Thennacharyas and Desikar - 3 - PBA Swami's Article

[Guest guest]

Sri:

 

Attached is a translation of an article by Sri P.B.

Annangaracharyar Swami explaining how closely Desikar

followed Periyavachchan Pillai's Srisuktis.

 

By the way, it has come to my attention that some

people are interpreting what I have said so far as

an attempt to put down Desikar. Nothing could be

further from the truth. I am only pointing out the

logical flaws on certain claimed events. What needs

to be realized is that Desikar's greatness stands on

its own. It does not need any of these stories. In

fact, such stories are the ones that tend to bring

down his stature. As an example, consider this:

Is it greater to realize that Desikar wrote the

Padhuka Sahasram as a celebration of the Lord, His

divine padhukas and Swami Nammazhvar or to claim

that he wrote it for a contest?

 

Finally, please note the final paragraph in the

attached article. These words should be marked in

gold.

 

adiyEn madhurakavi dAsan

 

--

 

Desikar and Periyavachchan Pillai's Sri Suktis:

 

In the Srivaishnava sampradhayam, there are many works

created by our ancestors of both kalais. Let us not

worry about the works of acharyas such as Manavala

Mamunikal whose time came after that of Swami Desikan.

There are not many who know the closeness of the

acharyas such as Periyavacchan Pillai and Pillai

Lokacharyar who were present at the same time or just

prior to Desikar's time.

 

That Periyavacchan Pillai is ahead of Desikar's time

is shown very clearly by Desikar himself in one of

his sri suktis.

 

Periyavacchan Pillai's vyakhyanams had become well

known by Desikar's time. In his Rahasya Traya Saram,

in PrabhavavyavastAtikara, Desikar says the following:

"kulam tharum engiRa pAttukku vyAkhyAnam paNNina

abhiyuktharum 'janmaththAl vruththaththAl kuRainthAn

oruththanukku bhagavath sambandham uNdAnAl avanai

ivai udaiyAn oruththan thAza ninaikkak kUsa

vENdumpadiyAyiRRu bhagavath prabhAvam irukkumpadi.

AnAl ivargaLOdu peN koduththuk koLLugiRathillaiyE

ennil athu jAthi nibandhanam, slAkhai guNa

nibandhanam' enRu nirkarshiththArkaL." In this,

Desikar has quoted the words from Periyavachchan

Pillai's vyakhyanam. It is the determination of all

vyAkhyAtas up till Srimad Injimettu Azhagiya Singar,

that Desikar is talking about Periyavachchan Pillai

in this statement with the use of the word

'abhiyukthar'. It is therefore clear that

Periyavachchan Pillai's time is ahead of that of

Desikar.

 

 

Stotra Bashyam:

 

If one reads Desikar's Stotra Bashyam along with

Periyavachchan Pillai's vyakhyanam, it will be

easily understood how much Desikar has followed

the path of Periyavachchan Pillai's words.

 

This can be in the first shloka "namochintyAdbhuda:"

itself. Desikar uses nearly 80% of Periyavachchan

Pillai's Sanskrit pramANas. This is not a false

claim. Both works are easily available and anyone

can examine them both and see for themselves. Not

only the pramANas, but Desikar also takes the

delightful inner meanings shown in Periyavachchan

Pillai's vyakhyanams.

 

A hundred examples can be shown for these and a few

are taken up here.

 

In the first shloka, in the phrase "njAna vairAgya

rAshayE", the common meaning that most would think

of is that Nathamunigal is a collection of such

qualities as njAna and vairAgya. This is not

incorrect. Desikar too determined this meaning first.

Periyavachchan Pillai considered the bahuvrIhi

samAsa here and taking the meaning of rAsi as a

samUha, applied it to both njAna and vairAgya and

said that he posseses collections of njAna and

vairAgya. Considering that njAna and vairAgya are

single, he then questioned himself whether they can

be refered to as collections. He answered that by

saying that because the divine nature/qualities of

the Lord are many, the knowledge about them is also

many. And because there are many things that have

to be given up, vairAgyam is also many. Desikar has

translated this exact meaning into his bashyam.

