SrI:
Dear BhakthAs :
As the Thirunakshathram day of Swamy Desikan
approaches ( October 5 ) , adiyEn's mind
is racing towards the translation of Swamy
DEsikan's Prabhandhams . Prior to that , it is
important to have the wonderful summary ofthe
scope and content of Swamy Desikan's
Darsana Saara Sangraham as bequeathed to us by my
First AchAryan , Sri Vangipuram
Navaneetham SrI SrIramadesikAcchAr Swamy of
Oppiliappan Sannidhi . adiyEn has
just translated below his magnificent summary,
which is the essence of Swamy Desikan's
Prabhandhams. This should serve as a fitting
introduction to the 405 Paasurams
constituting the entire (19) Desika Prabhandhams
.Here is that Summary.
1. Only Vedam is the Moola PramANam
************************************************
Every one born in this universe should clearly
understand the three Tatthvams
(ChEthanam , achEthnam and Iswaran) ,
perform one of the two anushtAnams
( Bhakthi Yogam and Prapatthi Yogam)and
attempt to gain the PurushArTam of
Moksham . All of these are contained in
the different Veda BhAgams . Vedam
is the hand lamp for all of us in this
SamsAric world. Vedam alone stands as
the eternal/timeless (anAdhi) , limitless
(anantham ) and not composed by any
humans ( apourushEyam) and as an independent
PramANam ( as Svathanthra
PramANam that does not depend on anything
else). All the SaasthrAs become
PramANams (means of valid knowledge,
evidence) with the help of Vedams.
AzhwArs out of their infinite mercy to uplift
the human beings from their
samsAric sorrows analyzed the inner
meanings of Veda-VedAnthams
and blessed us with the essence of them
through their 4000 Divine Collect
(NaalAyira Dhivya
Prabhandham).
2. The AzhwArs
*******************
There are ten AzhwArs ( Pathinmar): Poyghai,
BhUtham , pEy , Thirumazhisai ,
NammAzhwAr , KulasEkarar , PeriyAzhwAr , ThoNDaradippodi , ThiruppANar,
and Thirumangai .
Since they were totally immersed in BhagavAn's GuNAnubhavam
(Aazhnthu kidanthamayaal ) , they are saluted
as "AazhwArs". They are all
avathAra PurushAs ( Incarnation of either
Nithya sooris/eternally liberated jeevans,
or Bhagavan's weapons or AabharaNams).
Many were not born in human wombs
(ayOnijAs). Besides the above ten AazhwArs, the
Paasurams of ANDAL
(the avathAram of the divine consort of the Lord )
, Madhura Kavi ( Key
disciple of Swamy NammAzhwAr ) and
Thiruvarangatthu AmudhanAr
( Disciple of Swamy KurEsar) make upthe 4000
Divine collect. Among all
the ten AzhwArs, Swamy NammAzhwAr is the most
important . He is revered
as Prapanna SanthAna Kootasthar . The sweetness and
the depth of meaning
of Swamy NammAzhwAr's ThiruvAimozhi is
indescribable. The commentary
on ThiruvAimozhi is known as Bhagavath
Vishayam.
3. The AchAryAs
********************
SrIman NaarAyaNan is the First and Foremost
AchAryan for all chEthanams.
MahA Lakshmi (Periya PirAtti) is the second in the
line of AchAryaas. VishvaksEnar
is third in this line. Only after theabove
three , the BhUlOka AchArya Paramparai
comes into being and Swamy NammAzhwAr is the first
among the BhUlOka
AchAryAs. VishvaksEnar descended from
Vaikuntam to earth and performed
Pancha SamskArams for Swamy NammAzhwAr and became thus his AchAryan.
Swamy NammAzhwAr is not only the first among the AzhwAr GhOshti
but also in our AchArya Paramparai .
Swamy Naatha MUni is the next AchAryan after Swamy NammAzhwAr ,
who incarnated many centuries before Swamy Naatha Muni , who was
a MahA Yogi. In Swamy Naatha Muni's Yoga dasai (Yogic stance),
Swamy NammAzhwAr appeared and initiated him into Dhivya
Prabhandhams and became thus the direct AchAryan for Swamy Naatha Muni.
The VaishNava SampradhAya Sambhandham also was blessed to
Swamy Naatha Muni through SrI ParAnkusa Daasar , who belonged
to
the vamsam of Madhura Kavi, who in turn performed direct kaimkaryam
to Swamy NammAzhwAr duirng His stay on this earth. This connection
also led to Swamy NammAzhwAr becoming the AchAryan for Swamy
Naatha Muni seperated by few generations . After Swamy Naatha Muni ,
UyyakkoNDAr , MaNakkAl Nambi , AaLavathAr became AchAryas
in that order. Swamy AaLavanthAr was the grand son of Swamy Naatha
Muni .
He is one of the most important AchAryAs in our Guru Paramparai.
