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Oppiliappan List Archive: Message 00077 Oct 2003

 
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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,

The century and a half- which passed after Sri Ramanuja produced many 
critics of his system, who brought to bear against it all the skill and 
learning of which they were capable. Then there descended in to this world, 
the great Acharya, Sri Vedantha Desika, [1268 CE] the greatest among the 
master intellects ever produced. The gifts of natural talent, memory and 
intelligence with which he was endowed with were of such highest order that, 
by the age of twenty, he attained mastery of all vidyas and thereby acquired 
intellectual equipment covering the entire range of literary, ethical and 
religious wisdom handed down from the past. Such was the superhuman 
pre-eminence to which he quickly rose among the scholars of his age and 
that, in every field of knowledge, poetic, dialectics, religions, logic and 
philosophy, that he was acclaimed and accepted as an Avatara purusha by 
almost all his contemporaries.

The dizzy eminence he reached in the domain of philosophy and dialectics is 
only matched by the brilliance of his intellectual energy exhibited in every 
one of his writings. [we will see and enjoy them all briefly] It is no 
exaggeration to say that the moral and intellectual forces that radiated 
from the long line of great poorvacharyas of the Visishtadvaita School were 
all more genuinely and actively embodied in him that in any other religious 
teacher known to history. The powerful influence that he exercised, as much 
during his life as after, is in no small measure due to the fascination of 
his great and attractive personality which was an embodiment of uprightness 
and nobility, simplicity and wisdom. No frame work in which we try in words 
to enclose this towering personality, can do justice to the varied powers of 
his intellect, the wide range of his knowledge, or the burning faith of his 
simple life. No wonder than eminent scholars even of divergent faiths and 
religious thoughts joined in paying their unstinting homage to his greatness 
as a thinker, writer and poet. He built a fortress for Ramanuja drasanam so 
that no other non vedic religious scholars can destroy the green fertile 
fields of Ramanuja siddhantham.

Among the renowned acharyas who have been born in the Great Bharatha varsha, 
the unquestioned and unquestionable pre-eminent place belongs to 
Acharyavarya, Swami Nigamantha Mahadesikan, the luminary among Acharyas.. If 
all other sthothras (verses) shine forth because of their literary merit, 
devotional involvement and mantric qualities, the sthothras by Swami Desika 
stand apart and distinct on a much higher pedestal. Swami Desika whose 
erudition, ease of flow of language, command in diction and inherent power 
to mix the Bheejaaksharams in them are unexcelled. In such circumstances, it 
is no wonder that the best religious literature in Sanakrit and Tamil 
pertaining to Vishsitdavita are those bestowed on us by Swami Desika. Let us 
glean the various incidents of Swami?s life in detail before looking at the 
sthothras.

Let us enjoy the life history now from tomorrow.

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

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