ANDavAbhyudayam===A work by U.Ve Kotikanyadanam Sri Krishna Tatacharya

[Guest guest]

Sri:

asmat guruparamparAyai namaha

 

nyastAtmIyabharam varapradagurau vairAgya bhAgyOdadhou

vEdAntAmrta sAravantamanaghAt srIsrInivAsAdgurO:

SrIshailAnvaya kaustubhasya tanayan srEyOnidhE:

srInidhE:

VandE sAdhu katAkSakELinilayam srIkrShNa saddESikam

 

Dear all,

 

ANDavAbhyudayam is a stotra-kAvyam, with about 88

verses, extolling the glories of Thirukkudanthai

ANDavan, Sri Vedanta Ramanuja Mahadesikan, composed by

the great Scholar & Acharya kOTikanyAdAnam Sri

Krishnatatacharya Swamy, who was also a great saint,

who had mastered all the branches of spiritual lores.

This work is the outcome of Sri Krishna Tatacharya's

abundant love (prItyatiSayam) and abundant devotion

(bhaktyatiSayam) towards HH Andavan. Rarely can be

seen a poet in a master of Tarka, Vedanta & other

schools of philosophy. On the contrary, we can see an

excellent poet in Sri Krishnatatacharya Swamy who also

is a master in Vedantha & other schools of philosophy.

Bhakti rasam is the mian rasam in this work. Swamy

Desikan compares his poetic speech to a beautiful

dancer set about to entertain the ManiPaduka of Lord

Sri Rangaraja in his Paduka Sahasram - (Vrutthibhi:

Bahuvidhabhi: Aashritha...) Such is the sweetness of

poetry which is an excellent medium through which one

can express deep devotion & convey the various

feelings despite being rich in Chamatkruthis,

Rhetorics, Prosody & various other aspects.

 

Swamy Desikan says ,

 

kavyeshu Komaladhiya: vayamEva na anyE

tarkeshu Karkasha dhiya: vayamEva na anyE

tatveshu Nischita dhiya: vayamEva na anyE

Krishne Niveshita dhiya: vayamEva na anyE

 

Our Acharya has richly inherited these qualities from

Sri Desikan as we can see all these aspects vibrant in

his work. Apart from all these we can also see the

fanciful words woven in a way pleasant to the ears,

Yamaka, Shlesha - Double Meaning, Visheshartha etc. in

plenty which can be seen only in works like

Yadavabhyudayam of Swamy Desikan. Adding flavour to

all these is his Acharya Bhakti which reverberates

throughout his work. Anything devoid of Bhakti even

though rich in all other aspects is not fruitful. This

great work is a conglomeration of Swamy's unparelled

Jnanam, his excellent comprehension of some of the

intricate Upanishadic statements, his deep devotion

towards his Acharyar & Vairagyam. In the first few

verses our Swamy salutes the Lord, His Consort

Mahalaskhmi, Swamy Desikan and all his Poorvacharyas

before commencing the glories of Sri Vedanta Ramanuja

Mahadesikan.

 

In this work, the author a is the great acharya,Sri

Krishna Tatacharya and the subject is another great

acharyar HH Andavan swamigal. One can imagine the

importance of this work. This fantastic work composed

by a sadgrhasthar like Sri Krishna Tatacharya,on

paramahamse parivrajakar HH ANdavan, reminds the work

"Yatiraja saptati:;by swamy Desika on Bhagavad

Bhasyakarar.

 

Here are a few slokams of ANdavabhyudayam with a brief

gist.

 

This work could be classified as comprising of the

gunas or qualities of the acharyar and also of his

shishya varga,the glories of acharyar's sancharam and

some incidents ,guna varnanam of Bhagavan,the purpose

of this work etc etc. This is just an attempt to write

a brief gist of a few slokams.( with whatever I could

remember out of his explanations of the same. So any

mistakes are totally mine.)

 

These two(among many) are sung in the praise of Lord

Hayagriva.

 

Slokam 9.

