SrI:
Dear Swami
Desika BhakthAs:
Srimad
VedamArgEdhyAdhi SrIvaNN SaThakOpa SrI VeerarAghava SaThakOpa
Yadheendhra MahA Desikan adorned the SrI Matam Peetam as the 37th Pattam
Azhagiya Singar .His avatAram was in KrOthi year , Maasi ,
Sukla
Paksha DhvAdasi , when Pushya nakshatram
was in ascendance (
Feb 1845) . He was born in a village named PiLLaipAkkam , which is two miles
to the
south east of SrIperumbhUthUr , the avatAra sthalam of AchArya
RaamAnuja .
He was blessed with
Pancha SamskAram from Periya ParanthUr Srimad Azhagiya
Singar
( 33rd Pattam) . He
performed Bhara nyAsam at the sacred feet of Atthipattu Azhagiya
Singar ( 34th
Pattam ). He entered into SanyAsa AaSramam in 1897 C.E ( Year
hEviLambi).
As a Sanyasi , he
was called by Malolan to become the 37th PeetAdhipathi of SrI Matam
during
Thai maonth, 1898 .
He stayed only one year on the peetam and attained His
AchAryan
Thiruvadi on VikAri
Samvatsaram ( 1899) ,Marghazhi PourNami .
He has performed
many kaimkaryams at ThiruveLLUr and Thiruvaheendhrapuram
and has
authored atleast 32 SrI Sookthis during His PoorvASramam . It is our
bhAgyam to have covered " Saareeraka SuprabhAtham " as the 108th ebook in the Ahobilavalli
series
PiLLaippAkkam
Srimad Azhagiya Singar observed His one and only ChAthurmAsyam as SrI
Matam
PeetAdhipathi in
1899 C.E at Thiruvaheendhrapuram . Exactly One hunderd years later,
Prakrutham Srimad Azhagiya Singar observed His 8th ChAthurmAsyam
at
Thiruvaheendhrapuram itself and like His predecssor
enjoyed
the MangaLAsAsanam of SrI HemAbhjavalli samEta Sri DevanAthan and Swamy
Desikan .
During the 1899 C.E
PurattAsi BrahmOtsavam for Swamy Desikan , Srimad PiLLaippAkkam Azhagiya
Singar
enjoyed the utsavam for Swamy Desikan and blessed us with a grantham named
by Him as " VedAntadEsikOtsava MaalA ". This AchArya
SrI
Sookthi has been translated from its grantha lipi to Tamil by MeemAmsa SirOmaNi Sri
ArasANippAlai D.Gopala DesikAchArya Swamy and released
by Prakrutam Srimad Azhagiya Singar at Thiruvaheendhrapuram on Sep
8 , 1999 during His ChAturmAsyam at Thiru Ayindhai .
There are 45
slOkams in SrI VedAntadEsika Utsava Maalika . adiyEn is fortunate to
translate
these slOkams into
English and release it in the SrI HayagrIvan series of ebooks .
SlOkam 1: AchArya
Vandhanam
VedAntadESiakm natvaa tadhagryOtsava
vaibhavam
VeerarAgveeSa SaThajith yathirvadhati
Saktita:
(Meaning) : Srimad Azhagiya Singar
extends His PraNAmams first to Swamy
Desikan and performs the
sanklapam ( takes the vow) to describe the glories
of Swamy Desikan's PurattAsi MahOthsavam
. Srimad
Azhagiya
Singar observes modestly that He will attempt to describe the glories of the utsavam to the best
of His ability
.
(Observations): The dhivya dEsam of
Thiruvaheendhrapuram is a tranquil village known for the dhivya soundharyam of
the
dhivya Dampathis
, Garuda Nadhi and Oushadha Giri ,where Swamy Desikan was blessed by Lord HayagrIvan
.The VaishNava
Samooham there is known for its scholarship.It is no wonder that the tranquil anubhavam of
Srimad Azhagiya Singar's stay at Thiruvaheendhrapuram transformed in to a fast flowing
Bhakthi
PravAham . He rememberd that Swamy Desikan
Himself spent a
significant period of His life performing MangaLASAsanam of the dhivya dampahtis here and
engaged
in srEshta Grantha
nirmAnam ( Sri DevanAyaka
PanchAsath , SrI Achyutha Satakam
, Para Mata Bangam and
Tamil Prabhandhams like MummaNikkOvai,Navaratna MaalikA et al . PiLlaipAkkam Azhagiya
Singar was soaked in
the bliss of enjoying Swamy Desikan's uthsavams here and blessed us with
a Ratna MaalikA of His
own .
