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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,

His learned contemporaries called him, ?Kavi taarkika simham?- lion among 
poets and dialecticians or logicians. The Supreme Being Bhagawaan Ranganatha 
of Srirangam, conferred on him the title of ?Vedanthacharya? [the preceptor 
of the Vedantha] and his divine consort Sri Ranganayaki that of 
Sarvathanthraswathanthrar [supreme master of all sciences]. Sri Vedanta 
Desika refers to this in Adhikarana saaraavaLi- as follows: That Supreme 
Lord Sri Ranganatha who created the forms and gave the names to all things 
in the universe, conferred on me this appellation. Vedanthacharya and here 
is an attempt of mine to make that title significant and meaningful by 
writing this poem Adhikarana Saravali [ the garland of the essentials of the 
Adhikarana, which is a Digest of the teaching of Brahmma sutras]

viSvasmin nAmarUpAni anuvihithavatA thEna davEn dhatthAm |
vEdAnthAchArya samjnAm avahitha bahuvith sArThamanvarThayOmi ||

Being impelled by devotion to Lord Hayagriva and with a desire to express 
his gratitude for His grace, Sri Vedanta Desika composed hymn of Hayagriva 
consisting of 33 verses in which he sings about the form, greatness and 
qualities of the Lord and also indirectly refers to the mantra.

vyAkhyAmudrAm? mAnasE vaagaDheeSa: [Hayagriva sthOthram- 32]

The Lord of speech, Hayagriva possessed of a never fading splendour holds in 
his four lotus like hands the symbol of instruction [vyAkhyAmudrA], book, 
conch shell and chakrA, and is seated on a lovely lotus, shining like a 
newly cut white crystal, may the Lord of flawless greatness drench me by His 
cool and nectar like saying and take His seat in my heart

In third sloka, Sri Vedanta Desika describes thus: The sweet neighing sound 
of Horse faced God is a collection of the Saama Veda songs; is a replica of 
Rig Veda hymns and is the abode of Yajur Veda. It is destroyer of all 
obstacles and is the singing waves of the sea of knowledge. 
[samaahaarasaamnaam? hayavadhana hEshA hala halah:]

The next hymn composed by Sri Vedanta Desika is Garuda panchasath on Garuda, 
who is a vehicle of Bhagawaan Narayana and is also the king of all birds. 
Garuda is a Nithyasuri. This sthothra is in fifty verses comprising five 
sections describing respectively (1) his five forms (2) the espidoe of his 
fetching the nectar, (3) the story of the conquest of the serpents (4) his 
decoration and (5) his exploits of wonder. From the last sloka, we learnt 
that Sri Vedanta Desika composed this hymn carrying out the command of 
Garuda. The sloka says: Venkatesa, the lion among poets and logicians 
composed this hymn of fifty one verses on Garuda the son of Vinata, the she 
eagle bearing on head i.e. respectfully carrying out his command and with 
the desire of propitiating him. Those who practise them repeatedly will be 
free from the inflictions of the poisonous serpents, diseases and divine 
beings and will also realize the foremost of their desires, why talk of 
other fruits.

It looks as though the indebtedness Sri Vedanta Desika towards Garuda is so 
much that he makes it a point to refer to garuda in both the sthothras 
composed by him ? Garuda panchasath and Garuda dhaNdakam. In the first [in 
first sloka] he says that it is a mantra on which the first word is PraNava 
and the last word is SvAha with two letters, and middle two syallabled word 
is Pakshi or its letters interchanged (as ksh its syllables interchanged).

In the fourth and the last section of Garud dhaNdaka, he refers to the 
mantra as follows: manuh anugatha pakshi vakthrasphurat taaraka chithra 
bhanu priya sEkharah- that mantra of thine (Oh Garuda) which begins with the 
excellent praNava followed by the word pakshi with letters interchanged- and 
which has at its end the word svAha is the name of the loving consort of the 
God of fire.

Sri Vedanta Desika was drawn towards Thiruvaheendrapuram by its sanctity 
with its Garudanadhi and Aushadhri ? the realization of Garuda and Hayagriva 
there had endeared it to him. So he decided to stay there for some time 
worshipping Lord Devanatha, the presiding deity of the shrine. Every time he 
visited the temple, the Lord was pleased to manifest His auspiciousness and 
beautiful form with the result that the devotion and love of Desika to the 
Lord grew more and more intense, could not resisit the temptation to sing 
the glory of that Lord and so burst forth with songs, sweet and melodious in 
three languages, Sanskrit, Prakrit and Tamil. Of the many deities that eh 
has sung about, Devanatha is the only one deity who has been praised in 
three languages.

