Thiruvaheendhrapuram Oushadha Giri MahA Matapa Kaimkaryam : Sri VairAgya Panchakam of Swamy Desikan

[Guest guest]

SrI:

 

Dear BhakthAs:

 

Swamy Desikans' scholarship due to Sri Hayagrivan's visEsha

anugraham is well established from every one of His Sri Sookthis

be they in Sanskrit or Tamizh or in PrAkrutham .

 

He was not only NigamAntha MahA Desikan , who defeated

soundly Para Matha Vaadhis but he was also revered for His

AchAram , anushtAnam and VairAgyam . Sri VairAgya Panchakam

is a classic example of his disregard for worldly wealth and fame of

any kind . He supported himself and his family via Unchivrutthi

and spurned any form of wealth .

 

Please enjoy the 5 slOkams of Sri VairAgya PanchAsath

and support the construction of the MahA Mantapam

to celebrate the Vaibhavam of Swamy Desikan and His attainment of

Mantra Siddhi at Oushadha Giri . Please send your samarpaNams directly

to Sri Soundararajan Desikan Swamy . His address is at the Web site:

 

http://www.srikainkarya.org

 

May Lord HayagrIvan's blessings be with you all ,

Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil V.Sadagopan

 

stothrams by acharyans

Acharyan Swamy Desikan

 

|| Sri Vairaagya Panchakam ||

 

Acharyan Swamy Desikan

 

Let me invoke the blessings of Sri Oppiliappan through the following

Maangalya Sthavam verse to give the clarity of mind to undertake this

Task:

SARVESHU KAALESHU SAMASTHA DESESHUASESHA KAARYESHU TATESWARESWARA:

ISARVAI: SVAROOPAI: BHAGAVAAN ANAADHIMAANMAMAASTHU MAANGALYA

VIVIRUDDHAYEH HARI : II

MEANING: I invoke Hari to bless me and to enhance auspiciousness of

all kinds at all times, at all places, and in all endeavours of mine.

May that Hari, who appears in all forms and who is without beginning

or end enhance my Mangalams .

Swami Desikan and Acharya Ramanuja**********************************

Swami Desikan was an illustrious propounder of Bhagavat Raamnuja

Siddhaantham. He followed the way shown by Acharya Ramanuja

scrupulously. Swami therefore believed deeply in Acharya"s

postulation of a personal God and the means of attaining Moksham with

His grace through Bhakti or Prapatti margam. In both the margams, the

Lord is recognized as the means and the object of attainment.Moksham

is the end result of His grace mediated by Sri Devi.This is the

Upasana that he imbibed form Ramanujaa and with the blessings of his

Acharya,he led a pious, simple life and subsisted on the minimum

needed to sustain himself in service of Sri Ranganatha of Srirangam ,

Sri Devanatha of Thiruvahindrapuram Sri Varadaraja of Kanchi andLOrd

HayagrIvan of Thiruvaheendhrapuram's Oushada Giri .

RaamAnujA's Way

***************

Swami Desikan followed the ancient way which Ramaanuja showed , which

was based on the concept that Bhakti (devotion ) results wholly from

Viveka (discriminatory knowledge dealing with the true nature of the

Lord ), Vimoka (freedom from worldly temptations),Abhayaasa (Practice

of Nava Vidha Bhakthis), Kriya( Nandavana and other Kaimkaryams for

the Lord ,interpretation of scriptures for the disciples),

Kalyaana(auspiciousness/ mangalam = thoughts on the Anantha kalyaana

Gunas of Hari ) ,Anavasaada ( absence of weakness = steadfast resolve

to worship Hari and Hari alone ) and Anuddharsha (absence of elation

over worldly victories = Sthitha Prajna aspect ) . Swami Desikan"s

life was a pilgrimage marked with Bhakti for the Divya Dampathis and

Kaimkaryam for them that culminated in Saranagathi at their lotus

feet. Swami explained in his many granthams about the sacredness of

performing Saranagathi for our benefit and salvation .His whole life

was one of Vairaagyam (dispassion) and Bhakti (devotion).

