SrI:
SrImathE Nigamantha Mahadesikaya namah:
SrImAn venkatanAthAryaH kavitArkika kesarI |
vedAntAcArya-varyo me sannidhattAm sadA hRdi ||
May the glorious Venkatanatha, the greatest of teachers of Vedanta, and the
lion among poets and debaters, reside forever in my heart.
Dearest Srivaishnavas,
Returning from Tirumala, Tottarambha was thus blessed to become pregnant.
With the growth of the divine child in her womb day by day, her whole body
shone with extraordinary lustre. It was the month Purattasi in the year
Vibhava according to Tamil almanac (September- October 1268 CE) Sravana
nakshathra (ThiruvONam star) a day that is dedicated to Lord Srinivasa at
Thirumala, in which a special function is conducted at the conclusion of the
annual Brahmmothsavam when thousands of devotees, old and young, rich and
poor, congregate bathe in scared waters of Swami pushkariNi tank, when the
deity has ablution and experience immense joy. On the very sacred day
Tottarambha gave birth to a baby at the most auspicious moment. After the
conduct of the preliminary ceremonies the infant was given the name of Sri
Venkatanatha, the name of Lord Venkatesa since the child was born by His
grace and that too on the day dedicated to him.
Sri Venkatanatha himself gives us information about his parentage, birth
etc., in the Prastavana (Prologue) of his play Sankalpa Sooryodhaya. It is
considered by wise men that the bell of Hari was born as Vedantha Desika.
This is done on the strength of abundant and appropriate reasons.
uthprEkshyathE budha janaihrupapatti bhUmnA ghaNTa harai samajanishta
yadAthmanEthi. [sankalpa sooryodhaya- Act 1.14]
The contemporaries and successor of Vedanta Desika were so much impressed
with his superior knowledge and service to humanity, by means of his works
in Sanskrit and Tamil as well as his discourses that they considered him as
an incarnation of Lord Venkateswara Himself or of Sri Ramanuja. Sri Desika?s
son Sri Kumaravaradacharya, in his Desika mangaLa sthOthra mentions the
same: May all auspiciousness be with Sri Vedantha Desika about whom
different views are held that he is an incarnation of Lord Venkatesa or he
was the his Divine Bell incarnate or a part of Acharya Ramanuja himself.
vEnkatESAvathArOyam thadgaNTASOthavaath bhavEth |
yatheendrAmSOThavEthyEvam vitharkyAyAsthu mangaLam ||
Again, Kumara varadacharya mentions in Tamil Desika Prabandham PiLLai
anthAdhi, an eulogy on Sri desika- In times of yore, Bhagawaan created the
world and revealed the Vedas and the Saasthras pregnant with noble ideas.
Then he showed and installed himself with great love as Lord Srinivasa at
Tirumala. Later on in Kaliyuga, he took birth as Venkatanatha, the acharya
endowed with world wide repute and dispelled the evils prevalent on earth.
anRu ivvulaginaiaakki arum poruL nool viritthu ninRu than neeL pugazh
vENkatamaamalai mEvippinnum venRi pugazh THIRUVENKATANATHAN enRum Guruvaay
ninRu nigazhndhu maN mEl ninRa nOygaL thavirtthananE?
Dindima Kavi (in 14th century) who was a junior contemporary of Vedanta
Desika pays tribute to Swamy?s greatness as follows:
There was confusion all around as a result of turbid nature of Kaliyuga; the
Vedas were in great distress; (because of misinterpretation); wise saying of
the seers were completely ignored; there was an unholy intermixture of all
castes; and quite in consonance with this sorry state, all sacred epics and
puranas lost their validity; the maayaavaada was in all glee; and the school
of nihilism (soonya vada) was having undisputed acceptance by all. It was at
this critical juncture that Sri Vedanta Desika came into this world as an
incarnation of the great ringing divine bell of VishNu for the establishment
of Dharma and its protection. He shines all victorious.
vEdhE sanjAthaKhEthE munijana vachanE prApta nitvAmsamAnE
sankeerNE sarvavarNE sathithadhanuguNE nishpramANE purANE
mAyAvAdhE samOdhE kali kalusha vachAth SoonyavAdhE vivAdhE
dharmathrANAya yObhUth sa jayathi BHAGAWAAN VISHNU GANTAVATHORA:
[Dindima kavi]
PrathivAdi Bhayankaram Annan (1300- 1400 CE) who was a junior contemporary
of Swamy desika and a disciple of Sri Kumaravaracharya, gives in a nutshell
all about the parentage, birth and education of Swamy desika in his
saptapatiratna malika as follows:
Swamy Desika belonged to Viswamithra gothra, and was the grandson of
Pundarikaksha- a master of several sacrifices and the son of Anathasuri like
the moon that comes out of the ocean, rose from the womb of the gem among
mothers, Tottarambha by name. He was admired and blessed by Sri Varadaguru
(Nadadur Ammal). He learn all saasthras from his acharya- Sri
Vaadhihamsaambhuvaaha (Sri Appullar). He was the father of Kumara varadarya
Nainacharya. He was equal to Bhagawaan Purushotthama in being endowed with
all auspicious qualities and was adorned by the title of Sarvathanthra
swathanthar [master of all sciences].
