vastu paitAmahaM dhanam

[Guest guest]

Sri:

 

SrimatE Gopaladesika MahadesikAya Namaha,

 

Dear Sriman Srinath,

 

Kindly permit adiyen some more indulgence here. Lord Varadaraja is

the king among boon-granters. Swami Desikan recognizes this fact and

exclaims-vasthu paithamaham Dhanam, i.e., when one has received the

treasure of the Archa mUrthy of Varadaraja, does one need anything

else? Without this treasure is anything else worthwhile? The answers

to both of these questions are succinctly provided by Swami Desikan

in the " vasthu paithamaham Dhanam " salutation.

 

In the Srimad Rahasya TrayasAram, Swami Desikan notes that there are

things of no value, some value, high value and highest value. That

which has the highest value is the bliss of eternal Kaimkaryam for

the Divine Couple at their behest and for their pleasure as a result

of begetting Moksham. The enormity of this bliss is described in the

Taittriya Upanishad salutation " sa ekO brahmaNa Ananda: " i.e., this

exceeds the combined bliss of 100 fold mAnusha ananda (a handsome

young man, who is well read, blessed with a pleasing wife and

children, extremely wealthy, and has no shortcomings from a both a

materialistic as well as a vedic standpoint), manushya gandharva

ananda (which is greater than manusha ananda:), deva gandharva ananda

(which is greater that manushy gandharva ananda:), deva ananda (the

bliss of devas in Indra lOkam which exceeds that of deva gandharvas),

BrihaspatEr ananda: (the bliss of Brihaspati, which exceeds that of

the devas in Indra lOkam) and prajapatEr ananda: (the bliss of the

four-faced Brahma, which exceeds that of BrihaspatEr ananda:). The

only one that can grant the eternal bliss exemplified by the

Taittriya Upanishad salutation " sa ekO brahmaNa Ananda: " is Lord

Varadaraja, standing majestically on the Hastigiri Hill.

 

Swami Desikan was a Brahma jnAni (knower of the Supreme Being) of the

highest order. The Taittriya Upanishad again declares

" BrahmavidhApnOti param " (The knower of Brahman begets supreme state).

Therefore, Swami Desikan aspires for nothing else besides being of

service to the Lord in the company of Nithya Suris. Furthermore

Swami Desikan was a Paramaikantin par excellence. Therefore, he had

no use for anything material in nature. This can be best understood

from verse 100 of the Daya Shatakam.

 

Upon completing verse 99 of the Daya Shatakam, Swami Desikan discerns

a smile on the lips of Daya Devi, who enquires of him " What is it

that you desire my child? " In response Swami Desikan performs

Sattrumurai (in the spirit of Andal's Tiruppavai salutation Sirrum

sirukAlE) for the Lord of Seven Hills in verse 100 " na ata param

kimapi mE thvayi nAthanIyam mAthar dhayE mayi kurushva thaThA prasadam

baddhADharO vrushagiri praNayIyaThAsO mukthAnuBhUthimiha dhAsyathi mE

mukundha: " (Meaning: Besides the company of nithyas and mukthas

engaged in eternal Kaimkaryam for the Lord of Seven Hills I desire

nothing else. Please bless me with this anubhavam in this vibhUthi

itself (Leela ViBhUthi)).

 

