Garland Of Verses on SrI Abhinava DESika

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SrI:

SrI PadmAvati SamEta SrInivAsa ParabrahmaNE namaH

SrI abhinava dESika UttamUr VAtsya VIrarAghavArya mahAdESikAya namaH

 

namO nArAyaNa!

 

Dear devotees,

 

Following is a composition on SrI Abhinava DESika UtthamUr

SwAmi, by SrI M.K.SrInivAsan,Chennai, who is well known for his

writings in English about our sampradAyam. He is the president of

" SrI VEdAnta DESika Research Center " - SrI SEvA SwAmi's important

medium of propagating our sampradAyam.

 

aDiyEn requested him to write a poetry in English and refer to

SrI SEva SwAmi's " Utthamap pAmAlai " in Tamil on SrI UtthamUr

SwAmi and the souvenirs for knowing more details. He kindly

agreed to it with devotion and enthusiasm - For the subject is

on none other than SrI Abhinava DESika. Incidentally, he is

carrying out his Ph.D. at the department of VaishNavism,

University of Madras, on " Guru-Sishya BhAva " with specific

reference to AchArya-Kritya and Sishya-kritya adhikArams of

SwAmi DESikan's SrImad Rahasya-Traya-SAram with the commentary of

SrI Abhinava DESikan.

 

He has summed up various glorious aspects of SrI Abhinava DESika

in a wonderful way. The composition is in a way like a commentary

to the name " Abhinava DESika " - which has become a thirunAmam

ie.name {not merely a title} of SrI UtthamUr swAmi, like how

SrI VE~nkatanAtha the original name is almost forgotten in the

case of our SwAmi VEdAnta DESika wherein " VEdAnta DESika "

(ie.VEdAnta AchArya) is a title given by Lord RanganAtha.

 

Probably one can write another poetry with this in mind (since

each letter in sanskrit has a meaning associated with it).

 

aDiyEn rAmAnuja dAsan,

anantapadmanAbhan.

----------------------------

 

Note {From SrI M.K.SrInivAsan}: These verses were composed with

the inspiration drawn from SrI U.Ve.SEvA SrInivAsarAghavAchArya

SwAmi's " Utthamap pAmali " in Tamil. The first letter of each

verse {except that of the last one} when added, will yield

the name of SrI UtthamUr SwAmi viz. " Abhinava DESika " .

 

 

A Garland of Verses to Abhinava DESika

******************************************

 

Acclaimed as MahA-VidvAn, Abhinava DESika,

By disciples and admirers, scholars and preceptors,

UtthamUr SwAmi spread the ViSishTadvaita tenets

By word of mouth, also through the written word

To all who thronged his door and sought to know.

Indeed, he was VEdAnta DESika again incarnate.

 

Blessed by HayagrIva with knowledge unlimited

An eager disciple, loved by his preceptor,

A leading light among scholars around,

An able exponent of subtle truths, abstruse,

A dignified sage, a genus par excellence,

We bow to UtthamUr SwAmi with reverence, great.

 

Honoured by men of different faiths, diverse,

For his incisive knowledge of their religions too,

He upheld the purity of Ramanuja’s teachings

And gently corrected wrongful interpretations.

Highly regarded by men of opposing views,

His sincerity was transparent and approach harmonious.

 

Impelled by the words of an Advaitic author

Who wrote SatabhUshaNi extolling his faith,

Meant as a counter to DESika’s SatadUshaNi,

He penned his mighty magnum opus,

ParamArtha BhUshaNam, applauded by elite

And prescribed as a text in far off lands.

 

Named after the Lord of Thiru-evvaLur,

Born with His blessings in UtthamanallUr,

Like Him, victorious he was, wedded to dharma

In the battles he fought with contrary faiths;

With devotion as his bow and truth as arrows,

Ignorance he vanquished and darkness dispelled.

 

Admired for his clarity and lucid speech,

He led many a debate with skill and finesse,

Profusely quoting from rare uncommon texts,

He knew them by heart, their nuanced meanings,

The views of ancient Masters, one and all

To which he added fresh meanings of his own.

 

Venerated by all for his open probity,

Knowledge, discipline and life of austerity,

Considered by pontiffs as one of their own

For his Spartan simplicity, ascetic nature,

Totally immune to lures and blandishments,

He was fully free from any selfish thought.

 

Armed with rare acumen, inspired thinking,

He took upon himself the gigantic task

Of Spreading DESika’s works with correct meanings.

The Rakshas he wrote on Divya-Prabandhas

Are monuments to the glory of Azhwars divine,

Literary classics to be read and read again.

 

Devoted totally to his preceptor great,

He mentioned his mentor times without number.

Among his works, scholarly and diverse,

Many a gem we discover, many a beacon light,

To show the common man, the way to raise his life

And take to the path shown by preceptors of yore.

 

Endowed with care and compassion,

He welcomed disciples with obvious delight,

To each he taught, sensing his need and grasp,

Differently to each, showering parental care.

When they left the confines of his cosy tutelage,

All were masters, scholars in their own right.

 

Surpassed by none in his knowledge of Sanskrit,

He was the recipient of the first President’s Award;

But it was the award that was honoured!

Like DESika, he was bestowed titles three,

Abhinava DESika, Ubhaya VEdanta Vijayadhwaja

And SarvAtma RakshamaNi, Which all sat lightly on him.

 

Imbued with diligence in all he undertook,

He strove for perfection, every minute of his life.

Sleepless he went for many a weary night,

Reading the proofs of whatever he wrote

And kept his date with the promised word,

Unmindful of family and failing health.

 

Kinship he felt to every living soul,

He was closed to all by his care and concern.

He chose to lead a householder’s life

But with a mind and heart of ascetic mould.

No man was distant, none was kept away,

For whomever he saw, he drew them to his heart.

 

A decade and more, since he left us behind

But in our hearts, he lives forever;

We hear his voice in the abode he dwelt;

We see his figure in the books he wrote;

We feel his eyes judging our actions ever

And guiding us on our upward paths.

 

NArAyaNa’s grace, Lakshmi’s supportive glances,

Essence of VEdas and Azhwar’s Divya-Prabandhas

NAthamuni’s pioneering words, YAmuna’s jewel-like texts,

Nine gems of RAmAnuja and DESika’s invaluable works,

Have all been distilled in UtthamUr SwAmi,

A scholar, savant, preceptor and a living legend.

 

With Reverential prostrations to SrI Abhinava DESika,

M.K.SrInivAsa dAsan.

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