H169 sRI VEDA-NT A DESIKA 275 CoNCLUSION the memory of which will become brighter India is standing to-day on the thres­ as the regeneration of the East grows in hold of a new era. She is preparing vigour and creative power. It is up to the to make her contribution to the world youths of our present generation to come of the future. In the past she pro­ out of the narrow shell of factions and duced her great culture, and in the present party-politics, and illuminate the track of age she has an equally important role to humanity by holding high the lamp of their play in evolving the culture of the New ancient wisdom, by giving form and shape World which is emerging slowly from the to the great and noble dreams that were wreckage of the old. This is a momen­ cherished by the immortal prophets and tous period of her history" pregnant with philosophers of the past, so that the whole precious possibilities, when any disinterested world might declare that the light has come offer of co-operation from any part of the from the East and saved the West from West will have an immense moral value, doom and destruction. SRI VEDANTA DESIKA SWAMI HARSHANANDA I This pious couple had trekked all the way There was a great commotion inside the from KaticI to pray to the Lord of the Tiru­ temple of Lord Venkatesvara at Tirupati. pati hills to bless them with a worthy son. The bell used at the tjme of daily worship The Lord had granted their prayer. So they in the sanctum sanctorum was missing! The returned. temple authorities were holding an ~ emer­ In course of time a son was born to them. gency enquiry and were trying to fix the res­ They christened him Velikatanatha, after ponsibility on the poor priests who were the great Lord of Tirupati. pleading innocent. Just then word was re­ The boy underwent the various sacra­ ceived of an extremely strange happening in ments, sanctioned and sanctified by thou­ the township. A pious Brahmin couple, sands of years of tradition. He grew into pilgrims from KiHiclpuram (Anantasliri and a fine young man highly educated in the Totadryamoo by name), had had a wonder­ sacred lore and equally refined and cultured. ful vision the previous night in which an Even befor.e twenty he made a mark as a exquisitely beautiful divine child appeared great scholar, poet and philosopher. Though with a bell in its hand, commanded the good married, he lived practically like a recluse, lady to open her mouth, put the bell into it never caring for the comforts and enjoy­ and asked her to swallow it! Attempts at ments of the world. The only ambition verification ended up in confirmation. The that consumed his soul was the systematiza­ great God himself put the seal on the epi­ tion and propagation of the teachings of sn sode by revealing that everything had hap­ Ramanuja, the great Acarya who preceded pened in accordance with His own will! him by two centuries. So the commotion subsided. And the He is said to have lived the full human story began. life span of one hundred years. Like the 276 PRABUDDHA BHARATA June bell of the Lord, whose incarnation he was He also wrote purely literary works which supposed to be, he sent the message of are sometimes extolled as next only to Visi!i'!advaita Vedanta ringing to all the cor­ Kalidasa's. ners of his country. He travelled exten­ Learning often begets pride and egoism. sively, preached intensively, wrote profusely But he was a unique exception. He was and worked vigorously to fulfil the mission humility personified. His humility was born of his life. While journeying through life out of a deep conviction that whatever vir­ he had to weather many a storm: now argu­ tue he possessed was due to the Lord's ing and convincing, now spoiling the machi­ grace alone. Once a great poet of his nations of unscrupulous rivals, now organ­ times challenged him to compete with him izing the traditional centres of his religion in composing one thousand stanzas in one -:all the while keeping his head absolutely night. The proud poet chose the Lord's cool and the heart fully warm. His prodi­ feet as his subject. Desika chose the Lord's gious learning was matched only by his footwear! Praying intensely for the Lord's simplicity and humility. His wide fame grace and drowning his little ego in His was equalled only by his intense renuncia­ current, he effortlessly poured out one thou­ tion. No wonder that his contemporaries sand verses (now well-known as the honoured him with such names as Vedanta Piidukii-sahasra) before daybreak whereas Desika (the teacher of Vedanta), Sarvatan­ his illustrious opponent after great struggle tra-svatantra (the knower of all sciences and could compose only three hundred! But arts), Kavi-tarkika-simha (poet and lion even in his victory Desika was humble and among the logicians) and so on. magnanimous. 