 

ViSAlavakShasthala SobhiltAlaye

nirantarAnanda ramAdharAmrtam |

pAtum sudhIrghIkrta sundarAnanam

hayAnanasyAsya tanotunassukham ||

 

In this stanza, author aspires for Lord Hayagriva's

blessings. He praises the Lord's beautiful elongated

face and says that "face of Lord Hayagriva" bring

happiniess to us. "Swamy" explains the reason for the

face of Lord Hayagriva being elongated. His consort

Ramaa is residing in His broad vakshasthalam. Our Lord

wanted to enjoy His patni's adharAmrtam (nectar of Her

lips) and to taste that nectar, towards the lips of

thayar, He had His face beautifully elongated.

 

Slokam 10.

 

manoj~na -mandAra

maranda-pUra-mAdhurya-mandAkshada-vAk-pravAham

yasya-kshNArdha smrtirEva sUtE bhAyAt-sa

dhIsa: hrdi sa-prakAram

 

In this stanza, swamy explains the greatness of Lord

Hayagriva. Yasya-kshNArdha smrtirEva sUtE.Just by the

thought of Him, even for half a kshaNa(moment),

bestows us with such a great vAkpravAham (excellency

of knowledge). Just a thought of Him for a split of

a second, we will be bestowed with such a knowledge,

which can make even a the stream of the the juice of

mandara flowers's madhuryam, feel shy. That is by the

vak pravaham of such devotees, the madhura mandara

maranda feels shy.

 

We could well recollect swamy Desikan's slokam,

"api kshaNArdham kalayanti ye tvAm………" which has the

same bhAvam. By remembering our Lord Hayagriva, for a

split of a second, the vak pravaham which we get,

makes the mandAkinI pravaham (stream of ganges) feel

shy.

 

Slokam 49.

nandasUnuriva gA: prachAlayan

rAmavat subhaga lakshmanAnvita:

pakshirAdiva sukIrtisamyuta: cha

Andavan munivarO virAjate

 

In this stanza, the author compares Srimad Andavan to

nandasUnu i.e Sri Krishna, Sri Rama and GaruDa. Like

Krishna, who is is known for grouping and heading gA:

i.e cows, Simad Andavan is also propagating gA: which

here means as "vAk" . and also as "Upanishad Vakyams'.

Like Rama is always associated with LakshmaNA, Srimad

Andavan is also with lakshmaNA. Here laksmaNa means

auspicious signs, etc. PakshirAT means "garuDa".

Garuda's wife is sukiRti. As GaruDa is with sukIrti,

our achryar also is with sukIrti , i.e shObhanA

kiRti:, i.e. good fame. Such munivara, who is like

Rama , Krishna and GaruDa ,is excelling here on earth.

 

Slokam 50

 

panka-mardana vidhAna sampadA

sAdhu-chakra pari-tOsha krtyata: |

sarva-mOha-tamasAm apOhanAt

tvAm vadAma iha padma-bAndhavam

||

 

In this Stanza, the author compares the acharyar to

Sun comparing the major tasks undertaken by the Sun

and our acharyar. It is an example of a Sleshai i.e.

having 2 meanings.

 

Sun has the quality of removing panka i.e marsh .

Srimad Andavan also, like the Sun, removes panka.

Here, panka means "sins". The panka that the prAkrta

Sun removes, will come back. But the panka, which is

our karmas, sanchita….. etc, which our acharyar

removes, by way of performing bharasamarpanams, will

never come back. Here, "panka " means marsh in case of

Sun and sins in case of acharyar.

 

Just like the Sun, who brings joy to the chakra, means

chakra vAka birds, our acharyar also brings immense

pleasure to the "sAdhu chakra", to the community of

saints .Sadhu chakra means the chakravaka bords in

casae of Sun and the community of saints in case of

acharyar.

 

Just like the Sun removes darkness, our achryar also

removes the darkness called "mOham". With all these

qualities, we shall call you as "padma-bAndhava:" i.e

the Sun. Tamas is darkness in case of Sun and

ignorance in case of acharyar.