SlOkam 2: Request
for AparAdha KshAmaNam
VedAntArya-mahOtsavasya vibhavam bhAtrE
VikAryABdhakE
kluptasyAhipatE:
PurE VibhudharAD HemAmbhujAbhyAm mudhA
gacchantO
vivarithum-adhya sahasA-arabhyastuvE kshamyatAm
yEnABdhOapi
viSEshatOarthakaraNAt saarthAabhidhObhUt-svayam
(Meaning): During this VikAri year at
Thiruvaheendhrapuram ,VedAntAchAryan's ( Swamy Desikan's) utsavam is taking place
and makes the dhivya
dampathis of Thiruvayindhai joyous .
adiyEn has started to
praise the Vaibhavam of this utsavam rather expeditiously and
adiyEn should be forgiven for my speed propelled by the
excitement of this dhivyAnubhavam .The name of this Samvatsaram
, VikAri, suggests that it is an year with many
variations. In concordance with the name of VikAri , the
utsavam has multifacted Vaibhavams and is insatiable to enjoy
. This "viSEsha artha kAranam " associated with the name of this
year as VikAri is reflected in the multileveled and unique
glories of this utsavam .
( Comments):
Srimad Azhagiya Singar identifies
this utsavam as VedAntArya utsavam.
VedAntArya
is the title given by Lord RanganAthaa to Swamy Desikan
in
recognition of Swamy's extraordinary skills in
debating
and defeating the Paramata Vaadhins and providing ViSEsha VaakyArthams . Lord
DevanAthan is saluted as VibhudharAD , a salutation used
by Swamy Desikan in Sri DevanAyaka PanchAsat
.Srimad
Azhagiyar confesses that the description
of the Vaibhavam of the
utsavam is pouring out of Him rapidly (sahasA
AarabhyastuvE ) and asks for the pardon of the Lord and His BhAgavathAs for any
apachAram resulting from his
enthusiasm.
SlOkam 3: Mirror
Room sEvai
SvOadarSOpakramE
mEajani mahadhivas-sadhmani-prApnuAdhiti
adhyaivAdarSasadhmOtsavamiha tanavai
DevanAthAya-poorvam
dEvyaichArhO
nivEdhyahyanubhavithumaham nAnyathEti prayukta:
SrImAn
VedAntasUrir-mukuragraham neetavAn DevanAtham
(Meaning &
comments): Tomorrow the utsavam begins with
sEvai of Swamy Desikan in the mirror room.The thought that He
has to go ,
where the mirror room (kaNNAdi aRai) was . That made
Him decide that the Mirror room
sEvai should take place today itself and that His Lord should enjoy FIRST the Mirror
room sevai with
His ubhaya NaacchiyArs and Himself .Swami
requested therfore
the KaimkaryaparALs to carry
the dhivya dampathis on their shoulders for the
Mirror
room sEvai that night itself. Swamy asked the
kaimkaryaparALs to extend the appropriate poojA
vidhAnam ( AarAdhanam ) for HemAbhjavalli as
well .In the utsavam earmarked
for Him ,it is usual to expect that Swamy Desikan
related celebrations will take precedence .
Swamy defers
however to His Lord and preferred the enjoyment of His Lord First ("DevanAthAya Pooravm")
at the Mirror room and He led His Lord first
to the Mirror room
("NeetavAn DEvanAtham") .
Lord
DevanAthan enjoyed the reverential protocol established by His
dear one.
SlOkam 4:
DhvajArOhaNam & First day PuRappAdu
tushtou thau Dampathee cha
Sruti-sikhara-gurum svaikabhaktam
svasoonum
sambhAvyAdarSasadhmOtsavamati-vibhavannEtu-masya
prabhAtE
vastram hamsadhvajAgrE
sumahitasamayE sAstrareetyAdhirOpya
BrahmAdhridhvAra-mArgAt
samanayadhakhilaam veethikAm
bhrutyavargai:
( Meaning and Comments) :
The dhivya dampathis of Thiruvaheendhrapuram
were very pleased
with the gesture of Their son and bhaktan .They honored
Swamy Desikan for
His asanchala (steadfast) bhakti . They wanted to
perform that morning ( First day Morning) the utsavam in the Mirror room
for the
VedaAntAchArayn ; They organized it and also the flag hoisting ceremony.
Next the
divine couple commanded
Their kaimkaryaparALs to carry Swamy
Desikan
via BrahmAdhri Entrance to the
temple and from there into Their royal streets for bhavani
.
