Thuppul PiLLai- 8- VedAnthAcharya's kalyANa guNAs...

[Guest guest]

SrI:

SrImathE Nigamantha Mahadesikaya namah:

SrImAn venkatanAthAryaH kavitArkika kesarI |

vedAntAcArya-varyo me sannidhattAm sadA hRdi ||

 

May the glorious Venkatanatha, the greatest of teachers of Vedanta, and the

lion among poets and debaters, reside forever in my heart.

 

Dearest Srivaishnavas,

 

One is reminded of Alavandhar’s sthOthra Rathna slOka – 18th-

vaseevadhaanyO guNavaan ruju suchi: mrudhur dhayaaLu madhura sthiras sama:

kruthee kruthagna:….

 

Alavandhar sang this in praise of the Lord Sriman Narayanan. And they fit so

appropriately for our Acharya saarvabhouman as well. Let us enjoy how. [in

the words of Sri Seva Swamy]

 

Vasee: He keeps everything under his spell. Captivating.. Swamy had his

senses under his spell; control. vase hi yasya indhriyANi thasya pragnyA

prathishtithA: - The Bhagawatha Ramanuja darshanam was saved by Swamy. He

was the captivating one for all those who surrendered to the Lord’s lotus

feet. Anban thannai adainthavarkkellAm anban- He was loving and reverential

towards those who are devoted to the Lord and have surrendered to His lotus

feet. Vayamhi haridAsAnAm paadha rakshA valampakaa:

 

Vadhaanya: Speaks sweetly; (priyam vadhaa) committed to giving… is the

meaning of Vadhaanya. Not only the Lord is that- our Swamy too is the same.

He was sweet to artthis. He calls the recipients of his teaching and

granthas as Udhaarars (vaLLal). He gives them merrily and happily. Rejoices

at giving and keeps giving more and more. Look at his granthas and the

numbers for our sake. He is ready to even grant himself for the

Bhagaawathas. Emmai viRkavum peruvaargaLE.. He grants whatever one asks for.

Sarva phalapradhan was he. He granted the most invaluable gems i.e. his

granthas for us. [who reads them and how many?- andhO!]

 

GuNavaan- Most virtuous- One with the most auspicious attributes; Should one

talk about the kalyANa guNAs of Swamy! Even in heart of hearts, Swamy had

committed no apachAram. He lived the entire life with that in mind. The way

all eight Atma guNAs were housed in Swamy- one can not see anywhere else.

There can be no second opinion about it. ANNan Swamy says so in

RathnamaalikA. Rathnamalika is equal to only Rathna maalikA alone. Annan

Swamy wonderfully mentions about Vedantha Desikan in his work as his

obeisance to Acharyan. AchAryath vOpayukthA: munigaNa gadhithA: dESikaisvEna

sOkthA: SarvE pathrA guNAsyu: samudhitha vibhavaa: sarvathanthra

swathanthrE.. sishyath vOpayyukhthA: kooranAThE yadhAsyu:

 

Swamy guNAs are simply divine. They grant fruits to others. They inculcate

others such qualities in them as well when they pay their obeisance to

Swamy. For one query as to who is the most guNavaan! Vaalmeeki had to write

24000 slokas in and as Ramayana. Like that our Swamy’s GunAs as well. 1000’s

will no be enough. One should never see ordinary guNAs (attributes) in Lord

Sriman Narayanan- one should only visualize special eztraordinary kalyANa

gunAs in Him- says Swamy with detailed commentaries for Gadyathrayam. One

can only see the same in Swamy as well. Swamy’s vAk (speech) had maanam

(PramaaNam- proof from saasthrAs); On Varadan (thEva perumAL) he had

[abi]mAnam (affection and deeper devotion).. He had sammAnam on Acharyas. He

had bahumAnam among Brahmins (praise); He was a PRAMAANAM for VaidIkas. But

he stood with no upamaanam (comparison). He saw no disparity between

prapannans; had same respect for them as detailed by him in Rahasyathraya

saram..

