
Acharyan Swamy
Desikan
Let me invoke the blessings of
Sri Oppiliappan through the following Maangalya Sthavam verse to give the
clarity of mind to undertake this Task:
SARVESHU KAALESHU SAMASTHA
DESESHU ASESHA KAARYESHU TATESWARESWARA: I SARVAI: SVAROOPAI:
BHAGAVAAN ANAADHIMAAN MAMAASTHU MAANGALYA VIVIRUDDHAYEH HARI :
II
MEANING: I invoke Hari to bless
me and to enhance auspiciousness of all kinds at all times, at all places,
and in all endeavours of mine. May that Hari, who appears in all forms and
who is without beginning or end enhance my Mangalams .
Swami Desikan and Acharya
Ramanuja **********************************
Swami Desikan was an
illustrious propounder of Bhagavat Raamnuja Siddhaantham. He followed the
way shown by Acharya Ramanuja scrupulously. Swami therefore believed
deeply in Acharya"s postulation of a personal God and the means of
attaining Moksham with His grace through Bhakti or Prapatti margam. In
both the margams, the Lord is recognized as the means and the object
of attainment.Moksham is the end result of His grace mediated by Sri
Devi.This is the Upasana that he imbibed form Ramanujaa and with the
blessings of his Acharya,he led a pious, simple life and subsisted on the
minimum needed to sustain himself in service of Sri Ranganatha of
Srirangam , Sri Devanatha of Thiruvahindrapuram Sri Varadaraja of
Kanchi andLOrd HayagrIvan of
Thiruvaheendhrapuram's Oushada Giri .
RaamAnujA's Way
***************
Swami Desikan followed the
ancient way which Ramaanuja showed , which was based on the concept that
Bhakti (devotion ) results wholly from Viveka (discriminatory knowledge
dealing with the true nature of the Lord ), Vimoka (freedom from worldly
temptations),Abhayaasa (Practice of Nava Vidha Bhakthis), Kriya( Nandavana
and other Kaimkaryams for the Lord ,interpretation of scriptures for the
disciples), Kalyaana(auspiciousness/ mangalam = thoughts on the Anantha
kalyaana Gunas of Hari ) ,Anavasaada ( absence of weakness = steadfast
resolve to worship Hari and Hari alone ) and Anuddharsha (absence of
elation over worldly victories = Sthitha Prajna aspect ) . Swami Desikan"s
life was a pilgrimage marked with Bhakti for the Divya Dampathis and
Kaimkaryam for them that culminated in Saranagathi at their lotus feet.
Swami explained in his many granthams about the sacredness of performing
Saranagathi for our benefit and salvation .His whole life was one of
Vairaagyam (dispassion) and Bhakti (devotion).
Demonstration of Swami's
Vairaagyam ***********************************
In the early days of his life ,
Swami was residing at Kanchipuram and was engaged in Anushtaanam and
Kalakshepam. His brilliance as an Acharya was well established. He led a
simple life .He had a classmate and friend from his student days by the
name of Vidyaranya .. Sri Vidyaranya was at that time the Aasthana Vidwaan
at he court of the Vijya Nagara King .He was sad to hear that Swami
Desikan was poor inspite of his great scholarship. He wanted to help his
boyhood friend and wanted to use his influence with the King to secure
financial help.Sri Vidyaranya out of affection wrote a nice letter
welcoming Swami Desikan to the royal court .Swami saw the letter and sent
his response in the form of a single slokam indicating his disinterest to
receive the munificence of the king to overcome the poverty that he
chose.
Sri Vidyaranya cared a great
deal about Swami Desikan and pressed him again to come to the court for
royal sambhavanaa. Swami composed this time five verses explaining his
resolve to stay away from material wealth and to only go after the
imperishable wealth given to him by his ancestors , which is residing on
top of Hasthigiri with the name of Sri Varadaraja .Sri Vidyaranya was
moved by the Vairaagyam of Swami Desikan and had even greater respect for
his friend. Later, Sri Vidyaranya became a Parama Hamsa sanyasi and
decorated the Sringeri Sarada Peetam himself.
Sri Vairaagya Panchakam is a
work of profound philosophical significance . It consists of five slokas
summarizing Swami Desikan's renunciation of material wealth. In these
slokas, Venkatesa kavi described the deplorable state of praising another
human being for the sake of improving one's financial lot. He refers to
the degradation resulting from praising rich men and asserted that he will
not stoop to offer his service to such people. He comments on the
transitory nature of wealth and presses on the fact that the only
imperishable wealth is that ,which was handed to him by his forefathers
(the presiding deity of Attigiri revered as Sri Varadarajan ).He
demonstrated time and again his disinterest in the accumulation of
material wealth . He helped the poor Brahmachari to get wealthy by
appealing to Sri Ranganayaki through the composition of his Sri Sthuti.
Personally, he was not interested. On one occasion, some of his devoted
disciples hid a few gold coins in his Thandulum (rice) presented for the
daily Aaradhanam of their Acharya. When Swami Desikan saw the golden coins
in the Thandalum, he threw them away and demonstrated his aversion for
worldly wealth. He followed the tradition of Kuratthaazhwaan , who threw
away the golden drinking vessel that his wife had brought with her on the
journey to Srirangam.
Introductory Verse sent first
to Sri
Vidyaranyaa: *************************************************
This was the verse that he sent
as a response to Sri Vidyaaranya to convey the message that he will not
come to the court of the king to praise him and gain wealth that way.This
is not considered as one of the five slokaas of the Vairaaghya
Panchakam.The individual slokas of this Panchakam including the Phala
Sruthi are set in five different poetic meters known as Saardhoola
Vikriditham, PrithvI , Harinee, Vamsastham and Anushtup.
