Vedanta Desika -111
Part 10
Swamy Desikan in Tiruvahindipuram, composed many Tamil prabhandams as per the command of Lord Sri Devanathan.During his sleep in one night in Kancheepuram, Sri Devanathan appeared in his dream and asked him to return to Tiruvahindipuram. Swamy Desikan then composed Sri Deva Nayaka Panchasath in Sanskrit, Sri Achyutha Sathakam in Prakritham and Navamanimalai, Mummnanikkovai ,Panthu , Kazhal , Ammanai , Vusal, Yesal in Tamil. In Navamanimalai prabandham He states this fact as Mummnikkovai seriya serthu, pandhu, kazhal, ammanai, vusal, yesal, paravu nanmanilai yum sonnen . But Panthu , Kazhal , Ammanai , Vusal, yesal are not available to us now.In Mummnikkovai also only ten pasurams are available now. There is one more prabandam ' Paramadabangam' written on Swamy's observations of various philosophies , he has studied while he was in Tiruvahindipuram. In part 6 Devanayaka Panchasath and Achyutha Sathakam were briefed.
32.Para matha pangam
Paramatha Pangam is full of philosophies of various thoughts comparing to our Vishishtadwaita. In that he Prays Lord Sudarsana in the beginning and in end.
Swamy Desikan's Sri Sudarsana ashtagam and SriShodasayutha sthothram were discussed in brief in part 4. Para matha pangam,a rahasya grantham in manipravalam styleis with 54 pasurams is also dedicated to Sri Sudarsana as Ezhilazhi iraivan and Sudarsanar, withpraises on Thiruvazhiazhwan in the beginning and concluding pasurams.In the very first pasuram of this prabandham, Swamy Desikan prays Lord Sudarsana to bless him for his attempts to highlight our philosophy as superioronecomparing to the other recently spread philosophies. He says the Lord Sri Sudarsana with only eight tools as enpadai enthi ninranin the beginning, but in the concluding pasuram his 16 hands with names of tools in each hand was well described.
The defects found in Madhyamika, yogasara,sauthranthika, vaibashika, Buddhism, jainism, adwaita, baskara- yadhava, vaiyakarna, gannatha, gauthama, mimamsaka, sankhya, yoga, pasupatha are outlined in the middle pasurams.As hehas provided the most logical refutation of Buddha's doctrines ,the issue of Buddha asone of the Dasavatharams of Sriman Narayana does not arise. WhileSwamy Desikanstayed inThiruvahindipuram for long period, some of the philosophers of other religious thoughts,came for a debate . Swami Desikan found the inconsistencies in all their theories and quoted them as veenartham vedantha varthai vilakkuvameanddefeated them easilyas theyare not in accordance with Vedas. Swami Desikan's argument that our sampradayam is the only correct and the best siddhantam is excellent in this prabhandam. The glorifying features in pancharathra sastra in 43 rd pasuram as odhiya panchathramukavaraiozhukkuvame , andin 47th pasuram on saranagathy tatwamas naranarke adaikalamai nanuguvure are well explained in this.As written in the last lines in 51st pasuram Pinnadi parthu nadanthu perum padam eruvame ,all srivaishnavas may follow the footsteps of our Swamy Desikan, and Sriman Narayana and receive the bountiful blessings.
33.Mummanikkovai
Swamy Desikan had a dream of Lord Sri Devanathaof Tiruvahindipuram to compose a prabhandamin Tamil onthe essence of the four Vedas . Mummanikkovai is thus written by him as very first Tamil prabhandamwith 30 pasurams.Butonly 10 pasuramsset in the anthadhi style are available to us today, and the remaining, twenty Paasurams have been lost over time(luptham) .Three aspects ofAasiriyappa,, Venpa and Kattalaikkalitthurai are found in this30 pasurams.This prabandam excels with Vyankhyartham , in which the words chosen havedhvani echoed,santhirasam, srungararasam , alankaram, adhbutha rasam, karunyam ,viram,serivu, and thelivu, and so praised asa three gems necklace( mummani) of purana , sthothra,and manthra rathnams.Swamy Desikan is said to have composed Mummanikkovai following Nammazhwar's attempts to give the essence of Rig, Yajur,Athavana vedas, in his Divya prabhnadhamsof Thiruviruttham, Thiruvasiriyam ,and Periya Thiruvandhathi .
