Rendering of SrI Desika Prabhandham(Three Tapes)

[Guest guest]

Dear Swamy Desika BhakthAs:

 

Approximately five years ago , a set of three tapes on the entire

Desika Prabhandham (405 Paasurams with Introduction ) was

reelased by SrImans ParthasArathy Dileepan and SrIman NadathUr

Maadhavan .

 

These are authentic recordings by competent adhikAris of

Desika and Dhivya Prabhandhams.

 

As adiyEn enjpys writing about them now , it occured to me

that the audio version would be of interest to some of you .

 

Please contact SrIman Dileepan at he above ae-mail

address if you wish to acquire them for your libraries.

 

The Text version of Desika Prabhandham is also available

in the Zipped and Word Format at the Ahobila Matam Web site .

 

My e-mail of Jan 1998 relating to the release of those

audio tapes is attached.

 

Swamy Desikan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam ,

V.Sadagoipan

 

 

You are here: Sri Vaishnava Home Page : Bhakti List : Archives : January 1998

Sri Desika Prabhandham Tapes : A vote of Thanks !V. Sadagopan

(75041.3037 (AT) compuserve (DOT) com)Fri Jan 30 1998 - 16:35:04 PST

Dear Members of the Bhakthi Group : Few days back , I had the good

fortune of receiving the set of three tapes on Sawmi Desikan's Tamil

Prabhandhams recited by Sri SevilimEdu SrinivasachArSwamy and Ghoshti

with lucid and scholarly introduction by Sri NadAthUr Madhavan of

Virginia . I understand thatSri Dileepan of Tennessee was

instrumental in recording the original tapes in India and that Sri

Madhavan linked the Prabhandhams with his brilliant introductions

and used the most modern equipment to assemble these tapes . I want

to express my sincere thanks for the invaluable contributions of

Srimans Dileepan and Madhavan in makingthese rare treasures available

to us with the help of of one of the rarest and most competent groups

reciting the NINTEEN Prabhandhams in the mostsampradhAyic manner . It

is a thrilling experience to listen to these tapes and celebrate the

sarva TantraSvathanthra aspect of Swami Desikan . The range and scope

of the topics covered by Swami Desikan , his upadEsams to us and his

moving salutations to the Divya Dampathis are captured very well by

the introductions of Sri Madhavan as a compliment to the sonorous

renderings by the SevilimeduSwami and Ghoshti . The availability of

the original text of the Sri Desika Prabhandham for down loading

atthe web site maintained by Sri Dileepan (

www.cdc.net/dileepan/ahobilam.html ) is a great resource . We are

grateful to him for spearheading this Kaimkaryam and enlisting Sri

Madhavan to join in the acquisition of Sri VaishNava kaimkarya Sri .

In the first tape , Taniyan , ThirupaalAndu and the Thiru avathAramof

Swami Desikan are covered . The 19 prabhandhams follow .At the end of

the third tape , Swami NainArAchArya's ( Sri Kumara Varada Desikan ,

the son of Swami Desikan"s ) tribute to his father and AchArya ,

PiLLai AndhAthi and Sattumurai are included .This set of three tapes

are a rare assembly of one of our Kula dhanams .They have been priced

at 25$ for the set , which is a thoughtfulgesture on the part of

Srimans Dileepan and Madhavan .For the benefit of those , who may not

be familiar with the text of the Desika Prabhandhams , I will include

a very brief description of the 19 prabhandhams covered by these

tapes .For additional information ,I would like to referyou to the

excellent introductions to the individual prabhandhamsby Sri Madhavan

.. 1. Adaikkala Patthu ( 11 paasurams ) : Swami Desikan"s prapatthi at

the sacred feet of Sri VaradarAja PerumAL of Kanchi.I had the good

fortune to write about these paasurams recently . 2. Maivirada

MahAthmyam ( 29 Paasurams ) : Salutation to Sri VaradarAjA of Kaanchi

and the greatness of satyavratha KshEthram ( Kaanchipuram ) .3.

MummaNik kOvai ( 10 Paasurams ) : Salutations to LordDevanAthA of

Thiruvaheendrapuram . The doctrines of Sri Vaishnavism is embedded in

the text .4. NavamaNi Maalai ( 10 Paasurams ) : Salutations toLord

DevanAthA of Thiruvaheendrapuram , where Swami Desikan spent many

years of his life .5. Prabhandha Saaram ( 18 Paasurams ) :

Particulars about the 12 AzhwArs , thier birth stars and the month of

births , their prabhandhams and salutations to Thiruvarangatthu

AmudanAr ,the author of Sri RaamAnuja NoorandhAthi are included . 6 .