Demonstration of Swami's Vairaagyam***********************************

In the early days of his life , Swami was residing at Kanchipuram and

was engaged in Anushtaanam and Kalakshepam. His brilliance as an

Acharya was well established. He led a simple life .He had a

classmate and friend from his student days by the name of Vidyaranya

... Sri Vidyaranya was at that time the Aasthana Vidwaan at he court

of the Vijya Nagara King .He was sad to hear that Swami Desikan was

poor inspite of his great scholarship. He wanted to help his boyhood

friend and wanted to use his influence with the King to secure

financial help.Sri Vidyaranya out of affection wrote a nice letter

welcoming Swami Desikan to the royal court .Swami saw the letter and

sent his response in the form of a single slokam indicating his

disinterest to receive the munificence of the king to overcome the

poverty that he chose.

Sri Vidyaranya cared a great deal about Swami Desikan and pressed him

again to come to the court for royal sambhavanaa. Swami composed this

time five verses explaining his resolve to stay away from material

wealth and to only go after the imperishable wealth given to him by

his ancestors , which is residing on top of Hasthigiri with the name

of Sri Varadaraja .Sri Vidyaranya was moved by the Vairaagyam of

Swami Desikan and had even greater respect for his friend. Later, Sri

Vidyaranya became a Parama Hamsa sanyasi and decorated the Sringeri

Sarada Peetam himself.

Sri Vairaagya Panchakam is a work of profound philosophical

significance . It consists of five slokas summarizing Swami Desikan's

renunciation of material wealth. In these slokas, Venkatesa kavi

described the deplorable state of praising another human being for

the sake of improving one's financial lot. He refers to the

degradation resulting from praising rich men and asserted that he

will not stoop to offer his service to such people. He comments on

the transitory nature of wealth and presses on the fact that the only

imperishable wealth is that ,which was handed to him by his

forefathers (the presiding deity of Attigiri revered as Sri

Varadarajan ).He demonstrated time and again his disinterest in the

accumulation of material wealth . He helped the poor Brahmachari to

get wealthy by appealing to Sri Ranganayaki through the composition

of his Sri Sthuti. Personally, he was not interested. On one

occasion, some of his devoted disciples hid a few gold coins in his

Thandulum (rice) presented for the daily Aaradhanam of their Acharya.

When Swami Desikan saw the golden coins in the Thandalum, he threw

them away and demonstrated his aversion for worldly wealth. He

followed the tradition of Kuratthaazhwaan , who threw away the golden

drinking vessel that his wife had brought with her on the journey to

Srirangam.

Introductory Verse sent first to Sri Vidyaranyaa:*************************************************

This was the verse that he sent as a response to Sri Vidyaaranya to

convey the message that he will not come to the court of the king to

praise him and gain wealth that way.This is not considered as one of

the five slokaas of the Vairaaghya Panchakam.The individual slokas of

this Panchakam including the Phala Sruthi are set in five different

poetic meters known as Saardhoola Vikriditham, PrithvI , Harinee,

Vamsastham and Anushtup.

I will use the Anvaya Kramam(prose order) of the verses to convey the

meaning of these terse verses. This way, it will be easier to follow

the meaning of these profound Verses.

Verse that started the Panchakam********************************

kshoNeekoNa sata amsa paalana kalaadurvaara garvaanala Kshubhayat

Kshudra NarendraChatu rasanaa Dhanyaan na Manyaamahe .

We will not consider those the blessed (lucky ) ones,those who praise

with skill the deluded and arrogant kings that rule over a small

portion of the earth and are overcome with a sense of power.

DayaaLu: Ya: Asau Puraa Dhaanaa mushti muchehKusela Munayeh

Vittedasathaam Dhattehsma DevamSevithum Nicchinumahe .

Once the great merciful Lord (Avyaja Karuna Murthy), gave to the poor

Kusela , his boyhood friend indescribable wealth in exchange for the

handful of pounded rice given to Him. We are determined to serve only

that Lord and no one else.

First slokam of Vairaagya Panchakam***********************************

Silam oudharam analam Bhaadhitum AnalamBhaveth Kim? Prasruthi poorakam

SaarasamBhaya: Tarakam Kimu Na: ? Pathi Kaccharampataccharam ayatna

malamallakam vibudhaa:Kukshita Mudhaa Kukshita: Bhajanthi hi Ahaha !

Swami Desikan asks a series of questions here regarding the minimum

needed to carry on one's life on earth . He observes that even those

with discriminatory knowledge serve the rich to appease their needs.

