VIRODHA PARIHARAM of Swamy Desikan : the 108th e-book in Parts : Part I

[Guest guest]

Dear All :

 

This will serve as an introduction for Virodha ParihAram , the 108th e-book .

That will be like a book end with Sri Sthuthi serving as the book end on the other

side . Rest of the 106 e-books will be sandwiched in betwwen.

 

Dr.Saroja Ramanujam will cover the answers to questions ( 1-80)

and I will cover the questions fromm 81-108 .

 

Kumaara VaradAcchAr's commentary on His THiru TahappanAr and

AchAryan's Sri Sookthi in Sanskrit will be very intersting to weave in .

 

Swamy Desikan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam ,

V.Sadagopan

 

 

VIRODHA PARIHARAM : INTRODUCTION SrimAn VenkatanAthArya: kavithArkika kEsarIVedhanthAcharya VaryOmE SannidhatthAm sadhA Hrudhi RaamAnuja DayApAthram Jn~Ana VairAghya BhUshaNam Srimadh VenkatanAdhAryam VandhE VedhAnhta Desikam Dear Members of Bhagavadh RaamAnuja SiddhAntham : Enormous and magnificent indeed are the granthams that Swami Desikan blessed us with for our ujjevanam ( uplift and salvation ) .They arose from him as Ubhaya VedAntham , PrakaraNa granthams , SthOthrams , Rahasya granthams , Kaavyams , Naatakam , Tamizh Prabhandhams , VyAkyAnams , Vaadha Granthams , RakshA Granthams and anushtAna granthams . His great upakAram to us flowed forth in four forms : Works in chaste Sanskrit , Sundara Tamizh , Sweet PrAkrutham and the MaNipravALam "language" used first by Thirukkuruhaip PirAn in his 6000 Pati . Swami Desikan's power of Jn~Anam Pravachana sakthi , anushtAna srEyas and debating skills are a direct result of the anugraham of Sri Hayagreeva BhagavAn . In his ninth & final decade of life , after a rich life involved in grantha nirmANam , Sri Bhagavadh RaamAnuja SiddhAntha Pravachanam and Para matha Kantanam , Swami Desikan had a concern . He felt that he has left some thing undone .This concern related to the creation of an all-encompassing grantham that dealt with : 1. a lucid explanation of Tattva-Hitha –PurushArthams at one site 2. a detailed exposition there on the richness of the meanings of the three rahasyams dear to Sri VaishNavAs3. a grantham that incorporated all the hithOpadesams for the chEthanAs in MaNipravALam format . With the blessings of his AchaaryAs and Sri Hayagreevan arose the magnificent and incomparable grantham of SRIMADH RAHASYA THRAYA SAARAM (RTS ) . In its 32 chapters , the three TattvAs , the Three RahasyAs, the Artha PanchakA and Prapatthi are discussed . Today , it is one of the four granthams ( Grantha chathushtayam ) that Sri VaishNavAs have to learn thru KalakshEpam under their AchAryAs besides Sri Bhaashyam , GitA Bhaashyam of AchArya RaamAnujA and the Bhagavad Vishayam by KurkkEsA . After completing this magnum opus of RTS ,Swami went one step further out of his great compassion for aRivilis ( ignoramus ) like us and created his final grantham in his very last years of his life on earth . This very last grantham given to us as Kula dhanam by Swami Desikan is " VIRODHA PARIHAARAM " .This is the grantham that clears the lingering doubts of a Mumukshu (one who desires Moksham thru an understanding and practice of the three Rahasyams) Swami Desikan achieved his goal through a list of 108 Questions and answers based on PramANa Vaakhyams .It is also written in MaNi pravALam , a mixture of Sanskrit and TamiL . VirOdha ParihAram has the following four chapters:(1) Moola ManthAdhikAram (2) DhvayAdhikAram(3) Charama slOkAdhikAram and (4) NigamanAdhikAram . There are a total of 108 doubts that Swami Desikan anticipates from the Mumukshu