Video Cassette of Sanskrit Drama "SwAmi DESika Vijayam"
From the Bhakti List Archives
• July 26, 2000
SrI:
SrI Lakshminrusimha ParabrahmaNE namaha
SrImatE bhagavad rAmAnujAya namaha
SrImatE nigamAnta mahAdESikAya namaha
SrImatE nArAyaNa yateendra mahAdESiKAya namaha
namO nArAyaNa!
Dear devotees,
Note: Please take time to read this quite lengthy posting,
which carries an important announcement.
On 11th June,2000 the Sanskrit Drama "SwAmi DESika Vijayam"
was staged at KrishNa GAna Sabha, T.Nagar,Chennai. You must
have already read about the grand success of this very good
play, through the article which appeared in the daily "Indian
Express", posted to the e-group by SrI Achutha RAman,Singapore :
http://www.egroupS.COM/message/bhakti-list/9925?&start=9913.
The year 1999 was declared as the "Year for Sanskrit" by the
Indian government, for promoting Sanskrit. Popularisation of
this very important language is an essential kainkaryam to be
taken up. Also, one (esp. Children) should have a feel of our
rich culture, not only in terms of reading some books, but
also by seeing a drama, that too in the ancient sanskrit
language. One has to remove the mental block that, one can't
understand sanskrit. Everyone knows that vast amount of
scriptures are only in Sanskrit. Moreover, if the focus of
the drama be on our SrI VaishNava sampradAyam, it would be
a great treat to watch and enjoy the acts. Hence, this Sanskrit
drama was staged by the talented young SrI U.Ve. Mukundagiri V. -
Ananthapadmanaban, who belongs to a good lineage following
SrI Ahobila Muth sampradAyam. He has learnt Sanskrit from
SrI U.Ve. OzhappAkkam R. RAjagOpAlAchArya, an eminent scholar
of Sanskrit and son-in-law of the late SrI U.Ve.MadhurAntakam
VeerarAghavAchArya of great fame. SrI RAjagOpAlachArya has been
teaching Sanskrit all through his life from his young age. He
is still teaching it to many, inspite of his health problems
due to old age.
SrI Ananthapadmanaban has underwent traditional kAlakshEpam of
SrI BhAshyam etc sampradAya granthas under the well known
"SrI BhAshya SimhAsanAdipati" SrI U.Ve.Purisai NadAdUr -
KrishNamAchArya, the aasthAna vidvAn of SrI Ahobila Muth and
editor of the magazine "SrI Nrusimha Priya". It has to be very
specially mentioned that, he has been intimately serving SrI -
Purisai swAmi right from his childhood days. Most of the
time, he would be found performing some kainkaryam at his
AchArya's thirumALigai (house). Though only in his late twenties,
he is editing the magazine "SrI SrIranga SaThajit kripA" and has
lot more goals in his mind for serving our sampradAyam in its
various spheres.
SwAmi VEdAnta DESika is an AchArya-SArvabhouma unparalleled in
many a ways. No amount of glorification can justify the greatness
of this "VEdAntAchArya", one of the greatest SrI VaishNava AchAryas
highly loved and admired for his supremacy in jn~yAna, bhakti,
vairAgya, anushThAna, aatma-guNas, grantha-nirmAnam etc. SwAmi
DESikan, a "Kavi-tArkika Simha" (Lion of Poetry and Logic) has a
very high place in the history of Indian Philosophers and Poets.
It is well known that SwAmi DESikan's service to Ubhaya-VEdAnta
is unparalleled through his immortal divine works exceeding
hundred in number. The world of Sanskrit knows the immense
contribution made by SwAmi DESikan and SrI Ananthapadmanaban
found quite fitting to stage a Sanskrit drama on this
"Sarva-Tantra-Svatantra".
