Srinivaasa Vaibhavam- Today is Purattaasi SravaNam....Star of ThiruvEnkatamudaiyaan....

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SrI:

SrImathe Ramanujaya namah:

SrImathe Nigamantha mahadesikaya namah:

 

SrImAn venkatanAthAryaH kavitArkika kesarI |

vedAntAcArya-varyome sannidhattAm sadA hRdi ||

 

May the glorious Sri Venkatanatha, the greatest of

teachers of Vedanta, and the lion among poets and

debaters, reside forever in my heart.

 

PurattAsi SravaNam is the star of both Lord

VenkatanAthan of Thirumalai and of Swamy Desikan , the

incarnation of the Thirumalai EmperumAn's Sannidhi

hand bell(GhantA). Even today, the hand bell is not

used inside the sannidhi of ThiruvEnkadamudaiyAn…

 

Swamy Desikan composed a unique sthOthram on

ThiruvEkadamudayAn revered as "SrI DayA satakam "

extolling the Lord's DayA or KaruNai

 

He states in this sthothra at the end that he was just

an instrument in the hands of the Lord of

Thiruvenkatam in composing DayA sathakam. This slokam

housing his Sattvika thyaagam is a gem (104th slOkam):

 

VEDANTHA DESIKA PADEH VINIVESYA BAALAM

DEVO DHAYASATAKAM YETAT AVADHAAYAT MAAM

VAIHAARIKENA VIDHINAA SAMYEH GRUHITAM

VEENA VISESHAMIVA VENKATA SAIL NAATHA :

 

[From Sri Sadagopan Swami’s translation] Here Swamy

Desikan says: "adiyEn is not fit to compose this

sthOthram about the dayA guNam of Lord SrInivAsan. The

responsibility for that effort belongs to the Lord

Himself. He is always fond of engaging in playful

acts. AdiyEn's sukrutham ( puNyams done in previous

janmAs) has now become fruitful. At this time, the

Lord decided to engage in a sport using adiyEn . Boy

that adiyEn is, now elevated to the status of

VedAnthAchAryan and placed in a lofty position. The

fruit of making that playful act becoming appropriate

is also the Lord's sankalpam. He made it possible for

this DayA satakam to emerge out of adiyEn's mouth.

The Lord used me as HIS instrument and completed the

task of singing it. In this world, a musician will

please himself by playing on a VeeNA and raise

sunAdham from that VeeNA. It is appropriate to say

that VeeNA is only an instrument for generating that

sunAdham and it by itself does not raise that pleasing

sound. It is the skill of the VeeNA player that is

normally praised. In a similar manner, adiyEn has only

been an instrument in is hands for the birth of this

SthOthram. All the glories belong only to Him. Thus

the Lord of ThiruvEnkatam has performed a leelA

through adiyEn.

 

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 encyclopaedic.

 

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 had 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 fulfilment of

this prayer of ours.

 

Kavithaarkika simhaaya Kalyana Gunasaalineh |

srimateh Venkatesaaya Vedantha guraveh Nama ||

 

Salutations to Sri Venkatesa, in whom all perfections

reside, who is the teacher of Vedanta and the lion

among poets and debaters!

 

Acharya saarvabhouman Swami Desikan ThiruvaDigaLE

SaraNam

Regards

Namo Narayana

dAsan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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