the victorious banner for Sri Ramanuja siddhantha [Srimad Lakshamana yogeendhra siddhantha vijayadwajam]- Kumara Varadarya TN

[Guest guest]

SrI:

 

Dear Sriman MadhavakkaNNan :

 

Thanks for a deeply informative posting

on the Vaibhavam of Swamy KumAra VaradAcchAr

on His avathAra dinam .

 

I would like to have your permission to add it to the commentary

on PiLLai AndhAthi that is beign prepared for the Sundara Simham

e-book kaimkaryam ( http://www.sundarasimham.org ).

 

Thanks very much ,

V.Sadagopan

 

 

 

Sri:SrImathE Ramanuja nama:Dearest allToday is also the thirunakshathram of KumaraVaradacharya- son of Swamy Vedanta Desikan. He wasalso born on AvaNi RohiNi. Kumara Varadacharya learntall the traditional texts under his father himself andacquired a remarkable mastery of them within a shortspan of time. When Desika was in his forties, a son was born to himand his wife.Reflecting his love for his household deity LordVaradaraja, Desika named the boy Varada, and tradition remembers him asNainacharya or Kumara Varadacharya. Kumara Varadacharya also became ascholar ofsome repute, and we are indebted to him for recordingsome biographicaldetails of his father in his Desika Mangalam, PillaiAntaadi, and Desika Dinacharyai.After Swamy Desikan’s attainment of Paramadham,Varadacharya continued the propagation of theSrivaishnava religion and philosophy. He toured allover India extending the frontiers of Srivaishnavismand conquering many opponents belonging to otherschools of Philosophy. Apart from important places inTamil Nadu and Kerala, he is said to have visitedAhobilam,, Sihmachalam, Sri Kaakulam, in Andhra. Heestablished his sishya paramaparai in these places aswell. Tradition avers that Sri Kumara Varadacharya composedfew rahasyagranthas in Telugu also, so as to cater tothe needs of his followers in the Telugu land. Likehis father Vedantha Desika, he is said to have beenpatronized by the Telugu ruler of Raachakona, SarvagnaSingama Nayaka of the Velama Dynasty. Sri Kumara Varadarya may be called as one of the Chiefarchitects of the Srivaishnava religion in Andhra Desawhere he was affectionately called Nayanacharya [TheGlorious son and preceptor]. The Srivaishnava templesas can be seen in Mangalagiri, Simhachalam, SriKurmam, Ontimitta [all in Andhra], Purushotthamam[Puri in Orissa], and Sholapur [in Maharashtra] stillfollow the tradition of worship instituted by SwamyKumara Varacharya. A number of accounts about the scholastic pursuits andprowess of Kumara Varadarya are also popular as in thecase of illustrious father. It is said that oneSaakalyamalla, a staunch Advaitin and the author of an18-canto poem Uddhaaraaghava was vanquished in debateby Kumara Varadarya in the court of Singama Nayakareferred to earlier. It is said that Kumara Varadaalso successfully counteracted the black magicemployed by that scholar. However, there is anotheropinion that the Saakalyamalla under question was acourt poet of King Prataaparuda of Warangal [1290-1326 CE] and that he was defeated by Vedantha Desikawhom he met in the court of Singama Nayaka.According to Guru paramapara Prabhaavam, Kumara Varadabreathed his last on the KrishNasapthami day of thePhalguNa month of the Year Jaya. The wonderful works of Kumara Varadarya:According to tradition Kumara Varadarya is said tohave composed many works but only 36 of them have comedown to us. Even among these, only a few have beenprinted and the rest are still in the form ofmanuscripts which await the attention of scholars. Avery brief account of these available works is