Just before the commencement of the play, a quite big-sized
photo of Lord VeerarAghava alongwith Kanakavalli thAyAr and
ubhaya-nAcchimAr, sponsored by SrI K.G.KrishNan (aDiyEn's father)
was presented to SrI Ananthapadmanaban in recognition of his
service to the SrI VaishNava community, by a noted scholar
SrI U.Ve. MannArgudi RAjagOpAlAchArya, who has underwent
kAlakshEpam under the current Azhagiyasingar (HH Jeeyar of SrI
Ahobila Muth) in his pUrvAshramam. SrI MannArdudi swAmi is
atpresent very actively delivering kAlakshEpams on SrI BhAshyam,
Bhagavad Vishayam etc sampradAya granthas at various parts of
Chennai. He lauded the efforts of SrI Ananthapadmanaban and
remarked that the Divya Dampati, who are the cause for the
success of his activities, have themselves appeared to bless
him for the successful staging of the drama.
aDiyEn extremly enjoyed watching the live play and it is a very
memorable experience. The play took us back to the times of SwAmi
DESikan, with its appropriate settings and make-ups. Apart from
excellent performance by many actors, the outstanding rendition of
the sanskrit slokas into very sweet music (vocal) by SrI RangarAjan
(advocate; kAlakshEpam under SrI PuriSai swAmi) really stirred
aDiyEn's emotions. The title song on SrI VEdAnta DESika, a gadyam
written by SrI Ananthapadmanaban was very well sung by the
All-India-Radio artiste Smt Janaki RAmAnujam, who is already
known for singing selected pAsurams of AzhwArs set to carnatic
music. She has also given a cassette on the SuprabhAtam to Lord
SrI VeerarAghava of ThiruvalUr (Thiru-yevvuL).
The dialogues are in simple sanskrit and esp. those who know the
biography of SwAmi DESikan can easily follow the dialogues.
Important messages from SwAmi DESikan, while exhibiting his
aatma-guNAs are very well brought out. Some dharma sUkshmams and
anushThAnams are also nicely incorporated. Ofcourse, its
impossible to cover all aspects of SwAmi DESikan's life and
achievements. The main focus of the play is on various important
life-events of SwAmi DESikan. The reviews that follow will tell
you more about the play.
One of the important aspect to be noted was the sincere and
dedicated efforts from the school students (Mostly 12th std
pass-outs) of SrI Ahobila Muth school at West Mambalam,Chennai.
Many of them are non-SrI VaishNavas, including the student who
acted as SwAmi DESikan. But, they got totally involved in this
play, right from the day they started to practise their
dialogues. SrI Ananthapadmanaban was previously their Sanskrit
teacher and now their "Director". He made the students work
day and night for the play and the students responded equally
well with full enthusiasm. The student-team alongwith SrI
AnanthapadmanAban did all the jobs for the play, to the extent
of pasting wall posters around the city by themselves during
the nights.
aDiyEn is very happy to announce that the video cassette of this
excellent drama is now ready for distribution. The details are
given at the end of this mail.
SrI U.Ve.VELukkudi KrishNan graced the occassion on 11th June and
spoke on the importance of staging these dramas. By recalling
the scene from the drama, in which SrI Sudarsana SUri entrusts
"SrutaprakASika" to SwAmi DESikan, SrI V.KrishNan quoted a verse
by the illustrious Sudarsana SUri and stressed the importance of
protecting PramAna (VEdas and Upabrahmanas), PramEya (SrIman
nArAyaNa) and PramAtas (SrI VaishNava AchAryas). SrI KrishNan
pointed out from the Drama as to how the pramAtAs viz.SrI VaishNava
(and SrI VaishNavas) gave their life and soul in protecting the
pramEya viz. Lord SrI RanganAyaki SamEta RanganAtha, and the
PramAna "SrutaprakASika", during the Muslim invasion. He added
that, the same situation is still prevailing to this day and that
we have a very big task ahead to protect PramEya, PramAna and the
PramAtAs ie. SrI SUktIs of our AchAryas etc. He praised this
Sanskrit Drama to be one such very good effort fulfilling the above
objective. He appreciated SrI U.Ve. M.V.Ananthapadmanaban, the
script writer and director of this drama, to be a skillful person
who can even propagate the sampradAyam through modern medias like
Computer and the "omnipresent" Web. He wished the drama on this
great AchArya to be spread all over the world and get good response
from all the people, and thereby carryout the objective of
propagating our sampradAyam.