 

Further in this shloka, comes the phrase "agAdha

bhagavad bhakti sindhavE". Here, Periyavachchan

Pillai, instead of taking the meaning that

Nathamunigal is an ocean for the quality of bhakti,

takes the meaning that bhakti is an ocean (as per

the divya sUktis "kAdhal kadal puraiya viLaiviththa",

"kAdhal kadalin migap perithAl", etc) and states

that he possesses the ocean that is bhakti. Desikar

took this meaning and wrote "bhaktim vA sindhudvEna

rUpayitvA bahuvrIhi:".

 

In the phrase "na ninditam karma tadasti lOkE",

Desikar first gave the ordinary meaning 'worldly'

for the word lokE. However, seeing that Periyavachchan

Pillai had used the meaning 'Sastra' for it in his

vyakhyanam, Desikar too stated the same in his bashyam.

 

For the phrase "vasI vadAnyO guNavAn", Desikar explains

the twelve divine qualities following the vyakhyanam of

Periyavachchan Pillai.

 

For the shloka "achintyadivyAtbudEdhya ...", Desikar

has translated Periyavacchan Pillai's avatharikai and

added to it.

 

For the phrase "bhaktajanaika jIvitam", Periyavachchan

Pillai provides two meanings: 1. that He provides all

sustenance for His devotees and 2. He has His devotees

as His sustenance. Desikar too says the same in his

bashyam.

 

Next, let's look at the word "samartham". Here too

Desikar follows Periyavachchan Pillai's vyakhyanam.

Here, it is said that the Lord is capable and

qualified. However, lowly as we are, we too are

celebrated as being capable. Therefore, the capacity

of the Lord cannot be something simple. So,

Periyavachchan Pillai looked to see what special

meaning can be understood here. And knowing Alavandar's

divine heart, he said "aLavudaiyarAna nithya sUrigaL

anubavikkum thannai, nithya samsArigaL anubavikkum

idaththil 'ARRa nalla vagai kAttum ammAnai" enkiRapadiyE

Sathmikka SAthimikka anubavippikkum SAmarththyaththai

udaiya". Truly, this is the great capacity of the Lord.

Desikar practically translated this as "AsritAnAm

sAtmya bOghap pradAnE". The term sAtmya is a rarely

used one. This is specially used in the divya granthas

of our acharyas. This is used by Periyavachchan Pillai

in his avatharikai for Thiruvaymozhi 1.9 ("ivaiyum

avaiyum uvaiyum") as the Lord giving His anubhavam to

Azhvar ("SAthmikka SAthmikka koduththaruLinAr").

Desikar takes that and states the same in his

Dramidopanishad Tatparya Ratnavali as "vipumanubhujE

sAtmya yOgapradAnAt". It is in the same meaning that

he has used this word in Stotra Bashyam as well.

 

 

Sachcharitra Rakshai:

 

In Saccharitra Rakshai, in the second adhikara which

discusses Urdhva Pundram, Desikar explains the meaning

of the Thiruvaymozhi pasuram 4-5-6 "kariya mEni misai

veLiya nIRu siRithEyidum, periyakOla thandangkaNNan" by

saying "chakshushi tattAraNam tatra vihitamiti anjana

paratvamAhur AchAryA:". Here, it is unshakeably clear

that Desikar is refering only to Periyavachchan Pillai

by the word "AcharyA:". Why? Thirukkurugai Piran Pillan's

vyakhyanam for this pasuram is as follows: "nIlamEga

nipadhivya rUpOchitha dhivyAngkaragaththAlE anulipthanAy,

adhivisAlamAy adhiramaNIyamAy iruppathoru thAmaraith

thadAgam pOlE iruntha thirukkaNgaLai udaiyanAy". From

this, the meaning for 'veLiya nIRu' can be taken as

dhivyAngkarAgam and the whole first line 'kariya mEni

misai veLiya nIRu siRithEyidum' can be taken as

refering to the Lord. Periyavacchan Pillai's vyakhyanam

here is much different from that of Pillan. The meaning

of 'veLiya nIRu' is taken to be anjana chUrNam (veLiyam

is anjanam). The first line is therefore not taken as

refering to the Lord, but as refering to the Lord's

eyes ('thadangkaN'). The meaning then of the pasuram

is that the Lord who has the divine dark eyes which

has anjana chUrNam. This meaning is seen only in

Periyavacchan Pillai's vyakhyanam and is different

from Pillan's vyakhyanam. In Pillan's vyakhyanam, for

the word 'nIRu', neither anjana paratvam is shown nor

chakshushi tAraNam is shown. Therefore, the word

"AchArya Ahu:" that Desikar uses cannot be said to

refer to Pillan and has to be taken to be refering to

Nampillai's vyakhyana parampara and therefore

Periyavachchan Pillai.

