Dehaleesa sthuthi- Swamy Desikan's sthothra- Commenataries -Book Review from the Hindu

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Sri:

SrImathE Gopaladesika mahadesikaya nama:

Dearest all,

 

The Book Review from the Hindu

http://www.hindu.com/br/2007/03/13/stories/2007031300341600.htm

 

Devotional hymn

 

V. V. RAMANUJAN

 

COMMENTARIES ON VEDANTA DESIKA'S HYMN ON DEHALEESA

WITH EXPLANATION IN ENGLISH

 

SRI DEHALEESA STUTI OF SRI VEDANTA DESIKA: With

Commentaries and Notes in English. V. N. Vedanta

Desikan — Editor; Pub. by Srimad Andavan

Poundarikapuram Swami Ashramam, 43-A/13, Ashramam

Road, Srirangam, Tiruchi-620006. Rs. 70.

 

Dehaleesa Stuti is a Sanskrit hymn of 28 sublime

verses sung by Vedanta Desika in praise of Lord

Tiruvikrama of Thirukkovalur. Kovalur is the Tamil

name for Gopalapuri, the abode of cowherds. The Lord

is their chief, Ayan.

 

The deity earned the Sanskrit name `Dehaleesa' after

an interesting anecdote involving Him. `Dehali' is a

small passage from the front entrance to the inner

residence in the old type of semi-urban houses.

 

Thousands of years ago, three wandering minstrels who

were devotees of Lord Vishnu came together in the

small `Dehali' of a house in Thirukkovalur on a dark

rainy night seeking shelter. They had to remain

standing for want of adequate space. Suddenly they

were squeezed together by the presence of a fourth

person.

 

Being endowed with divine consciousness by the Lord,

they found out in the light of their divine knowledge

that the intruder was none other than the Lord with

His consort, come to enjoy the close company of his

devotees. The three were none other than the earliest

of the Azhwars: Poigai, Bhootham and Pei.

 

They immediately burst forth in song in praise of the

Lord resulting in three hymnals of 100 verses each in

Tamil. The Lord who sought the company of His beloved

devotees came to be called Dehaleesa.

 

Commentaries

 

 

In this work the text is printed in large Devanagari

and Tamil characters and is accompanied by a Sanskrit

commentary by Thirukudanthai Chathurveda Sathakrathu

Thathacharya Swami and a Tamil Manipravala (mixture of

Tamil and Sanskrit) commentary by Sathakrathu

Ranganatha Patrachariar Swami, and simple explanation

in Tamil and notes in English provided by the editor.

 

The scholarly commentaries presented here cannot be

easily understood by the lay reader for obvious

reasons.

 

So the editor has made a substantial contribution by

adding his own comments in simple Tamil bringing out

under each verse, the beauty of the text and the finer

points made out in the commentaries.

 

His notes in English go a long way to help the reader

understand and appreciate the text and the

commentaries.

 

We are highly indebted to V. N Vedanta Desikan for

bringing out this very useful work— a rich addition to

the existing Stotra literature.

**********

 

These books can be purchased from Sri Nrusimhapriya

Trust, Chennai or from Srirangam Poundarikapuram

Andavan Ashramam.

Regards

Namo narayana

dasan

 

 

 

 

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