SrI K.ParAsaran, ex-Attorney General and son of the illustrious
late SrI U.Ve.KESava Iyengar, was full of appreciation. He shared
his feelings to the audience that he has never seen such an
excellent full length Sanskrit drama filled with very good
dialogues, settings and trick-shots. He recalled his father's
words "Just like there are two eyes and one sight, two ears and
one simultaneous hearing, two hands and one anjali, Sanskrit and
Tamil together constitute our Ubhaya VEdAnta SampradAyam". He
congragulated SrI Ananthapadmanaban and his team for having
produced a great play, quite comparable to the likes of Nawab
RAjamAnikkam and Manohar.
SrI O.R.RajagOpAlAchArya lauded the efforts of his student. He
was extremly happy about the many new improvements esp. music,
in comparison with the drama's earlier version staged during
1996 at VAni MahAl,Chennai. During 1996, SrI AnanthapadmanAban,
the script writer and another youngster SrI O.R.Devanathan,
son of SrI RAjagOpAlAchArya, were the main architects of the
play. Sri Ananthapadmanaban has incorporated improved stage
settings and display, in his new version.
The play was made possible to be staged, mainly because of
the contributions from the following bhaktas :
1. SrI M.S.Hari, Singapore.
2. SrI Madhavakannan, Singapore.
3. SrI Achutha RAman, Singapore.
4. SrI Vijayakumar, Singapore.
5. SrI Kasturi Varadarajan, USA.
6. SrI Murali Kadambi, USA.
7. SrI Deepak Rajasekar, USA.
8. SrI Vijayaraghavan SrInivasan, USA.
9. SrI Vasudevan of VAS Chemicals, Chennai.
10. SrI RAmabadran, Chennai.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Lets have a look at the review from the daily "The Hindu" :
ESSENTIALLY SPIRITUAL
***********************
Those who take delight in scoffing at Sanskrit as a "dead
language" and that it cannot be understood by all, the
presentation of a play on some of the important incidents
in the life of Vedanta Desika (13th Century) who strengthened
the edifice of 'Visishtadwaita", the foundation of which was
laid by the Alwars and spread by Ramanuja, totally belied
their aspersions. Enacted mostly by young students who are
learning Vedas and supported by a few elders, the dialogues
for the characters were simple. The sequences were dovetailed
well and the scenes changed quickly. A Vedantin, prolific
writer in Sanskrit,Tamil and Manipravala, Desika, who it is
believed was conferred the titles "Vedantacharya" and "Sarva-
Tantra Svatantra" by the Lord and the Divine Mother and
"Kavitarkika Simham" by scholars, chose to lead a simple life.
He was chiefly responsible for saving the "Sruta Prakasika",
a commentary on "Sri Bhashyam".
The script for the play, enacted at the Krishna Gana Sabha on
sunday was by of the noted scholar
O.R.Rajagopalachariar. The music rendering of the slokas was
pleasing.
The play commenced with the boy, Desika, revealing his precocity
among scholars. The procession of Lord Varadaraja with all
paraphernalia on the stage had a tremendous impact. The downpour
of gold coins to help a poor bridegroom on appeal to the Divine
Mother, the defeat of scholars of other religious schools, the
composing of the poem "Paduka Sahasram" during one night, the
lesson taught to a sorcerer who with his powers tried to cause
damage to his physical system, the saving of the valuables when
marauders plundered Srirangam Temple, his expertise in various
fields like sculpture and his reverence shown to co-religionists
who mistook him, were some of the scenes depicted.
The play only reveals parts of Desika's life, such as the way in
which some people tried to mix gold with the alms collected by
him daily only to help him tide over his chosen lifestyle and
his polite refusal to accept Vidyaranya's request by saying that
his grand father (Brahma) has left him a great legacy (Lord
Varadaraja).