 

Slokam 51;

 

dushkarAt bhava-payOdhi-tAraNAt

durjayAksha vijayAt guNAdhikAt |

kshmA-bhavA-abhyadhika-tOsha-dAnata:

tvAm vadAma iha mArutAtmajam ||

 

In this stanza, the kartA compares charyar as

"mArutAtmaja:" or "HanumAn", again by comparing the

deeds of Hanumar and acharyar. This is also an example

of Sleshai.

 

As, Hanumar performed the job of samudratAraNAm, our

acharyar also helps people to cross the samudram

which is none other than "bhava payOdhi", i.e samsara

sagara.

Hanumar did possess victory over "aksha", Ravana's

son, who was "durjaya" i.e.invincible. Likewise, our

acharyar also won over the "aksha", i.e. the indriyas

ot sense organs, which are hard to win over. kshmA

means earth. KshmAbhavA means Goddess Sita. Hanumar

brought immense pleasure to Goddess Sita. Like wise,

our acharyar also brings immense delight to

"kshmAbhavA " i.e. people on earth. With all these

qualities similar to those of Hanumar, we shall call

you as "mArutAjmaja:"

 

Hanumar represents the acharyar who unites paramatman

(Rama) and jivatman(Sita). The same deed is done by

our acharyar too. If Hanumar killed the aksa, who is a

asura, our achryar won over the aksas, which are the

indriyas. Winning and making someone a subordinate is

greater than killing that person.The one whom Hanumar

killed was in the form of a person but the one whom

acharyar won over, could not be seen even. Such is the

greatness of our acharyars. If Hanumar brought

happiness to one "kshmAbhavA" i.e Sita, our acharyars,

bring happiness to many kshmAbhavars, who are the

people on earth.

 

Slokam 16:

 

madhyE dvijAnAm mahita-sva-bhUmnAm

VEdAnta yOgI nitarAm virEjE

TArAgaNAi: samvalita: kshapAyAm

KalAyuta: chandra iva avatIrNa:

 

In this stanza, Srimad Andavan with his shisya varga

,is described as the "moon surrounded by stars".

 

Acharyar who is very much illustrious in between the

group of Brahmanas(compared to stars here) who are

themselves illustrious with their mahimAs and lustre,

has descended here.Here the shisya varga is compared

to the stars. Acharyar is shining like the

pUrNachandra , with all the kalais. Acharyar also is

possessed with kalais, i.e talents . Just like the

moon is shining amongst stars, the acharyar is

illustrious with the dvijas surrounding him. Here even

though, there is a comparison between HH Andavan and

the moon, there is also a "vailakshaNya". That is the

kavi tells that HHAndavan is like "kalAyutha:

chandra:" i.e.moon with kalais. Moon possesses these

kalais only one day in a month, i.e. pournima day, but

our acharyar is brilliant with kalais (different

vidyAs and talents) always.

 

Slokam 58:

 

tvat pAdAmbuja rENu rUshita SirA: ya: pUrusha:

sOpyasau

gangA-majjana-sambhavAt na gaNAyEt Suddhim parA

bhUtale |

samyak svAdutamam tvadIya vachasAm AsvAdayEt yO rasam

dhikkuryAt ayam apyahO munivara drAkshAm cha mOchAmapi

||

 

He, whose head was adorned with the dust of your

lotus feet, doesn't really feel that "the dip in the

Ganges" is as sacred as that. He who tasted the best

and the divine taste in the form of your vAk, i.e.

words, would shun the taste of that "drAkshA(and

mOcha)rasam" juice of grapes, after this. Acharyars's

pAda-dhULi-rajas carries more sanctity than a dip in

Ganga and after enjoying the taste of his

vAkpravAham, the taste of the so-called

"drAkshArasam", became varjya to all.

 

Slokam 69.