There are nine hymns on Lord Devanatha, of which Deivanayaka panchasath is 
the first. It consists of fifty three verses in Sanskrit describing 
greatness of the Lord as creator the charming limbs of the Lord from head to 
foot beginning with the sparkling diadem on the head and ending with the 
shining nails to the toes.

The next hymn is Achyutha sathakam- in 101 verses in the soft and sweet 
prakrith which a dialect of Sanskrit. It is in this language that the women 
characters in the Sanskrit Drama speak. Probably the devotion of Sri Vedanta 
Desika had developed into the love of a maiden and he becomes the bride who 
speaks to her lover. In this also there is a beautiful description in more 
than twenty verses of every limb of the Lord from head to foot. There is a 
connection that lady in love enjoys the beauty of her lover beginning from 
his head whereas a male devotee begins the praise from the saving feet of 
the Lord. It may be said that Vedanta Desika who is now maiden, follows this 
convention. She well read in scriptures which can be inferred from the way 
in which her words are reminiscent of Vedic passages and the fundamental 
doctrines of Vishstadvaita philosophy about Tattva[Reals], Hitha[means] and 
Purusharttha [goal] are depicted though not directly since the whole hymn is 
for the praise of the Lord.

When we come to the poems in Sweet Tamil by Vedanta Desika on Lord 
Deivanayaka, we find that Sri Vedanta Desika has been completely transformed 
into Venkatanayaki, a lady in intense love for the Lord. Her thoughts, words 
and actions are all surcharged with erotic love. She experiences great joy 
when she is with her lover (here Lord Devanatha) and untold pangs of 
separation when she is away from Him. There are occasions when the suffering 
is so great that she falls down unconscious and her sorrowful mother, foster 
mother or maiden friend describe in grief stricken words the condition of 
the beloved Venkatanayaki. [it may be noted that other Alwars, Desika is the 
only Acharya who went into nAyikA bhAvam and sang verses]

There is clear internal evidence to show that seven poems in Tamil have been 
composed which in mellifluous language the joy in unison with and pain in 
separation from her lover Lord Devanatha of Venkatanayaki, the lady in love. 
Of these seven, the first and the last are long poems and the rest should be 
short. The first ten verses only of the first poem which should have had 30 
verses and the last poem in full are all that are available now for us. 
Unfortunately, the remaining 20 verses of the first and all middle five 
short poems are lost. The meters and the language follow the rules of 
prosody and poetics of the classical tamil of the Sangam age. All these 
seven poems fall under the class of one or other of 96 kinds of compositions 
of Tamil literature.

The first poem is MummanikkOvai. According to the Tamil poetics, this kind 
of poem should consist of 30 verses divided in 10 groups, each one of have 
three verses in three different gem like meters (mum maNi) which will of 
same kind in all 10 groups. The verses will be in AntAdi form. The last word 
(anta) in the preceding verse must be the first word (aadi) in the 
succeeding verse. All these rules are closely followed in this 
mummaNikkOvai. As stated only the first ten verses are available and the 
rest are lost. This poem begins with a description of the six main qualities 
of Sri and then of the greatness of Devanatha, and ends with the fruit of 
self- surrender (Saranagati) at his lotus feet. Here we have verses in which 
the female friend or the foster mother of Venkatanayaki describes the pangs 
of separation of the heroine.

The last and seventh poem is Nava maNi maalai of ten verses couched in nine 
gem like meters. In this Sri Vedanta Desika describes the divine nature of 
the feet of Devanatha Bhagawaan and His incarnation, his auspicious 
qualities, and supreme powers. There is reference to one of the most popular 
festivals known as festivals of sea bath- massikadalaadi magizhndhu 
varuvaarE?- in which the Lord Devanatha is taken to the sea here on the 
Magha asterism in maasi month for bathing in the sea for enjoyment to His 
devotees.

The concluding verse is of special significance since it gives us the names 
of all the works of Vedanta Desika on Lord Devanatha in the serial order.

anthamil seerayindhai nagaramarndha nAThan
        aDiyiNaimEl adiyuraiyaal aimbathEtthi
chinthaikavar praakrutham nooRu kOOrich
        senthamizh mummaNikkOvai seRiyac chErtthup
pandhusuzhal ammAnai OOsal yEsal
        paravu navamaNimaalai sonnEn
mundhaimaRai mozhiya vazhi mozhi nee yenRu
        mukunthan aruL thandha payan peRREn naanE.

Lord Devanatha, possessed of countless auspicious qualities has chosen 
Thiruvaheendrapuram (ayindhai) as his pleasing abode and remains there. As 
an offering at His lotus feet I composed the Hymn Devanayaka Panchaasath 
consisting of fifty verses in the ancient classical language (i.e. 
Sanskrit). I sang a hundred songs in the heart captivating prakrit language 
(under the name of achyutha sathakam). I placed at the feet of Devanatha, in 
a fitting manner the poem of mummaNikkOvai in the sweet Tamil language. Also 
sang the poetical compostions Pandhal, Oosal, Kazhal, ammAnai, Yesal, and 
the NavamaNimaalai praised by all. Thus, have realized the front of mercy 
bestowed on me by Lord Mukunda who in a tone of command, said- Go on, 
compose works in the wake of the language of ancient holy Vedas.

