Desika nURRandAti - pAyiram (pAsuram) 5 ( Translation from my dearest friend Sri V.N.Gopala Desikan's monograph)

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SrI:

 

Dear All Desika BhakthAs :

 

pAyiram 5

 

iRiayum emakkAy iruL akaRRum tEsAy

kaRiayil guNam koL kaDavuLOnAy – maRai anaittum

vAzhvitta vAdiyar cIyam iv vaiayagattil

Azhtuyar ellAm aRukkum Ayndu.

 

Meaning:Swamy Desikan is our Lord who stays as the Jn~Ana JyOti ( effulgence of true and uplifting Knowledge) banishing our ajn~Anam ( nescience) . He is our AchAryan and is the upAyam ( means for leading us to Sriman NaarAyaNan) and upEyam ( the goal). He is indeed our dhaivam (God) without any blemishes ( one with ananta klayANa guNams) . He is the VedAntha Desikan , who defended all the VedAs by defeating Paramata Vaadhins misintrepreting VedAs or did not accept Vedams as PramANams( highest valid knowledge) . He is the Lion , who chased away Paramata Vaadhins with the rigor of His logic . He destroys even the fierce ills of the people of the world with His anugraha sakti .

 

Comments :

 

iRayum yemaakAi: NigamAnta Guru is our Lord, nay , our Dhaivam . MannappangAr follows the statement of Kumaara VaradAchAr by saying that Swamy Desikan was his Guru/AchAryan and his God ( pitrE BrahmOpadhEshtrE mE GuravE dhaivatAya cha---Desika MangaLam : slOkam 12) . Here ManappangAr points out that as the servant ( ThoNDar) of Swamy Desikan , he has no other Lord (God) in a mood of Mahaa VisvAsam of Madhura Kavi in KaNNinuNN SiRuttAmpu ( tEvu MaRRaRiyEn).

 

iruL ahaRRum dESAi : Swamy Desikan stays as the self luminous jyOthi for removing our darkness of ajn~Anam . We are lost in the darkness of our ajn~Anam and vipareeta Jn~Anam . Out of His infinite compassion for us , Swamy Desikan composed many Sri Sooktis and stayed as a beacon of light to show us the way out of our spirtual darkness . People got clarity about the fundamental tattvams with the help of Swamy Desikan's Sri Sooktis.

 

Swamy Desikan is an ocean of auspicious guNams. In this matter , Swamy Desikan is like BhagavAn ( iRai---KaRai il guNam koLL KadavuL) . BhagavAn's blemishlessness and being the abode of all auspicious guNams has been saluted by AchArya RamAnujA in SrI BhAshyam during the occasion of the definition of Brahman :

 

(1) Brahma SaBdhEna svabhAvata: nirasta nikhiladhOsha: anavadhika adhisaya asankyEya kalyANa guNagaNa: PurushOttama: abhidheeyatE ( By invoking Brahma SaBdham , the PurushOttan without any blemishes possessing limitless , auspicious guNams is indicated--Sri BhAshaym--1.1.1) .

 

(2) In the Ubhaya LingAdhi adhikararaNam ( Sri BhAshyam: 3.2.11) , the meaning of Brahman is provided as : " Nirasta nikhila dhOshatva KalyANa guNAkaratva lakshNObhEdham iti arta: " .

( Totally devoid of any blemishes and the abode of all auspicious guNams).

 

(3) The same concept is invoked in another Sri BhAshya Vaakyam : " nikhila hEya pratyaneeka KalyANa guNaika dhAna:--Sri BhAshyam : 4.4.22

 

Thus Swamy Desikan like EmperumAn is free of any dhOsham and is the possessor of all kalyANa guNams ( Aatma guNa sampannar). In this Paayiram , the poet addresses Swamy Desikan twice as His God ( "iRai" and KadavuL"). This follows the way in which NayinArAcchAryar addressed Swamy Desikan in his PiLLai andhAti as the avatAram of ThiruvEngadamudayAn :

 

( ninRu tann neeLL puhazh Venkata maamalai mEviyum pinn venRip-puhazh ThiruvEnganAthan yenum GuruvAi ninRu nihazhnthu ---PiLLai andhAti: 5).

 

maRai anaitthum vaazhviutta vaadhiyar seeyam: Those who do not accept Vedams as PramANams are called Veda Baahyars. Those who accept Vedam as PramANam but misintrepret it are called "Kudhrushtis". These belong to different paramatams like Bhouddham , monism , dualism et al.

Swamy Desikan engaged in debates with them and ahowed the illogic and the untenability of these Matams and condemned them in his Sri Sooktis such as Paramata Bhangam , Sata dhUshaNi , NyAya SiddhAnjanam et al. He established the correct meanings of the Veda Mantrams and protected them from abuse and misintrepretations.