 

Ruju: He had no kapatam.. (Deceit or cunning nature). He talked about kapata

kEsari.. (the Lion faced Lord Sri Nrusimhan) or Kapata vaamanan (the

deceitful Vaamanan) ; He describes about the one who came under the guise of

human (AtmAnAm maanusham manyE rAmam dasarathAthmajam). But an avathaar with

no kapatam is our Thoopul ThiruvEnakatamudaiyaan avatar.

 

Swamy had no Raja, thamO guNa sambandham. Swamy had no temptations (proof is

VairAgya panchakam written to VidyAraNyar). uLLam urai seyal uLLa im

mooNraiyum onRa vaitthavar.. (speech, thinking, and action are all the

same..all on Sriman Narayanan and all on Ramanuja)

 

Suchi: apahathapaapmathvam- ability to have anything that he wills. Or

having pristinely pure heart. Paavanathvam- is suchi: - Swamy Desikan

comments. That which alleviates our paapam (sins). That which has the

ability to remove our sins. Paavana: sarva bhUthAnAm… Govindha :

pavuthram..; pavithrAnAm pavithram cha mangaLAnAm cha mangaLam.. Seeing

KaNNan one becomes pure; and snAthan. Thinking of PuNdareekAkshan one

becomes purer; All this on Lord Sriman Narayanan. Same applies to our Swamy

as well. His son says:

 

Thoopul punithar punchi pugundhu porundhinar.. The purest Acharya of

Thoopul.. is Swamy Desikan.

 

Mrudhu: soft; tender; saanthaswarUpi; easily accessible; - Even for one who

commits acapcharm; easy to approach and seek forgiveness. Even if Swamy

knows his greatness, he does not exhibit and shows humility; he mixes with

everyone easily; such nErmai and neermai. (Arjavam; and sowlseelyam). When

few jealous pranksters tied few old chappals [slippers of theirs] in the

front ceiling of Swamy’s house [so that they hit Swamy’s head when he

enters], Swamy said aloud that he had composed slokas on the Lord’s padhuka.

It is the Lord who reminded him that Bhaagawatha padhukas are more valuable

with this act.. such was Swamy’s quality and nature!

 

dhayALu: (compassionate)- Without looking for anything in return, he removes

others’ sorrows. He was so merciful and compassionate. He does not cry

before the other starts to cry; instead, he attempts to wipe their tears.

DayA is the queen on all guNAs- Swamy himself says. We have no enough jnAnam

and qualifications to describe Swamy’s dayA. Paramatha nirasanam (ejecting

other religions with saasthras and proof from Vedas) itself is dayA.

Swamatha sthApanam also is Swamy’s dayA. Blessing us with such numerous

granthas (works) at different degrees for all levels [from kinder garden

right upto post doctoral programme) is also his dayA. Thirumala Srinivasan’s

dayA personified is Swamy Desikan. Is it not?

 

Madhura: sweet- he spent his entire life sweetly reading, teaching Bhagawad

Ramanuja’s works. neethA sujam vaasaraa: He felt proud of the same. He did

not wish to even go to Paramapadham; as long as he can enjoy darshan of

Kanchi Varadan. His name – Desikan- itself is sweetening to us; mere

utterance of Desikan is enough- Thirumallukku Thitthikkum (not just us). He

is our nectar. Dhushyanthi cha ramanthi cha.. He spent his time enjoying the

Lord all the time.

 

With his sweet vAk (speech, compositions), he was Madhurakavi himself.

Vaachikam- Mathuryam; Kaayikam- Mathuryam. (both speech and action were

sweetening to others).

 

Sthira: steady- firm and determined. He was firm and stuck to Ramanuja

darsanam. Acharyan should have sthira quality. He should be firm in his

belief and thoughts. Our Swamy fitted very well. Every grantha of his

reverberates with scuh firm belief on Ramanua’s philosophy and teaching. If

Ramanuja represents the wholeness of Vision, Vedantha Desikan with His

sthiram on Ramanuja siddhAntham, has funished all its technical details with

matchless insight and precision. Had Desika not come after Ramanuja, the

system would not have gained unassailability. Desika guarded the boundaries

of this Darshanam by defending, elaborating and consolidating the teaching

of Ramanuja.

