Desika?s philosophical work in translation http://www.hindu.com/br/2007/08/07/stories/2007080750051400.htm M.NARASIMHACHARY TATTVAMUKATAKALAPA of Sri Vedanta Desika ? Part I: With word to word meaning and explanation in Tamil by V. Vasudevachariar; Pub. by Ubhayavedanta Grantha Amritam, 11, Hasthigiri Street, West Mambalam, Chennai-600033. Rs. 250. Venkatanatha (1268-1369 A.D) was the brightest star in the firmament of Srivaishnava religion and philosophy of the post-Ramanuja period. He had several significant titles like Sarvatantra Svatantra, Kavitarkika Simha and Vedanta Desika. He strode the field like a colossus. Author of about 120 works composed in Sanskrit, Prakrit, Tamil and Manipravala, he was held in high esteem even by those who belonged to rival schools of thought. Of the philosophical works composed by Desika in Sanskrit, the Tattvamuktakalapa, the book under review occupies a pre-eminent position. It is in this work that he explained all the subtle points of Visishtadvaita philosophy in a lucid and succinct manner. So as to make sure that the concepts are clearly understood by the readers, Desika himself wrote a commentary on it, which is popularly known as Sarvarthasiddhi. Though a commentary, it is considered by scholars as an independent work. This and his other monumental work Satadushani proved formidable to the rival schools of thought. Features Traditional scholars say that one who has mastered the Tattvamuktakalapa will be in a position to defeat debaters belonging to rival schools of thought. Since the entire text is in the form of verses, it will be easy to commit them to memory. The text is in the form of logical arguments, without transgressing the Vedic teaching. There are 500 verses in the Tattvamuktakalapa, divided into five books called Saras (strands of pearl garlands). They are: Jada, Jiva, Nayaka or Isvara, Buddhi and Adravya. It is said that Desika first wrote the Tattvamuktakalapa and then the Nyayasiddhanjana. In both these works, he had explained the nature of different categories. The main difference between these woks is that the Tattvamuktakalapa examines and repudiates other schools of thought whereas the Nyayasiddhanjana explains the categories in a logical manner, without entering into a detailed examination of rival schools. The book contains an excellent, lucid and reliable Tamil translation of the first three sections of this monumental work of Desika. It presents the original Sanskrit verses in Devanagari script, and gives a word-to-word meaning followed by a detailed explanation in Tamil. It contains useful forewords by learned scholars and provides an admirable summary of the contents of the three sections in an appendix. The translator, Vasudevachariar, who is a versatile scholar of great eminence, deserves our appreciation for this publication, which makes the terse and turgid work of Desika, simple and understandable for the Tamil knowing people ____________________________________________________________________________________ Take the Internet to Go: Yahoo!Go puts the Internet in your pocket: mail, news, photos & more. http://mobile.yahoo.com/go?refer=1GNXIC Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Oppiliappan/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Oppiliappan/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:Oppiliappan-digest@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx mailto:Oppiliappan-fullfeatured@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <*> 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/
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