhamasthu .

 

Swami Desikan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam ,

 

Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan