Ashtabhujanum - Swamy Deshikanum - Celebrating Deshikan Thirunaks hatram

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Shri

Shrimate Vakulabhushana Maha Deshikaya Namaha

Shrimate Ramanujaya Namaha

Shrimate Athreya Ramanuja Maha Deshikaya Namaha

Shrimate Nigamantha Maha Deshikaya Namaha

 

It's time for celebration again. Shravanotsavam at Thuppul begins today with

Swamy Deshikan Thirunakshatram falling on 24th of Sept. Today's alankarams

will be Thanga pallakku in the morning and Chapparam in the evening.

 

As Swamy Deshika says,

"Eththi manaththezhil jnAnaviLakkai iruLanaiththum mArrinavarkku mAyanum

OrkaimAru kANagillAn

pOththi ugappadum pundiyirkoLvadum pongupugazh sARRu vaLarppadum saRRallavO

munnam peRRadarkke"

 

"There is no way by which even the Lord can possibly think of repaying an

acharya who has lit the lamp of knowledge in the cosmos of our hearts." The

only way we can repay our acharyas is by singing his glories and to perform

unstinted kaikaryam at his lotus feet. With these words adiyen begins his

journey comparing two friends who mirrored each other in their hearts.

 

Ashtabhujanum - Swamy Deshikanum

 

Well known is the fact of the Supreme Lord's incarnation on the banks of

river Vegavati as the eight-armed Ashtabhujan who descended upon this earth

heeding to the wails of the elephant, caught in the clutches of the mighty

crocodile. Better known is the fact, wherein this Lord has been extolled by

the Lion of apostles, Swamy Deshika in his celebrated work

Ashtabhujashtakam. Swamy's Ashtabhujashtakam enshrines in itself, in

entirety the finest truths of Vishishtadvaitha siddhantham that is in full

conformance to the Vedic tenets. In this work Swamy glorifies Ashtabhujan as

'Aptam sataam' a friend always with a good disposition to noble souls. Swamy

Deshika enjoyed a close relationship with this Lord during his sojourn at

Kanchipuram, his birthplace. He would pay his obeisance to this Lord

everyday enroute to the dwelling of Lord Devaadhiraja. A keen look will make

obvious the commonality in characteristics and attributes that these two

friends share with each other. Let us now celebrate the divine forms of

these two friends. With "nahi nindA nyAyam" in place, we shall see as to how

our Lord excels his Lord with a huge margin.

 

Ashtabhujan stands majestic with his eight hands adorning the conch, discus,

mace, lotus, arrow, bow, sword and shield. The Lord remains ever ready with

all his weapons as He wishes not to waste time in choosing them while coming

to His devotee's rescue. The same is enjoyed by Parashara Bhatta in his

Srirangarajastavam -

 

pAtu praNatarakShAyAM viLambamasahanniva

sadA panchAyudhIm bibhrat sanaH srIraN^ganAyakaH

 

Swamy Deshika in His magnum opus Srimad Rahasya-traya-saaram celebrates that

the Jeevatmas and Prakruti are represented by the Lord's weapons and

ornaments. In the chapter Tattvatraya Chintanaadhikaram Swamy Deshika

attests to this in the psalm "purudan maNivaramAga .... MEninRanaiththum

kAkkinRAnE". This has been translated word to word by Swamy Nayanaracharya

in Sanskrit that reads as "etashchakrati chetanAsiramatiH ....

TavagadAmAhurmahAntaM budhAH"

 

It may be a disbelieving thought to even compare an acharya of monastic

order like Swamy Deshikan matching in stature and semblance to that of the

vibrant and regal Ashtabhuja. But our Swamy is not far from this demeanor.

Let us now enjoy our Lord and his Lord with all these adornments.

 

Conch

 

The Lord adorns the Conch that is a symbol of purity. The conch reverberates

with the Pranavam, the one syllabled cosmic theme, which is the final

essence of the entire imperial lore. It is the final Supreme truth. The

reverberations of this truth within the dark hallow of the conch represents

the esoterical nature of this Supreme essence.

 

Swamy Deshika is himself an epitome of purity. He is the manifestation of

purity of mind, word and deeds. His brilliant countenance, his spotless

white attire, his blemish less character stand ample testimony to his nature

in being pure and spotless as the Lord's conch. The phrases "ravisadR^isha

tanuH" of Swamy Nayanaracharya and "sitAntarIya sUttarIya" of Swamy

Prativadi Bhayankaram Annan are quotable in this context. Swamy Deshika was

the knower of the supreme truth. His heart would always dwell in the

enjoyment of the glories of the Lord while his mind would always reverberate

the supreme truth enshrined in the Pranavam. Keeping in mind the esoterical

nature of this supreme truth, Swamy Deshika enshrined this supreme theme in

thirty-two esoterical works of his. He imparted this truth to several

disciples who approached him with a thirst for supreme knowledge.

 

Discus

 

The Lord adorns the Discus as a symbol of offering protection to the good.

The discus is indeed the manifestation of Sudarshana Azhwar. Its blazing

rays and sharp swirls would annihilate the evil and maintain righteousness.

The revolving discus is a representation of kaalachakra and denotes that

time is indeed sub-servient to the Lord. At times, the Lord adorns this

Discus in a ready-to-wield position, in order to offer protection to the

pious. This adornment is known as Prayoga chakram. In this context we shall

first enjoy the significance of Prayoga chakram.

 

Ramanuja submitted six questions to Thirukachchinambi that were to be

answered by Devarajapperumal. "pirikkil bhedamum kUttil abhedamume nam

darshanam" was one of the answers. Pirikkil bhedamum - This signifies that

the sentient and the non-sentient orders are essentially different and

distinct from the Supreme. This difference as attested to by the Bheda

shrutis or differential passages of the Vedas. Kuttil abhedam - This

signifies that though they are different they enjoy an inseparable

relationship with each other and the sentient and non-sentient orders form

the body of the Supreme Lord (savishesha-advaitham). This is as attested to

by the Abheda shrutis.

 

The Lord adorns the shankham in one hand and the chakram in the other. One

can clearly see the two fingers of the hand adorning the shankham while only

one finger can be seen on the hand adorning the chakram. In a way one can

imagine the Lord showing "two" with one of his hands and "one" with the

other. This can be taken to mean that the Lord is indeed conveying the

purport of bheda shrutis with one hand and the purport of abheda shrutis

with the other. Looks as if he is re-iterating the statement "pirikkil

bhedamum kUttil abhedamume nam darshanam". With this in place, the statement

that Perumal in prayoga chakram remains ready to come to the rescue of the

tormented is true. Evil need not always mean hindrance to physical security.

It may also mean a hindrance to achieving the finest goal of life, that is

moksham. Here torment actually means the ajnaanam due to delusive

influences. By showing the true nature of the darshanam Perumal is freeing a

Jeevan from his ajnaanam and making him know the essential nature of the

sannatana vaidika darshanam. This way, by adorning the discus, Perumal

exhibits the characteristics of an uttama acharya.

 

Swamy Deshikan is no exception here. His rightful indignation was like a

swirling Discus with blazing flames that annihilated the adverse systems

totally. He was searchingly critical but sympathetically tolerant. Just as

how, the Lord upholds the statement "pirikkil bhedamum kUttil abhedamume nam

darshanam" similarly Swamy Deshika has expounded the purports of this

statement in all his works and strengthened the parama vaidika srivaishnava

sri sampradayam that was fortified by Ramanuja. He is thus an uttama

acharya. But in case of Deshika, this went to such an extent that he almost

lost his identity with the name Venkatanatha bestowed to him by his parents

and came to be known as Vedantha Deshika. The term Deshika refers to a

preceptor. It is a term with no limiting adjuncts, but to have that itself

as his name is something exceptional. Acharyas celebrate a particular phrase

in Paduka Sahasram - "kAlo dAsasya pAdukA" to mean that time is not only

sub-servient to the Lord but also sub-servient to His devotees.

 

Mace

 

The mace is a representative of intellect. It is a weapon that has the power

to annihilate the world. It alleviates the Jeevathmans from their torments.

It is also a symbol of the Lord's supremacy. The Lord has been adorned in

words and lavished with sobriquets. He is the sole object of adulation and

aspiration of seekers. The mace is indeed the most compassionate of all

weapons for it stays always close to the Lord's lotus feet. On account of

this it shares the compassionate qualities of the Lord's lotus feet in

granting refuge to those supplicating at His feet. It is due to this reason

that the mace alleviates the Jeevathmans from the samsaric torments.

 

Swamy Deshika is no exception here. He has also been adorned with a thousand

names. He has been bequeathed with sobriquets from none other than the Lord

Sriranganatha, Periya piratti and his disciple fold alike.

 

Lotus

 

The Lotus by virtue of its tenderness and fragrance denotes compassion,

affection and other noble traits.

 

Swamy Deshika extols the Lord for having multiplied his arms from four to

eight and rushed to the rescue of the elephant. It is particularly important

here to note the usage "dviguNa bAhunA" in Ashtabhujashtakam. Here it

conveys the meaning that the Lord, unable to bear any moment of delay in

coming to the rescue of those surrendering unto his lotus feet, multiplied

his arms from four to eight in order to wield more weapons to protect His

subjects.

 

The highlight of the verse here is the Lord's eagerness to come to the

rescue of His devotees. In this case He has descended in a divine form

wielding weapons in eight hands. Such is the Lord's mercy and compassion

towards the Jeevatmans. Swamy Deshika extols this fact in his Srimad

Rahasyatrayasaaram, wherein he says that the Jeevan is like the kaustubha

gem to the Lord and is very dear to him at all times.

 

Akin to the Lord, such inherent virtuousness of coming to one's protection

is seen in the advents of Deshika also. The eagerness in stride and the

excellence of wielding weapons are seen in abundant measures and in higher

proportions than his supreme counterpart. The following accounts attest to

this. It was a time when the siddhantham of Ramanuja was established well

and the system of Advaitha was seeing downfall at the hands of the

Vishishtadvaitins. Unable to bear this ignoble state, a band of Advaitins

headed to Thiruvarangam and challenged the very high seat of Srivaishnava

faith there. The scholars at Thiruvarangam having resolved to their

inability to face such a huge band of adversaries in a battle of

philosophical refutation, made a unanimous decision to send word to the

grand master Swamy Vedantha Deshika, who at that moment resided at

kanchipuram. The nobles of Thiruvarangam sent a decree in the name of

Vishvaksenar, ordaining Deshika to be present in service to the sampradayam.

Deshika, having received the intimation from none other than

Vishvaksenazhwan, the commander of the Lord's army, left to Thiruvarangam in

no time. Similar to His divine acquaintance, he headed with his weaponry

that was his sharp intellect and profound mastery over the shastras and

esoterical scriptures. He multiplied those hundred fold and descended upon

Thiruvarangam triumphing over the adversaries with the arrow like

refutations of the highly acclaimed dialectic masterpiece Shatadushani.

Swamy Deshika centifolded his hands and wielded a hundred sharp arrows with

each of them trouncing the system of Advaitha to irreparable proportions.

The Lord used shastram to vanquish His opponents, while Swamy Deshika, a

parama saatvika, used shaastram to triumph over his adversaries.

