Thuppul PiLLai series concluded with Swamy Desikan mangaLam..

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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,

 

Vedantha Desika was the brightest star in the firmament of VisishtAdvaita

next only to Sri Ramanujacharya. Initial exposure to Vedas, Divya

Prabandhams, and SaasthrAs provided him with an independent and

individualistic insight into the secrets of the world of knowledge. Hence,

his knowledge was encyclopedic. His knowledge offered him modesty, which is

rare commodity among scholars. In him, there was a synthesis of moral

fervour and spiritual insight. He was a saint to the core and detachment,

the like of which is hard to notice among others

 

He was a poet, philosopher, scrupulous in the performance of his duties and

upholder of the righteous cause. He was imbued with the sense of

responsibility to uphold the concepts, which SrI Ramanujacharya preached. He

adopted almost all possible ways of writing to achieve this purpose. No

writer among the followers of Ramanuja fought for the right place for

AhzwArs, as much as Swamy Desikan. His compositions in pure Tamil and in

maNipravALam and their graded classifications from the simple to the complex

bear ample testimony to this.

 

With all these achievements and attainments, which no single scholar could

ever dream of possessing, he has an embodiment of humility, he shunned pelf,

repute, gain and adoration and was ever a devout devotee of a Srivaishnava,

not slighting anyone. His son SrI Kumara Varadachrya observes: yak khyAthi

laabhapUjAsu vimukO vaishnavO janE krayaNIyadasaam praaptah:

 

His appeal to the Lord of Srirangam, that he should be allowed to live

amidst those who are mutually well-disposed. “paraspara hithashiNAm

parisarEshu mAm varthaya:”. An indefatigable crusader for Vaishnavism like

the AchArya Swamy Desikan is quite needed in the present day. Let us pray to

the Lord for fulfillment of this prayer of ours.

 

Let us conclude this series with a mangalam verses on Swamy Desikan (written

by His illustrious son- Sri Kumara varadarya).

 

Sri Vedanta Desikan’s son Sri Nayinacharyar (or Kumara Varadacharyar)

composed 13 verses singing mangaLam for Swamy. He reminisces the upakarams

of Swamy Desikan in his eulogy.

 

Srima lakshmaNa yogeendra: ...aham bhajE..

 

I bow down to Varadacharyar, born in Viswamithra kulam (gOthram), who is

like the victory flag of Emperumaanaar Sri Ramanuja Siddhaantham

 

Sarvathanthra swathanthraaya… venkatEsaaya mangaLam..

 

MangaLam to Sarwaswathanthrar, Lion among poets, Vedantacharya by name

VenktEsan.

 

Napasyamaasi srOnaayaam…… mangaLam

 

MangaLam to Swamy Desikan born in VisawamithragOthram on Purattaasi

ThiruvONam.

 

PithaayasyaananthasUri…thasya mangaLam

 

MangaLam to Swamy Desikan, son of AnanthasUri and ThOtharambai, and grand

son of undareekaaksha sOmayaaji.

 

VEnkatEsaavatharOyam… vidharkyaayaasthu mangaLam

 

MangaLam to Swamy Desikan, who is praised by elders and scholars; who is the

amsam of YathirAjan; who is the amsam of the Divine Bell of Sri Venkatesa;

who is also considered as an avtaar of Sri Venkatesa Himself.

 

Sri Bhashyakaara… mangaLam

MangaLam to Swamy Desikan who is called as the very Sri Bhashyakaarar

Himself in order to expound the Sri VisishtAdvaitha philosophy (propounded

by Sri Bhshyakaarar earlier)

 

YO baalyE.. mangaLam AND prathishtabidhvEdantha poori kalyANa bhAjanam

MangaLam to Swamy Desikan -who was brought to that highest level by Sri

AppuLLaar; - who had been blessed by Sri Nadadhur AmmAL, (Vaatsya

Varadhacharyar) his praacharyar, “All mangaLam to you to propagate the

Vedic religion (Sri Ramanuja siddhaantham) and conquer the non vedic other

religions, uproot them, and be praised by Vedic scholars”, when Swamy

Desikan was a young Boy.

 

Raamanujaayaath AthrEyaath maathulaath sakalata kala: … mangaLam

MangaLam to Swamy Desikan the greatest scholar, who had learnt all saasthras

before he attained 20 years of age, from his uncle Kidaambi appuLLaar.

 

sruthaprakaasikaabhUmOth.. srEshtAya mangaLam

When there was disturbance due to Thurushkars (Muslims) Swamy Desikan not

only protected the Sruthaprakaasika – the commentary on Sri Bhashyam,

written by Sri Sudharsana bhattar, Swamy Desikan also propagated the same

through learned scholars (by teaching them). MangaLam to Swamy.

