Sri:
It is claimed by some that Vedanta Desikar wrote the
Padhuka Sahasram - a magnificent work on the padhukais
of Lord Sri Ranganatha - due to a challenge by another
person.
It is said that Desikar was challenged to a contest of
poetry writing - apparently, the challenge was to come
up with a thousand shlokas over night - by none
other than Sri Azhagiya Manavala Perumal Nayanar, the
younger brother of Pillai Lokacharyar. Over the years,
I have seen some variations to this story. Some times
it is claimed that they both went together to Lord
Ranganatha where Nayanar expressed the desire to write
about the Lord's divine feet; at which point, Desikar
stated that one could even write about the Lord's
sandals. Some people, perhaps realizing that stating
that one acharya challenged another may not sit well
with everyone or sound apropriate, state the story but
claim that Desikar was challenged by 'some person or
some vidwan'.
Let us attempt to run a critical analysis of this story.
What we need to examine is:
1. Would an acharya challenge anyone, let alone another
acharya, to a poetry contest?
2. If so, would Azhagiya Manavala Perumal Nayanar be one
to do that?
3. And, would Vedanta Desikar be one to accept such a
challenge?
There is no evidence in our sampradhayam to show that
acharyas would go about creating or participating in
such contests. Guru Parampara has incidents of
acharyas challenging each other. But these are typically
limited to philosophical debates, where they try to win
over the opponent. As examples, we have the case of
Emeperumanar himself debating Arulalap Perumal
Emperumanar (Yagnyavalkar), and Bhattar challenging
Nanjeeyer (Vedanti). But, I don't recall seeing
anywhere that poetry contests were in vogue.
Let us next examine who Azhagiya Manaval Perumal Nayanar
was. As stated, he is the younger brother of Pillai
Lokacharyar. Pillai Lokacharyar is one of the greatest
acharyas of the Ramanuja sampradhayam and more than any
other acharya, responsible for the philosophy of
Thennacharya sampradhayam as we know it today. His
younger brother, Azhagiya Manavala Perumal Nayanar is
no less an authority in the sampradhayic matters and is
the author of the most amazing work "Acharya Hrudayam",
in addition to writing commentaries for a few works
such as Thiruppavai, Kanninun Siruththambu, etc. And
this is the acharya who is supposed to have jumped
into, or rather challenged someone - nay not anyone,
but challenged another renowned acharya to a poetry
contest.
Let us also look at the ages of these acharyas.
It is commonly accepted that Desikar lived from 1268 to
1369 CE. Pillai Lokacharyar's period on this earth lasted
from 1205 to either 1311 or 1325 CE. Nayanar is said to
have been born two years after Pillai Lokacharyar and
lived to the age of 100 years. Therefore, his period
would have been 1207-1307 CE. This puts the age
difference between Mayanar and Desikar at 61 years!
And this is the acharya who is said to have decided to
challenge Desikar to a poetry writing contest.
Let us look at Nayanar's works. They are all toward
writing prose. His magnum opus Acharya Hrudayam is prose.
His other works are prose commentaries. Why would such a
person decide suddenly that he could write poetry? And, to
top it, decide to challenge Desikar, a renowned poet?
Seems pretty far fetched!
Let us see if Desikar would have been one to accept such
a challenge had it actually occured. There is a biography
of Desikar that I read once which stated that at one time
Nayanar challenged Desikar to a philosophical debate and
that Desikar out of respect to another acharya of the
sampradhayam turned down the request. However, it is being
claimed that Desikar later got into a poetry contest with
the same acharya. It is extremely hard to imagine why a
debate, which is a more natural order of things for
acharyas to get into, is said to have been turned down and
yet a poetry contest became acceptable to Desikar!
Desikar's life history shows him to be a model of
humility. At one time, when he was living in dire poverty
and surviving on alms, he was invited by his childhood
friend Sri Vidyaranyar to visit the court of the king
where Vidyaranyar was the court poet. For sure, he could
have helped Desikar materially in a long way. However,
Desikar responded with his Vairagya Panchakam - showing
his disdain for worldly things. Yet, such a vairagya
shIla, is suddenly shown to have jumped into a poetry
contest!
Finally - Nayanar's grand work Acharya Hrudayam is on
Swami Nammazhvar and was written to prove the validity of
his prabandham Thiryvaymozhi when Azhvar's caste and
thereby his work was questioned by someone. Desikar's
Padhuka Sahasram deals with the maNi pAdhukais of Lord
Ranaganatha which is none other than Nammazhvar. To claim
that the two would have a contest on Nammazhvar is naive
to say the least.
There is nothing to show in the history of Nayanar or
Desikar that either would indulge in such antics. The
inevitable conclusion that all this leads to, is such a
contest never took place.
It is only when such stories are dropped and an
understanding achieved of the grand respect that our
pUrvAcharyas had for each other, that we would begin to
understand what Srivaishnava sampradhayam truly stood and
stands for.
adiyEn madhurakavi dAsan
__________________________________
Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005
http://mail.yahoo.com
------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->
Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. Make Yahoo! your home page
http://us.click.yahoo.com/dpRU5A/wUILAA/yQLSAA/.itolB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~->
azhwAr emberumAnAr jeeyAr thiruvadigalE saranam
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ramanuja/
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
ramanuja-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
|
Home Page
http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia |
ramanuja-subscribe@yahoogroups.com To subscribe to the list |