I will use the Anvaya
Kramam(prose order) of the verses to convey the meaning of these terse
verses. This way, it will be easier to follow the meaning of these
profound Verses.
Verse that started the
Panchakam ********************************
kshoNeekoNa sata amsa paalana
kalaa durvaara garvaanala Kshubhayat Kshudra Narendra Chatu rasanaa
Dhanyaan na Manyaamahe .
We will not consider those the
blessed (lucky ) ones,those who praise with skill the deluded and arrogant
kings that rule over a small portion of the earth and are overcome with a
sense of power.
DayaaLu: Ya: Asau Puraa Dhaanaa
mushti mucheh Kusela Munayeh Vittedasathaam Dhattehsma
Devam Sevithum Nicchinumahe .
Once the great merciful Lord
(Avyaja Karuna Murthy), gave to the poor Kusela , his boyhood friend
indescribable wealth in exchange for the handful of pounded rice given to
Him. We are determined to serve only that Lord and no one else.
First slokam of Vairaagya
Panchakam ***********************************
Silam oudharam analam
Bhaadhitum Analam Bhaveth Kim? Prasruthi poorakam Saarasam Bhaya:
Tarakam Kimu Na: ? Pathi Kaccharam pataccharam ayatna malamallakam
vibudhaa: Kukshita Mudhaa Kukshita: Bhajanthi hi Ahaha !
Swami Desikan asks a series of
questions here regarding the minimum needed to carry on one's life on
earth . He observes that even those with discriminatory knowledge serve
the rich to appease their needs. He asks : Is not the grain spilled from
the harvests sufficient to quell one' s hunger? Would not the volume of
water held in one's palm sufficient to quench one's thirst ? Will not the
rag obtained along the wayside sufifcient to serve as an effortlessly
gained loin cloth? Alas! the scholars offer their salutations to the kings
for the sake of filling their stomachs. This and other verses of the
Panchakam have phrases with double meanings . For instance , Analam can
mean in one context, the fire in the belly known as Jaataraagni ; in
another context, it can mean insufficient . the word Kukshitha: seen twice
, next to each other means Stomach at one place and kings at the other
place. The skill of the poet is abundantly seen even while tackling such a
serious theme.
Second Verse of the
Panchakam *****************************
The key message here is that "
Vaachaa Yaachamaeh na Maheeswaraan " . We will not beg even for a small
blade of grass from the kings under any circumstance .
JATARA ANALA: JALATHI KROTA
KREEDATH KRUPEETABHAVA PRABHAA PRATIPATA PATU JWAALAA MAALAA AKULA:
JWALATHU .
Let the Jataraagni (the fire in
the belly ) burn sending up flames equalling that of the intense flames of
Vatavaagni that is at the center of the oceans !
VAYAM SAAYAM SAMPPULLA MALLI
MADALLIKAA PARIMALA MUCHAA VAACHAA MAHISWARAAN TRUNAMAPI NA
YAACHAAMAEH .
We shall not ask the great
kings for even a speck of dust to reward us with the speech resembling
that of the fragrance of the mallika buds that has blossomed in the
evening.
Third Verse of the
Panchakam ****************************
YADH ANJANA AAPAM NIRAPAAYAM
DHANANJYA SYANDANA BHUSHANAM DHANAM MEH ASTHI DUREESWARA DWARA BAHIR
VITARKIKAA DURAASIKAAYAI AYAM ANJALI: RACITA:
I have that dark hued ,
imperishable wealth that sat in front of the chariot of Arjuna and
decorated that chariot. While I have that enduring wealth, why would I sit
in the outer portion of the little princelings and wait for an opportune
time to address them and plead for the granting of perishable wealth from
them. I raise my hands in salutation to say No !
Fourth Verse of the
Panchakam *****************************
APP INDHANA DHANANJAYA
PRASAMADAM DHANAM SARIRA PATANA AVATHI PRABHU NISHEVANA AAPADHANAATH
DHANDANAM DHANANJAYA VIVARDHANAM UTHUTA GOVARDHANAM SUMANASAAM
SAMAARADHANAM SUSAADHANAM APAADHANAM DHANAM
Swami Desikan uses the word
Dhanam eleven times in this verse to describe what is the Dhanam(wealth )
that one should seek . Rest of them are only for sorrow-causing purposes
because of their vanishing nature according to him.That kind of wealth is
only good to quell one"s hunger through the act of praising rich people
and serving them until the body falls on ground. That is useless compared
to the wealth that enhanced the fame of Arjuna in the battle field ,
lifted the Govardhana giri , makes the mind of good ones filled with joy,
serves to yield all types of boons and is imperishable . That then is the
true wealth to seek.
Fifth Verse of
Panchakam ************************
In the final verse , Swami
Desikan states that he did not accumulate much wealth in his lifetime; his
father did not leave him much of an estate. He however has a possession
that is superior to every other kind of wealth. That is the wealth handed
to him by his great, great, great, great grandfather, Brahmaa revered as
Varadarajan standing vigil on the top of Hasthigiri. This famous verse
summarizing the Vairaghyam and Bhakthi of Swami Desikan is as
follows:
NAASTHI PITRAARJITHAM
KIMCHITH NA MAYA KIMCHITAARJITHAM ASTHI MEH HASTHI
SAILAAGREH VASTHU PAITHAAMAHAM DHANAM
Here Swami Desikan points out
that the wealth that arose from the Agni Kuntam of the Aswamedha sacrifice
conducted by Brahma with the name of PeruraLaaLan is the greatest of
the wealth that he has acquired as eternal , everlasting family wealth .He
asks why he would go in search of any other kind of wealth under the
circumstances. This sloka alone would restore one's perspective as one
gets befuddled with the chase after material wealth in a hedonistic
fashion.
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