Thuppul PiLLai- 51- VairAgya panchakam- Five on Detachment..

[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,

Let us continue to enjoy the sthOthra granthas of Swamy Desikan [in

alphabetical order]

Vairaagya-Pancakam -The five on detachment

 

The Vairaagya-pancaka consists of five slokas with a sixth as a complement.

This is not mainly a hymn on devotion to any particular deity, and so it the

fragrance of devotion to Sri Krishna in an indirect way and also shows the

preference of Sei Desika for a simple and contented life devoid of all pomp

and glamour.

 

There is a historical touch about this stotra. According to tradition

Sage Vidyaaranya, the well-known Acharya of the Advaita School lived in the

latter half of the 13th Century and the earlier half of the 14th Century. He

was the court-pandit of the King of Vijayanagar and had great influence over

the King. He was a contemporary of Sri Vedanta Desika and a good friend who

knew his deep scholarship and amiable qualities. He heard that Sri Desika

was a very popular Acharya at Kanchi and many disciples studied under him,

but he chose to lead a simple and contented life almost bordering on poverty

and discomfort. Vidyaaranya wanted to help Sri Desika and sent a messenger

with a request that he should come to Vijayanagar and kindly accept an

assignment in the royal court.

 

Acarya Sri Desika expressed his gratefulness to Vidyaranya for his kind

offer and sent an epistle through the messenger containing six slokas which

now goes by the name of Vairaagya Pancaka, which acts as a proof to the

correctness of the epithet which describes Sri Desika as

‘Jnaana-vairaagya-bhooshana’ he who has depth of knowledge and the spirit of

non-attachment as an adorning jewel.

 

We shall give in brief the substance of two or three slokas. Sri Desika

wrote-

 

We do not consider those persons as blessed who spend their life

flattering petty chiefs of small states ; we have resolved to serve and

worship that God of Mercy(Sri Krishna), who bestowed the state of the

wealthy Kubera on the poor Kushela who offered just a handful of pounded

fried rice(aval) as a gift(1).

 

We are perfectly satisfied with food-grains voluntarily offered in our

pot as we go along the streets singing the glory of Bhagavan, contented with

handfuls of water within easy reach, and with rotten pieces of cloth lying

on the road-side to cover our nakedness(2).

 

We do not extend our hands before the naughty rich since we have the

great Treasure that adorned the chariot of Arjuna in the Kurukshetra

battle-field.(4)

 

Sri Desika rises high in our estimate, when he concludes with the crisp

sixth sloka-, Nothing has been earned (and left) by my father (for me to

inherit); nor have I earned anything. But I have inexhaustible treasure on

the top of Hastigiri(Kanchi, Elephant Hill) bequeathed for me by my

grandfather (Pitaamaha, which refers to Brahma here).

 

In sloka five, there is a play on the word ‘dhana’(wealth) which occurs

eleven times. There is not the fault of tautology, but it has different

meanings when taken with the proceeding or succeeding syllable or word. It

shows the great knowledge of Sri Desika of the Sanskrit vocabulary and

proficiency in their use. It is a marvellous performance which charms by its

sound the ears, and the mind by noble thoughts.

 

[from the book - Life and works of Sri Nigamantha Mahadesikan- by Prof Sri A

Srinivasaraghavan]

 

I personally relish the sloka in this sthOthra

sareera padhanaavathi prabhunishEvaNA paadhanAth

abindhana dhananjaya prasamadham dhanam dhandhanam

dhananjaya vimardhanam dhanamudhooda govardhanam

susAdhanam apAdhanam sumanasaam samArAdhanam

 

what a wonderful verse! Swamy played with the word dhanam 11 times in

different meanings and context...

 

Sri Lakshmi Narasimhan also shared with me the following anubhavam of his on

this sthOthra:

 

This sthOthra has Swamy Deshikan's unique way of expression - the unique

'padaprayogam' - the play with words. Of course shabdalankaaram exists &

reaches its pinnacle in the penultimate sloka [as above].

 

But the most beautiful expression is in the first sloka " .... Dhaanaa

mushti muchey kuchela munaye dattesma vitteshataam". The word "Dhaanaa" is

greater than "Dhana". If you remove the dheergham of dhaana u get dhana.

 

Dhaana, the beaten rice (Aval in tamil)) - offered with love by kuchela to

the Lord - led the Bhagawaan almost offering himself to kuchela.

 

Lakshmi Narasimha dasan

**********

 

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

 

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