Sri K.Parasaran commending the actors' dedication said that the
drama was neither purely religious nor social, but essentially
spiritual. By staging it frequently, the drama can reach the
standards set by troupes like that of Nawab Rajamanickam.
Sri Velukkudi Krishnan explained that through such plays, we
could propagate the message of our illustrious spiritual
leaders. M.V.Anantha Padmanaban, editor of the magazine
"Sri Sriranga Satajit Kripa" and director of the play "Desika
Vijayam", referred to his ambition to present the glory of
the 108 Divya Kshetras on stage.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
The reports/reviews on this play appeared also in the Tamil
Daily "Dinamani", Magazines like "SrI RanganAtha PAdukA",
"SrI Hayagriva PriyA" and Newsweek. The NEWS of Chennai
Doordarshan, showed a clipping from this drama and reported
the unique achievement of a full length Sanskrit drama with
very good settings and acting, and able direction and script
writing by SrI Ananthapadmanaban, who made the play easily
understandable for everyone. He has also been interviewed by
the Internet Radio viz. "Num-Radio".
These reports and sample Photos of this play will soon be made
available at the Web-site http://www.garuda.com. SrI Achutha -
RAman of Singapore will update us about it.
The Master-Copy of the video cassette of this play is ready.
Depending upon your orders, copies will be made.
*******************************************************************
* It is priced at US$10 for those at US, (Singapore)$15 for those *
* at Singapore and Rs.300 for those at India and elsewhere. *
*******************************************************************
The summary of each act of the play was announced in Tamil during
the live show. It has been well recorded in the Video-Cassette as
well and it will help a lot in understanding each act. Pamphlet
summarizing each act in English will also be given alongwith the
cassette.
Kindly come forward to get the video cassettes. aDiyEn need not
elaborate on the impact of visual media, since you all know much
more about it. In this generation, its very important to support
and encourage these ventures, which makes the sampradAyam reach
the people at large. Apart from oneself getting benifited out of
watching the play, it will be a big encouragement for
SrI MV Ananthapadmanaban also to produce more such plays. He is a
real "trend-setter" for this age, in making the sampradAyam reach
the people through dramas.
He remarked that he is only following the footsteps of our
pUrvAchAryas like SwAmi DESikan, who presented the tenets of
ViSishtAdvaita through the outstanding drama "Sankalpa -
SUryOdayam". Even NammAzhwAr's ThiruvAimozhi is like a play
with many characters viz. PerumAL, PirAtti, parAnkusa nAyaki,
thAyAr, thOzhi and others.
aDiyEn sincerely wishes that each and every SrI VaishNava should
have a copy of this video cassette. Please do convey your pledges
to me. Kindly mention the type of format you need : Indian (PAL),
US (NTSC) etc. Please issue the cheques in favour of
"M.V.Ananthapadmanaban" and mail to my address 11 Hasthigri St,
Chennai 600-033,India.
aDiyEn's Tel # : 483-4676. You can reach SrI Ananthapadmanaban
at 471-2284.
aDiyEn humbly requests the co-ordinators of various organizations
like NAMA to pass on the information to their members and actively
participate in distributing these cassettes. If possible, one can
locally get the orders for the cassettes and finally inform me.
The cassettes will be kept ready here and arrangements can be
made to deliver them at appropriate destinations within Chennai.
We shall also discuss about the way in which the cassettes can
be made available to those who want them at US,Singapore, Bahrain
and other such places.
The script for the next "Mega Play" in manipravALam (Judicious
mixture of Tamil and Sanskrit), on Lord VaradarAja of KAnchi,
viz."VAraNa veRpu" (Elephant Hill ie.Hasthigiri), has already
been written by SrI Ananthapadmanaban. More on this very
exciting play later ....
For now, please come forward with enthusiasm to order these
cassettes, specifying the format you need.
There is also an idea of making a CD-ROM. aDiyEn will inform
you all, when the plan gets finalized.
Thanks a lot in advance.
Eagerly awaiting for your pledges,
aDiyEn rAmAnuja dAsan,
K.K. AnantapadmanAbhan (alias K.K.Anand).
krishNArpaNam.
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