'Well, your composition is He passed away peacefully at a ripe old like the young one of the elephant whereas age.. mine is like the brood of pigs'! this was This was the end of the story, but the the tribute he paid to his opponent! beginning of a new page in history. His devotion to God was remarkable. It was not a sentimental feeling nor a mere 2 emotional upsurge. It was intense love His was a peerless personality. It is really welling up from the depths of his soul, very difficult, if not impossible, to state because of enlightenment wrought about by which of his innumerable virtues and gifts hard austerity and deep meditation. It is was more dominant than the rest. How­ said that he was blessed with an idol of ever, since we have to begin somewhere, let Lakshmi-Hayagriva by Garuda Bhagavan, us begin with his astounding scholarship. which he worshipped throughout his life. His knowledge of the ancient texts on reli­ This idol is cherished in the shrine of the gion and philosophy as also some of the Parakala Matha of Mysore even today. sciences and arts. was extensive as well as Another important trait of his was his deep. His writings are prolifiC. In qua­ spirit of supreme renunciation resulting lity, they are a class unto themselves. from his utter dependence on God. Vidya­ To combine dry philosophy with exqui­ ranya, another great soul of his time, tried site poetry is like squaring the circle. But his best to honour him through the king of he achieved it to an admirable degree! In Vijayanagar, but in vain. Though living his works, like Tattva-mukfii-kaliipa, it is practically on alms he considered the hon­ difficult to judge whether poetic grandeur ours conferred by kings as mere straw com­ supersedes philosophical acumen or vice pared to the joy of utter dependence on the , versa. King of kings. 1969 sRI VEDANTA DESIKA 277 It was exactly this that made him abso­ ing reply to the Riighaviibhyudaya of lutely fearless. He stuck to truth. He Di~4ima Kavi (of Vijayanagar) as also clung to God. What fear had he of mor­ Hamsa-sandesa and Sahkalpa-siiryodaya tals? It was the other way. The ordinary are works of exceptional literary merit. mortals who cared little for truth or for God The last one was composed on the lines of were mortally afraid of him! Prabodha-candrodaya of ~I).a Misra who With all his humility he was not meek was defeated in a disputation. whereas and submissive. much less cowardly. When Hamsa-sandesa was an imitation of the challenged he responded vigorously. rising M egha-sandda of KaIidasa. to the occasion· Several disputants tasted Among his independent works on defeat at his hands. Even persons well­ Visi~tadvaita special mention must be made versed in black magic could do little harm of Nyiiyaparisuddhi and Tattvamuktakaliipa. to him! SatadiiSan'i• • is another work which levels 66 He was a philosopher. a poet. and a saint arguments (and not 100 as the name implies) all rolled into one. He was a versatile against Advaita. genius of the highest order. He was the He has also written commentaries on 'salt of the earth'. rsaviisyopanis;ad and other standard works. Tattvafikii and Tiifparyacandrika are com- 3 • mentaries on Ramanuja's SribhM.Ya and Putting srivais~avism along with its philos­ Gua bhii,~ya. ophy of Visi~advaita on a firm foundation was the main achievement of his life. In 4 this he was next only to Riimanuja. Dharma has got two aspects: the personal This necessitated a prolific production of and the social. They are complementary to high quality works in which logic. philos. each other. A society in which the former ophy, devotion and ritualism blended har­ is forgotten disintegrates. A society in moniously. They number 107. Several of which the foimer is developed at the cost of them are in Sanskrit and the rest in Tamil. the latter. paves the way for its own de­ Among the works which describe the struction by alien forces. This latter has essenCe of srIvai~l).avism. Arthapaficaka been the fate of our society. at least during seems to be the most popular. It deals with the last thousand years. the doctrine of Prapatti or self-surrender to The century in which Sri Vedanta Desika God. lived was a period of great stress and strain However it is in Rahasyafrayasara com­ to the Hindu society.