AdhikAra sangraham ( 56 paasurams ) : In these 56 stanzas ,the

contents of the 32 chapters of Swami Desikan's magnum opusis

summarized. For great AchAryAs following Swami Desikan ,the

recitation of these verses is an important part of their daily life .

Vangipuram Navaneetham KrishNamAchArya Swami used to recite them even

, when he was incapacitated by a cruel stroke . Sri Srirama

DesikAchAr swamy wa sthe gifted sonOf Sri KrishNamAchArya Swamy of

Oppiliappan Koiland wrote the commentary for the Desika Prabhandhams

..7. GeethArtha sangraham ( 21 paasurams ) : A metrical summary of the

18 chapters of GitA following the path shown by AlavandArin his

pioneering commentary on GitA . Few months back , I hadthe good

fortune of posting number of articles on this Prabhandham of Swami

Desikan . 8 . Tirucchinamaalai ( 11Pasurams ) : Tribute to the

divinesound of Thirucchinnam , a musical instrument , used toannounce

the approach of Lord VaradarAjA during the uthavams on the streets of

Kanchi .9. Amrutha Ranjani ( 39 Paasurams ) : It deals with the

importantprinciples of Sri VaishNavA doctrine covered by Swami

Desikanin the 17 minor ( Sillarai ) Rahasya works such as Saara DeepA

and SampradhAya parisuddhi .10 . Amrutha SvAdhini ( 37 Paasurams ) :

This deals with 11minor rahasya works of Swami Desikan such as Saara

Saaraand Madhurakavi Hrudhayam . 11. Thirumanthira Surukku ( 10

Paasurams ) : The meaning of the sacred AshtAksharam .12. Dvaya

Surukku ( 12 Paasurams ) : This prabhandham deals with the purport of

the Dvaya Manthram , sacred to Sri VaishNavAs. 13. Charama SlOka

Surukku ( 11 Paasurams ) : Deals with the essence of Prapatthi thru

description of the Charama slOkamof Srimadh Bhagavadh GitA .14.

Paramatha Bhangam ( 54 Paasurams ) : A refutation of the doctrines of

sixteen rival Darsanams and the establishment of Sri VaishNavism as

the soundest one among them for attaining Moksham .15. Param padha

sOpanam ( 21 paasurams ) : The nine steps in the ladder of ascent of

the Mumukshu to parama Padham . I am covering the 8th and the ninth

steps in SaraNAgathi Journal now .16. Artha Panchakam ( 11 Paasurams

) : A coverage of the fiveprinciples important to Sri VaishNavism :

Nature of Isvara ,Nature of the Soul , the means to reach the Lord ,

the fruit of our efforts to reach Him and the obstacles encountered

in such an effort . 17. PannirunAmam ( 13 Paasurams ) : This

prabhandham covers the importance of wearing 12 Urdhva PundrAs in

the daily life ofSri VaishnavAs and their links to the twelve

EmperumAns from KesavA to DamOdharA .18 . VaiNava Dinasari ( 10

Paasurams ) : This prabhandham provides the details on the daily

observances of a Sri VaishNavA . 19 . Ahaara niyamam ( Commentary

Only ) : These 21 verses deal with the prescribed diet of a Sri

VaishNavA to maintain a saatvik life conducive to the pursuit of

spiritual advancement .In summary , this set of three tapes

containing the authentic rendition of Swami Desikan's Tamil

Prabhandhams with a scholarly introduction by Sri NadAthUr Maadhavan

is a must for every AsthikA's home . The genuis of Swami Desikan in

mastering the metrics of Tamil Poetry , His skills in constructing

chandams with tALams , and most of all his extraordinary gift in

summarizing and elaborating the esoteric doctrines of oursiddhAntham

in easy -to-understand Tamil is abundantly clear .These are some of

the most valuable of our Kuladhanams .May the divya Dampathis confer

their choicest blessings onSrimans Dileepan and Madhavan for their

extraordinary contributions to make these tapes available to all of

us .May Swami Desikan crown the ongoing effort to have authentic

renditions of His sthOthrams with success and bring it to a

successful conclusion ! Swami Desikan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam

Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan