Experiencing Swami Desika - 64

August 8, 1999

SrI:

Shrimate Shri Lakshmi Nrusimha Parabrahmane Namaha:

Shrimate Shri Seetha Ramachandra Parabrahmane Namaha:

Shrimate Shri Ramanujaya Namaha:

Shrimate Nigamantha Maha Desikaya Namaha:

Shrimate Shrivan Satagopa Shri Narayana Yateendra Mahadesikaya Namaha:

" SrimAn VenaktanAthArya: kavithArkika kEsarI!

VedAnthAchArya varyO mE sannidhatthAM sadhA hrudhi " !!

In our yesterdays posting we saw Swami Desika's works

on Lord Devanatha. We've also had a glimpse of Swami's

vast knowledge in our earlier postings.

Swami had an in-depth knowledge of Shri yatirAjar's works

viz., Vedanta Sara, Vedanta Deepa and Sri Bhashya

(the commentaries on the Brahma Sutras), Gita Bhashya,

Vedartha Sangraha (a digest of the Upanishads) and the

three Gadyas (Saranagathy, Sri Ranga and Vaikunta).

Swami has also done an extensive study of several schools

of thought like Buddhism, Jainism, Paasupa, sAnkhya, yoga,

Vaiseshika, bhedAbheda, Advaita, etc.

Swami was a master of all scriptual texts like the Vedas,

Upanishads, AgamAs and purAnas. Swami had perfect knowledge

of mantrasastra. Even sculpture, architecture, music, dance,

etc were at his finger tips. To sum it up, our Swami was the

best in everything and there was nothing - literally nothing -

our Swami was not proficient in!!!

Swami's knowledge was so vast that one would be made to wonder

as to 'how is it humanly possible?'. But then, our Swami is no

ordinary human. Swami was an avatAra purushA! Since Swami lived

in leelA vibuthi, we do trace back to reasons of how Swami Desika

shines as an abode of knowledge. The reason is basically because

Lord HayagrIva had bestowed on Swami the nectar of knowledge

flowing from his mouth.

Of Lords different manifestations, Sri Hayagriva avatAram was one.

Lord Shri HayagrIva is the supreme God of learning. Lord HayagrIva

bestows knowledge to DakshinA-murti, Saraswathi and many sages.

Hayagriva-stotra is the first lyric composed by swami Desika on

our lord. This shows the great devotion that swami Desika had on

Hayagriva. The first Sloka of Hayagriva-stotra is:

" Gnanananda mayam dEvam Nirmala spatikAkrudim!

Aadharam sarva vidhyanAm HayagrIvam upAsmahe!! "

Swami Desika wanted his words to be successful, pleasing and

graceful always. So, Swami prayed to HayagrIva asking him to

shine in his heart always.

With the blessings of Lord HayagrIva Swami realised that a

complete knowledge of all sciences was at his beck and call.

Swami prayed to Lord Hayagriva to take his seat on the throne of

the tip of his tongue so that every word of his would be correct

and authoritative because of the divine origin and it would be

accepted by all those who had telinda jnanam.

The following Sloka was sung by Swami Desika to aid the above request.

" Vishesha vitpArishadeshu nAtha

vidagdha gOsthi samarAngaNeshu!

jigIshatO mE kavitArkikEndrAn

jihvAgra simhAsanamabhyupEyA: "

-- Hayagriva stotra (28)

" O Lord! In the assemblies of erudite scholars and in the arena

of batches of clever men, when I begin to speak with a desire to

defeat the best of poets and dialecticians be pleased to take a

seat on the throne of the tip of my tongue. "

Lord HayagrIva granted Swami's prayer and always occupies

Swami's tongue. So, all the words that flowed from Swami's mouth

are pramAnam. Because of Lord HayagrIva's blessings Swami could

give convincing explanations as seen in shatadhooshanI.

" Kavi Taarkika Simhaaya Kalyaana guna SaalinE!

SrimatE VenkateshAya VedAnta Gurave nama !! "

....To be continued!

dEsikan tiruvaDigaLE SaraNam

Praveena nAmni Ramanuja dasi

8th Aug 1999

August 8, 1999

[Krishna Kalale] smt praveena writes :

Of Lords different manifestations, Sri Hayagriva avatAram was one.

Lord Shri HayagrIva is the supreme God of learning. Lord HayagrIva

bestows knowledge to DakshinA-murti, Saraswathi and many sages.

[Krishna Kalale] I would like to know the reference to the above .

adiyen krishna

August 9, 1999

Dear Sri Kalale:

Smt .Prvaeena is referring to the 7th slOkam

of Sri HayagrIva sthOthram :

DaakshiNya ramyA Girisasya mUrthy:

dEvi SarOjAsana dharmapathnI

VyAsaadhayOpi vyapaEsya Vaacha:

spuranthi sarvE tava sakthi lEsai:

Swami Desikan says here that a miniscule portion

of the sakthi of Sri HayagrIvan empowers Sri DakshiNAmUrthy ,

Sri Sarasvathi , VyAsa -ParAsara-VaalmIkis and

let them becom known as VyapadEsya Vaacha:

( those who have the most celebrated Vaaks:

BrshmA VidhyA nishtars and other VidhyA dhAyakAs).

Sri HayagrIvan's avathAram for Sri HayagrIva UpAsakAs

precedes those of all other avathArams since it made sure

that Vedam , adhyAthma Jn~Anam , AchAram did not disappear.

Sri MahA lakshmi takes on the name of Vidhyai

to become His sahadharma ChAriNIi . We can

get an idea of the name of Sri Vidhyai now .

It is Sri Devi taking on the name of Vidhyai.

" keerthi SrI: Vaak NaarINAM " indicates the fusion

between Sri and Vaak dEvi in Sri LakshmI HayagrIva svarUpam .

BrahmA's Sri LakshmI HayagrIva Sahasra Naamam ,

Sri LakshmI HayagrIva AshtOtharam ( Agasthya -Naarada

SamvAdham ), Sri HayagrIva Kavacham ( Sri HayagrIva manthra

KhaNDam),Sri HayagrIvOpanishad are other PramANams in

the context of your query . I will cite a few for the sake

of brevity:

(1)visvOtthIrNa savrUpAya ChinmayAnandha rUpiNE

Thubhyam NamO HayagrIva VIDHYARAAJAYA SvAhA SvAhA Nama:

---Sri HayagrIvOpanishad: Brahma dEvan

(2)BrahmA MahEsvarasya , MahEsvara: SankarshaNasya , SankarshaNO

NaaradhAya , NaaradhO VyAsAya , VyAso lOkEbhya : PrAyacchathi

__ Sri HayagrIva Upanishad.

The above may have some connection to these VidhyAs ,

but Lord HayagrIvan is VidhyA RaajA according to

BrahmA dEvan and the paramparai starting from

Lord HayagrIvan is referred to here.

(3) mEdhA gambhIrayA vAchA vyAkhyAntham nikhilAgamAn

Brahma Sankara VaagIsa-BharathI Vyaasa sEvitham

-- Sri Paancha Raathram , Sri VishNu Tilakm section

" VaachA vyAkhyAntham nikhilAgamAn " is key here in

the context of the Sishya paramparai coming down to

NigamAntha MahA Desikan . This pramANam continues :

" plAvayantham Jagath Sarvam svadEhOtthAmruthamsubhi: "

Verily , Lord HayagrIvan drenches the world with His

amrutha Taarais arising out of His Vaak and SarIram

( manthra mayam SarIram in Swami Desikan's words).

(4)AchAryakam upAsraya Veda VedAntha SaasthrArtha

Tattva VyAkhyA tathpara:-- Sri HayagrIva Sahasra

naamam passage.

(5)Guru sambhandha gaDakO Guru VisvAsa vardhana:

Guru upAsana sandhAthA Guru prEma pravardhana:

-- Sahasra Naamam passage of special interest

to us of the MalOlan Net

(5)AchAryasya SvasachishyOjjivanaika ruchi:

--Sahasra Naamam passage underlying

the AchAryA's growth of interest in

lifting up His own sishya vargam.

Our revered AchAryA's KaalakshEpams

for us from the seat of ThiruvahIndhrapuram and

elsewhere is a measure of this apAra karuNai

arising from Sri HayagrIvan.

(6) aadhi MadhyAntha Rahitha: SARVA VAAGISVARESVARA:

-- Sri HayagrIva AshttOttharam

(7)-VidhyAadhidEvam Tam PrapathyE--Sri HayagrIva Prapatthi

(8) VaishNava krathu nEshtAya VaajivakthrAya MangaLam

havya kavya bhujE tasmai HayagrIvAya MangaLam

Jn~AnAya Jn~Ana rUpAya Jn~AninE Jn~Ana dhAyinE

SARVOTTHAMAAYA SrisAya HayagrIvAya MangaLam

--- Sri HayagrIva MangaLam

Sri HayagrIva ParabrahmaNE nama:

Daasan , V.SadagOpan

At 02:04 PM 8/8/99 -0700, you wrote:

>[Krishna Kalale] smt praveena writes :

>

> Of Lords different manifestations, Sri Hayagriva avatAram was one.

>Lord Shri HayagrIva is the supreme God of learning. Lord HayagrIva

>bestows knowledge to DakshinA-murti, Saraswathi and many sages.

>

>[Krishna Kalale] I would like to know the reference to the above .

>

>adiyen krishna

August 9, 1999

Sri:

SrimatE Gopaladesika MahadesikAya Namaha,

Dear Sriman Kalale,

The Avatara Mahima of Bhagavan Hayagriva are wonderfully captured

in the Hayagriva Uapnishad. The essence of the Hayagriva Upanishad

is succinctly summarized by Swami Desikan in the Hayagriva stotram. The

opening

verse of this Stotram refers to the fact that Bhagavan Hayagriva is

the presiding deity of knowledge. Swami Desikan points to the

fact that Dakshina Murthy and Saraswati derive their blessings from

Bhagavan Hayagriva in the salutations " Dakshinya Ramya Girishasya

Murthi: Devi Sarojasana Dharma Patni..... Spuranti SarvE Tava

Shakti Leshai: " and " SaraswatIm Samshrita Kamadhenum " . PraNava

Swaroppam of Bhagavan Hayagriva is extolled in verses 11-15 of the

Hayagriva Stotram. The key passage is " TatvEna JAnanti Vishuddha

SatvA: TvAm AkshrAm Akshara MAtrukAmtE " . The Mantra Maya SharIram

of Bhagavan Hayagriva is extolled in the salutation " AthastivAn

Mantramayam SharIram " . Veda Swaroopam of Bhagavan Hayagriva is

referred to in the " Hala Hala " salutations. The Hala Hala sound

emanating from the throat of Bhagavan Hayagriva contains the

condensed Rks of the Rg, Yajus and Saama Vedam. According to

Sri Ramadesikachariar Swamin, this denotes Anishta Nivrutti and

Ishta PrApti. The Vedam connection to Bhagavan Hayagriva is

also extolled in the salutation " Veda girAm PrathIma: " The

blessings of Bhagavan Hayagriva to Swami Desikan is reflected in the

salutation " JigIshtOmE kavitArkikendrAN JihvAgra SimhAsanamabhyupEya: "

Namo Narayana,

SriMuralidhara Dasan

_____________

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August 9, 1999

My Dear Krishna Prasad,

Please refer to the following verse in Sri Hayagreeva Stotram:

" DAAKSHINYA RAMYAA GIRISASYA MURTHIH, DEVI SAROJAASANA DHARMA PATNI ...... "

Thanks. adiyen, venkat kanumalla.

>Krishna Kalale <kkalale1

>

> " ' ' "

> Re: Experiencing Swami Desika - 64

>Sun, 8 Aug 1999 14:04:50 -0700

>

>[Krishna Kalale] smt praveena writes :

>

> Of Lords different manifestations, Sri Hayagriva avatAram was one.

>Lord Shri HayagrIva is the supreme God of learning. Lord HayagrIva

>bestows knowledge to DakshinA-murti, Saraswathi and many sages.

>

>[Krishna Kalale] I would like to know the reference to the above .

>

>adiyen krishna

>

>------

>Srimate Sri Laksminrisimha Divya Paduka Sevaka

>Srivan Satakopa Sri Narayana Yatindra Mahadesikaya Nama

>

_____________

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August 9, 1999

I needed the original haygriva upanisad quote for surity, since Swamy

Dayananda saraswati of stroudersburg PA, has a shaivite view that

Dakshinamurthy is original teacher. I wanted to point this to my friend

who can talk to Swamy about this.

Krishna

muralidhar rangaswamy [sMTP:rangaswamy_m]

Monday, August 09, 1999 5:51 AM

Re: Experiencing Swami Desika - 64