Adhikarana SaarAvaLi of Swamy Desikan :A New Book by Dr.S.M.Srinivasa Chari

June 27, 2008

SrI:

Dear AasthikAs :

It gives me great pleasure to announce the release of a new Book by Dr. S.M.SrinivAsa Chari Swamy named , " The Philosophy of VisishtAdvaita VEdAnta ". This is a study based on Swamy Vedanta Desikan's AdhikaraNa SaarAvaLi.

My sincere thanks to Dr.SMS Chari for sending adiyEn an advanced copy for review .

This scholarly treatise has been released by Motilal Banarsidass Publishers , Delhi , India and is priced at Rs.795/ You can order your copy by sending email to: mlbd

Dr.SMS Chari needs no introduction to the community of Vedantins and serious students of

Bhagavat RaamAnuja darSanam . His earlier books are:

1) Vaishnavism: Its Philosophy ,Theology and Religious discipline

2) The Philosophy Of Bhagavad Gita

3) The Philosophy of Upanishads

4) The Philosophy of VedAnta SutrA

5) The Philosophy and Theistic Mysticism of the Alvars

6) Advaita and VisishtAdvaita--A Study based on Vedanta Desika's SatadhUshaNi

7) Fundamentals of VisishtAdvaita:A Study based on VedAnta Desika's SatadhUshaNi

Each one of them is a treasure in its own way for those who are interested to study and gain the authentic insights about our ancient darsanam.

With these eight books , Dr.SMS Chari has carved Himself a uniquely exalted position among the world of serious intrepreters of VedAntic truths .His impartial handling of the three major darsanams has always been a remarkable feature of his presentations .

We shall always be indebted to him for his sharing his knowledge acquired from great stalwarts like U.Ve SrI GhOshtipuram Soumya NarAyaNAcchAr Swamy ,MadhurAntakam VeerarAghavAcchAr Swamy and SaragUr VaradAchArya Swamy in the traditional mode of kAlakshEpam.

AdhikaraNa SaarAvaLi and Tattva Mukta kalApa of Swamy Desikan

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Swamy Desikan created Tatthva Mukta Kalapa and AdhikaraNa SaarAvaLi to establish the soundeness of VisishtAdhvaitam conveying the correct meanings of Sage BadarAyaNA's VedAnta sUtrAs .While Tattva Mukta KalApa critically reviewed on a logical basis the theories of rival schools ( para matams) with a view establish the soundness of VisishtAdhvaitam , AdhikaraNa SaarAvaLi focused on the study of SrI BhAshyam of AchArya RaamAnuja rooted the scriptural authority of Upanishadic teachings and the VedAnta SutrAs . As Dr.S.M.S Chari points out , Tatthva Mukta KalApa and the AdhikaraNa SaarAvaLi are complimentary to each other and a study of both are essential to a thorough understanding of VisishtAdvaita VedAnta in all its fulness and richness .

Structure and Purport of AdhikaraNa SaarAvaLi

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AdhikaraNa SaarAvaLi like Tattva Mukta KalApa has been created in the form of verses in the rhythmic Sragdhara metre and has a total of 562 verses to cover the 156 adhikaraNaas of VedAnta SutrAs . These AdhikaraNAs cover five main topics : (1) The Brahma Tattvam or the Doctrine of Brahman (2) The Doctrine of Brahman and the Universe (3) The Doctrine of Jeevan and the Brahaman (4) The doctrine of Saadhana or the Means of attainment of Brahman and (5) The Doctrine of Parama PurushArtham .

In this book , Dr.SMS Chari covers the adhikaraNAs linked to the above doctrines in the same order in which AchArya RaamAnuja handled the Brahma SutrAs . In his AdhikaraNa SaarAvaKi , Swamy Desikan elucidated the tenets of VisishtAdhvaita following the way in which AchArya RaamAnuja expounded them in His SrI BhAshya . The conclusion of Swamy Desikan in AdhikaraNa SaarAvaLi is that all the four adhyAyAs of Brahma SutrAs are opposed to the central doctrines of Advaitha VedAntha : (1)Brahman is nirviSEsha ., (2) all except Brahman (viz)., the Jeevans and Prakruthi are unreal/mythA (3) Jivan is non-different (same) from Brahman and the realization of this knowledge will lead to Moksham (4) Maaya is the cosmic principle of Illusion .

All the 156 adhikaraNAs are covered in the verse form and the conclusion of this study by Swamy Desikan is the resounding assertion of AchArya RaamAnuja's views that the VisishtAdhvaita school of thought ( DarSanam) is a philosophically sound darSanam and is unassailable to the criticisms of other darSanams such as Adhvaita or Dhvaita .This is the central conclusion of AdhikaraNa SaarAvaLi .

Appendices in the Monograph of Dr.SMS Chari on AdhikaraNa SaarAvaLi

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There are two Appendicies that are extremely useful to the student of VedAntha:

(1) The Names of all the 156 AdhikaraNAs : a brief descriptions of the subjects discovered in htem in the order presented in the AdhikaraNa SaarAvaLi

(2) The names of the 32 Brahma VidhyAs referred to in the Upanishads , Brahma sUtrAs and the AdhikaraNa sArAvaLi in the alphavetical order .

A Vote of Thanks to Dr.SMS Chari for His Life long & Sustained Quality samarpaNams

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The generations to come and especially members from these generations , who could not access the original Brahma Sutrams in Sanskrit or develop a clear comprehension of the complex arguments of AchArya RaamAnujA in His SrI BhAshyam ( the indepth commentary in Sanskrit of the VedAntha SutrAs ) or the lyrical Sanskrit poems of Swamy Desikan in AdhikaraNa SaarAvaLi will be immensely grateful to the Kaimkaryam of Dr.SMS Chari in bringing the true meanings of the above three in lucid English prose in his most recent book with appropriate pramAnams for the various adhikaraNams . This is a truly outstanding book by Dr.SMS Chari , which needs to be read and reread to develop the appreciation for the Sri Sookthis of AchArya RaamAnuja and Swamy VedAntha Desikan on BedAnta Saastrams . The lucid and dispassionate style of writing of Dr.SMS Chari is a distinguishing feature of this scholarly monograph on the individual adhikaraNams of VedAnta sUtras of Sage BadarAyaNa .

SrimatE RaamAnujAya Nama:

Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan