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Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:

 

A Debate With A Difference

 

The Guruparampara prabhAvam, dealing with the glory of our Poorvacharyas, is 
replete with instances of our Acharyas having entered into debateswith and won 
over votaries of other faiths. One might wonder-why at all should Acharyas 
bother to do this? Is it not enough if they confine their instruction to their 
own disciples? Why should they argue with others, who areequally convinced 
about their tenets? 

 

When a votary of a conflicting philosophy is permitted to have his say 
unchallenged, it amounts to its approval by the silent listeners. Approval need 
not be explicit-even non-refutation of the opponent's view is tantamount to 
acquiescence. By this token, if Acharyas were to let such challenges pass, they 
would be misunderstood to have sanctified the conflicting view withtheir seal 
of approval.

 

Secondly, when one looks at scholarly works like the Sri Bhashyam of Sri 
Ramanuja or the Paramatha Bhangam and Shatha DooshaNi of Swami Desikan, it 
would appear as though it is as much the Lord's service to expound on one'sown 
philosophy with clarity, as to point out the lacunae in the opponents'. Sri 
Nadadur AmmaL's blessing to Swami Desikan to establish the Vedantic school of 
thought after refuting the others, is proof positive that such debates were 
indeed considered to be "Kainkaryam".

"PrathishttApitha VedAnta: pratikshiptha bahirmatha:

bhooyA: traividya mAnyastvam bhoori kalyANa bhAjanam"

 

 

A third reason is the infinite mercy of Acharyas, who cannot bear to see a soul 
waste itself, while it can very well be redeemed by being shown the right path. 
Hence they try to convince the contestant of the folly of his ways and win him 
over to their fold, thus notching up their tally of saved souls.

 

There has been any number of debates of the aforesaid sort. We have heard of 
Sri PeriyAzhwar participate in a hot debate for establishing the supremacy of 
the Lord, Sri Ramanuja engage himself in a verbal battle with a thousand Jains 
at a time. We have heard too of Sri KoorattAzhwan arguing with theunyielding 
and unspeakable Kulottunga Chozha, Sri Bhattar winning over Vedanthi after 
protracted arguments spread over 9 days, Sri Nadadur Ammal debating with the 
ShAkta chieftain KeNdavara and KumbhIsuta Panditha of Kasi, Sri KidAmbi AthrEya 
RamAnuja (Swami Desikan's maternal uncle and revered Acharya) debating with 
anyone and everyone who had the temerity to oppose the Ramanuja Siddhantha and 
thereby earning the sobriquet "VAdi HamsAmbuvAha:",Swami Desikan vanquishing 
advaiti vidvAns, KrishNa Mishra: Dindima Kavi and countless others, Swami 
Desikan's prasishya Sri Prativadi Bhayankaram aNNA scoring over rivals of the 
opposing philosophical camp, etc. All these instances go to show that being 
argumentative for a good cause and to standup for one's viewpoint with the 
courage of conviction, are not bad at all.

 

All the aforesaid debates were protracted, with the opponents giving up only 
after a valiant effort. The advancing of pramANAs by rival camps and the 
proffering of arguments and counter arguments, is a time-consuming 
process,often lasting days, weeks or months, depending on the erudition and 
perseverance of the opponents.

 

However, there was a quite short debate, a debate with a difference, between 
Sri Alavandar and AkkiAzhvAn, which stands out in the annals of history as an 
unheard-of and inconceivable occurrence.

 

Veeranarayanapuram, the domicile of Sri YAmuna, fell under the jurisdictionof a 
Chozha King, whose Court Pundit was one AkkiyAzhvAn, who fancied himself as the 
uncrowned king of scholars, and, as such, used to collect tribute from all 
scholars, much in the fashion of a king. MahAbhAshya Bhatta, SriYAmuna's guru, 
also received a notice from Akkiazhwan, to remit the tribute. Unable to muster 
the sum demanded and fearing the consequences, Bhatta was in a quandary. Sri 
YAmuna, in whose presence the notice was received, tore it into pieces and sent 
a message through the soldiers who had brought it that they (Sri Alavandar and 
his guru) would not pay the tribute, come what may.

 

Summoned to the King's court for their non-compliance, Sri Yamuna and his guru 
were challenged by AkkiyAzhwan for a debate, to teach them a lesson fortheir 
impudence in defying the great man's dictates. While young Yamuna's guru was 
apprehensive of the outcome, Sri YAmuna reassured him with soothing words and 
took the burden of argument upon his young shoulders.

 

The Queen was impressed with Sri Yamuna's youthful appearance, his eyes 
sparkling with the light of knowledge, his fearless demeanour and refusal to be 
cowed down by the presence of the King and formidable scholars of proven 
repute. On impulse, she prophesied to the king that the ensuing debate would 
see Sri Yamuna emerge victor. The king made fun of her, firm in his conviction 
that AkkiyAzhwan, the seasoned soldier of several verbal battles, would make 
short work of the small boy who dared oppose him. So strong was theKing's faith 
in his man's capability, that he offered to the Queen to gifthalf of his 
kingdom to the young debater YAmuna, in the unlikely event of his winning the 
contest. The Queen responded by saying that she would be the king's life-long 
slave, if her protégé lost.

 

The Court Pundit began by addressing Sri YAmuna condescendingly, " I am notused 
to debating with small boys. I prefer to deal with scholars who are my match in 
age and erudition. However, as you have chosen to challenge me, so be it. In 
view of your age, I shall give you the opportunity to ask the first question".

 

Sri Yamuna replied-" You are very magnanimous. I shall not hold you up for 
long. All I shall make are three statements. You should prove them to be false. 
If you are unable to do this, you lose the debate."

 

Challenged thus, and making light of the apparently brash boy's naiveté, 
AkkiyAzhwan agreed and asked Sri Yamuna to proceed.

 

In his clear, piping voice, Sri Yamuna made the three statements as promised-

1. Your mother is not a barren woman.

2. This King is a "Sarvabhouma" (the ruler of all this earth)

3. This Queen is a "Pativrata" (a chaste woman).

 

Having made his statements, Sri Yamuna invited AkkiyAzhvAn to refute them, 
placing the latter in a quandary. The all-knowing scholar was flummoxed. Rack 
his brains furiously as he might, he could not find a way to establish these 
averments to be false.

Having been born to his mother, how could he accept that she was a barren 
woman? And he could deny that the King was a "Sarvabhouma" or that the Queen 
was a chaste lady, only at the peril of his life. The Pundit was caught in a 
"Catch-22" situation. If he denied that his mother was not a barren woman, 
people would make fun of him for uttering a falsehood. Similarly, if hewere to 
refute the statements about the royal couple, it would invite their immediate 
ire and indubitable imprisonment and possibly the loss of his life too. 

Reduced to tears, AkkiyAzhvAn admitted defeat.

 

However, the King was not about to hand over half of his kingdom to Sri YAmuna 
on a platter. He told Yamuna, "It is all very well to make irrefutable 
statements and ask the scholar to refute them at the risk of defeat. Can YOU 
refute these statements? I shall acknowledge your victory only if you areable 
to."

Sri Yamuna said, " If your Highness permits, I shall indeed refute these 
statements, on condition that you should not mistake me for my replies". 
Whenthe King agreed, Sri Yamuna began his refutation of his own apparently 
irrefutable averments.

 

"Shastras term the Crow and the Banana tree as barren, because they beget just 
a single offspring. While the crow gives birth to only a single baby crow 
(through a single egg), each banana tree yields just a single bunch of bananas. 
By this standard, since you too are your mother's only son, your mother can 
very well be termed barren."

 

"A SArvabhouma is one whose writ runs over the entire world, who rules overthe 
entire expanse of this broad earth. This Chozha RajA's kingdom is doubtless 
vast, but since it definitely has its frontiers, beyond which this King's 
authority is not recognized, this King is not a "SArvabhouma".

 

"The Veda mantras relating to marriage lay down clearly that every girl comes 
under the influence of SOma, Gandharva and agni, before being married off to a 
human being. The human groom is thus only the fourth in the line of possessors, 
as far as the lady is concerned.

"SOma: prathamO vividE GandharvO vivida utthara:

TritIyO agnishtE pathi: turIya: tE manushyajA:"

Says the Manthra Prasna, comprising the 81st prasna of Yajur Veda. The Queen 
too is no exception to this and hence, strictly speaking, cannot be a 
"Pativrata", though her devotion to her beloved king is beyond question and 
though she has not broken her vows of chastity and purity."

 

The King was impressed with the inoffensive way in which the three apparently 
irrefutable averments had been shown to be untrue and immediately acknowledging 
the young YAmuna's victory and living up to his promise to his Queen, 
immediately signed a decree gifting half his kingdom to the Victor.

 

Pleased beyond words at the brilliant boy's victory and much more so at 
herprophecy having come true, the Queen praised Sri YAmunA as "ALa vandhAr' 
(one who has arrived to triumph, to rule).

 

Since then, Sri YAmunA came to be known as "ALavandhAr" and went on to 
reestablish the VisishtAdvaita Sampradaya on unshakeable foundations with his 
numerous works including the Siddhitrayam (Atma Siddhi, Samvit Siddhi and 
Isvara Siddhi), Agama PrAmAnyam, Purusha Nirnayam, GIthArttha Sangraham, 
ChatusslOkI and StOtraratnam.

 

Apart from his personal efforts, he also created an eternal fund of knowledge 
through his prasishya Sri Ramanuja and his disciples, in the form of copious, 
exhaustive, inspiring and enthralling commentaries on the Brahma SutrAs, the 
Bhagavat Gita and Aruliccheyal. The immeasurable contribution of Sri YAmuna 
would be abundantly apparent from even a single sloka of the Stotra Ratna or 
ChatusslokI, which are vehicles of overwhelming devotion and verbatim 
translations of the Sudar migu Surudhi and Chandam migu Tamizh Marai.One could 
safely say, without fear of refutation, that the Stotra Ratna isthe Sanskrit 
equivalent of the ThirumAlai, every word and sentence of which melt even the 
hardest of hearts and implant the dew of devotion in the stoniest of minds.

 

"VigAhE YAmunam thIrttham sAdhu BrindAvanE sthittham

nirastha jihmaka: sparsE yatra Krishna: krithAdara:"

 

Srimate Sri LakshmINrsimha divya paduka sevaka SrivanSatakopa Sri Narayana 
Yatindra Mahadesikaya Nama:

Dasan, sadagopan.

 

 

 

 



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]





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