and answers them one by one under the headings of the above four chapters . The largest number of doubts that he answers , Eighty ,pertain to Mula Manthram ; the number of doubts addressed in the Dhvaya , Sarama and Nigamana adhikArams are Ten , Ten and Eight respectively adding up to the grand total of 108 doubts and corresponding answers for those doubts . Swami Desikan's VirOdha ParihAra Grantham was translated and annotated by Oppiliappan Koil Navaneetham SrirAma DesikAcchAr Swamy , my manaseeka AchArya . Few months back , the prakrutham Pundareekapuram Andavan brought out a new edition of this grantham commented by Navaneetham Swami , which had been out of print for a while . Number of BhaskthAs of the Bhakthi List contributed funds for this effort and have become blessed . We will be following this recent edition of VirOdha ParihAram for a series of postings in SaraNAgathi Journal as it starts on its second decade of issues . May Swami Desikan's and his UpAsanA murthy"s blessings be with us as we engage in studying together the most magnificent rahasya grantham conceived as a sequel to Srimadh Rahasya Traya Saaram and try to prepare it for SamarpaNam for the BahudhAnya samvathsara Thirunakshthrams of Swami Desikan ) and the First Jeeyar of AhObila Mutt , AdhivaNN SatakOpa Yatheendhra MahA Desikan, whose 600th aaniversary of the establishment of Ahobila Mutt that was celebrated in this bahudhaa anya year ( an year that is different in many ways from other years . MANGALA SLOKAMS IN SANSKRIT AND TAMIL FOR VIRODHA PARIHARAM SlOkam 1 Sriman NaarayaNa: Swaami SaraNya: SarvadEhinAm bhUyAnn nijapadha prApthi VirOdhi vinivAraka: ( Meaning ) : May Sriman NaarAyaNan , who is the protector of all Janthus and who is the Master of all the Jeevans chase away all the obstacles and enemies in your efforts to reach His aasthAnam , Sri Vaikuntam . slOkam 2 udhitham bhavatha: pAyAth OushadhAdhri sameepatha:Oushadham chEthasA sEvyam apuna: sthanya paayinAm (Meaning ) : Our Lord Hayagreevan appeared near the Hill of Medicinal plants (Oushadha Giri ) at Thiruvahendhrapuram and He is the Oushadham (Medicine) for those , who want to be cured of the afflictions of SamsAram . May that Lord , who is the nectar for dhyAnam by the mind ,protect you all , who wish not to drink again mother's milk ( not to be born again in this earth ) .ApunarArvruthti is hinted here . The very last Brahma sUthram asserts : AnAvrutthi SabdhAth , AnAvrutthi SabdhAth { There is no return (for these released souls ) because the scriptures say so }. That is what Swami Desikan is requesting the Lord as a boon for us . SlOkam 3 : prapadhanamayE vidhyAbhEdhE prathishtitha chEthasa: prathipadhamiha praj~yA dhAyam disanthu dayA dhanA :Sataripu sukha vyAsa prAchEsAdhi nibhandhana sramapariNatha suddhA-suddhAsayA mama DesikA : May our AchAryAs , who are profoundly conversant with the different aspects of Prapatthi Vidhyai serving as the means for Moksham , who have the sraddhA ( faith and deep trust ) in Prapatthi arising from their tireless study and clear understanding of the granthams of NammAzhwAr , Sukhar , VyAsar and VaalmIki , who have the purest of hearts brimming with compassion for us as their wealth , May those revered AchAryAs of ours bless every word of this grantham , VirOdhi ParihAram with the wealth of true knowledge ( Jn~Ana Sampath ) . Srimadh VenkatanAthArya nandhanAn PraNamAmyaham SeshasAyI padhAmbhOja sEshathva jn~Ana nirmalAn Swami Desikan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam ,DaasOham , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SadagOpan