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SriRangaSri List Archive: Message 00071 Aug 2001

 
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SrI:
SrImathe Ramanujaya namah:
SrImathe Nigamantha mahadesikaya namah:
SrImAn venkatanAthAryaH kavitArkika kesarI |
vedAntAcArya-varyome 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,

I am continuing on my appeal and posts on Swamy Desikan and appeal for Thuppul mandapam kaimkaryam. URL: http://www.geocities.com/lsriniva/thoopulappeal.html It is my humble request to please contribute your mite towards this kaimkaryam, as remembering Acharyan, and talking alone will not suffice.

Let us continue to enjoy Swamy?s GREAT works.

Swamy Desikan wrote 12 works in Sanskrit which can be grouped under three heads.

Under the first group, are included seven independent works, all on philosophy of VisistAdvaita. The first ones Tattvamuktakalapam and Sarvaarthasiddhi were seen last week.

The second work is AdhikaraNasaaraavaLi in 562 stanzas. As the title indicates, this work gives the gist of the 454 sections (adhikaranas) into which the BrahmasUthras are classified. These sUthras contain the exposition of the knowledge of Brahman as contained in the Upanishads. Each stanza offers in remarkably crisp manner the contents of each section. AdhikaraNadarpaNa is a smaller work on this topic and is not extant.

SathadUshaNi is the Third work which is incomplete containing 66 sections only. There is no evidence to find out why Acharya did not write further. Each section is called Vaada. Sri SMS Chari writes in his book on Advaita and Visishtadvaita- ?The SatadUshaNi is an important classic of Visishtadvaita Vedantha in which as the title suggests, one hundred philosophical issues have been chosen for systematic criticism directed against the school of Advaita. The text as available at present contains only 66 topics (Vaadas). These are mainly based on the arguments advanced by Sri Ramanuja in the early portion of his monumental work Sri Bhashyam. The arguments are elaborated by Swamy Desikan with his metaphysical profundity and mastery over the art of disputation.

The topics developed in the SatadUshaNi each one of which is devoted to a discussion of an independent controversial doctrine of Advaita, refer to various issues bearing on epistemological, metaphysical, cosmological, religious, and ethical problems.

It appears from the order in which the Vaadas are presented give us an impression that the work must have been based mainly on the arguments advanced in the debate. Though there is no logical sequence in the arrangement of the topics, (Sri SMS Chari says), the work is complete and highly comprehensive so far as the criticism of Advaita doctrines is concerned. It exhibits fully Swamy Desikan?s mastery of the art of disputation.

The sixty six vaadas though each of them deals with a specific controversial issue, may be grouped under the following eight broad headings:

1.      PramaaNaas
2.      Perception and Difference
3.      The nature of Consciousness (anubhUthi)
4.      The individual Self and the Absolute
5.      The NirguNa Brahman
6.      Universe
7.      The doctrine of Avidyaa
8.      Saadhana amd mukti

A cursory glance at the titles of each Vaada and its bearing on its contents would reveal the Acharya?s zeal in defending the system of Ramanuja from the attacks of the Advaitins and also in launching arguments abounding in incisive logic, the like of which is hardly found in the field of saasthras. The Acharya was conferred the title of ?Vedanthacharya?, by the Lord of Srirangam in appreciation of this work.

Chakrasamarthana is a work which is lost and which indicated the use of the particle ?cha? which was sought to be shown by VidyaraNyar as superfluous.

The fourth work is Nyaayaparisuddhi. The Acharya establishes that the nyAya system as it is based on the sUthras of Gautama and maintained as a system by the commentators, is opposed to the Vedantha doctrines. The logical and epistemological aspects of the Nyaya systemare subjected to a very rigorous scrutiny and criticized whenever they run counter to the vedathic disciplines. The art of ddebate which was developed by Gautama and his followers, is assailed using their own weapons. This work contains two parts, one on pramaaNaas, means of valid knowledge and pramEyam, the objects of knowledge.

The fifth work NyaayasiddhAnjanam is a master piece containing six sections on Jadadravya, Jiva, NithyavibhUthi, Buddhi, and Adravya. In the main, the Acharya takes up the VaishEshika system for study. According to the title, this work offers the magical ointment (siddhAnjanam) in the form of good logical arguments to know the Reality accurately. Hence, the Acharya takes up the treatment of Soul, God, and mOksham in separate chapters, which are clubbed.

Please donate according to your shakthi. The money can be sent to "Thuppul Trust" and the address is:

Thuppul Trust
Old No.20, New No.24, Thiruvengadam Street
West Mambalam, Chennai-600033, India
Phone No: 91-44-4741559 / 91-44-3715771

Please contact Sri. V.K. Sudharshan at vksudarsh@xxxx or Sri Lakshmi N Srinivasa lsriniva@xxxx (He can collect and send it as single amount in USA).

The address:

Lakshminarasimhan Srinivasa
3 Old Towne Road, #212
Ayer, MA-01432

For those in the South East Asia, please contact me at srivaishnavan@xxxx . Please pass on this kaimkaryam to as many people as possible in order to complete the same.

kavi-tArkika-simhAya kalyANa-guNa-SAline |
Srimate venkateSAya vedAntagurave namaH ||

Salutations to Sri Venkatesa, in whom all perfection resides, who is the teacher of Vedanta and the lion among poets and debaters!

Swamy Desikan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam
Regards
Narayana Narayana
NarayaNa dAsan madhavakkannan


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