Putro ananthArya soorE.. purusa- sama guNa: ? varadagurumatha sarvathanthra
swathanthra: [Saptapati ratna malika]
Venkatanatha:- the precocious Boy
Samskaras like Jatakarana, Namakarana, anna praasana and Chaula are laid
down by saasthras to a child from the time of birth onwards at different
periods of its life. Anantasuri conducted duly all of them to his son,
Venkatanatha and the child gerw up in an atmosphere of devotion to Bhagawaan
and his bhakthas and of spiritual knowledge.
Even as a young boy Sri Venkatanatha was very intelligent and quick in
grasping and remembering things. His maternal uncle Sri appuLLAr took a
great interest in his upbringing. He would take him to the temple of Lord
Varadaraja. Venkatanatha would worship the Lord with folded hands and as
much as devotion as his uncle did. He would listen from him the stories of
Rama, Krishna avatarams, and about their qualities, exploits all of which
left a deep impression in child?s mind at such a tender age of five. After
writing many books of learning and high philosophy, Sri Venkatanatha himself
writes in Rahaysathrayasara: his magnum opus, thus:- All that I have said so
far- is the result of the training given to me by my uncle and Acharya,
Appullar with love and perseverance even as the words of a pet parrot are ?
that has been taught by its loving and caring master.
It was a memorable day in the life of Sri Venkatanatha when he was just a
boy of five. Appullar took him as usual to the temple of Varada where his
acharya Nadaur Ammal was expounding Sri Bhashya to his disciples. The bright
and promising five year old boy Venkatanatha attracted everyone?s attention,
including that of Sri Nadadur Ammal. Ammal enquired about him and his
upbringing. Hence there was a break in the instruction. All of them were as
much absorbed in hearing about the boy that they forgot the trend of the
lesson. The young boy, with the permission of the teacher, lisped out the
words to the surprise of all. Nadadur ammAL was so much pleased and overawed
by the intelligence of the boy that he immediately blessed him with long
life, right knowledge and world wide reputation.
prathishtApitha vEdAntha: prathikshiptha bahirmatha:
bhUyAsthrai vidhya mAnyasthvam bhUrikalyANa bAjanam
[sankalpa suryodhayam]
You will establish Vedantha on a firm basis and refute that doctrine of its
opponents. May you be held in great esteem by scholars well versed in three
Vedas. May you be the recipient of all that is auspicious in great measure.
This sloka occupies a unique place in the life of Venkatanatha. It is like a
fertile seed sown in his mind from which grew beautiful garden of his
scholastic life. Even today we can see a picture connected with this
incident painted in colour on the ceiling in front of Kacci Vaitthaan
mandapam in Varadaraja temple. In it, Acharya Nadadur ammAL blesses the boy
Venkatanatha who stands besides his uncle with respect.
Again this sloka is seen in Act II of the drama Sankalpa suryodhaya of Swamy
Desikan where an acharya who is a sanyaasi, blesses a young disciple with
this same sloka when he is about to go out into the world to establish the
authoritativeness of Vishstadvaita philosophy by refuting the arguments of
other schools of thought. It is revealed that the Acharya is none other than
Sri Ramanuja and the disciple Vedantha Desika. Swamy desikan had a desire to
have Acharya Ramanuja as his own acharya and he fulfilled the desire with
this play. As Ramanuja appeared in 11h century and Swamy Desika in 13th
century, such a thing was not possible. Swamy satisfied himself with this at
least on a stage in a drama. So he introduced two characters in his drama,
one Ramanuja and the other Desikan thus getting the blessing directly from
Yathiraja, although idneirectly. Turning to his disciple AppuLLAr, Nadadur
ammAL said: Teach your nephew all saasthras and make him a full fledged
scholar. I would like to teach myself. But I am too old for that. He will
certainly prove to be a great Acharya and spread the teaching of our own
acharya Sri Ramanuja. Appullar took leave of his master and went home with
venkatanatha.
Swamy Desikan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam
Regards
Namo narayana
dAsan
kavi-tArkika-simhAya kalyANa-guNa-SAline |
Srimate venkateSAya vedAntagurave namaH ||
Salutations to Sri Venkatesa, in whom all perfections reside, who is the
teacher of Vedanta and the lion among poets and debaters
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