 

The itheehyam here goes back to the times of AchArya RaamAnuja , when his sishyAs were grieving over the imminent loss of their AchAryan as He approached his final year of life on earth . They were inconsolable over the prospect of losing their AchAryan . Sri Ramanuja sent them to his dear sishai ,Kongu PirAtti for consolation . That sishyai knew what her AchAryan had in mind. Before those sishyAs, she untied her hair , which was in a bundle . She used the comb and straightened all knots and irregularities . Next she bound the tresses with a red silk thread . After that She tied the bundle of hair with a white silk thread . The assembled sishyAs did not understand the significance of her acts and returned to their AchAryan's side and expressed their dismay over Kongu PirAtti's strange acts . AchArya RaamAnuja explained then that KOngu PirAtti is an amasam of Veda Devatai and the hair bundle of hers is the Veda Siras or VedAntam ( Upanishads). When she let her bundled hair down symbolized the agitations caused by Paramata Vaadhins , who gave wrong meanings to the Veda Mantrams. When she combed it and removed the tangles , that referred to the indication of the true meanings of the Veda mantrams. Her tying the hair with a red ( ochre) thread refers to a SanyAsi like him pointing out the true meanings of Veda Mantrams and holding it together . When she tied again the hair with a white silk thread refers to him reincarnating as a gruhastan ( Vedantha Desikan) later to reinforce the true meanings of the Veda Mantrams thru the nirmANam of many SrI Sooktis and giving a vibrant life to the Vedams ( maRai anaithtum Vaazhvittha Vaadhiyar Seeyam). Acharya Ramanuja pointed out that Kongu Piratti was giving them that message so that they not need to worry about His ascent to SrI VaikunTham.

 

Three seperate passages in Desika MangaLam of NayinAcchAryar , P.B.Annan in Saptati Ratna Maalikai and YathirAja Saptati refer to BhAshyakArar incarnating as Swamy Desikan :

 

(1) Sri BhAshyakAra PanthAnam Aatmanaa darSitam puna: Uddhartum AagatO nUnam iti uktAya astu MangaLam --Desika Mangalam 5

 

(MangaLam to Desikan , who incarnated to reestablish the auspicious path of BhAshyakArar to show once again the true meanings of Veda Mantrams ) .

 

(2) Srimath VenkatanAtha Desika SirO ratna Aatmanaa Aavirbhavou iti yEvam vadanti --P.B.Annan's Saptati Ratna Maalikai --12

 

( It is said that Sri BhAshyakArar Himself incarnated as VedAntha Desikan )

 

(3) Yati purandarasya uktaya: chirandhan Sarasvatee sikura Bhandha sairandrikA:

--YatirAja Saptati--36

 

( The SrI Sooktis of SrI BhAshyakArar are like the woman servants , who comb , tie and decorate the tresses (the Upanishad bhAgams) of the Veda RaaNi(Queen).

 

This comparison fits the Sri Sooktis of Swamy Desikan as well and hence the reference : " MaRai anaitthum VaazhvitthAr ".

 

Vaadiyar Seeyam : There are two meanings given to this group of words : (1) Swamy Desikan was the Lion among debaters (2) Swamy Desikan was like the Lion that frightened the Para Matha Vaadhins , who came to debate him .

 

The most merciful Swamy Desikan analysed well the reaons for the sorrows and sufferings of the people of the world . He concluded that the desire for lOka sukhams and the sins that one accumulates are the reasons for these sorrows and sufferings .To help the samsAris overcome these painful anubhavams , Swamy performed sadhupadEsam to them thru his Sri Sookthis . With Sri Sooktis like VairAgya Panchakam , he showed the way for dispassionate conduct of one's life . Through Sri Sooktis like NyAya SiddhAnjanam , NyAya Parisuddhi , he instructed the people about the three Tattvams . He constructed many Sri Sooktis dealing with the need for the Performance of Prapatti , the way to do it and the conduct of one's life after Prapatti . These upadEsams are housed in many ChillaRai rahasyams and Srimath Rahasya Thraya Saaram. Swamy Desikan's precocious son , Kumaara VaradAcchAr Swamy referred to this anugraham of his father repeatedly in the verses of his PiLLai andhAti:

 

" Thiru VenkatanAthan yenum GuruvAi ninRu nihazhantu

MaNN mEl ninRa nOyhaL tavittanavE "----PiLLai AndhAti-- 5

 

" VinaihAL umakku ini vERu ohr idam tEda vENDum " ---PiLLai AndhAti --7

 

" adaibhavar theevinai maaRRi aruL tarum ThUppul Iyya --PiLLai AndhAti--10

 

Thus MannappangAr praises Swamy Desikan as his KadavuL ( God) in this Paayiram .

 

Swamy Desikan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam ,

Oppiliappan Koiln VaradAchAri Sadagopan