Hamsasandesa

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SrImAn vEnkata nAthArya: kavitArkika kEsarI

VEdAntAchAryavaryOmE sannidhattAm sadAhrdi

 

It is a well known fact that Swami Desikan was a

master of all vidyAs. Enough has been known about his

philosophical works. Let us now have a glimpse of one

of his works which is embedded with great poetry. He

was an AchArya, a philosopher, a saint, a poet , a

sculptor,etc etc…. with extraordinary skills. Sri

Desika was not just a mere poet and philosopher, but

regarded as a lion among poets (kavikEsarI)and

logicians (tArkika kEsarI)by those who have felt the

heat of his genius. He every bit deserves the title

"sarvatantrasvatantra".

 

We will have a glimpse of his kAvya HamsasandEs~a.

HamsasandEs~a is one of the kAvyAs of swami Desika

which establishes his undisputed mastery in poetry .

This is based on the story of RamAyana and also an

excellent imagination of Sri Desika which is

unparalled.The style of this kavya is similar to that

of 'mEghadUtam' of KALidAsa, as Desika was an admirer

of KALidAsa. But this kavya is the conglomeration of

kavyarasa and bhaktirasa. It is a feast for poets .A

person who is a great grammarian as well as a logician

of a very high order, is very rare. But Sri Desika

possessed these qualities in abundance. The selection

of the theme, story, characters etc is superb. This

clearly shows that Sri Desika was also aquainted with

the geography of different piligrim places of India.

 

HamsasandEsa is based on the story of RamAyaNa. Rama,

in search of SitA, sends HanumAn as His messenger to

Lanka. Hanuman returns successfully after knowing the

whereabouts of Sita. At this juncture, Swami Desika

imagines Rama to have sent another dUta, i.e.

messenger, the Rajahamsa,as a messenger to Sita. The

story of Hamsasandesa begins here.

 

It consists of two AshwAsAs.The firstone deals with

the narration of various holy places with their

surroundings till Lanka, which Rama directs the Hamsa

to visit on its way.

The second one deals with the Lankavarnanam, the

consoling message of Rama to Sita . Finally it ends

with Rama killing Ravana and returning back with Sita.

 

Let us have a closer look at the similarities of the

two kavyams , MeghadUtam and Hamsasandesa.

 

In both, the story is the same. i.e.. Sending a

message to one's beloved (in separation,

i.e.viyOga)thro a messenger.

 

The naration of the various places which the

messenger is told to visit on his way .

 

The prosody ( the chandas) selected by both, is

"mandAkrAntA".

 

We can also see a few verses which are very similar,

like ,

In megha……., "vaprakrIDA pariNata gaja prEkshaNIyam

dadars~a"

In Hamsa……. "rAkAchandra dyutisahacharam rAjahamsam

dadars~a"

 

In Megha……. "kAmArtAhi prakrti krpaNA:

chEtanAchEtanEshu"

In Hmasa………" s~ankE tIvram bhavati samayE s~Asanam

mInakEtO:"

 

Etc etc etc.

 

The selection of characters in MeghadUta are ,the

nAyaka is a cursed yaksha and the messenger is the

cloud. Whereas Swami Desika choses Rama (the Lord

Himself )as the nAyaka , sending the message to His

beloved sita( pirAtti) and the messenger being the

Hamsa which signifies purity and denotes our

AchAryAs, whose two wings are j~nAnam and anushTAnam.

 

Even though HamsasandEsa and MeghadUta are similar,

HamasasandEsa is enriched with highly philosophical

thoughts (pAramRthika) and excellent poetic fancy, etc

etc.which makes it unparalled.

 

This is "grAhya" to all as said by Desikan himself in

YadavAbhyudayam in the context of Sri Krishna.

"rasAyanam sarva das~AnubhAvyam".

 

In a nutshell,this Kavya is a feast for all like

Sanskrit aspirants, AlankArikAs, vEdAntins, etc etc.

 

Desikan thiruvaDihalE Saranam

Deep pranamams

Padmini and (my brother)Venugopal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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