 

 

Tatparya Ratnavali:

 

That Desikar gathered knowledge of Ubhaya Vedantas from

his acharyas is clear. When no vyakhyanams had been

written for Thiruvaymozhi, pUrvAcharyas learned its

meanings with the help of the original text and by

listening to its meanings from their acharyas. After

Pillan's Arayirappadi, they would have used it to

learn the meanings. Nanjiyar's Onbathinayirappadi

is also short. Once Periyavachchan Pillai wrote his

detailed and delightful Irupaththunalayirappadi, they

started using it for understanding its meanings. Even

though, Nampillai's Idu Muppaththariyrappadi was written

down then, since it was hidden for a while before being

brought out, in that middle period, everyone including

Desikar would have used Periyavachchan Pillai's work

as the kAlakshepa grantham for Thiruvaymozhi. This has

been proven with many examples.

 

Arayirappadi avatharikai vyakhyanam for pasurams such as

Thiruvaymozhi 1-8 "Odum puLLERi", 1-10 "porumA nILpadai",

2-8 "aNaivatharavaNai mEl", etc are quite different from

the Irupaththunalayirappadi avatharikai vyakhyanam for

the same. Desikar has followed Irupaththunalayirappadi

vyakhyanam in his Dramidopanishad Tatparya Ratnavali

and Dramidopanishad Saram.

 

Thiruvaymozhi 10-1 is "thALa thAmarai" pasuram in which

Azhvar's anubahavam of Thirumogur Lord takes place. In

his avatharikai for this pasuram, Pillan states this

much only: "Thirukkannapuraththil emperumAnai

anubaviththu ippOthu thirumOgUril emperumAnai

anubavikkiRAr". In the following pasurams too, he

presents only the simple meanings. Other acharyas

show a special meaning here: Azhvar has determined

his passage to parampadam previously in the pasuram

"saraNamAgum" in Thiruvaymozhi "mAlai naNNi". Having

determined his archirAdi mArga gathi, Azhvar is now

said to be seeking Thirumogur Kalamegap Perumal to

help him in that path ("vazhith thuNai"). Manavala

Mamunigal in his Thiruvaymozhi Nurranthathi states

"thAL adainthOr thangkatkuth thAnE vazhith thuNaiyAm,

kALamEgaththai gathiyAkki". Acharya Hrudayam too

states "mArkkabandhu chaithyam mOhanaththE maduvidum".

Periyavachchan Pillai presents this meaning in his

vyakhyanam "kALamEgap perumALai vazhith thuNaiyAga

paRRugiRAr". Pillan's vyakhyanam does not say anything

like this, other than saying that Azhvar worships

Thirumogur Appan. Now let us look at Desikar's

Dramidopanishad Tatparya Ratnavali and Saram.

In Ratnavalai, in shloka 104 "taithyAnAm ithyAdi",

he says "srAntihAritvamukhyai rAgArais satgatis

syAt". All those who wrote vyakhyanam for "satgatis

syAt" state here that "kALamEgap perumALE vazhith

thuNai". In Dramidopanishad Saram also, Desikar

says "satpadavyAm sahAyam srIsam prAha" as the

meaning of this pasuram.

 

This does not mean that we are saying that Desikar

did not like Arayirappadi. Because it is a smaller

work, Desikar used it a little and because

Periyavachchan Pillai's work was more detailed and

had more interesting interpretations, he used it as

his kAlakshepa grantham.

 

 

Bhagavad Gita:

 

There are a couple of rare and very important matter

in Bhagavad Gita. One time a pundit came to Nampillai

and asked "Why is there no reference to archAvataram

in Gita?". Nampillai replied "In the fourth adhyaya,

where it says 'ye yatAmAm prapadyante tAn tadaiva

bhajAmyaham', it includes archAvataram". This is

recorded in Varththamalai. It is shown in Idu and

Irupaththunalayirappadi that Nampillai determined

that Thiruvaymozhi pasuram 8-1-4 "umaruganthugantha

uruvam nin uruvamAgi" as refering to archAvatAram

and that he used this Gita shloka as the pramANam

for it. This determination is done by Nampillai

only and it is not present in Ramanuja's Gita

Bashyam. This is also shown by Desikar in his

Tatparya Chandrikai in the 'ye yatA mAm' shloka as

"atra krushNAvatAra vrutthAntena saha archAvatAra

vrutthAntOpi sangruhIta:".