He asks : Is not the grain spilled from the harvests sufficient to

quell one' s hunger? Would not the volume of water held in one's palm

sufficient to quench one's thirst ? Will not the rag obtained along

the wayside sufifcient to serve as an effortlessly gained loin cloth?

Alas! the scholars offer their salutations to the kings for the sake

of filling their stomachs. This and other verses of the Panchakam

have phrases with double meanings . For instance , Analam can mean in

one context, the fire in the belly known as Jaataraagni ; in another

context, it can mean insufficient . the word Kukshitha: seen twice ,

next to each other means Stomach at one place and kings at the other

place. The skill of the poet is abundantly seen even while tackling

such a serious theme.

Second Verse of the Panchakam*****************************

The key message here is that " Vaachaa Yaachamaeh na Maheeswaraan " .

We will not beg even for a small blade of grass from the kings under

any circumstance .

JATARA ANALA: JALATHI KROTA KREEDATHKRUPEETABHAVA PRABHAA

PRATIPATAPATU JWAALAA MAALAA AKULA: JWALATHU .

Let the Jataraagni (the fire in the belly ) burn sending up flames

equalling that of the intense flames of Vatavaagni that is at the

center of the oceans !

VAYAM SAAYAM SAMPPULLA MALLI MADALLIKAAPARIMALA MUCHAA VAACHAA MAHISWARAAN TRUNAMAPINA YAACHAAMAEH .

We shall not ask the great kings for even a speck of dust to reward us

with the speech resembling that of the fragrance of the mallika buds

that has blossomed in the evening.

Third Verse of the Panchakam****************************

YADH ANJANA AAPAM NIRAPAAYAM DHANANJYASYANDANA BHUSHANAM DHANAM MEH

ASTHIDUREESWARA DWARA BAHIR VITARKIKAADURAASIKAAYAI AYAM ANJALI:

RACITA:

I have that dark hued , imperishable wealth that sat in front of the

chariot of Arjuna and decorated that chariot. While I have that

enduring wealth, why would I sit in the outer portion of the little

princelings and wait for an opportune time to address them and plead

for the granting of perishable wealth from them. I raise my hands in

salutation to say No !

Fourth Verse of the Panchakam*****************************

APP INDHANA DHANANJAYA PRASAMADAMDHANAM SARIRA PATANA AVATHI

PRABHUNISHEVANA AAPADHANAATH DHANDANAMDHANANJAYA VIVARDHANAM UTHUTA

GOVARDHANAMSUMANASAAM SAMAARADHANAM SUSAADHANAMAPAADHANAM DHANAM

Swami Desikan uses the word Dhanam eleven times in this verse to

describe what is the Dhanam(wealth ) that one should seek . Rest of

them are only for sorrow-causing purposes because of their vanishing

nature according to him.That kind of wealth is only good to quell

one"s hunger through the act of praising rich people and serving them

until the body falls on ground. That is useless compared to the wealth

that enhanced the fame of Arjuna in the battle field , lifted the

Govardhana giri , makes the mind of good ones filled with joy, serves

to yield all types of boons and is imperishable . That then is the

true wealth to seek.

Fifth Verse of Panchakam************************

In the final verse , Swami Desikan states that he did not accumulate

much wealth in his lifetime; his father did not leave him much of an

estate. He however has a possession that is superior to every other

kind of wealth. That is the wealth handed to him by his great, great,

great, great grandfather, Brahmaa revered as Varadarajan standing

vigil on the top of Hasthigiri. This famous verse summarizing the

Vairaghyam and Bhakthi of Swami Desikan is as follows:

NAASTHI PITRAARJITHAM KIMCHITHNA MAYA KIMCHITAARJITHAMASTHI MEH HASTHI

SAILAAGREHVASTHU PAITHAAMAHAM DHANAM

Here Swami Desikan points out that the wealth that arose from the Agni

Kuntam of the Aswamedha sacrifice conducted by Brahma with the name

ofPeruraLaaLan is the greatest of the wealth that he has acquired as

eternal , everlasting family wealth .He asks why he would go in

search of any other kind of wealth under the circumstances. This

sloka alone would restore one's perspective as one gets befuddled

with the chase after material wealth in a hedonistic fashion.

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