 

Evam vEdAnta yOgI svapadam-upagatAn bhAsurAn

bhUsurAdIn

samskArai: panchabhirvA manuvitaraNata: pAlayan

SishyavargAn

sastraj~nAn bOdhayan san vakuLadharakrtI: ranganAtham

trikAlam

bhaktyA sampUjayan san apara iva SukO bhUtalE vartatE

sma

 

Like this, this ascetic, having perfomed

panchasamskArams etc to the radiant disciples, guiding

them appropriately, imparting knowledge on

sAsthaj~nAs, worshipping the Lord three times with

intense devotion, was radiant as if another Suka

maharshi is living on earth.

 

 

Slokam 76:

 

swAmin namaste bhava-dukha-hArin

trailOkya-pUjyA-abhiguNAkarAya

srIvAsayOgISwara- jama- dhanyE

pushyE-abhijAtAya tathA-vidhAya

 

I bow to you.Swamin, the remover of all the sorrows of

this samsarasamudram, possessing such qualities which

are worshiped by all the three worlds, who was born

in the same pushya nakshattiram, (which was blessed

because of the birth of "Srinivasa

Mahadesikan"i.e.periaNDavan.) and who is similar to

peraiNDavan himself. Here our Swamy tells that the

star pushya attained dhanyatAbhAvam because acharyar

Srinivasa Mahadesikan took birth in that and also our

acharyar is very much like periAnDvan.We could well

recollect that Swamy Desikan tells that the tithi

aSTamI, after the birth of Sri Krishna, became the

foremost among the three worlds."titiraSTamI

yadavatAravaibhavAt prathamA tithi: trijagatAm

ajAyata".

 

Slokam 78:

 

AmnAya-mouLi dEsila bhUmnA vairAgya mukhya guNa

vitatE:

dhAmnA abhinava-nammAnDava nAmnAlam nAthavAnaham

vijayE

 

I became "nAthavAn", being blessed with an acharyar,

who is brilliant like Vedanta Desika, radiant with

atmaguNas among which "vairAgyam" is the foremost and

popularly known as "abhinava nammANDava", the

incarnation of "tErazhundUr AnDavan".

 

 

Slokam 18.

 

sasyAni taptAni yathA prthivyAm

drshTvA payOdam pramadam prayAnti |

bhavAgni taptA: sakalAshcha drshTvA

mUrtim tadIyAm muditA: babhUvu: ||

 

In this stanza, there is the description of the

delight of people after having the darshanam of

acharyar. Having come, leaving all work, the disciples

felt "dhanyatAbhAvam". Swamy describes, as the plants,

which are dried up on this earth, without regular

showers, rejoice when they spot a cloud, those who

were burnt, exhausted, in this fire called samsara,

looking at that sight of acharyar, rejoiced. Can

remember that Swamy Desika also refers to the

SaraNAgatAs as sasyA: or plants in his "dayASatakam"

as SaraNAgata sasaya mAlinIyam……….

 

Slokam 75:

 

drshTvA dhanyatamA babhUvima vayam tvAm adya

saddESikam

pUrNENdum SaradIva kairava-kulani-Ananda-nADindhamam

vatsA-gAm-iva vatsalAm-upagatAm ApIna bhArOjvalAm

varshAmbhOdharam ambu sambhrtatanum drshTvA yathA

chAtakA:

 

By seeing such an acharyar, we became dhanyatamA:, who

brought extreme delight to us as the pUrNAchandra, i.e

full moon of the SaradkAlam to the white lotuses(which

open at moonrise), like the cows which are heavy with

milk to their calves, like the clouds of rainy season

which are abundant with water,to the chAtaka birds.

 

Slokam 86:

 

kalyANai: avalOkanai: sakaruNai:Anandayan bandhurai:

SrI nammAnDava Eva Agata-iva trayyanta rAmAnuja:

Santa-svAnta janAgraNI: sumanasAm stOmArchya

pAdAmbuja:

KshEmANi-AnamatAm vidhAtum-udita: bhUmAvasau rAjatAm

 

Let him excel on this earth, who brought joy to the

vidvatgohTI by his very kind vIkshaNams, making

everyone feel as if our "nammANDavan" himself has come

back, being the foremost among saints, being praised

by the hymns of scholars and having taken birth only

to bless and bring sakalakshEmams to his disciples .

