abhinava dESika- SrI UttamUr Swamy Divya Charitham- 23

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SrI:

Sri Padmavathi Sametha Srinivasa Parabrahmane Namaha.

Sri Perundhevi Sametha Devadhiraja Parabrahmane Namaha.

SrimathE Bhagavad Ramanujaya Namaha:

SrimathE Nigamantha Mahadesikaya namaha:

Srimate Rangaramanuja Maha Desikaya Namaha.

Srimate Abhinava Desika Vatsya Satchakravarti Uttamur SRI

VIRARAGHAVARYA MAHA DESIKAYA NAMAHA

 

SrImAn venkatanAthAryaH kavitArkika kesarI |

vedAntAcArya-varyome sannidhattAm sadA hRdi ||

 

Thanian (Invocatory verse on Sri UttamUr swamy written by

Swamy's AchAryan Sri Kozhiyalam Swamy himself)

 

adbhutam yasya vikrAntam vEda vIthI ViSOdhanE |

aparam nigamAntAryam prapadyE vIrarAghavam ||

 

[Article in Tamil by SrI PayyampADi VEnkatavaradAchArya SwAmi; English write

up (based on Tamil) by SrI R.VenkatAchAri (SohattUr- Vankipuram -Oppiliappan

Sannidhi), a disciple of SrI UtthamUr SwAmi. Appeared in the souvenir

released during the SatAbhishEkam (80th birth anniversary) of SrI UtthamUr

swAmi on 10th Feb, 1977]

 

PARAMARTHA BHOOSHANA RELEASE:

 

Arrangements were made for the release of the book, Paramartha

Bhooshana, at Tiruvellore (as per the original sankalpa of Our Swami), where

the 18th Malola Sadas was being held that year. Srimad

Alagiasingar had invited pandits from all directions. Our Swami,

directed by Srimad Alagiasingar, read out some portions from the

grantha and explained the contents thereof in his own masterly way

and the Sadas and Srimad Alagiasingar were very much pleased. Then

the formal release of the book was made.

 

Sri Narayana Iyengar Swami of Karur, who was the first donor for the

book, was kept informed from time to time about the progress of the

grantha, and after release also. He was very happy and wrote to Our

Swami about the wonderful way the book was written. (Within a week

after seeing the book he passed away, which gave an impression that

God Almighty retained him only to fulfill his desire of the

publication of the book.

 

At T.Nagar, Madras, Sri.Bhashyam spoke in the Sadas, convened to

felicitate Our Swami. He explained to the audience that the

publication was being done single-handed by Our Swami, which could not have

been done even by big Samastans with many scholars. The main reasons, he

said, for the success of the programme were Our Swami’s wide and

comprehensive knowledge of all the Shastras and Sri Suktis of almost all the

important commentators before him which made him self-sufficient without any

need to refer to anybody or to any other author for clarifications; his

enthusiasm in the publication of his books, without expecting anything in

return and his consideration that the Nirmana of the granthas was the main

Purushartha. Sri K.Bhashyam said that the Astika world, especially from Sri

vaishnava Sampradaya should remove the burden of collecting funds, leaving

him enough time to concentrate on the Nirmana work. He estimated that at

least a Lakh of rupees would be needed for the publication programme of Our

Swami, as otherwise, the Astika world would be loosing a great treasure.

 

At Mylapore, Sri Desika temple was the venue of another Sadas

presided over by Sri.K.Kesava Iyengar Swami, Advocate, and an erudite

scholar both in Sanskrit and Tamil. He spoke in praise of Our Swami’s

capacity for grantha nirmana, and said that considering the number of his

publications, the work was almost a miracle. He specially appreciated the

Name, Our Swami chose for the grantha (Paramartha Bhooshana) which was very

apt; and also the naming of every argument as PRASADA. Sri U.Ve.Karapankadu

Venkatachar Swami (a sishya of Our Swami), an erudite scholar in Tarka and

Vedanta, a popular Upanyasaka and a great Acharya in his own Sampradaya,

spoke next and expressed his admiration at Our Swami’s genius, and

immediately paid an amount of Rs.250/- and took only four copies, for the

use of his sishyas. At T.Nagar, in the space adjoining the house of

Brahmasri S.N.Dave, a meeting was held in a specially erected pandal, for

the purpose of felicitating Our Swami. Sri Dave, himself an Upanyasaka in

English, a greet admirer of Our Swami, a staunch Advaitin and who always

preferred to lecture on Vishnu Bhakti, used to invite Our Swami for

Upanyasas in the above pandal and many scholars spoke about the greatness of

Our Swami. During the meeting, a special messenger came from Sri Kanchi

Kamakoti Peeta Sankaracharya Swami and presented a purse containing Rs.500/-

and conveyed the Acharya’s great appreciation of the scholarly genius of Our

Swami in one more book.

 

In short, the entire scholar world from all the three Sidhantas,

praised Our Swami for his capacity to employ special Yuktis as and

when situations arise, fully supported by Pramana Vakyas, which made

the grantha a comprehensive commentary on Sata Dhooshani itself which

was required for the better understanding of Sri Desika_ ideas in

writing the book, the lack of which alone caused the writing of Sata

Bhooshani by Our Swami_ great friend, Brahmasri Sastriar. The other

important points which the scholars appreciated were: the clarity with which

the Pramana vakyas were discussed showing the PRATIBHA VILASA of Our Swami;

the healthy criticism of the Advaita Sidhanta which would be appreciated

even by the Advaita scholars including the author himself; the Slokas

composed and employed throughout the grantha to stress a point which were

shining like diamonds set in Gold, etc. etc. It was the unanimous opinion

of all the scholars that even if the entire grantha could not be read by

anybody the Poems at the beginning and end of each Argument (Prasada) would

be enjoyable and would be enough to expose the author as great POET. In

fact the entire scholar world who were acquainted with Sri Desika’s books

swore that Sri Desika himself had written that book (Paramartha Bhooshana)

to bring out the greatness of his own grantha.

 

A GREAT LOSS:

 

At this time, Sri K.Bhashyam passed away suddenly due to heart attack

which was a great loss to Our Swami. The Sampradaya lost a good

patron as he was also a staunch believer in Grantha Nirmana, like Our

Swami, as the main way to spread our Sampradaya. Our Swami felt it

his duty, and completed the English translation of the granthas which

he started and released them. (Vedanta Deepa and Gitartha Sangraha

etc.) The progress of the Divya Prabandas was quite satisfactory, as

the same was taken over by the V.P.Sabha.

Rest in next…

AchAryan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam

Regards

Namo Narayana

ADiyEn dAsan

 

 

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