 

There is an even more important point. One time

Nampillai was doing an upanyasam and was refering to

the Nachchiyar Thirumozhi pasuram "thammai ugappAraith

thAm ugappar". He then took the "ca"kAram in the Gita

shloka "priyo hi njAninotyarttham aham sa ca mama

priya:" and stated "njAni en pakkalil seyyum prIthiyai

upAthiyAkki avan pakkalil nAn prIthi paNNuvathu

perithO?". Seeing this, Desikar stated at the end of

his Tatparya Chandrikai "sa ca mam priya: itpatra

nirathisayaprIthim kurvatopi mahotArasya IshvarasyApi

tatprIthyupAdhikaprIthikaraNAt athruptis suchiteti

kesitAchAryA:". The veneration shown using the word

'kesitAchAryA:' instead of 'kesitAhu:' should be

understood here.

 

 

The focus of what has been said thus far is not to try

to bring down the greatness of Desikar. It was done

only to show the respect that Desikar had toward the

srIsUktis of Periyavachchan Pillai.

 

There are many who state that Desikar and other acharyas

have great differences of opinion in the sampradhaya

meanings. If they give up their personal stands and

opinions and study the srIsUktis of all acharyas, the

oneness of their thoughts will become very clear.

 

If they wish so, they don't even have to accept that

Desikar followed the srI sUktis of Periyavachchan Pillai

and Pillai Lokacharyar. Let it be that these acharyas

followed Desikar in their works. It is only important

for us to accept that they all spoke with one voice

("pEsiRRE pEsum Eka kaNdarkaL") and one thought.

 

--

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Dear Shri SrEvaishNavites,

 

I request all the sRevaishNavites to kindly go through these three parts of the

writte up by Sri TCA Venkatesan sWamy and please devote some time for this

purpose exclusively.

 

The result automatically follows.

 

Thanks to TCA swAmy.

 