 

Slokam 70:

 

Ananda: kamanIya-vigraha-yuta: chakshutmatAm Aspadam

bhanu: mauDya-maha-andhakAra-daLanE SitAmSu: AnandanE

saumya: satsu matau guru: gururayam

Srutyanta-rAmAnuja:

viSwAsa: sumanastatE: vijayatAm Achandram AtArakam

 

Let that acharyar, who has a beautiful thirumEni, who

is like the Sun in removing our darkness called

ignorance, who is like the moon in bringing delight,

radiant and calm among sajjanAs, who is a "brhaspati"

(the preceptor of dEvatAs)in intelligence, who is the

asset of the vidvans, be glorified, as long as the

moon and the stars exist.

 

Pranamams

Ramanuja dasi

Padmini

 

==================================================================

 

Sri HR Sridhar of Bangalore would like to share a few

words on Sri Krishna Tatacharya.Sri Sridhar is not

only a disciple of Sri U.Ve.Krishna Tatachar swamy but

also his grand daughter's husband and my uncle too.

He has studied the feet of SriKoti Kanyadanam Krishna

Tatachar swamy and learnt divya prabandhams under Sri

P.G.Srinivasan, the great Tamil scholar. Sri HR

Sridhar is training batches of students in

divyaprabandham currently. He is teaching at about

more than 6 places. He not only renders thiruppavai

upanyasams regularly during mArgazhi mAsam but also

talk on various other topics at other times .He is

located at Banglore and works for the Ag's office. He

couild be contacted at 6761160.

 

VEdAnta vidvAn, vEdAnta vidvanmaNi, vEdAnta

sAraJna.Sri.U.Ve.KoTikanyAdAnam Krishna Tatachar swamy

was one of the rare eminent scholars of viSishTAdvaita

school. He has mastered all the branches of Sanskrit

literature. His knowledge in Swamy DESikan's works was

par excellence. Old timers, while teaching the

sanskrit verses used to explain the verse giving

prominence to the following aspects, padacchEda:

-splitting of words. PadAnvayam - arrangement of the

words to give the desired meaning gUDHArtha: -

hidden meaning with which they are used vyAkaraNa

viSEsha:- grammatical significance and padaprayOjanam

- proper utilisation of the word.

 

For any word used by Swamy Vedanta Desika, Sri Krishna

Tatachar swamy was capable of explaining the need for

that particular word for hours, comparing the same

with the works of pUrvAchAryArs. For an anuShTup

SlOkam of Swamy Vedanta Desika, he has explained for

more than five hours and with much reluctance, he used

to conclude his lecture. His statement was that,

atleast one month is required to justify the necessity

of all the words in the SlOkam.

 

His thiruppAvai kAlakshEpam used to commence in his

residence, to a few highly interested disciples, in

mArgazhi mAsam and used to conclude on Panguni uttiram

day, on an average of 3 hours per day. He would

reluctantly conclude the current pAsuram and proceed

to the next pAsuram by saying, "even the other

pASurams are important, so let us move further".

He was an ocean of knowledge and master in all fields.

His greatness was to give the knowledge seeker, the

choice to select the field in which he was interested.

Having started from amara, Sabda, dhAturUpAs etc, his

students would become masters in magnumopus works like

Sri Bhasyam too, under his able guidance.

 

Just as our Lord SrIman nArAyaNa, this great acharyar

also had both paratva and saulabhya guNams. He was

like the mount Everest in knowledge, yet was very

easily approachable to any student. He used to derive

satisfaction in making his students perfect in their

fields. Any teacher would aspire that his student

excles him. That is the real victory since the

teacher is solely responsible for all the glories of

his son/student. Due to God's will,

Dr.N.S.Anantharangachar was such a student of him and

always made him feel proud. The acharyar not only

passed the knowledge to Dr.NSA but also his

AtmaguNmas. It is told that the teacher used to pass

the nectar like inner meanings of great epics , to the

students, along with the noble qualities, inherited by

them.