Through his maginificent SrI Sookthis like SthOthra Rathnam , Chathu: SlOki
and others , Swamy AaLavanthAr nourished our darsanam and helped
the world immensely . The key disciple of Swamy AaLavanthAr is
Periya Nambi.
4. SrI BhAshyakArar
************************
Periya Nambi's sihya is SrI BhAshyakArar ,who is
pravarthakar of
our SiddhAntham. He is known also by othernames
such as Udayavar,
RaamAnujar and YathirAjar . He is the One ,
who saved our siddhAntham
from the destruction that would have been caused to
it by other mathams.
He blessed us with nine SrI Sookthis: SrI BhAshyam
, VedAntha Dheepam ,
VedAntha Saaram , VedArTa Sangraham , GitABhAshyam
, SaraNAgathi
Gadhyam, SrI ranga Gadhyam , SrI Vaikunta Gadhyam
and Nithyam. Among
these nine blessed works, the most celebrated is
SrI BhAshyam , which is
the commentary on Sage BaadarAyaNA's Brahma
Soothrams.Swamy Desikan
states that he spent His life time studying and
intrepreting SrI BhAshyam .
AchArya RaamAnujA has instructed us that the study
of SrI BhAshyam is
the first duty and the loftiest among the
kaimkaryams to be performed by
a Prapannan.He has placed the SrI BhAshya
KaalakshEpam and teaching
of SrI BhAshyam to others as the foremost act to be performed by such
a Prapannan. If we are to think of AchArya
Paramparai as a necklace ,
then AchArya RaamAnuja is the center pieceof that
necklace ( Naayaka
MaNi for that Haaram). He collected the fragmented
AachArams and
assembled them with the help of VedAs and protected
the VarNAsrama
Dharmams from endangerment. He is the guide for all
of us through His
discovery of the inner meanings of the VedAs and
the related pramANams
and codified the way of conduct for the people of
the world . AchArya
RaamAnujA never swerved from the Saasthrams of the
Lord and His
SrI Sookthis based on them even during the
most dangerous times
in His life. It is important for us to gain a
clear comprehension of
His SrI Sookthis to understand the
SiddhAntham revered as Bhagavath
RaamAnuja SidhdAntham . This is the properway.
Anything other than
that way to
comprehend His siddhAntham could only prove harmful.
His SiddhAntham can also be understood through
KaalakshEpams at
the sacred feet of SadAchAryAs.
One of the most important disciples of AchArya
RaamAnujA was
Thirukkuruhai PirAn PILLAn , who blessed us
with the celebrated
commentary on ThiruvAimozhi known as Thiru
AaRAyirappadi.
The AchArya Paramparai after PiLLAn is KadAmpi AacchAn ,
YengaL AazhwAn , NadAthUr AmmAL and KadAmpi
AppuLLAr .
Swamy Desikan
********************
He is the celebrated sishyar of Kadampi AppuLLAr
and also
latter's nephew. We have to remember what Swamy
Desikan
said about AchArya RaamAnujA , when it comes to
Swamy
Desikan himself . Only those who have the Thiruvadi
and Thirumudi
sambhandham with AchArya RaamAnuja deserve to
occupy the throne
of AchAryAs . We do not need to seek anyone
else than Swamy Desikan
since he has blessed us with every aspect of SaasthrAs through his
vast
SrI Sookthis.That great help (MahOpakAram) has
no match. We should forever
be grateful to the Lord for blessing us with this MahOpakAram of
Swamy Desikan.
Sri Appaya Dikshithar , who wrote a
commentary for the great Kaavyam
of Swamy Desikan revered as
YaadhavAbhyudhayam has stated that
even the simplest works of Swamy Desikan has
the deepest meanings
on VedAs and SaasthrAs. Let us understand the
Post-Swamy Desikan
AchArya Paramparai form one's own
AchAryAs.
We will continue with the rest of the summary
on Desika Prabhandha Saaram
in the next postings and will
cover:
(1) The UpakAram of AchAryan
(2) Sishyan's Duties
(3) Performance of KaalkashEpam
(4)The three Rahasyams (Thirumanthiram, Dhvayam,
Charamsa SlOkam)
(5) The three Tatthvams ( ChEthanam, AchEthanam and
Iswaran)
(6) Hitham /Prapatthi/duties of
Prapannan/sinlesness of Prapannan/
anthima smruthi for Prapannan/The exit of the
Jeevan from the body of
Prapannan/travel by ArchirAdhi maargam to SrI
Vaikuntam
(7) PurushArTam / Arrival at SrI Vaikuntamand
ParipoorNa
BrahmAnubhavam there.
After covering the above topics as the high lights
of messages
housed in Desika Prabhandhams , adiyEn would start
the Kaimakryam
of translating the individual 405 Paasurams of the
19 Desika Prabhandhams .
Swamy Desikan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam
,
SrImath Azhagiya Singar Thiruvadi , Oppiliappan
Koil VaradAchAri SadagOpan
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