The same message is conveyed in the vasthu pAithamaham dhanam

salutation of the vairagya panchakam. The status of Lord Varadaraja

as the king of boon granters (benefactors) can be seen from the fact,

that it was He who responded to Swami Alavandar's Prapatti to make

Sri Ramanujacharya the torch bearer of the SriVaishnavam (at that

time Sri Ramanujacharya was a student of Yadhavaprakashar). As a

result, the unbroken chain of Acharyas starting from Lord Narayana to

our present day Acharyas was enhanced several fold according to Swami

Desikan. Why? By ascertaining the true purport of the Vedas with the

help of the Brahma Sutras and Dhivyaprabandham, Sri Ramanujacharya

provided expounded on the Vishistadvaita philosophy without

contradicting a single statement in the Vedas. As a result the glory

of Acharyas before him was enhanced several fold. Therefore, they

benefitted immensely from his Tirumudi Sambandham. The fragrance of

Srivaishnavam was greatly enhanced due to the subsequent acharya

streams following Sri Ramanujacharya. It would have been impossible

for them to propagate Srivaishnavam without the monumental works of

Sri Ramanujacharya. As a result Acharyas subsequent to Sri

Ramanujacharya benefitted immensely from his Tiruvadi Sambandham. All

of this was facilitated by Lord Varadaraja, who affirmatively

responded to the impassioned pleas of Swami Alavandar in his Prapatti.

 

Again when Srivaishnavam came under threat in the post Ramanujacharya

period, it was Lord Varadaraja, who was instrumental in sending Swami

Desikan to systematize the philosophy of Sri Ramanujacharya into a

science and defend it from attacks of other faiths.

 

In conclusion, the kula-Dhanam of Varadaraja (emperor of the

universe) is far more precious to Swami Desikan than the transient

material comforts and wealth conferred by ordinary kings.

 

Namo Narayana,

 

SriMuralidhara Dasan

[Guest guest]

SrI:

SrImathE Gopaladesika mahadesikaya namah:

 

Dearest Srivaishnavas,

 

An excellent as usual from sri Muralidhar and sri srinath supplementing to

adiyEn's rambling. Quite enjoyable posts.

adiyEn further dwells on the consequence of this Vairagya Panchakam.

 

It appears the Vijayanagara king (whom VidyaraNyar referred to) did not much

relish Swamy Desikan's rejection of the help offered by his court pandit;

more due to his (the king's) ego. Perhaps, VidyaraNyar himself would have

certainly understood Swamy's ThiruvuLLam and would have even felt poud of

his childhood friend.

 

The king generally those days helped people and brahmins who come to them

for monetary help. Once a bachelor boy (Brahmachari) came to this king and

aksed for few gold coins for his wedding expenses. [Perhaps those days, the

groom had to spend:-) ]

 

King cynically told that boy " There is a brahmin (gruhastha) in Thooppul who

has the biggest family, inherited wealth. Go and ask him. " The king meant

this line " vasthu paithAmaham dhanam " and wanted to know what is going to

happen now.

 

The boy did not know of these wrong intent and went straight to Desikan's

ThirumALigai.

Brahmachari: Swamy

Desikan (reciting few sthOthrams in the verandah): yaaruppa nee?

B: Swamy. The king sent me saying that you are the wealthiest person in the

world and has inherited wealth. Please help me for my wedding.

Swamy chuckled. undreestood everything. smiled little and got up.

adIyE.. idhO vandhudaRen. (told his wife who was inside..}

called the boy.. " vaappa ennOdu.. " .

 

He along with the boy went straight to perundhEvi thaayaar (some say it

happened at srirangam and went to Sri Ranganayaki thaayaar- for us, thaayaar

sannidhi) and burst out with Sri sthuthi sthOthram then and there.

 

yasyaam yasyaam..thasyaam thasyaam aham ahamikaam dhanvathE sampathOgaa.

Wherever she sees, there the wealths (of all kinds) rush to saying..

" naandhaan first; naandhaan first.. " .

 

When he was about to complete there was a rain of gold coins that kept

pouring. Swamy told the boy: Whatever you want; however much you want, take

them, " and started walking towards his home empty handed.

What a vairAgyam! detachment! He had the material wealth just at this easy

access! so easy to attain for him! Yet, he chose to stay with such vairAgyam

with complete detachment to material wealth and worldly pleasures.

 

Swamy desikan pOla yaar unDu? na bhUthO na bhavishyathi.. This is the proof

of jnAna vairAgya bhooshaNam

Swamy Desikan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam

Regards

Namo Narayana

aDiyEn

 

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