dASan

vanamamalai padmanabhan

-

TCA Venkatesan

Ramanuja

Saturday, October 29, 2005 11:54 PM

[ramanuja] Thennacharyas and Desikar - 3 - PBA Swami's Article

Sri:Attached is a translation of an article by Sri P.B.Annangaracharyar Swami

explaining how closely Desikarfollowed Periyavachchan Pillai's Srisuktis.By the

way, it has come to my attention that somepeople are interpreting what I have

said so far asan attempt to put down Desikar. Nothing could befurther from the

truth. I am only pointing out thelogical flaws on certain claimed events. What

needsto be realized is that Desikar's greatness stands onits own. It does not

need any of these stories. Infact, such stories are the ones that tend to

bringdown his stature. As an example, consider this:Is it greater to realize

that Desikar wrote the Padhuka Sahasram as a celebration of the Lord, His

divine padhukas and Swami Nammazhvar or to claim that he wrote it for a

contest?Finally, please note the final paragraph in the attached article. These

words should be marked in gold.adiyEn madhurakavi dAsan--Desikar and

Periyavachchan Pillai's Sri Suktis:In the Srivaishnava sampradhayam, there are

many works created by our ancestors of both kalais. Let us not worry about the

works of acharyas such as Manavala Mamunikal whose time came after that of

Swami Desikan.There are not many who know the closeness of the acharyas such as

Periyavacchan Pillai and Pillai Lokacharyar who were present at the same time or

justprior to Desikar's time. That Periyavacchan Pillai is ahead of Desikar's

time is shown very clearly by Desikar himself in one of his sri

suktis.Periyavacchan Pillai's vyakhyanams had become well known by Desikar's

time. In his Rahasya Traya Saram, in PrabhavavyavastAtikara, Desikar says the

following:"kulam tharum engiRa pAttukku vyAkhyAnam paNNina abhiyuktharum

'janmaththAl vruththaththAl kuRainthAn oruththanukku bhagavath sambandham

uNdAnAl avanai ivai udaiyAn oruththan thAza ninaikkak kUsa vENdumpadiyAyiRRu

bhagavath prabhAvam irukkumpadi. AnAl ivargaLOdu peN koduththuk

koLLugiRathillaiyE ennil athu jAthi nibandhanam, slAkhai guNa nibandhanam' enRu

nirkarshiththArkaL." In this, Desikar has quoted the words from Periyavachchan

Pillai's vyakhyanam. It is the determination of allvyAkhyAtas up till Srimad

Injimettu Azhagiya Singar,that Desikar is talking about Periyavachchan Pillaiin

this statement with the use of the word 'abhiyukthar'. It is therefore clear

that Periyavachchan Pillai's time is ahead of that of Desikar.Stotra Bashyam:If

one reads Desikar's Stotra Bashyam along with Periyavachchan Pillai's

vyakhyanam, it will be easily understood how much Desikar has followed the path

of Periyavachchan Pillai's words.This can be in the first shloka

"namochintyAdbhuda:"itself. Desikar uses nearly 80% of Periyavachchan Pillai's

Sanskrit pramANas. This is not a false claim. Both works are easily available

and anyone can examine them both and see for themselves. Not only the pramANas,

but Desikar also takes the delightful inner meanings shown in Periyavachchan

Pillai's vyakhyanams.A hundred examples can be shown for these and a few are

taken up here.In the first shloka, in the phrase "njAna vairAgya rAshayE", the

common meaning that most would think of is that Nathamunigal is a collection of

such qualities as njAna and vairAgya. This is not incorrect. Desikar too

determined this meaning first.Periyavachchan Pillai considered the bahuvrIhi

samAsa here and taking the meaning of rAsi as a samUha, applied it to both

njAna and vairAgya and said that he posseses collections of njAna and vairAgya.

Considering that njAna and vairAgya are single, he then questioned himself

whether they canbe refered to as collections. He answered that by saying that

because the divine nature/qualities ofthe Lord are many, the knowledge about

them is alsomany. And because there are many things that have to be given up,

vairAgyam is also many. Desikar hastranslated this exact meaning into his

bashyam.Further in this shloka, comes the phrase "agAdhabhagavad bhakti

sindhavE". Here, PeriyavachchanPillai, instead of taking the meaning that

Nathamunigal is an ocean for the quality of bhakti,takes the meaning that

bhakti is an ocean (as perthe divya sUktis "kAdhal kadal puraiya

viLaiviththa","kAdhal kadalin migap perithAl", etc) and statesthat he possesses

the ocean that is bhakti. Desikartook this meaning and wrote "bhaktim vA

sindhudvEnarUpayitvA bahuvrIhi:".In the phrase "na ninditam karma tadasti

lOkE", Desikar first gave the ordinary meaning 'worldly' for the word lokE.