It may noted that the five poems pandhu, oosal, kazhal, yEsal, ammAnai are 
lost now> A mention about them may not be out of place here. All of them 
cone under the class of love poems in Tamil literature and they describe the 
various ways in which a princess in love tries to entertain herself in 
Separation from her dear lover. The poem named pandhu declares the lady in 
love as playing with flower balls with her female friends in the garden of 
the harem. The compositions Kazhal describes the play of heroine in the hall 
of the palace with small marble like smooth nuts of a shrule of that name. A 
poem that portrays the play of the heroine and her friends with small bell 
shaped wooden toys goes by the name of ammAnai in which they sing the 
praises of the Lord. In Oosal  poem, usually we see the heroine seated in an 
oscillating swing suspended from the green branches of a flowing in the 
garden probably with recollections of the happy time spent with her lover. 
There are some oosal compositions in Tamil literature in which the lady love 
sings about the beauty and the glory of the lover who is seated in a swing 
that moves to and fro. yEsal is that composition which depicts a lady in 
love in anger taunting the lover with insincerity since he has not kept his 
word to come at the fixed committed time because of his dalliance with some 
other lady even though he may try to pacify her with words and acts of 
apology. In those works, Sri Venkatanatha has elevated causal love to divine 
love and devotion ? into Bhagawath kaama as shown very beautifully and 
esoterically by Alwars. It is unfortunate that they are lost.

Sri Vedanta Desika stayed in Aindhai for nearly a decade worshipping Lord 
Hayagriva on the hills and Lord Devanatha on the river bank. Then he left 
that city to go to kanchi. On the way, he visited Gopapura [ThirukkOvaloor] 
a shrine- sanctified by the visit of three alwars (Poigai, Bhutham, and Pey 
AzhwArs). In the course of their pilgrimage it so happened that the three 
alwars came to Gopapura on the same day and they all took shelter on that 
rainy night in a small corridor [narrow passage] in a small house in front 
of the temple. The local deity, Gopapura adhisa, drawn by the presence of 
the three highly pious souls and easger to have the touch of their bodies 
appeared in their midst in such a narrow place in an invisible form. The 
saints felt that they are being sqeezed suddenly and felt the presence of 
another stranger among them but could not see one. So Poigai and 
BhUthathAzhwAr lit lamps and Pey AzhwAr say the divine Lord with Sankhu 
ChakrA with the Divine Consort in his chest. Three Alwars sang 100 verses 
each imbued with greatest devotion sweet and melodious ? one lamp removed 
the external darkness of the world, the other dispelled the internal 
darkness of the mind and third lamp presented the visoon of the Lord with 
his consort ? the Divya Dampati. All the three hundred glorify the lovely 
form and qualities of the Lord. This marks the beginning of 4000 Divbya 
prabandham of 12 Alwars. These three Alwars are thus called first Alwars 
(Mudhal Alwars). The Lord thus was proud to associate himself with them and 
to assume the name of Dehaaleesa (the Lord in the narrow passage). Swamy 
desika has sung the hymn called dhehsaaleesa sthuthi- in praise of this Lord 
wherein he portrays the Lord as the sugarcane and the three Alwars for 
crushing instrument and the resultant juice is the three centums (three 
nooRRanthAdhi) out of which the sweet sugar candy, namely Dhehaleesa took 
shape.

Sri Vedanta Desika reached Kanchi where he was received with great love and 
enthusiasm by the residents. First he went to the temple of Varadaraja, who 
was his tutelary deity. As he stood before the Lord visions of his early 
life flashed before his mind?s eye, boyhood under the care of his uncle, the 
blessing of Vaathsya Varadarya (AmmAL) and study of all saasthras under 
AppuLLAr. Slokas flowed from his heart and lips which give in a nutshell 
about all that one should know about Paramathma ? His transcendental glory 
and mercy, forms and incarnations, his festivals and his devotees, That is 
Varadaraja panchaasath- fifty verses on Varadan.

Towards the end of the sthOthra, Sri desika apostrophising Lord Varadaraja 
says: Oh Lord of the elephant Hills! If you lest keep me in the vicinity, in 
the company of thy exclusive devotees is vouchsafed to me and if there is an 
unalloyed stainess devotion in me to you is ensured due to your grace, I for 
ever swear that this world [with all its foibles] is verily salvation. Such 
is the Bliss that flows from the archa avatara.

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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