 

Sama: -one who sees everyone equal – does not have partiality on anyone;

with due respect to saasthras, in accordance with saasthrAs, he considers

all prapannas equal; anthaNar anthiyar ellaiyil ninRa anaitthulagum

nondhavarE mudhal… He saw everyone above caste, creed, sex.. and felt for

upliftment of all – wrote various granthas- in various degrees for all

levels, feeling pity for everyone- making sure everyone understands Ramanuja

darsanam.

 

kruthI- One who has done what needs to be done. The Lord –once protects the

devotees- has done what is to be done. What is prescribed in saasthRAs- if

one has done- he is a kruthI.. Swamy in both respects is thus a kruthI. He

established in abhayapradAna sAram- the doctrine of VibheeshaNa Saranagathi.

Rama thus taking pledge to protect VisbhIshaNan on his performance of

Saranagtahi- is a kruthakruthyan- [Rama is- having done –protected- pledged

to protect- what is to be done]. Establishing thus, Swamy is kruthI- having

done what is to be done..

 

Swamy himself composes one sloka – a golden sloka declaring his kruthI..

 

nirvishtam yathisArvabhoumavachasAm Avrutthibhiryowvanam

nirdhUthEthara paarathanthrya nirayagathaa sukham vaasaraa:

angIkruthya sadhAm prasaddhim asathAm garvOpi nirvApitha:

sEshAyushyapi sEshidhampathi dayA dhIkshAm udhIkshAmahE..

[Please forgive me for transliteration errors]

One can not see such a sloka anywhere else..

Meaning: I [have been blessed to] have fulfilled the command of great

mahaans. aDiyEn has tamed and controlled the false pride of asatthus..

(avaidikas); The avathAra kaaryam is completed. What else needs to be done

as per Dhivya Dampathis‘s command and sankaplam. I am just waiting for their

will.

 

Can there be any other pooraNathvam than this declaration! Krutham means

upakAram- help.. Swamy’s upakAram is phenomenal. Swamy mentioned: arulAZhi

perumAL seyyum anthamilA udhaviyelAm ALAPPAAR ARE.. Who can measure all the

help [upakAram] rendered by PeraruLALan (Varadharaja of Kanchi?- swamy

enjoys. We can say: Who can measure all the help [upakAram] of Swamy

Desikan’s? None at all.

 

Kruthagna: [one who never ever forgets the good others do].- being grateful.

Swamy not only never forgot what was left and taught by preceptors like

NamMAzhwAr, Nathamuni, Yamunamuni, Sri Bhashyakarar, Sri Nandhoor AmmAL and

Sri AppuLLAr.. ; he also composed so many granthas that the world too could

never forget Swamy.

 

pAronRac chonna pazhamozhiyuL OronRuthaanE amaiyAdhO dhaaraNiyil

vaazhvaarkku VAANERAP POMALAVUM VAAZHVU.

 

How can we show our gratitude to him! What are we going to do to pay him

back for what our Acharya saarvabhouman has done! No answers.

 

Thus, enlisting all kalyANa gunAS of the Lord ALavandhAr says: samastha

kalyANa guNOmruthOdhadhi: resository of all KalyANa GuNAs; the same applies

to Swamy as well.

 

Swamy Desikan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam

Regards

Namo narayana

dAsan

kavi-tArkika-simhAya kalyANa-guNa-SAline |

Srimate venkateSAya vedAntagurave namaH ||

 

Salutations to Sri Venkatesa, in whom all perfections reside, who is the

teacher of Vedanta and the lion among poets and debaters

 

_______________

Get MSN Hotmail alerts on your mobile. http://en-asiasms.mobile.msn.com/