However, seeing that PeriyavachchanPillai had used the meaning 'Sastra' for it

in hisvyakhyanam, Desikar too stated the same in his bashyam.For the phrase

"vasI vadAnyO guNavAn", Desikar explainsthe twelve divine qualities following

the vyakhyanam ofPeriyavachchan Pillai.For the shloka "achintyadivyAtbudEdhya

....", Desikarhas translated Periyavacchan Pillai's avatharikai andadded to

it.For the phrase "bhaktajanaika jIvitam", PeriyavachchanPillai provides two

meanings: 1. that He provides allsustenance for His devotees and 2. He has His

devoteesas His sustenance. Desikar too says the same in hisbashyam.Next, let's

look at the word "samartham". Here tooDesikar follows Periyavachchan Pillai's

vyakhyanam.Here, it is said that the Lord is capable andqualified. However,

lowly as we are, we too arecelebrated as being capable. Therefore, the

capacityof the Lord cannot be something simple. So, Periyavachchan Pillai

looked to see what specialmeaning can be understood here. And knowing

Alavandar'sdivine heart, he said "aLavudaiyarAna nithya sUrigaLanubavikkum

thannai, nithya samsArigaL anubavikkumidaththil 'ARRa nalla vagai kAttum

ammAnai" enkiRapadiyESathmikka SAthimikka anubavippikkum

SAmarththyaththaiudaiya". Truly, this is the great capacity of the Lord.Desikar

practically translated this as "AsritAnAmsAtmya bOghap pradAnE". The term sAtmya

is a rarelyused one. This is specially used in the divya granthasof our

acharyas. This is used by Periyavachchan Pillaiin his avatharikai for

Thiruvaymozhi 1.9 ("ivaiyumavaiyum uvaiyum") as the Lord giving His anubhavam

toAzhvar ("SAthmikka SAthmikka koduththaruLinAr"). Desikar takes that and

states the same in hisDramidopanishad Tatparya Ratnavali as

"vipumanubhujEsAtmya yOgapradAnAt". It is in the same meaning thathe has used

this word in Stotra Bashyam as well.Sachcharitra Rakshai:In Saccharitra

Rakshai, in the second adhikara which discusses Urdhva Pundram, Desikar

explains the meaningof the Thiruvaymozhi pasuram 4-5-6 "kariya mEni misaiveLiya

nIRu siRithEyidum, periyakOla thandangkaNNan" bysaying "chakshushi tattAraNam

tatra vihitamiti anjanaparatvamAhur AchAryA:". Here, it is unshakeably

clearthat Desikar is refering only to Periyavachchan Pillaiby the word

"AcharyA:". Why? Thirukkurugai Piran Pillan'svyakhyanam for this pasuram is as

follows: "nIlamEganipadhivya rUpOchitha dhivyAngkaragaththAlE

anulipthanAy,adhivisAlamAy adhiramaNIyamAy iruppathoru thAmaraiththadAgam pOlE

iruntha thirukkaNgaLai udaiyanAy". Fromthis, the meaning for 'veLiya nIRu' can

be taken as dhivyAngkarAgam and the whole first line 'kariya mEnimisai veLiya

nIRu siRithEyidum' can be taken as refering to the Lord. Periyavacchan Pillai's

vyakhyanamhere is much different from that of Pillan. The meaningof 'veLiya

nIRu' is taken to be anjana chUrNam (veLiyamis anjanam). The first line is

therefore not taken asrefering to the Lord, but as refering to the Lord'seyes

('thadangkaN'). The meaning then of the pasuramis that the Lord who has the

divine dark eyes which has anjana chUrNam. This meaning is seen only in

Periyavacchan Pillai's vyakhyanam and is different from Pillan's vyakhyanam. In

Pillan's vyakhyanam, forthe word 'nIRu', neither anjana paratvam is shown

norchakshushi tAraNam is shown. Therefore, the word "AchArya Ahu:" that Desikar

uses cannot be said torefer to Pillan and has to be taken to be refering

toNampillai's vyakhyana parampara and therefore Periyavachchan Pillai.Tatparya

Ratnavali:That Desikar gathered knowledge of Ubhaya Vedantas fromhis acharyas

is clear. When no vyakhyanams had beenwritten for Thiruvaymozhi, pUrvAcharyas

learned itsmeanings with the help of the original text and bylistening to its

meanings from their acharyas. AfterPillan's Arayirappadi, they would have used

it tolearn the meanings. Nanjiyar's Onbathinayirappadiis also short. Once

Periyavachchan Pillai wrote hisdetailed and delightful Irupaththunalayirappadi,

theystarted using it for understanding its meanings. Eventhough, Nampillai's Idu

Muppaththariyrappadi was writtendown then, since it was hidden for a while

before beingbrought out, in that middle period, everyone includingDesikar would

have used Periyavachchan Pillai's workas the kAlakshepa grantham for

Thiruvaymozhi. This hasbeen proven with many examples.Arayirappadi avatharikai

vyakhyanam for pasurams such as Thiruvaymozhi 1-8 "Odum puLLERi", 1-10 "porumA

nILpadai",2-8 "aNaivatharavaNai mEl", etc are quite different fromthe

Irupaththunalayirappadi avatharikai vyakhyanam forthe same. Desikar has

followed Irupaththunalayirappadivyakhyanam in his Dramidopanishad Tatparya

Ratnavaliand Dramidopanishad Saram.Thiruvaymozhi 10-1 is "thALa thAmarai"

pasuram in whichAzhvar's anubahavam of Thirumogur Lord takes place. Inhis

avatharikai for this pasuram, Pillan states thismuch only:

"Thirukkannapuraththil emperumAnai anubaviththu ippOthu thirumOgUril

emperumAnai anubavikkiRAr". In the following pasurams too, he presents only the

simple meanings. Other acharyasshow a special meaning here: Azhvar has

determinedhis passage to parampadam previously in the pasuram"saraNamAgum" in

Thiruvaymozhi "mAlai naNNi". Havingdetermined his archirAdi mArga gathi, Azhvar

is nowsaid to be seeking Thirumogur Kalamegap Perumal tohelp him in that path

("vazhith thuNai"). Manavala Mamunigal in his Thiruvaymozhi Nurranthathi states

"thAL adainthOr thangkatkuth thAnE vazhith thuNaiyAm,kALamEgaththai gathiyAkki".