In this Prabhandham , Swamy Desikan starts tellingabout SriHemambhujavalli Thayar in the first pasuram as Sheresides in the chest of Devanatha, who never leaves Her place of residence,in allincarnationsand in many forms.She takes divine consort corresponding to theincarnation and follows Him.She stays as a resplendent rathna dheepam and removes all our dark cloud of Agnanam . She listens to the soulful cries of the suffering samsaris , recommendingfor forgiving their trespasses and thus destroys their karmas. She makes those , who sought refugeand shines as the Parama Daya Moorthy.In4th pasuram of this prabhandam, uyarntha Nee Unnai yemmudan kalanthanai
Ayindhai Maa-naharil amarnthai yemakkai Swamy Desikan commends Devanathan's permanent residence in Tiruvahindipuram asHe has blended with us to bless us and for us to have the nectarine experience of enjoying Hislimitless auspicious attributes isto be acclaimed much. Theglories of Dasavatharam of the Lord asMathsya,Koorma , Varaha , Narasimha , Vaamana , Parasurama ,Rama , Krishna,so far and is going to take Kalki avatharam later to reduce the burden of the world is well narratedin thisPaasuram .
Further encomiums in 8th pasuram asthunaivanum Neeye inai ilayathalin thuyyanum Neeye Seyyaluraithlin karanam Neeye Naarananathalin Karpaham Neeye Nall padham tarutalin Iraivanum Neeye kurai onru ilamayin inbhamum Neeyeas"He is our fitting companion ,asthere is no one to match Him. Heis the purest One as Mahalakshmiresides on His chest without separation.He isthecausefor this universe , as He isrecognized by the Narayana sabdham.He isthe wish granting Kalpaka tree asHebless us to perform nithya kaimkaryam.He isthe Sarveswaran as Healone do not have any blemishes or deficiency. He isparamanandha swaroopan asHedrive away all sorrowswho seek His refuge". In tenth pasuram,Swamy Desikan's experience of Devanathan like Nammazhwar's divine experience with Sriman Narayana is revealed fully.
34. Navamani Malai
Navamanimalai isnine gems (paasurams )strung together in the form of a beautiful ornament (necklace)on glorious features ofSriDevanatha of Tiruvahindhrapuram . Swamy named this as Navarathnamalai, . But as this has all the nine elements such asVennba it is called as Navamanimalai . Whether it isNavaMani or Nava rathnam it isonly the nine gems blessedas a treasure to us.As this is a rare one in Tamil poems, the word 'Nava which means' New ' is alsoapt to this prabhandam Navamanimalai.
The first pasuram isa sixteen lined verse inFour quartets . The glory of the Lord's sacred feet are is well describedin this paasuram.Thirukkudanthai SrimadAndavan Swamigal in his lecture on Srimad Ramayanam humorously toldKambar's "Kaivannam angu kande kal vannam ingu kanden" the word 'kal vannam' is correct in the sense that he has described only one fourth (Kal in Tamil means'one fourth' and' leg ').Swamy Desikan has described fully about this in His Navamani malaiin the very first pasuram starting as oru mathi anbar ulam kavarnthana .Swamy Desikan says as the sacred lotus feet of SriDevanathan ,is true to devotees , gives pleasure totheir minds ,and make them for complete meditation.The sacred feet then riseto a maximumsize and contained all the worlds under them .Similar to that in all avatharams are done.
In the second Paasuramsalutations to Dasavatharam in 20 lines is done .In pasuram 5 'irulum arulum tharum annal" is similar to lines in Gopala vimsathi 12th slokam as mama anthima prayane . Anjel enru arul in 7th pasuram is similar to'Ma sucha' in Srimad Bhagavath Gita. Anjal Anjal Anjal endru alikka vendum in pasuram 8 refers Gajendra Moksham episode.
Swamy Desikan concludes this as " Munthai marai mozhi vazhi mozhi nee yenru
Mukundhan arul thantha payan petren nane "as He has done composing Prabhandams on Srisookthis in line with meaning of ancient Vedasas per His command.
A Request
SwamyDesikanwroteboth prose and poetry excellently. All his writings are precise, simple, well versed both in Sanskrit, Tamil,Prakritham in manipravala and pure grammatical language.SwamyDesikan is sopowerful as a lion and his critics and
rivals would be forced to save themselves, by retracing their steps, submitting meekly and unquestionably to the overwhelmingly balanced, truthful and logical arguments.My attempt to write this article is like a person not knowing to swim, tries to take bath in a sea. So please bear withme for allomissions andcommissions in this article.
To be continued ......
Arumbuliyur Jagannathan Rangarajan