Thuppul PiLLai- 55- Tamil prabandhams

[Guest guest]

SrI:

SrImathE Nigamantha Mahadesikaya namah:

SrImAn venkatanAthAryaH kavitArkika kesarI |

vedAntAcArya-varyo me sannidhattAm sadA hRdi ||

 

May the glorious Venkatanatha, the greatest of teachers of Vedanta, and the

lion among poets and debaters, reside forever in my heart.

 

Dearest Srivaishnavas,

Let us continue to enjoy other granthas of Swamy Desikan in summary form:

 

Sriman Nigamantha Mahadesikan composed 19 works in Tamil called Tamil

prabandhams. [sri SatakOpan Swamin has been writing indefatigably on these

wonderful granthas verse by verse- so nicely. ] Let us enjoy at the summary

level as part of this series on Thuppul Pillai.

 

Amrutha Ranjani- 39 verses in tamil. All of them occur at the beginning and

end of his 17 works written in maNipravALam (a blend of Sanskrit and Tamil).

They are pleasing like amirtham (nectar) and hence the title.

 

Let us enjoy one sweet verse:

 

nin aruLaam gathiyinRi maRRonRillEn/ nedun~ kaalam pizhai seydha nilai

kazhindhEn/

un aruLukku inidhaana nilai pugundhEn/ un saraNE saraN ennum thuNivu

pooNdEn/

manniruLaay ninRa nilai enakku theertthu/ vaanavar magizcchi thara varitthEn

unnai/

innaruLaay ini enakkOr bharamERRaamal en thirumaal adaikkalam koL ennai

neeyE

 

There is no other recourse except Your Grace. I am able to get rid of the

long accrued sins over the ages from time immemorial for so many births. I

am blessed to be the recipient of Your Grace. (Due to Your limitless

unbounded Grace) I have surrendered to take refuge at Your Feet. Much to the

enjoyment of Nithyasooris and muktha JivAthmAs, I have placed you in my

heart, and been able to dispel the darkness and ignorance. Please do not let

me bear any more burden (of further births) and please enslave me (by

accepting my SaraNAgathy).

 

A sweet Pasuram! (Please forgive me for my free translation!)

 

The second work is Adhikara sangraham, which contains 56 Tamil verses, all

in the form of summaries of the 32 chapters (called adikaram) of Swamy

Desikan’s magnum opus, Srimath Rahasyathraya saram.- we will see it in

separate post

 

The third work, AmrithaswAdhini, has 37 verses beginning with Saarasaara and

munivaahana bhOgam that are written in maNipravaaLam.

 

Paramatha Bhangham (Refutation of other schools of thought)

 

In the Paramatha Bhangha Rahasya which is in twenty-four chapters Sri Desika

has done a great service to the cause of VisishtAdvaita as propounded in the

earlier scriptures by Sri Ramanuja and his AchAryAs.

 

In the first chapter of Paramatha Bhangam, the necessity to acquire correct

knowledge of philosophy and religion is described, the next 3 chapters (2,3,

4) describe the tatva, Hita, and Purushaartha (Reals, means and Goal). The

next 15 chapters are devoted to an elaborate treatment of 15 systems of

philosophy as follows:

 

Lokaayatrika

Madhyamika

Yogacaara

Sautranika

Vaibhashika

(all the above five under Buddhisam)

Prachanna Bouddha (Advaita)

Jaina

Bhaskara

Vaiyakarana

VaishEshika

Naiyayika

Nireeswara meemAmsa

Nireeswara Sankhya

Paasupatha

 

The doctrines of these systems are faithfully described as propounded by

them, and then refuted on the basis of the authority of the scripture as

taught by the earlier AchAryAs and accepted by Swamy Desika. The validity of

Bhagawath Saasthra is established as taught by Baradarayana and other

ancient sages. The next two chapters are devoted to the arguments in other

schools of thought in favor of the means and the goal as accepted by them

and then they are refuted. The last is conclusion.

 

In the respective chapters on each school of thought, their doctrine is

given first. Then it is stated how they are against Vedas and other

scriptural texts and so they can not be taken as authoritative. At the end

of the final view according to VisishtAdaita is given.

 

Swamy Desikan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam

Regards

Namo narayana

dAsan

kavi-tArkika-simhAya kalyANa-guNa-SAline |

Srimate venkateSAya vedAntagurave namaH ||

 

Salutations to Sri Venkatesa, in whom all perfections reside, who is the

teacher of Vedanta and the lion among poets and debaters

 

_______________

Take a break! Find destinations on MSN Travel. http://www.msn.com.sg/travel/