AS IT IS: Remark to Shri Vijay Kumar

[Guest guest]

/Om namo nArAyaNAYa ||

/Shri nigam/Anta dESikAya namaH ||

 

/namastE Shri Vijay. May I add to your admirable write-up on the prolific

creativity of /acarya Shri /nigam/Anta dESikar a statement which sheds some

light on his times?

 

His /abhIti/stavam is a master piece of a historical document. Written in great

anguish and addressed to Goddess ShrI, it sets forth a gruesome portrayal of the

plunder and carnage in srI/rangap paTTiNam of the present /karnATakA carried out

by a muslim king. I began translating it, but gave up, beacuse it is difficult

and also gruesome. It seems that the /vijaya/nagarA kingdom was founded by /srI

vidyAranhA after reading this poem and address. The king was so moved that he

made a vow to establish the kingdom, which, we all know, went on to enter the

annals of history for all times to come. To the vijaya/nagarA kingdom, we owe

the preservation of a good part of our heritage, which they cultivated with

great love and dedication in the spirit of a /kainkaryA.

 

This information may be found in some of the postings in the list:

indiancivilization.

 

/svAmi dEshikar also appears to be an /acAryA forming a watershed in the sense

that after him the nature of the /kainkaryAs and other fundamenatal forms of

worship and missionary work tend to change slowly. This is not because the next

line of /AcAryAs was wanting change. It seems that the damage done by the muslim

invaders was so vast and deep that fundamental forms of sustenance of religious

worship had to be reconstructed often under disguise. This meant sacrifice of

the more refined work at least temporarily.

 

There is none to equal /svAmi SRI dESikar after him. Again this is probably due

to historic trends.

 

But great /AcAryAs not only are great teachers, but also they make history. Thus

/acArya SrI dEshikar belongs to the lineage of /AcAryAs which includes srI

SankarA and srI rAmAnujA.

 

I am also fascinated by the great /AcAryA's title: /nigam/Anta dESikan. As much

as I admire /AcharyA ShrI dESikar, who earned that title, I admire even more the

person who coined the title. Do you know who gave the /AcAryA his title? Were

there many /AcAryAs who earned that title? Today there are so many /padma/srIs,

/kalA/nidhIs etc. Similarly, was there a tradition offering this title every so

many years? If so, who were some of the title holders?

 

Thanks and warm regards.

 

/nalan/tarum collai nAn kaNTu/koNtEn; /nArAyaNA ennum nAmam.

 

Visu