 

Saamskrudheepi: sEvyaaya mangaLam

MangaLam to Swamy Desikan, fit to be worshipped, due to his parama upakaram

of writing very many granthas (works) in Tamil and Sanskrit, thereby saving

the humanity.

 

Yakyaadhi laabha.. mangaLam

Fame, benefit, name, - these were not sought after by Swamy Desikan, who

serves Srivaishnava Bhagawathas saying “these Bhagawathas (who call Kesavaa,

PurushOtthamaa) can even sell my body” (in the words of PeriyAzhwAr).

MangaLam to Swamy Desikan.

 

YasmaadhEva.. mama nAthAya mangaLam

MangaLam to Swamy Desikan, -VenkatanAthan- my Nathan (master), from whom

adiyEn had learnt all saasthraas.

 

PithrE brahmO.. vEmkatEsaaya mangaLam

MangaLam to Swamy Desikan, whose name is VenktEsan, my father; one who

initiated Gayatri (BrahmOpadEsar) to adiyEn; who is my spiritual teacher;

who is My God; who is the means, my refuge as well as the Goal Himself.

 

Ya: krutham.. bhavEth mangaLa bhaajanam.

 

Those who recite this Swamy Vedanta Desika mangaLam composed by Kumara

varadaachaaryar, daily, (or read these translations) will also attain all

mangaLam.

 

[Dearest Srivaishnavas, Thanks to each one of you for your patience in

bearing up with aDiyEn's posts on Thuppul PiLLai and encouraging adIyen's

efforts through personal emails as well. Please forgive me for eroors and

omissions. If at all there is any good, it is due to the Great book of Prof

Srinivasa raghavan's and the glories of Acharya saarvabhouman Swamy

Nigamantha Mahadesikan. ]

 

Swamy Desikan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam

AchAryan 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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[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,

 

Thanks for your personal email appreciation for the posts.

One Bhagawatha pointed out that Sankalpa suryodhaya of Swamy Desikan was not

described in detail though it was briefly mentioned.

Here it is heeding to that request. [as sent by Smt Padmini Ranganathan - as

written by Sri U Ve Dr NS Anantharangachar Swamy]

 

In Sanskrit, there are a number of allegorical dramas. Of these, Prabodha

Chandrodaya (PC) and Sankalpa

Suryodaya(SS) are the best known. PC, written by Krishna Misra is devoted to

the exposition of the

doctrine of Advaita philosophy. Krishna Misra is said to have written this

drama to teach the Advaita

doctrine to those who were interested in Kavya and not philosophy. Sankalpa

Suryodaya expoounds the doctrine of Vishishtadvaita.

 

Before entering into a comparative study of these two plays, we will do well

to understand the summary of those plays and then devote ourselves to the

understanding of the doctrinal differences that are depicted in these 2

plays.

 

The plot of Prabodha Chandrodaya:

 

The meaning of the term Prabodha Chandrodaya is therising of the moon of

spiritual knowledge.

"prabodha chandrodayasya udaya:" This is an allegorical drama where

different qualities take the

role of characters and appear before us. "purusha" is the main character.

According to Advaita, purusha is identical with the Supreme Self or Brahman.

'maya' or illusion is purusha's wife. 'manas' or mind is the son of maya.

This mind has 2 wives namely 'pravrtti' and 'nivrtti'.i.e.activity and

renunciation. The issue of 'pravrtti' is 'mOha' or delusion whereas

'nivrtti' gives birth to 'vivEka' or discremenation. The purusha

is bound by 'manas' assisted by 'ahankAra' or egoism. 'maya' deludes him.

 

How can this purusha be brought back to his real nature" It is only thro'

the rise of knowledge (vidya) and 'prbodha' (spiritual awakening).

 

How can this knowledge arise?

Knowledge is possible only when the mind is quiet and when there is

discremenation. This discremenation is to be united with the 'upanishads'.

 

How can this be achieved?

This can be achieved with the assistance of vishnu bhakti.

 

The struggle between the two forces of the two sons of the mind namely

'moha' and 'viveka' continues. The followers of moha aree 'charvaka','kama',

'krodha', 'lobha'. 'charvaka' is a friend of moha. Kama krodha and lobha are

ministers. The 'mithyAdrsti' or error is the wife of moha. 'vibhramavathi'

is his wife's friend. The wife of kama is rathi, of krodha is himsa and of

lobha is trsNA. They are all on the side of moha.

 

The followers of viveka are as follows.

 

Reason or maathi and santosha or contentment are friends. Enquiry into the

reality of things or

'vastuvichara' is the servant and the others that serve viveka are

'vishnubhakti', 'shanti', shraddha',

'kshama', karunA', 'upanishat' and others.

