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abhinava dESika- SrI UttamUr Swamy Divya Charitham- 23

From the Bhakti List Archives

Madhavakkannan V • January 29, 2002 


SrI:
Sri Padmavathi Sametha Srinivasa Parabrahmane Namaha.
Sri Perundhevi Sametha Devadhiraja Parabrahmane Namaha.
SrimathE Bhagavad Ramanujaya Namaha:
SrimathE Nigamantha Mahadesikaya namaha:
Srimate Rangaramanuja Maha Desikaya Namaha.
Srimate  Abhinava Desika Vatsya Satchakravarti Uttamur SRI
VIRARAGHAVARYA MAHA DESIKAYA NAMAHA

SrImAn venkatanAthAryaH kavitArkika kesarI |
vedAntAcArya-varyome sannidhattAm sadA hRdi ||

Thanian (Invocatory verse on Sri UttamUr swamy written by
Swamy's AchAryan Sri Kozhiyalam Swamy himself)

adbhutam yasya vikrAntam vEda vIthI ViSOdhanE |
aparam nigamAntAryam prapadyE vIrarAghavam ||

[Article in Tamil by SrI PayyampADi VEnkatavaradAchArya SwAmi; English write 
up (based on Tamil) by SrI R.VenkatAchAri (SohattUr- Vankipuram -Oppiliappan 
Sannidhi), a disciple of SrI UtthamUr SwAmi. Appeared in the souvenir 
released during the SatAbhishEkam (80th birth anniversary) of SrI UtthamUr 
swAmi on 10th Feb, 1977]

PARAMARTHA BHOOSHANA RELEASE:

Arrangements were made for the release of the book, Paramartha
Bhooshana, at Tiruvellore (as per the original sankalpa of Our Swami), where 
the 18th Malola Sadas was being held that year.  Srimad
Alagiasingar had invited pandits from all directions.  Our Swami,
directed by Srimad Alagiasingar, read out some portions from the
grantha and explained the contents thereof in his own masterly way
and the Sadas and Srimad Alagiasingar were very much pleased.  Then
the formal release of the book was made.

Sri Narayana Iyengar Swami of Karur, who was the first donor for the
book, was kept informed from time to time about the progress of the
grantha, and after release also.  He was very happy and wrote to Our
Swami about the wonderful way the book was written.  (Within a week
after seeing the book he passed away, which gave an impression that
God Almighty retained him only to fulfill his desire of the
publication of the book.

At T.Nagar, Madras, Sri.Bhashyam spoke in the Sadas, convened to
felicitate Our Swami.  He explained to the audience that the
publication was being done single-handed by Our Swami, which could not have 
been done even by big Samastans with many scholars.  The main reasons, he 
said, for the success of the programme were Our SwamiÂ’s wide and 
comprehensive knowledge of all the Shastras and Sri Suktis of almost all the 
important commentators before him which made him self-sufficient without any 
need to refer to anybody or to any other author for clarifications; his 
enthusiasm in the publication of his books, without expecting anything in 
return and his consideration that the Nirmana of the granthas was the main 
Purushartha.  Sri K.Bhashyam said that the Astika world, especially from Sri 
vaishnava  Sampradaya should remove the burden of collecting funds, leaving 
him enough time to concentrate on the Nirmana work.  He estimated that at 
least a Lakh of rupees would be needed for the publication programme of Our 
Swami, as otherwise, the Astika world would be loosing a great treasure.

At Mylapore, Sri Desika temple was the venue of another Sadas
presided over by Sri.K.Kesava Iyengar Swami, Advocate, and an erudite
scholar both in Sanskrit and Tamil.  He spoke in praise of Our SwamiÂ’s 
capacity for grantha nirmana, and said that considering the number of his 
publications, the work was almost a miracle.  He specially appreciated the 
Name, Our Swami chose for the grantha (Paramartha Bhooshana) which was very 
apt; and also the naming of every argument as PRASADA.  Sri U.Ve.Karapankadu 
Venkatachar Swami (a sishya of Our Swami), an erudite scholar in Tarka and 
Vedanta, a popular Upanyasaka and a great Acharya in his own Sampradaya, 
spoke next and expressed his admiration at Our SwamiÂ’s genius, and 
immediately paid an amount of Rs.250/- and took only four copies, for the 
use of his sishyas.  At T.Nagar, in the space adjoining the house of 
Brahmasri S.N.Dave, a meeting was held in a specially erected pandal, for 
the purpose of felicitating Our Swami.  Sri Dave, himself an Upanyasaka in 
English, a greet admirer of Our Swami, a staunch Advaitin and who always 
preferred to lecture on Vishnu Bhakti, used to invite Our Swami for 
Upanyasas in the above pandal and many scholars spoke about the greatness of 
Our Swami.  During the meeting, a special messenger came from Sri Kanchi  
Kamakoti Peeta Sankaracharya Swami and presented a purse containing Rs.500/- 
and conveyed the AcharyaÂ’s great appreciation of the scholarly genius of Our 
Swami in one more book.

In short, the entire scholar world from all the three Sidhantas,
praised Our Swami for his capacity to employ special Yuktis as and
when situations arise, fully supported by Pramana Vakyas, which made
the grantha a comprehensive commentary on Sata Dhooshani itself which
was required for the better understanding of Sri Desika_ ideas in
writing the book, the lack of which alone caused the writing of Sata
Bhooshani by Our Swami_ great friend, Brahmasri Sastriar.  The other
important points which the scholars appreciated were: the clarity with which 
the Pramana vakyas were discussed showing the PRATIBHA VILASA of Our Swami; 
the healthy criticism of the Advaita Sidhanta which would be appreciated 
even by the Advaita scholars including the author himself; the Slokas 
composed and employed throughout the grantha to stress a point which were 
shining like diamonds set in Gold, etc. etc.  It was the unanimous opinion 
of all the scholars that even if the entire grantha could not be read by 
anybody the Poems at the beginning and end of each Argument (Prasada) would 
be enjoyable and would be enough to expose the author as great POET.  In 
fact the entire scholar world who were acquainted with Sri DesikaÂ’s books 
swore that Sri Desika himself had written that book (Paramartha Bhooshana) 
to bring out the greatness of his own grantha.

A GREAT LOSS:

At this time, Sri K.Bhashyam passed away suddenly due to heart attack
which was a great loss to Our Swami.  The Sampradaya lost a good
patron as he was also a staunch believer in Grantha Nirmana, like Our
Swami, as the main way to spread our Sampradaya.  Our Swami felt it
his duty, and completed the English translation of the granthas which
he started and released them.  (Vedanta Deepa and Gitartha Sangraha
etc.)  The progress of the Divya Prabandas was quite satisfactory, as
the same was taken over by the V.P.Sabha.
Rest in nextÂ…
AchAryan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam
Regards
Namo Narayana
ADiyEn dAsan


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