Dear Friends : I am truly delighted to learn about the initiative of the most revered Poundarikapuram Andavan to undertake the reprinting of the Sixteen Rahasya- GranthAs of Swami Desikanin MaNipravALam . This kaimkaryam is a magnificient one like the earlier release of Volume 3 of Chillarai Rahasyams of Swami Desikan that were made available to us by Navaneetham Swami Of Oppiliappan Koil . I pledge support for this kaimkaryam and hope that we can together help to make progress on this project of utmost importance to Sri VaishNavAs . Sri Ub. Ve . Vangipuram Navaneetham Srirama- DesikachAr Swamy and his scholarship is legendary . Since Swami Desikan's time , no one has attempted to write commntarties on the AmruthasvAdhini Rahasyams . The enormous and painstaking efforts of Navaneetham Swami to collect the palm leave manuscripts , compare them for authenticity , comment on them and proof read the pages in print is beyond imagination . We are truly blessed to gain insights into Swami Desikan's multifacted genius thanks to the elegant and clear commentary of Navaneetham Swami . His ability to explain complex doctrines in an easily understandable manner is a true gift for us . Even when Navaneetham Swami was recovering from cataract operations and angina pectoris , he continued with his extraordinary labor of love and blessed us with these and other monographs on Swami Desikan's brilliant master pieces that serve as foundation stones for our SiddhAntham . SWAMI DESIKAN'S GRANTHAS ************************ The prolific output of the giant of an AchAryA is housed in 130 works summarized in Sri Viashnava home page maintained by Sri Mani Varadarajan . They are usually divided into the following six categories : 1. Those pertaining to Philosophy and Religion in Sanskrit ( 25 works ) 2. Kaavya granthAs & other literary works (5 more ) 3. SthOthrAs ( 30 items ) 4. Rahasya GranthAs in maNipravALa ( 34 items ) 5. Tamil Works ( 24 items ) 6. Miscellaneous Works (12 Items ) Rahasya GranthAs ***************** These are the fourth among the six categories of our AchAryA's illuminating works . There are 34 Rahasya GranthAs in ManipravaLA . Among them , TattvasikhAmaNi , Madhurakavi Hrudhaya , Steya sangraha and Saara DheepA are no longer available to us . Navaneetham Swami covered 16 of the remaining 30 chillarai rahasyams in Part I of his series , four more in Part II and the seven more in Part III . Only three are not covered in this series: (1) Srimadh Rahasyaytraya Saaram (RTS ) (2) GuruparamparaasArA , which is incorporated in the beginning part of RTS (3) Paramatha Bhangam . Srimadh RTS and Para Madha Bhangam are magnificient and huge treatises in their own right and hence , they have been covered separately . The GuruparamparAsAram gets folded into Srimadh RTS . The 16 works covered in Part I to be reprinted ********************************************** They fall into the Following Categories : (1)Padhavis:( Tattva Padhavi , Rahasya Padhavi ). Padhavi means either a position or path . 2. Maathrukais :( Tattva Maathrukai , Rahasya Maathrukai , Rahasya mathrukai Hrudhayam ). The term MaatrikA connotes the 52 letters of sanskrit , which in turn relates to the 52 aspects of tattvAs including the three types of souls , three GuNAs , the 24 divisions of Achith and its relationships to the other two tatthvAs ( Chith and IsvarA ) . 3.SandEsams: ( Tattva SandEsam ,Rahasya SandEsam , Rahasya SandEsa VivaraNam ). SandEsam means a message . 4. RathnAvaLis: ( Tattva RathnAvaLi , Rahasya RathnAvaLi , Tattva RathnAvaLi PrathipAdhya Sangraham ) . RathnAvaLi means a necklace of Jewels . 5. Navaneethams : (Tattva navaneetham , Rahasya navaneetham ). Navaneetham refers to the delicious mixture of VeNNai and sugar , the favorite food of Lord KrishNA . 6. ChuLakams: ( Tattva Traya ChuLakam , Rahasya Traya ChuLakam ). ChuLakam is the small shape of the palm holding water for Achamaneeyam .This refers to a small tract of the great doctrines. 7. Sri SampradhAya Parisuddhi deals with the importance of AchAryAs in our sampradhAyam and the purport of the three rahasya manthrAs . In this work , the most merciful AchAryA emphasizes the need to avoid the schisms among the followers of Sri RaamAnujA . He reminds us tactfully that among the different sishyAs of AchArya RaamAnujA , there are no arthavirOdhams although there might be Vaakhya YojanAbhedhams . The topics covered in these 16 Rahasya Granthams are : The three TattvAs ( Chith , Achith and Isvara/ soul , Matter and God ) , the nature of the Soul , the three types of Souls , the four kinds of Achith , Kaalam , Sudhda sattvam , Dharma BhUtha Jn~Anam , Prapatthi , Bhakthi , the meditation on the Lord and the experience of reaching Him , Artha Panchakam , elaborations of Athmasiddhi of YaamunAchArya , Reflections on the Mitha gadhyAs ( Sriranga gadhyam and Vaikuntha Gadhyam ) of AchArya RaamAnujA , the significance and purport of the three sacred Rahasya ManthrAs dear to Sri VaishNavAs . In summary , the opportunity to study these Rahasya GranthAs of Swami Desikan is a great blessing , thanks to the yeoman service rendered by the scion of the illustrious AchArya Paramparai of Vangeepuram Navaneetham Swami of Oppiliappan Koil . May I invite the AsthikAs of the Bhakthi list to help with this kaimkaryam and receive the blessings of Navaneetham Swami of revered memory and His Holiness Poundareekapuram AchAryan nourishing our Sacred SampradhAyam through many timely initatives such as this one . Subhamasthu . Swami Desikan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan
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