 

The battle ensues between these two forces. For uniting with the upanishads,

with the blessings of the

mind, vishnubhakti isalso honoured by manas. When the mind becomes calm, the

purusha gains his real nature. When the mind has become quiet, the mind

discards 'pravrtti, and nivrtti becomes his favourite.On account of viveka

and upanishads, purusha realises the oneness of paramEswara. On account of

the command of vishnubhakti, nididhyasana (medidation) enters purusha. At

that moment, vidyaa bursts out of the chest of manas and swallows moha and

his followers and disappears immediately. Now praabodha reigns supreme.

Purusha realises oneness with vishnu.

 

PLOT OF SANKALPA SURDODAYA:

 

WE will now briefly note the plot of Sankalpa Suryodaya. Suryodaya means

sunrise. Sankalpa means the

divine will to save man. So the meaning of this term is :- dispelling the

dark night of samsara by the will

of the Lord. This is here equated with sunrise.In this drama also, qualities

are different characters.They

are similar to the characters of prabodha chandrodaya. There are certain

additional characters also. For

e.g.'vyavasaya' (human effort), 'tarka' (logic). Vyavasaya is the commander

in chief of viveka. The

king and the queen working for the good are Viveka and Sumathi. The opposite

side is represented by

'Mahamoha' and 'Durmathi'. They fight against goodness. Purusha is the

battlefield for these warring

elementss. This can be compared to the forces of good and evil mentioned in

the case of Pandavas and

Kauravas. With the final victory of viveka, there will be good. After the

victory of Viveka, the Sankalpa

Suryodaya(divine will to save) arises and then the Purusha attains moksha.

 

Viveka explains to Sumathi that the cause of samsara is the 'avidya' or

karma of the Purusha. Moksha or

liberation can be bestowed on Purusha only by 'Srimannarayana'. That grace

of the Lord dawns on him

only when purusha gets rid of all his vices and surrenders unto the Lord.

For this, a guru is

absolutely essential. It is abssolutely essential to have a proper

understanding of the shastras in a

correct manner. So, one has to know the defects of schools of thought to

discard them. A discussion is

therefore necessary to refute the representatives of vaarious schools. So,

in this drama, a guru (Sri

Ramanuja) and shishya (Sri Vedanta Desika) are shown as refuting the various

view points of other schools in the presence of Viveka and vyavasaya. This

is important as it expounds the authenticity of the

'siddhanta'. The conflict between 'rAga', dwEsha and vairagya is pictured

and vairagya succeeds.

Vishnubhakti and vairagya go to Viveka and help him to gain his goal.

Purusha can gain moksha only thro' the grace of the Lord. The enemies like

kama, krodha are defeated. The Purusha has gained vairagya and therefore

dambha, darpa and others fail to entice him. Now Purusha needs a suitable

place for meditation of the Supreme being . Viveka assisted by tarka makes a

search of a suitable place for meditation throughout the country and come to

Srirangam and find that 'Vrshagiri' and 'Hastigiri' are suitable places. But

Viveka realises that the best place for meditation is the pure heart that

is devoid of all impurities. The next search is for a pure form of God for

the purusha's meditation. The several auspicious forms of the Lord in

various incarnations are thought to be more appropriate. Now Purusha needs

an acharya who has to initiate the holy 'Moola mantra' and Purusha now

appears on the stage. The purusha with the help of Viveka and Vishnubhakti

gets rid of all his sins thro'self surrender and wins the grace of the

Lord(Sankalpa Surya). He is now fit to attain the highest abode thro' the

archiradi. This is the short summary of the play 'Sankalpa Suryodaya'.

 

Thanks to Smt Padmini for giving permission.

 

Also Swamy mentions in Sankalpa suryodaya pointing the experience of

entering Brahmam and enjoying that unique bliss by jeevans is reminiscent of

us taking a plunge in the cool waters of a pond during

the scorching days of summer ( GreeshmE seethamiva hrutham bahuguNam Brahma

Pravishtam muni: )

 

Someone asked as to why I took 65 posts for this series. It so happened. And

later, thinking of, it is also a coincidence that the letter 65 is the sum

total of ashtaksharam + dwayam and charama slokam (8 +25+32)- as beautifully

mentioned by Swamy Desikan himself when he writes a Bhashyam for SthOthra

rathnam of Alavandhar wherein 65 sthothras are there, which are none other

than the essence of Rahasya thrayam- a sum total of ashtaksharam, Dwaya and

charama sloka.

 

Thanks again to one and all.

 

Swamy Desikan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam

AchAryan 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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