Acharya Hrudayam toostates "mArkkabandhu chaithyam mOhanaththE

maduvidum".Periyavachchan Pillai presents this meaning in hisvyakhyanam

"kALamEgap perumALai vazhith thuNaiyAgapaRRugiRAr". Pillan's vyakhyanam does

not say anythinglike this, other than saying that Azhvar worshipsThirumogur

Appan. Now let us look at Desikar'sDramidopanishad Tatparya Ratnavali and

Saram.In Ratnavalai, in shloka 104 "taithyAnAm ithyAdi",he says

"srAntihAritvamukhyai rAgArais satgatissyAt". All those who wrote vyakhyanam

for "satgatissyAt" state here that "kALamEgap perumALE vazhiththuNai". In

Dramidopanishad Saram also, Desikarsays "satpadavyAm sahAyam srIsam prAha" as

themeaning of this pasuram.This does not mean that we are saying that

Desikardid not like Arayirappadi. Because it is a smallerwork, Desikar used it

a little and because Periyavachchan Pillai's work was more detailed andhad more

interesting interpretations, he used it ashis kAlakshepa grantham.Bhagavad

Gita:There are a couple of rare and very important matterin Bhagavad Gita. One

time a pundit came to Nampillaiand asked "Why is there no reference to

archAvataramin Gita?". Nampillai replied "In the fourth adhyaya,where it says

'ye yatAmAm prapadyante tAn tadaiva bhajAmyaham', it includes archAvataram".

This is recorded in Varththamalai. It is shown in Idu

andIrupaththunalayirappadi that Nampillai determinedthat Thiruvaymozhi pasuram

8-1-4 "umaruganthuganthauruvam nin uruvamAgi" as refering to archAvatAramand

that he used this Gita shloka as the pramANamfor it. This determination is done

by Nampillaionly and it is not present in Ramanuja's GitaBashyam. This is also

shown by Desikar in hisTatparya Chandrikai in the 'ye yatA mAm' shloka as "atra

krushNAvatAra vrutthAntena saha archAvatAra vrutthAntOpi sangruhIta:".There is

an even more important point. One timeNampillai was doing an upanyasam and was

refering tothe Nachchiyar Thirumozhi pasuram "thammai ugappAraiththAm ugappar".

He then took the "ca"kAram in the Gitashloka "priyo hi njAninotyarttham aham sa

ca mamapriya:" and stated "njAni en pakkalil seyyum prIthiyaiupAthiyAkki avan

pakkalil nAn prIthi paNNuvathu perithO?". Seeing this, Desikar stated at the

end ofhis Tatparya Chandrikai "sa ca mam priya: itpatranirathisayaprIthim

kurvatopi mahotArasya IshvarasyApitatprIthyupAdhikaprIthikaraNAt athruptis

suchitetikesitAchAryA:". The veneration shown using the word'kesitAchAryA:'

instead of 'kesitAhu:' should beunderstood here.The focus of what has been said

thus far is not to tryto bring down the greatness of Desikar. It was doneonly to

show the respect that Desikar had toward thesrIsUktis of Periyavachchan

Pillai.There are many who state that Desikar and other acharyashave great

differences of opinion in the sampradhaya meanings. If they give up their

personal stands and opinions and study the srIsUktis of all acharyas, the

oneness of their thoughts will become very clear.If they wish so, they don't

even have to accept that Desikar followed the srI sUktis of Periyavachchan

Pillaiand Pillai Lokacharyar. Let it be that these acharyasfollowed Desikar in

their works. It is only importantfor us to accept that they all spoke with one

voice("pEsiRRE pEsum Eka kaNdarkaL") and one thought.-- TT>