You are here: SriPedia - Oppiliappan - Archives - Oct 2003

Oppiliappan List Archive: Message 00097 Oct 2003

 
Oct 2003 Indexes ( Date | Thread | Author )
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]


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,

Returning from Tirumala, Tottarambha was thus blessed to become pregnant. 
With the growth of the divine child in her womb day by day, her whole body 
shone with extraordinary lustre. It was the month Purattasi in the year 
Vibhava according to Tamil almanac (September- October 1268 CE) Sravana 
nakshathra (ThiruvONam star) a day that is dedicated to Lord Srinivasa at 
Thirumala, in which a special function is conducted at the conclusion of the 
annual Brahmmothsavam when thousands of devotees, old and young, rich and 
poor, congregate bathe in scared waters of Swami pushkariNi tank, when the 
deity has ablution and experience immense joy. On the very sacred day 
Tottarambha gave birth to a baby at the most auspicious moment. After the 
conduct of the preliminary ceremonies the infant was given the name of Sri 
Venkatanatha, the name of Lord Venkatesa since the child was born by His 
grace and that too on the day dedicated to him.

Sri Venkatanatha himself gives us information about his parentage, birth 
etc., in the Prastavana (Prologue) of his play Sankalpa Sooryodhaya. It is 
considered by wise men that the bell of Hari was born as Vedantha Desika. 
This is done on the strength of abundant and appropriate reasons.

uthprEkshyathE budha janaihrupapatti bhUmnA ghaNTa harai samajanishta 
yadAthmanEthi. [sankalpa sooryodhaya- Act 1.14]

The contemporaries and successor of Vedanta Desika were so much impressed 
with his superior knowledge and service to humanity, by means of his works 
in Sanskrit and Tamil as well as his discourses that they considered him as 
an incarnation of Lord Venkateswara Himself or of Sri Ramanuja. Sri Desika?s 
son Sri Kumaravaradacharya, in his Desika mangaLa sthOthra mentions the 
same: May all auspiciousness be with Sri Vedantha Desika about whom 
different views are held that he is an incarnation of Lord Venkatesa or he 
was the his Divine Bell incarnate or a part of Acharya Ramanuja himself.

vEnkatESAvathArOyam thadgaNTASOthavaath bhavEth |
yatheendrAmSOThavEthyEvam vitharkyAyAsthu mangaLam ||

Again, Kumara varadacharya mentions in Tamil Desika Prabandham PiLLai 
anthAdhi, an eulogy on Sri desika- In times of yore, Bhagawaan created the 
world and revealed the Vedas and the Saasthras pregnant with noble ideas. 
Then he showed and installed himself with great love as Lord Srinivasa at 
Tirumala. Later on in Kaliyuga, he took birth as Venkatanatha, the acharya 
endowed with world wide repute and dispelled the evils prevalent on earth.

anRu ivvulaginaiaakki arum poruL nool viritthu ninRu than neeL pugazh 
vENkatamaamalai mEvippinnum venRi pugazh THIRUVENKATANATHAN enRum Guruvaay 
ninRu nigazhndhu maN mEl ninRa nOygaL thavirtthananE?

Dindima Kavi (in 14th century) who was a junior contemporary of Vedanta 
Desika pays tribute to Swamy?s greatness as follows:

There was confusion all around as a result of turbid nature of Kaliyuga; the 
Vedas were in great distress; (because of misinterpretation); wise saying of 
the seers were completely ignored; there was an unholy intermixture of all 
castes; and quite in consonance with this sorry state, all sacred epics and 
puranas lost their validity; the maayaavaada was in all glee; and the school 
of nihilism (soonya vada) was having undisputed acceptance by all. It was at 
this critical juncture that Sri Vedanta Desika came into this world as an 
incarnation of the great ringing divine bell of VishNu for the establishment 
of Dharma and its protection. He shines all victorious.

vEdhE sanjAthaKhEthE munijana vachanE prApta nitvAmsamAnE
        sankeerNE sarvavarNE sathithadhanuguNE nishpramANE purANE
mAyAvAdhE samOdhE kali kalusha vachAth SoonyavAdhE vivAdhE
        dharmathrANAya yObhUth sa jayathi BHAGAWAAN VISHNU GANTAVATHORA:
[Dindima kavi]

PrathivAdi Bhayankaram Annan (1300- 1400 CE) who was a junior contemporary 
of Swamy desika and a disciple of Sri Kumaravaracharya, gives in a nutshell 
all about the parentage, birth and education of Swamy desika in his 
saptapatiratna malika as follows:

Swamy Desika belonged to Viswamithra gothra, and was the grandson of 
Pundarikaksha- a master of several sacrifices and the son of Anathasuri like 
the moon that comes out of the ocean, rose from the womb of the gem among 
mothers, Tottarambha by name. He was admired and blessed by Sri Varadaguru 
(Nadadur Ammal). He learn all saasthras from his acharya- Sri 
Vaadhihamsaambhuvaaha (Sri Appullar). He was the father of Kumara varadarya 
Nainacharya. He was equal to Bhagawaan Purushotthama in being endowed with 
all auspicious qualities and was adorned by the title of Sarvathanthra 
swathanthar [master of all sciences].

