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SriRangaSri List Archive: Message 00047 Oct 2002

 
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/Om namo nArAyaNAYa ||
/Shri nigam/Anta dESikAya namaH ||

/namastE Shri Vijay. May I add to your admirable write-up on the prolific 
creativity of /acarya Shri /nigam/Anta dESikar a statement which sheds some 
light on his times?

His /abhIti/stavam is a master piece of a historical document. Written in great 
anguish and addressed to Goddess ShrI, it sets forth a gruesome portrayal of 
the plunder and carnage in srI/rangap paTTiNam of the present /karnATakA 
carried out by a muslim king. I began translating it, but gave up, beacuse it 
is difficult and also gruesome. It seems that the /vijaya/nagarA kingdom was 
founded by /srI vidyAranhA after reading this poem and address. The king was so 
moved that he made a vow to establish the kingdom, which, we all know, went on 
to enter the annals of history for all times to come. To the vijaya/nagarA 
kingdom, we owe the preservation of a good part of our heritage, which they 
cultivated with great love and dedication in the spirit of a /kainkaryA. 

This information may be found in some of the postings in the list: 
indiancivilization@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 

/svAmi dEshikar also appears to be an /acAryA forming a watershed in the sense 
that after him the nature of the /kainkaryAs and other fundamenatal forms of 
worship and missionary work tend to change slowly. This is not because the next 
line of /AcAryAs was wanting change. It seems that the damage done by the 
muslim invaders was so vast and deep that fundamental forms of sustenance of 
religious worship had to be reconstructed often under disguise. This meant 
sacrifice of the more refined work at least temporarily.

There is none to equal /svAmi SRI dESikar after him. Again this is probably due 
to historic trends. 

But great /AcAryAs not only are great teachers, but also they make history. 
Thus /acArya SrI dEshikar belongs to the lineage of /AcAryAs which includes srI 
SankarA and srI rAmAnujA. 

I am also fascinated by the great /AcAryA's title: /nigam/Anta dESikan. As much 
as I admire /AcharyA ShrI dESikar, who earned that title, I admire even more 
the person who coined the title. Do you know who gave the /AcAryA his title? 
Were there many /AcAryAs who earned that title? Today there are so many 
/padma/srIs, /kalA/nidhIs etc. Similarly, was there a tradition offering this 
title every so many years? If so, who were some of the title holders? 

Thanks and warm regards.

/nalan/tarum collai nAn kaNTu/koNtEn; /nArAyaNA ennum nAmam. 

Visu








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