" Sruti-SEkhara Guru" is the Trayyanta Desikan (VedAnta
Desikan).He is Their own ( the Divine Couple's) devout bhaktan (svaika bhaktan) and Their own son ( sva soonu) . They were overjoyed at the beginning
of the Utsavam
for Their son ( tushtou
thau Dampathee) .They honored
Swamy Desikan and celebrated
grandly the Mirror room utsavam on that morning (
sambhAvyaadarSa-sadhmOtsavam ativibhavannEtu
).Next , they
ordered the DhvajArOhaNam according to the ways prescribed by the Aagamam (
Vastram sumahita samayE sAstra-reetya
adhirOpya )
. BrahmAdhri dhvAra maargam is the entrance to
the temple from the
side of Garuda nadhi . The divine couple arranged for the Veedhi sanchAram to start via
BrahmAdhri vAsal .With
the assembly of KaimkaryaparALs , the procession
went around the Raaja
Veedhis of Thiruvaheendhrapuram .
The Fifth SlOkam :
The First night of the Utsavam: VimAna PuRappAdu
tathrAtraou
nyASavidhyA-sakalaphalakaree satyamEtadhvimAnE
tishDan sOaham
Braveemityakhila Budhajanam BOdhayan DeSikEndhra:
chApEnaavidhyalakshyam svakaramabhinayan
vyOmayAnEadhirOhan
samSrAvyAmnAyayugmam PhaNipatinagaree veethikA:
paryagacchat
(Meaning
& Comments): During the first night of the utsavam
,Swamy Desikan travels
around the Raaja Veedhis of His Lord's dhivya dEsam on the vyOma vimAnam . He travels to
the accompaniment of Veda GhOsham and Dhivya Prabhandha PaarAyaNam . While being seated in the
vimAnam , He assures us that the NyAsa VidhyA ( Prapatthi anushtAnam) is the
yielder of all Phalans including Moksham . All phalans sought in this world and
the other are realized thru the observance of Prapatthi at the Lord's
sacred feet and laying the protection of the soul at
His Lotus feet . A ParamaikAnthi
Prapannan places his entire trust in the Lord and carries on the dEha yAtraa
here until departure from this world ( dEha vyOham) .They believe in the Lord's
assurance : " na mE Bhakta: praNaSyati ". KaDa
Upanishad has explained how to approach the Prapatti . This Upanishad instructs:
" AatmAnam rathinam viddhi" ( Consider AatmA as the
Master of the chariot , treat manas as the bridle , Buddhi as the Saaraty
and the senses as the horses that
draw the chariot . Swamy Desikan's seating on the VimAnam chariot reminds us of
this upadEsam . The other instruction from Swamy Desikan thru the ridership on
the VyOma VimAnam is about the MuNdaka Upanishad mantram
:
dhanur-gruheetvA
oupanishadham mahAstram
Saram-hyupAsA
niSittam sandhayeeta
Aayama tath
bhAvagatEna chEtasA lakshyam
tatEvAksharam
sOmya Viddhi --Mundakam : 2.2.3
Swamy Desikan's instructions are
: "Take hold of the bow named PraNavam well described by the Upanishads , fix on
that bow the arrow ( the powerful weapon named Aatman , sharpened by the
meditation on the Lord) and draw the string with a mind eager to attain Him . Oh
Good looking one ! know the target for the arrow is the immutable
ParamAtman. The
ACT of drawing upon the bow refers to the ceaseless rememberance of the
Sesha-Seshi relationship between the JeevAtman and the
ParamAtman .
Swamy Desikan also reminds us of
the next mantram
related to NyAsa VidhyA as He sits on the VyOma VimAnam travelling in the
Veethis of Thiruvaheendhrapuram :
PraNavO dhanu: SarO
hyAtmA Brahma tallakshyamuchyatE
apramattEna
vEddhavyam SaravattanmayO bhavEth --Mundakam 2.2.4
Here , the VedAntAchArya
instructs us that the PraNavam is the bow and th Atman is the arrow .Brahman is
the target . That target should be hit by a man , who is not erring . He
should become one with the target( ParamAtman) ."
apramattEna " here refers to the wielder of the bow and arrow to be
averse to all things other than the
ParamAtman.
Swamy Desikan's upadEsams on
NyAsa VidhyA are in many SrI Sooktis like SaraNAgati
dheepika , NyAsa Trayee ( NyAsa Dasakam ,NyAsa Vimsati and NyAsa Tilakam)
. These
SrI Sookthis are covered in the
Sundara Simham and Ahobilavalli ebook series.
(To Be continued )
Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil
VaradAchAri Sadagopan
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