 

There are other interesting analogies in this episode. The elephant

represents the parama vaidika sri vaishnava sri sampradayam expounded and

established by the masters of yore like Vyasa, Bodhayana and others on the

sound authority of the imperial Vedas. The crocodile here represents all the

fallacious adverse systems that tormented the vaidika system through their

misinterpretations and self-styled whims. Swamy Deshika thus protected the

royal elephant, representing the sri sampradayam from the vicious crocodiles

representing the adversaries. The Lord Ashtabhujan rescued the elephant from

the vicious crocodile, a mere creature. Our Lord Swamy Deshika, by means of

his teachings and writings, continues to protect innumerable elephants that

are Jeevatmans from the vicious influences of crocodiles of samsaaric

afflictions.

 

The Lord is the most compassionate, but he is also dandadharan. But our

Deshika on the other hand, cannot inflict pain on others even out of his own

accord.

 

Sword

 

The Lord adorns the Sword that is the manifestation of knowledge. By its

effulgence alone it sets to naught the influences of all that is unwise and

imprudent. The Lord's sword imparts on one the supreme knowledge or the

knowledge of Prameya.

 

Swamy Deshika is no exception here. He holds weapons but those are nothing

but the tatvams that he would impart to his disciples. He adorns the sword

of tattva jnanam. The sharpness of this sword is the sharpness of his

intellect. With this sword he beheaded the fallacious crowns of adversaries.

He uprooted and weeded out the theories of falsehood that had infested the

beautiful expanse of Upanishadic teachings. It was this sword, the

manifestation of knowledge or vidya that trounced upon the system of

nescience or avidya (maya).

 

Shield

 

The Lord's shield bestows upon one the wealth of Eikaantyam or an unstinted

devotion towards Sriman Narayana alone. It subdues the elephant like desires

of Jeevathmas who tread the sands of samsara.

 

The Lord wields this shield with one of his hands while Deshika was born

with this shield inseparably. This is the shield of Azhwar aruLichcheyal or

divya prabandham, the holy collect of 4000 psalms. Deshika reckons them as

Draavida Vedam and proudly presents himself as "tamizhmaRaiyOn". It is with

this shield that he trounced the onslaughts of the adversaries. It was the

time of the muslim fall at Thiruvarangam. The temple was seeing a grand

restoration under the able guidance of Swamy Deshika. A group of adversaries

demanded that the divinity of Azhwars be established before installing their

iconic representations in the grand temple of Aranganathar. It was during

this time Swamy authored two of his works, "DravidopanishatsAram" and

"Dravidopanishat tAtparyaratnavaLi". These works of his, clearly established

the parlance between the imperial lore and those that of Azhwars. Having

trounced his offenders, Deshika reinstated the prestigious Adhyayanotsavam

that was once started by Thirumangai Azhwar and was restored by Ramanuja.

Deshika's disciples have given wonderful picturisations of this feat with

their worded pearls "pUrvaM tatparakAla ...". This shield definitely bestows

the wealth of Eikantyam on its pursuers. Though embellished with all the

weapons, the Lord was unable to protect Himself from being smudged with the

slush of fallacious interpretations of the adversaries. Deshika, being

adorned with the shield of aruLichcheyals has in fact fortified the

darshanam of Ramanuja into a citadel and has made the fragrance of the true

darshanam of the Vedas as told by the words of Emperumanar to permeate

everywhere.

 

Bow

 

The Lord adorns Kodanda, the divine bow. This weapon is a manifestation of

satvika ahankaram.

 

The Bow is a representative of many other analogies. It has two curves.

These curves depict the Karma meemamsa and the Brahma meemamsa. The Karma

meemamsa talks about the various rituals and their performances while the

Brahma meemamsa talks about an inquiry into the Supreme. These apparently

contradicting systems were thought of as totally disjoint by imprudent

scholars. Swamy by means of his wonderful and unmatched scholarly works like

Meemamsa Paduka and Seshvara meemamsa held these systems of exegesis

together and established that they are indeed not contradicting but are in

sequence. The Brahma meemamsa comes as a sequel to karma meemamsa. An

inquiry into the Karma meemamsa would give one a vivid ritualistic approach

to attainment of fruits. But these fruits are indeed momentary and are not

eternal. Having known their momentariness, one then makes an inquiry into

the Brahma meemamsa, which would give one the means to attain the eternal

bliss of beatitude.

