Book Review- From the Hindu- Desika’s philosophical work -TATTVAMUKATAKALAPA of Sri Vedanta Desika — Part I

[Guest guest]

Desika’s philosophical work in translation

 

http://www.hindu.com/br/2007/08/07/stories/2007080750051400.htm

 

M.NARASIMHACHARY

 

 

TATTVAMUKATAKALAPA of Sri Vedanta Desika — Part I:

With word to word meaning and explanation in Tamil by

V. Vasudevachariar; Pub. by Ubhayavedanta Grantha

Amritam, 11, Hasthigiri Street, West Mambalam,

Chennai-600033. Rs. 250.

 

 

Venkatanatha (1268-1369 A.D) was the brightest star in

the firmament of Srivaishnava religion and philosophy

of the post-Ramanuja period. He had several

significant titles like Sarvatantra Svatantra,

Kavitarkika Simha and Vedanta Desika. He strode the

field like a colossus. Author of about 120 works

composed in Sanskrit, Prakrit, Tamil and Manipravala,

he was held in high esteem even by those who belonged

to rival schools of thought. Of the philosophical

works composed by Desika in Sanskrit, the

Tattvamuktakalapa, the book under review occupies a

pre-eminent position. It is in this work that he

explained all the subtle points of Visishtadvaita

philosophy in a lucid and succinct manner. So as to

make sure that the concepts are clearly understood by

the readers, Desika himself wrote a commentary on it,

which is popularly known as Sarvarthasiddhi. Though a

commentary, it is considered by scholars as an

independent work. This and his other monumental work

Satadushani proved formidable to the rival schools of

thought.

 

Features

 

Traditional scholars say that one who has mastered the

Tattvamuktakalapa will be in a position to defeat

debaters belonging to rival schools of thought. Since

the entire text is in the form of verses, it will be

easy to commit them to memory. The text is in the form

of logical arguments, without transgressing the Vedic

teaching.

 

There are 500 verses in the Tattvamuktakalapa, divided

into five books called Saras (strands of pearl

garlands). They are: Jada, Jiva, Nayaka or Isvara,

Buddhi and Adravya. It is said that Desika first wrote

the Tattvamuktakalapa and then the Nyayasiddhanjana.

In both these works, he had explained the nature of

different categories. The main difference between

these woks is that the Tattvamuktakalapa examines and

repudiates other schools of thought whereas the

Nyayasiddhanjana explains the categories in a logical

manner, without entering into a detailed examination

of rival schools. The book contains an excellent,

lucid and reliable Tamil translation of the first

three sections of this monumental work of Desika. It

presents the original Sanskrit verses in Devanagari

script, and gives a word-to-word meaning followed by a

detailed explanation in Tamil. It contains useful

forewords by learned scholars and provides an

admirable summary of the contents of the three

sections in an appendix.

 

The translator, Vasudevachariar, who is a versatile

scholar of great eminence, deserves our appreciation

for this publication, which makes the terse and turgid

work of Desika, simple and understandable for the

Tamil knowing people

 

 

 

 

______________________________\

____

Take the Internet to Go: Go puts the Internet in your pocket: mail, news,

photos & more.

http://mobile./go?refer=1GNXIC