givenbelow:(a) independent works in Sanskrit.1. Bhagavadhyana padhhathi: This is a short workconsisting of 12 verses sung in praise of the Lord SriKaakulam a village near Vijayawada in Andha [differentfrom Srikakulam district]. This text is modeled afterBhagavadhyana sopanam sung by Vedantha Desika onSriranganatha and Amanaladhipiraan ofThiruppanaazhwaar’s. 2. Harisandesa: This is a lyrical composition similarto Kokilasandesa enumerated below:3. Kokilasandesa: This is a small literary work on thelines of Kuyil paattu [cuckoo song] of Sri AndAL. Acuckoo is requested to be messenger carrying themessage of the devotee to the Lord.4. Lakshmisathaka: This is a 100 verses in praise ofDivine mother bringing out her virtues of which Dayais the most Prominent One. 5. Sankhasathaka: 100 verses on Sankha [Conch Shell]of the Lord. 6. Sukasandesa: another lyric similar to Kokilsandesalisted above with the difference here it is the parrotwhich is the messenger. 7. Sri Vedantha Desika dinacharya: This is a shortwork describing the daily routine of Swamy VedanthaDesika and the anushtAnam of his during the whole day.8. Sri vedantha Desika mangalam: This comprises verseson Sri Vedanta Desika’s greatness wishing for hiscontinued glory.9. Sri Vedanta Desika praarthana ashtakam: eightverses invoking the blessings of Swamy Desikan. 10. Sri Vedanta desika dhivya mangla vigraha dhyanam:Kumara Varadarya composed in praise of the divinebeauty of Swamy Desikan’s ThirumEni; vigraha installedin Thooppul village, the birth place of Swamy Desika.11. Sri Vedantha Desika Prapatti: This was composed inpraise of Swamy Desika highlighting his role as theonly refuge of the disciples. 12. Thyaagasabda artha ninrnaya: This work gives theconclusive epitome of Srivaishnava teaching[Charamasloka] depicting the soul as taking refuge atthe lotus feet of the Lord. It explains the wordtyaaga as implied in the verse Sarvadharmaan. [GitA18.66] 13. Virodhibhanjani: This is a philosophical treatiserefuting other systems of though and establishing theSupremacy of Visistadvaita. (b) Works in Tamil:1. Pillai anthAthi: 20 verses in praise of SwamyDesikan [in the lines of Ramanuja nooRRanthAthi andMadhurakavi AzhwAr’s KaNNinunchiRuthAmbu] bringing outthe divine qualities of his father, acharya and GodHimself - Swamy Vedanta Desikan.( C) Commentaries on Swamy Desika’s works: 1. AdhikaranachinthaamaNi: This is commentary onDesikan’s Adhikaranasaravali which in turn is anexposition of Sribhashya in verse form. 2. Asrayaanupapatti: This work is a refulation ofAdvaitins’ view that Brahman is the Asraya[substratum] of avidya. The discussion concerns one ofthe seven kinds of anupapatti [untenable natureexplained in the works of Swamy Ramanuja and SriSudharsana suri].3. Chit Achith Iswara tattva niroopana: an elaboratecommentary of Svetaasvataranamtra, bhokta bhogyampreritaaram cha matvaa” [1.12] bringing out theconcept of tattvatraya. 4. Tattvathrayaniroopana or Tattvathrayaculakaarthasangraha: Commetary of Tattvathrayachulakam 5. Nyasathilaka vyaakhya: Exposition of Swamydesikan’s Nyasa vimsathi. Desikan also had written acommentary for the same. 6. Mimaamsa paadhuka- parithraaNa: Commenatry ofDesikan’s Mimaamsa padhuka where the correlationbetween the Poorvamimaamsa and Uttharamimaamsa isestablished in the light of the Visistadvaita Vedanta.In the original work Desika refuted some of thearguments of the Bhatta and Prabhakaras. D. Compendiums:1. Rahaysyathraya sangraha: This is Sanskrit renderingof the work of the same name Rahasyathrayasaramcomposed by Vedanta Desika in Manipravala style. Thiswas composed Kumara varadarya mainly for the benefitof Andhra Disciples who found it difficult to followthe manipravala style of the original. 