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Oppiliappan List Archive: Message 00026 Oct 2002

 
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Dear Friends, 

Seven hundred and thirty-four years ago, in the year 1268 CE, on this
day, Swami Desikan was born as Venkatanathan to his parents, Anantha
Suri and TotAmba, in a small village called Thuppul on the outskirts
of the famous town of Kanchi.

Today we in Kuwait are gathered here this evening to celebrate the
memory of Swami Vedanta Desikan on his 'tirunakshtram' and to offer
him our obeisance. We may ask ourselves, "Why are we doing this?",
and the answer is: If only we knew enough about this great soul, his
life, personality and his works, we would realize it is important to
commemorate him not only once every year on his 'tirunakshatram' but
every day of our lives.

How should we know him?

One of the easiest ways to get to know about the life and work of
SvAmi Venkatanathan is through the prefatory verse, called 'tanian',
with which you are all familiar. We recite it at the beginning of all
his works. And also through the colophon recited at the end viz.:

srimAn venkata nAThArya kavitArkika kEsari
vEdAntAchArya varyOmE sannidhatAm sadAhrudi

kavitArkika simhAya kalyANa guNashAlinE
srimathE venkateshEyA vEdAnta guravE namaha

In the first verse we say, "May Venkatanathan ever reside in our
hearts" ("venkata nathArya ... sannidhatAm sadAhrudi"). And through
the second, we say, "Our obeisance to Venkatanathan"
("venkatEshAya... namaha"). Now, why do we express such sentiments of
deep reverence to Swami Venkatanathan? Is it because he was:

(1) a "kavi-kEsari" -- a glorious poet?
(2) a "tArkika-simham" -- a lion amongst philosophers?
(3) a "kalyANa guNa shAlin" -- a person of rare and sublime human
qualities?
(4) a "vEdAntAchAryA" or "vEdAnta-guru" -- a preceptor or guru who
showed The Way, the "Art of Living", to followers not only of his
times but to posterity as well? 

The answer is: The memory of Swami Venkatanathan deserves to be
remembered for all 4 reasons above but especially for the last
mentioned i.e. as a Vedantic 'guru' he showed us how we must live out
the time given to us on earth and the purpose to be achieved. 

Let us begin however with the first of the 4 reasons:

As a "kavi-kesari", a poet in many languages, Venkatanathan was
peerless in his times and after. Before him, the only poet of perhaps
equal stature, in terms of both quality and output, was the legendary
KalidAsa. To this day scholars find it impossible to adequately
describe the range and power of his poetic prowess.

Desikan wrote extensively in Sanskrit and Tamil and to a lesser
extent in PrAkrut and ManipravAlam. His collection of Tamil poetry is
known today as 'dEsika-prabhandham' and enjoys a status equal to that
of the inspired outpourings of the mystic AzhwArs. 

In Sanskrit, he composed well over 2000 stanzas of exquisite Sanskrit
poetry on a variety of religious themes but mostly in praise of
Deities of famous temple-towns like SriRangam, Tiruvengadam, Kanchi
and a host of others. His poetry flowed in a dazzling variety of
forms such as short couplets and long quatrains, 'stOtra', 'gadyam',
'dandakam', all in every known metric rhythm possible -- from the
simple 'mAlini' metre to the long-winded 'sArdUlavikreedita'. In his
famous work praising the Lord at Tiruvengadam, titled 'dayA-satakam',
Desikan composed 108 stanzas in 10 different metres each being most
appropriate to the underlying theme of the verse.

Desikan's poetic inspiration was pure magic and almost superhuman in
genius. One evening in SriRangam, where Desikan lived and worked
several years, a rival poet contemptuously challenged him to compose
poetry on the most shabby and un-poetic of themes on earth -- a pair
of common footwear! Next morning Desikan astounded the rival, and the
rest of the world too, with a poetic work of 1000 stanzas entitled
"PadukA-sahasram"! One thousand stanzas in Sanskrit of the highest
order, in praise of the sacred Sandals of Lord Ranganatha, the Deity
of the temple! Written in one sitting within the course of one night!

Desikan was hailed "kavi-kEsari" also because he was an acknowledged
master of phonetics and linguistics. He could create beautiful sounds
out of words. He could also weave, with equal ease and felicity,
meaningful words out of pure sound. 

As an example of the first case, we can turn to 2 particular verses
in the 'stotra' of "kAmAsikAshtakam" where Desikan evokes the
fearsome, awe-inspiring image of "jvAla-nrsimha", the man-lion
'avatAr' of NarayAnA. In these 2 stanzas, composed as they are of
hard syllables and harsh, guttural-sounding consonants, the words are
made to sound like the roars of an angry lion. Listen to the
following:

vikasvara nakha svaru xata hiraNya vaxaH sthalii
nirargala vinirgalad.h R^idhira sindhu sandhyaayitaaH.
avantu madanaasikaa manuja pa~ncha vaktrasya maam.h
aham.h prathamikaa mithaH prakaTitaahavaa baahavaH.. 6

saTaa paTala bhiiShaNe sarabha saaTTaa haasodbhaTe
sphurat.h kR^idhi parisphuTad.h bhR^ikuTike.api vaktre kR^ite.
kR^ipaa kapaTa kesarin.h danuja Dimbha datta stanaa
saroja sadR^ishaa dR^ishaa vyativiShajya te vyajyate.. 7 


If the above verses show us how words use pure sound to create
images, in the 'pAdukA-sahasram' Desikan demonstrates how the reverse
effect can also be achieved with equally telling effect -- where
meaningful words are woven out of pure sound:

pAdapA pAdapA pAdapA pAdapA
pAdapA pAdapA pAdapA pAdapA
pAdapa pAdapA pAdapA pAdapA
pAdapA pAdapA pAdapA pAdapA (939 Paduka-Sahasram)

Now if any poet of lesser stature than Swami Desikan were to pen
lines like the above, and try and pass it off as poetry, it is likely
he will be taken to be a raving lunatic. But Desikan's genius shows
us how even seemingly senseless sound can be made to contain lofty
poetic meaning.
The above stanza when read as follows:

pAdapA-apAdapA-aapAda-pApA-dapA, pAdapA, pAda-pApA-dapA-apAdapA
pAda,pApAda, pApAda-pApAda-pApAda, pApAdapApA-adapApAdapA 

yields the following meaning in very rough English translation:

"The pAdukAs of Lord of SriRangam
-- render sinless all things and all beings of this world
-- protect all beings in this world and the other
-- reward all men who do their bounden duty by their parents and 
punishes those that fail in it
-- elevates the devotees of God in the eyes of all the worlds
-- maintains eternal order in both heavenly and earthly spheres".

No wonder indeed, it was then as it remains today, that Swami Desikan
was hailed by one and all as "kavi-kEsari". 

******* ******* *********

(to be continued)
dAsan,
Sudarshan



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