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DESIKAMRUTHAM I:
?HAMSA SANDESA OF SRI VEDANTA DESIKA? Part 2
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)
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The ?Hamsa Sandesa? is modeled on the ?Megha Sandesa? of Kaalidaasa, which has created a separate genre of composition, called the ?Sandesa Kaavya? in Sanskrit literature. It may be pointed out in this context that so far, there are in Sanskrit alone (not to speak of the vernaculars), 55 Sandesa Kaavyas written on the model of Megha Sandesa. Very poet had the irresistible temptation to imitate Kaalidaasa and sometimes even excel him, although this later attempt has not met with success. Kaalidaasa is our National poet, who lived in the first century B.C. or according to some, in the fifth century A.D. Everyone should take legitimate pride in reading his works and if one can compose verses, write at least one work modeled on any of his work. That was considered a matter of prestige and pride, not just a case of slavish imitation. All the works of Kaalidaasa are finished products of the highest order and nobody dares change even a word of his.

As in the case of the model poem, Megha Sandesa, the Hamsa Sandesa also abounds in descriptions of temples and holy places. South India is chosen as the scene of the poem and it may therefore be described as the complement of the Megha Sandesa, which describes North India. In the Megha Sandesa, the hero is semi-divine being, a Yaksha. He is a Dheeralalita-type of hero (i.e) one who is given to carefree life of enjoyment, deeply interested in fine arts like dance and music (cf: nischintO dheeralaliah, kalaasaktah, Sukhaikabhuh). In the Hamsa Sandesa, the hero is Sri Rama, an ideal hero, called DheerOdhatta.
Cf mahaasattvOatighambheerah krupaavaan avikattanah /
SthirO nighooDaahamkaarO DheerOdhaatta DriDavratah //

That is to say, one who is of immense strength, very deep in his mind, compassionate, steadfast, given to irrevocable determination etc.

Yaksha was only a servant of KubEra. He was cursed by his master for dereliction of his duty to be away from his beloved wife for one year. Rama was Lord Vishnu incarnate, separated from his wife Sita who was abducted by the ten-headed dragon called RavaNa, king of Lanka.

It will be worthwhile to note the parallels between the Megha Sandesa and the Hamsa Sandesa. Sri Vedanta Desika, a Mahakavi in his own right, has used the same meter, Mandakranta employed by Kaalidaasa. This meter according to Kshemendra, the author of Suvrutta Tilaka (CH 3 called Vritta ViniyOga) is ideal to describe the pangs of separation between lovers (Vipralamha Sringara). It is a long meter, moving slowly like the python (cf, mandam aakramati). This meter is quite suitable to describe the love-lorn condition of Yaksha who had no interesting life and was dragging on a wretched existence (Chant the verse- ?kaschit kanta viraha gurunaa).

Our poet Desika has also depicted in the Hamsa Sandesa, love in separation (Vipralambha Sringara). He follows the original even in the division of the poem into two Aasvaasas or Cantos. Even the number of verses in the Hamsa Sandesas total of 110 (60+ 50), which comes closer to the model poem, which has a total of 115 verses (63 + 52).

It will not be out of place to refer in this connection to a totally uncalled for controversy kicked up by some self-styled Desika Rasikas that Desika is head and shoulder above Kaalidaasa himself. They with their misplaced enthusiasm try to compare each and every verse of the two Sandesa Kaavyas and point out how Kaalidaasa pales into insignificance before Desika. They go to the extent of saying that Desika wrote the Yadhavaabhyudaya in reply to the Raghuvamsa of Kaalidaasa, as if there is a thematic controversy between the two works. Desika is no doubt a Mahaakavi, whose fame lasts as long as Sanskrit language and literature last. The world is yet to see a multi-faceted genius like Desika. Why should there be comparison at all between the two Mahaakavis of whom the earlier one acquired celebrity all over the world by his original creations? The plan of the poem, the choice of the meter, the delineation of the first details and their fitting into an original and harmonious whole ? are the indisputable claims of Kaalidaasa. Such a claim cannot, in the very nature of things, be laid by even the greatest of his imitators. Such critics are only doing a greater harm and incalculable disservice to the great name and spirit of Sri Desika himself, who lived a life of disarming simplicity and extraordinary humility. The humility of Desika could be illustrated by the following instance. In response to a challenge thrown by a contemporary poet, Desika wrote the masterpiece, Sri Padukaa Sahasra glorifying the sandals of Lord Ranganatha, in the course of a single night: The rival poet could only write three hundred verses on the lotus feet of the Lord (Paadukaamaala Trisati). In all fairness, he admitted that he was no match to Sri Desika in the art of composing such a beautiful poem at such a fantastic speed. With his characteristic humility the unassuming Desika put his rival in a still more unenviable position by extemporizing the following verse:
SootE Sukara yuvatih, Sutasatam ati durbhagam jhaTiti /
KariNi chiraaya SootE sakala-maheepala-lalitam kalabham//
A sow, i.e a she pig gives birth to a hundred, ugly young ones in a trice whereas a cow i.e. female elephant gives birth to a stately baby over a long period, which is fondled by the rulers of the land.
What a poet! What humility!