2. Rahasyathraya sara artha sangraha: Anotherrendering in Sanskrit of the above. A detailedexposition of this work is taken up in the folliwngchapters. E,. Refuting other schools of thought:1. Abheda khandana: This refutes the concept of Abhedaor non-difference on which the Advaita system isbased. 2. Avidya khandana: concepts of Advaita- namely MaayaNirguna brahmam are refuted here. 3. Khandanachathushtaya: refutes the veiwsnof Sankara,Bhaskara, Yadava prakasa, and Saiva siddhantha therebyestablishing the Visishtadvaita unambiguously and inunparalleled manner. 4. Muktivaichaara: refutes the concept of Mokshaaccording to Charvaka and such other systems andestablishes the view of Ramanuja sampradaya. 5. Prapanchamityatva [anumaana] khandana: large textrefuting the Advaita concept of the illusory characterof the world, on the basis of scriptural texts. 6. Saguna brahma samarthana: this work criticizes theNirguna, nirvisesha Brahman concept of the Advaitinsand establishes the Visistadvaitic view that theBrahman is qualified by innumerable perfections[saguna]. 7. Sankaasathaka: This is the form of refutation ofother schools of Vedanta and is simlar toSatadhooshaNi of Desikan. 8. Vyaavahaarika khandana: The advaitins accept threestages of reality- Vyahavaarika [conventional],Pratibhasika [phenomenal] and Paaramaartthika[absolute]. According to this school the world is anillusion like a dream sequence. Kumara Varadaryarefutes this view and establishes that the world cannot be brushed aside as non-reality.F. Translations form Tamil into Sanskrit: 1. Abhayapradhana saaram: This is a Sanskrit renderingof Swamy Desikan’s Abhayapradhanasaaram in Tamilexplaining the principles of Prapatti quoting fromSrimad Ramayana especially VibheeshaNa Sarabagathi. 2. Ahaaraniyamasloka: Sansirt version of Desikan’sTamil version. 3. Prabandha saram: Sanskrit version of Swamydesikan’s Tamil verses on AzhwArs mentioning theirgreatness, their Thirunakshathram and their works,giving a resume of all AzhwArs. 4. Rahasyatharaya chulakam: Sanskrit version ofDesikan’s work on the same. Kumara Varadaya is said to have inherited some of thetitles of his father such as Nikhila taarkikachoodamaNi [the crest jewel of all the logicians ofthe Sampradaya], Sarvathanthra swathanthra [scholarpar excellence in different schools of philosophy];Manthramahodhadhi [the coean of Sacred formulae];Srilakshmanayogindhra siddhantha vijayadhvaja [thevictorious banner for Sri Ramanuja system].Some of his prominent disciples are:1. 1st Parakalamutt Jeer Brahmathanthraswathanthrar[as he attended Bhagavad Vishayam kalakshepam fromthis Swami]2. Swamy Prathivaadhibhayankaram Annan [the title wasconferred on Swamy by Kumara Varadarya himself]3. Kandhadai Annan4. Komandoor Acchaan5. Pillaipaakkam Naayinaar6. Thirumalai appar7. Kidaambhi Appar8. Nadaadhoor ALwaan9. Anandhappan10. Kandhaadai Appan11. Emeprumaanar Appan[the above article is from Satsampradaya saurabhampublished by Sri Hayagreevavidhyapeetam 2003 for the181st TN celebration of Sri Thirupputkuzhi Swamy]For all Srivaishnavas regardless of Kalai, Swamydesikan and thereby his son Swami Kumara Varadacharyacome in Sri Bhashya Guruparampara. On hisThirunakshathram, hence let us all place our heads atthe lotus feet of this glorious acharya kumarar –peerless one like all our Srivaishnava Acharyas…Swamy Kumara Varadarya ThiruvaDigaLE SaraNamRegardsNamo NarayanadAsan