 

I also remember having heard one more incident reg,

the great acharyar. When HH SriThEranzhundUr Andavan

visited sOsalai in 1911, this acharyar was about 8

years old. Somebody introduced this boy, who was then

being taught at home itself for AchAram purpose,

"evan vIttilEyE EdO paDicchinDu irukirrAn" HH Andavan

called the boy and asked him about what all he has

learnt. At that age itself, the boy used to tell 1000

pasurams of thiruvoimoZHi, by heart and had learnt a

good deal of Sanskrit too. HH Andavan asked him to

tell "oru nAyagamai" pasuram for which this boy

recited not only that pAsuram but also but the whole

daSakam. HH was very pleased and told"nI inimE

ennOdeyE iru". Later whenevr HH used to visit Sosalai

or the nearby areas, it seemed he would ask "oru

nAyagam sonnAnE anda payyan engE". Thus this acharyar

grew up enjoying the affection of great acharyars.

 

When Srirangan Srimad Thirukkudanthai Andavan visited

Jayanagar Asramam, Dr.NSA was introduced by SriKrishna

Tatachar swamy, quoting the verse "dayAnighnam

yatIndrasya dEsikam pUrNamASrayE". Mahapurnar is

praised as the teacher of Bhagavad Ramanujar. The

original greatness of MahApUrNar(peria nambi) became

multiplied multifold, after becoming the acharyar of

RamAnujar. This intriduction was gladly acknowledged

by Thirukkudanthai Andavan, who answered, "kAraNA

guNA: kAryE sambhavanti" The greatness in the result

reflects the greatness of the cause.When acharyar was

admiring the very big audience of HH Thirukkudanthai

Andavan, HH told that "Ama swami, naan chillarai

vyApAri, narayya kUttam irukkum, neer vajra vyApAri,

AhaiyAlE konjuthan kUttam konjum, evvalavu pErAlE

vairam vAngamuDiyum" ."you are the seller of procious

gems and there are only a few who can afford to buy

them, but I sell groceries and hence a big crowd".

This may please be taken in a proper sense, just to

show the greatness of our pUrvAchAryars like HH

Andavan who really appreciated and encouraged

scholars.

 

Even during lectures, HH Thirukkudanthai Andavan used

to start telling the dhyAna SlOkams, his eyes

searching for the achRyar to arrive, continuing the

SlOkams on and on till he arrived , asking in between

"innum Tatachar swamy ELLalliyO". But once he came he

would jokingly tell him "enna swamy, umakku teriyAdadu

naan enna sollappOrEn, yEn en vandu kazhuttu

arukkirIr " .HH always used to tell that, he should

be careful in rendering lectures, if Krishna Tatachar

is around.

 

HH Andavan would also tell that when HH went to HH

MukkUr AzhahiyaSingar to take "niyamanam" to visit

Bangalore, he asked,"enne irukku bangalore le, neer

aDikkaDi angE pOrIrE". For this it seems HH Andavan

quoted the SlOkam "sA kASIti na chAkaSIti bhuvi sA

ayOdhyEti………..…and told since mahAns like Krishna

Tatachar live there, I am going.

Our beloved acharyar's devotion towards HH

thrikkudanthai Andavan made him compose a great poem

consisting of 89 slokams on Andavan, called

"andavAbhyudayam".We are highly thankful to our Lord

Srimannarayana for keeping us in contact with this

great acharyar nad get his blessings and to live at

the time, this great person lived and to have been

near and dear to him, inspite of our lapses. Let the

celebration of centenary year make us follow his

ideals and lead a purposeful and a fruitful life.

 

daasan Sridhar

 

 

 

 

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