 

Swamy therefore adorns a majestic bow, the two curves of which represents

the two systems of exegesis and the bowstring that holds these ends together

represents his scholarly works like Meemamsa Paduka and Seshvara meemamsa.

Our Deshika adorns this bow that is a pure manifestation of his satvika

ahankaram and scholarship that has tied the two systems of exegesis into one

concomitant system of meemamsa.

 

Arrows

 

Our Swamy Deshika is like a sovereign who dons the best of regal apparel

similar to Srirama, the sovereign. Speaking of Sri Rama, one would get the

picture of Srirama holding a bow with a quiver full of arrows strung to his

back and striding on a golden chariot. Our Acharya holds weapons but those

are nothing but the tatvams that he would impart to his disciples. His bow

is nothing but his scholarship and on this, he sets the works of Ramanuja

and other purvacharyas as arrows.

 

Deshika has always been a warrior. A warrior who fought for the rightful

place of sanaatana dharma represented in its ripe and full form by the

paramavaidika srivaishnava srisampradaya darshanam. His armor has always

been his prowess and profound intellect, while the works of grandmasters

have always been his choicest weapons. These divine works of our

grandmasters may be seen in their entire splendor in the works of Swamy

Deshika. Our Poorvacharyas are like the rain bearing clouds who, shower

without bias. Their divine srisuktis are akin to these showers. The works of

Deshika are like the rays of the Sun. When these rays of Sun attain unison

with the showers of rain, all that remains for the beholders is the vivid

and magnificent panorama of colors.

 

Our Swamy is decked with the jewels of jnaanam and vairaagyam. Detachment

and austerity are his strengths while purity of mind and deeds are his

robes. Humility is his armor, his disciple-fold remain at his feet like his

sandals. The knowledge of the supreme is his senses and constant meditation

on Paraman his fervent thought.

 

The Lord is celebrated with the popular sobriquet Sundarabaahu, meaning one

who is adorned with the most beautiful and handsome of arms. Swamy Deshika

is also eulogized with a similar acronym Subaahu that acclaims him to be the

owner of beautiful long arms. Swamy Varadanatha Nayanaracharya's statement

"AjAnulambyAyatavR^ittabAhum atyunnatAmsam shritagUdhajatrum" in his Vedanta

Deshika vigraha dhyana stotram attests to this fact.

 

The Lord is ashtaakshara svarupan. He is the manifestation of the

eight-syllabled esoterical maxim of the ashtakshara manthram. This manthram

is the essence of all the Vedas and is capable of bestowing upon one the

wealth of supreme knowledge. Both are sarvatantra swatantra. The number

eight has an added significance. Swamy Deshika was well versed in eight

languages. This is evident from his own statements in his drama Sankalpa

suryodayam, wherein Swamy says that he refuted and defeated the adversaries

of other schools in their own ways and languages. Swamy Prativadi

Bhayankaram Annan attests to this in his Saptati ratna malika when he says

"tathAShTa bhAshA kavitA paTutvaM sankalpa sUryodaya dR^ishyamasya".

 

Deshika eulogizes Ashtabhuja as the sumptuous repast that a traveler would

take with him - "pAtheyam". Here the traveler is one who has performed

sharanagati and is a prapanna. To a nomad who is about to begin his journey

as a prapanna, our Swamy Deshika is indeed the most delectable elixir.

 

mangaLam dEshikEndrAya mahanIya guNAya cha

chakravarththi tanUjAya sArvabhaumAya mangalam

 

vAzhi vyAkhyAmuddirak kai !!!

vEdAntasUri charaNau sharaNam prapadye !!!