Putro ananthArya soorE.. purusa- sama guNa: ? varadagurumatha sarvathanthra 
swathanthra: [Saptapati ratna malika]

Venkatanatha:- the precocious Boy

Samskaras like Jatakarana, Namakarana, anna praasana and Chaula are laid 
down by saasthras to a child from the time of birth onwards at different 
periods of its life. Anantasuri conducted duly all of them to his son, 
Venkatanatha and the child gerw up in an atmosphere of devotion to Bhagawaan 
and his bhakthas and of spiritual knowledge.

Even as a young boy Sri Venkatanatha was very intelligent and quick in 
grasping and remembering things. His maternal uncle Sri appuLLAr took a 
great interest in his upbringing. He would take him to the temple of Lord 
Varadaraja. Venkatanatha would worship the Lord with folded hands and as 
much as devotion as his uncle did. He would listen from him the stories of 
Rama, Krishna avatarams, and about their qualities, exploits all of which 
left a deep impression in child?s mind at such a tender age of five. After 
writing many books of learning and high philosophy, Sri Venkatanatha himself 
writes in Rahaysathrayasara: his magnum opus, thus:- All that I have said so 
far- is the result of the training given to me by my uncle and Acharya, 
Appullar with love and perseverance even as the words of a pet parrot are ? 
that has been taught by its loving and caring master.

It was a memorable day in the life of Sri Venkatanatha when he was just a 
boy of five. Appullar took him as usual to the temple of Varada where his 
acharya Nadaur Ammal was expounding Sri Bhashya to his disciples. The bright 
and promising five year old boy Venkatanatha attracted everyone?s attention, 
including that of Sri Nadadur Ammal. Ammal enquired about him and his 
upbringing. Hence there was a break in the instruction. All of them were as 
much absorbed in hearing about the boy that they forgot the trend of the 
lesson. The young boy, with the permission of the teacher, lisped out the 
words to the surprise of all. Nadadur ammAL was so much pleased and overawed 
by the intelligence of the boy that he immediately blessed him with long 
life, right knowledge and world wide reputation.

prathishtApitha vEdAntha: prathikshiptha bahirmatha:
bhUyAsthrai vidhya mAnyasthvam bhUrikalyANa bAjanam
[sankalpa suryodhayam]

You will establish Vedantha on a firm basis and refute that doctrine of its 
opponents. May you be held in great esteem by scholars well versed in three 
Vedas. May you be the recipient of all that is auspicious in great measure.

This sloka occupies a unique place in the life of Venkatanatha. It is like a 
fertile seed sown in his mind from which grew beautiful garden of his 
scholastic life. Even today we can see a picture connected with this 
incident painted in colour on the ceiling in front of Kacci Vaitthaan 
mandapam in Varadaraja temple. In it, Acharya Nadadur ammAL blesses the boy 
Venkatanatha who stands besides his uncle with respect.

Again this sloka is seen in Act II of the drama Sankalpa suryodhaya of Swamy 
Desikan where an acharya who is a sanyaasi, blesses a young disciple with 
this same sloka when he is about to go out into the world to establish the 
authoritativeness of Vishstadvaita philosophy by refuting the arguments of 
other schools of thought. It is revealed that the Acharya is none other than 
Sri Ramanuja and the disciple Vedantha Desika. Swamy desikan had a desire to 
have Acharya Ramanuja as his own acharya and he fulfilled the desire with 
this play. As Ramanuja appeared in 11h century and Swamy Desika in 13th 
century, such a thing was not possible. Swamy satisfied himself with this at 
least on a stage in a drama. So he introduced two characters in his drama, 
one Ramanuja and the other Desikan thus getting the blessing directly from 
Yathiraja, although idneirectly. Turning to his disciple AppuLLAr, Nadadur 
ammAL said: Teach your nephew all saasthras and make him a full fledged 
scholar. I would like to teach myself. But I am too old for that. He will 
certainly prove to be a great Acharya and spread the teaching of our own 
acharya Sri Ramanuja. Appullar took leave of his master and went home with 
venkatanatha.

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

_________________________________________________________________
Get 10mb of inbox space with MSN Hotmail Extra Storage 
http://join.msn.com/?pgmarket=en-sg



------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
Buy Ink Cartridges or Refill Kits for your HP, Epson, Canon or Lexmark
Printer at MyInks.com. Free s/h on orders $50 or more to the US & Canada.
http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=5511
http://us.click.yahoo.com/mOAaAA/3exGAA/qnsNAA/XUWolB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->

To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
Oppiliappan-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ 



[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next] [Date Index ] [Thread Index ] [Author Index ]
Home Page
http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia
oppiliappan-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To subscribe to the list