1

DESIKAMRUTHAM I:
?HAMSA SANDESA OF SRI VEDANTA DESIKA? Part 1- An Introduction
Prof. Narasimhacharya, Retd. Professor, Madras University (now a visiting Professor in the Oxford University) EXCLUSIVELY for publication in ?Sri Ranga Sri?. The learned Professor delivered this ?The Sripad Endowment Lecture? on 5th February 2003.
(Text of the lecture received from Dr. Miss M.S.Ramesh, IAS)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sri Venkatanatha, more popularly Known as Vedanta Desika was a Post- Ramanuja writer (1268-1369AD), whose multifaceted contribution to the SrivaishNava religion and philosophy deserves to be written in letters of gold and studded in the choicest clusters of precious stones. He was a polymath with about 139 works to his credit. These works are in Sanskrit, pure Tamil, Prakrit and the Manipravala. He strode like a colossus among the contemporary scholars. He bore lightly titles like Vedanta Desika, Sarva tantra Svatantra, Kavi Taarkika Simha and GhaNTaavataara. His rare scholarship and poetic talents drew unqualified encomia from no less a scholar than Sri Appayaa Dikshita, whose contributions to Advaita, Saivism and Alankaara Sastra are of a very high order. Dikshita wrote an unbiased commentary on Desika?s Yadhavaabhyudhaya. In Canto 1, we have the following verse:
?Kridaatu likayaa Svasmin krupaarusitaya svayam /
ekO visvam idam chitram vibhuh sreemaan ajijaanat // (9)
Roughly translated, it means ? Lord VishNu, the inseparable consort of Sree produced the picture of the universe Himself, all by Himself, with the brush of sport, dipping it in the paint of mercy?

The verse brings out in a nutshell, the VisishTadvaita theory of creation of the universe. After writing a ten-page commentary on it, Appayaa Dikshita, makes the following observation:
?ittham vichintya sarvatra bhaavah santi padE padE /
Kavi taarkika Simhasya kaavyEshu lalitEshvapi //
?In this manner, there are highly significant ideas in even the simplest verses of the lion among poets and logicians?

Swami Desika received the sacred Hayagriva mantra from Sri GaruDa and had a direct vision of Lord Hayagriva. He was precocious genius, an authority in all branches of knowledge ? both orthodox and heterodox, and could demolish all the existent philosophical systems and recreate them on his own terms. He was an uncompromising critic of the rival schools of thought. He was an embodiment of ?vairaaghya? (seeking alms on a day to day basis). In his own words, he did not become the target of arrows of cupid.
Cf: ete mahyam apOdha-manmathasaarOnmaathaaya naathaadayah /
Trayyanta-pratinandaneeya vividhOdaantaah svadantaam iha?
(SRTS Ch. 1: Guru Paramparaa saaram V.2)

He devoted his fresh youth to the repeated study of the works of Sri Ramanuja and dedicated himself for the propagation of the SrivaishNava religion and VisishTaadvaita philosophy. Thus, Sri Vedanta Desika was a phenomenon of a very rare kind by any standards.

I deem it a rare honor and privilege top be invited to deliver the ?Sripad Endowment Lecture? this year, under the auspices of the Department of VaishNavism which has been, is and will be, my first home. I thank Dr. Raghavan and Dr. Venkatakrishnan for this rare distinction conferred upon me. I wish to place on record my immense sense of appreciation and gratitude to all the members of the illustrious Sripad family viz., Dr. M.S.Lakshmikumari, Dr. M.S.Ramesh, Dr. Revati and Dr. Rajajee who created this endowment with the Department in the name of their beloved parents, late lamented Sriman Prof. Srirama Iyengar and Smt. Padmavathi.

I have chosen to speak on the ?Hamsa Sandesa? of Sri Vedanta Desika on this occasion. My admiration for adoration of Desika began to take shape when I was doing my B.A. Degree Course in the Government Arts College, Rajahmundry during the years 1956-58. I took Talugu as the main subject. I had to write one paper in Sanskrit also. The ?Hamsa Sandesa? was one of the prescribed texts for study. So, my love and admiration grew over the years and now, not a day passes for me without reading at least a verse or a section of a work of this Acharya Saarvabhouma par excellence.

The ?Hamsa Sandesa? has appeared in print several times with commentaries in Sanskrit, Tamil and English. Some commentators give three different meanings for every verse. One is the direct meaning. The second is the philosophical meaning. And, the third is the esoteric meaning. The word ?Hamsa? means not only a swan but also the spiritual teacher who by his vision and timely counsel, makes the Jiva come out of the bondage and enables him to receive the grace of the Supreme Lord. The story of the RamayaNa is also interpreted by some critics too yield such a meaning. Thus ? Rama is the Supreme Being. Sita is the jiva imprisoned in the body called lanka, which is ruled over by the ten-headed RavaNa i.e. by the ten senses. Hanuman who crosses the ocean is the Acharya who informs Sita, the Jiva about her real nature and gives her encouraging counsel that the grace of the Lord is sure top come at the earliest. Ultimately, the Lord Himself will come and set the Jiva free from bondage and takes him to His service. Commentators on the ?Hamsa Sandesa? like Uttamur Viraraghavacharya harness their scholarship in giving more than one meaning for every verse.