7

DESIKAMRUTHAM I:
?HAMSA SANDESA OF SRI VEDANTA DESIKA? Part 7
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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?paryaaptam tE pavan chalitair anga raagam paraagaih
sthaanE kuryuh sama samudayaad bandhavo bandhu jeevah /
yEna anveshyasya chalatanayaa-paadalaakshaanusaktam
chooDaa chandram pura vijayinah svarNa deepEna poorNam //? (12)

This verse also serves as an irrefutable instance to show that our poet Desika was greatly influenced by KaaLidaasa. That the moon becomes red due to contact with the red lac of Paarvati?s feet is an idea borrowed from the ?Kumara sambhavam? of KaaLidaasa. In Canto eight, we have a beautiful description of Paarvati being bedecked as a bride. She was made to sit facing East. A friend of hers painted the feet of Paarvati with red lac and blessed her jocularly: ? May you touch the ChandralEkah on the head of your husband with this foot?. Paarvati did not utter a word. She just hit that naughty friend with a flower garland thatshe was having in her hand by that time.


?patyuh siras chandra kalaam anEna
sprsEti sakhyaa parihaasa poorvam /
saa ranjayitvaa charaNou kritaasih
maalyEna taam nirvachanam jaghaana //

The idea is that Paarvati?s friend was making fun of Siva, since he had a lady ChandralEkha already on his head. The best way Paaarvati can indicate her indignation is to kick ChandralEkha with her foot painted with red lac. How could Paarvati do it? When her husband Siva bends before her to seek forgiveness for that offence itself. It is this idea that our poet Desika has incorporated in the verse cited above (12)

The region that the swan is asked to go to next is TouNdeera MaNDala, a great pilgrimage center. It is here that the ancient glorious city of Kaanchi, the abode of Lord Varadaraaja is located. This region is also known as ?Satya vrata kshEtra? where the Lord who is described in the scriptures as the ?sEthu? or dam of the whole universe (Esha sEtur vidhaaraNa), actually became a dam to stop the floods of the river VEgavati (which is another form of Goddess Saraswati). The Lord here is known as ?YatOkta kaari? (sonna vaNNam seyda perumaaL).

Desika describes this sacred spot in eleven verses (VV 25-35) and one can easily see the reason behind it. Desika was born in Tooppul agrahaaram which is in the suburbs of Kaanchi. It may be noted in comparison, that KaaLidaasa describes the city of Ujjain in ten verses (VV 27-36) in his Megha Sandesa, whereas he has not done so with other cities or places. In fact, the cloud, despite the urgency of its mission, Yaksha tells the cloud: ? No doubt, the route I am now suggesting is a bit round about. Still, if you do not take a look at Ujjain and its lofty mansions, the beautiful women living there and their sidelong glances, then the very purpose of your having eyes would be defeated?. Critics opine, on the basis of this statement, that Ujjain must have been the native place of KaaLidaasa. Had it not been stated by Lord Sri Rama, ?Janani janmabhoomis cha svargaadapi gareeyasi? (One?s mother and one?s place of nativity are superior even to heaven. The first half of this verse is:? api svarNamayi Lanka na mE LakshmaNa rOchatE?


Vakrah panthaaah yadapi bhavatah prasthitasyOttaraasaam
SaudOtsanga-praNaya- vimukho maa sma bhur ujjayinyaah //

Similar is the case with Desika?s description of Kaanchi. In the words of the poet, Kaanchi is the very ornament of the earth, a place resonant with sound of music and is always under the watchful benign eyes of the Lord of Hastigiri (i.e Lord Varadaraja)


Naanaa ratnair upachita guNaam nitya sangeeta naadaam
BhumEr drakshya suchita vibhavam bhushaNam tatra Kaanchim /
Yasyaam nityam nihita nayanah hasthi sailaadhi vaasi
Dvandavaatitah sa khalu purushO drisyatE satyakaamah // (V26)

The city of Kaanchi, Desika points out, came into existence at the beginning of the Krita yuga by the will of Brahma. He briefly refers to the fact that even gods join the temple festivals there in which different Vaahanams are used to take out the idols in processions (V.28)

Reference is also made to the ?Eka amra naata? temple of Lord Siva located there. (V28) (Pasupati siras chandra nihaaravaahi) and to the river vEgavati with her seven streams called Sooktikaa, Kanakaa, kampaa, Vaigai, VanjuLaa and ChanDavEga)

Reference is made to the temple of Lord Varadaraja and the sacrificial platform of Brahma on which the Lord appeared as a blue colored fire. This is a verse worth quoting:


SaNchinvaana taruNa tuLasee daamabhih svaam abhikhyaam
Tasyaam vEdyaam anuvidadhati syaamaLam havya vaahaam /
BhOgaiswarya- priya saha charaih kaapi Lakshmee kaTaakshaih
Bhooyaas syaama bhuvana jananee dEvataa samnidhattE // (V32)

Desika then speaks of the VasantOtsva of Lord Varadaraja (v35) during which both the Lord and his consort are worshipped in floral surroundings.

The swan is then asked to cross the middle territory and proceed to the ChOzha country, well irrigated by the Cauveri (of course in those days). The ChOzha land can be noticed even from a distance by its dense dark areca trees, says Rama.

Reference is then made to the white hillock (TiruveLLarai), which is situated a little off the present Srirangam. The hillock looks like a submerged Himaalaya or the rising AadisEsha (V38). The deity there is likened to a lamp. The garden attached to this temple is called ?Neeli?, since it is protected from all intruders, by a demoness of that name. This is followed by a glorious description of the ?Chandra PushkaraNi? on whose bank is the ?sEshapeeTa? on which will be located the holy ?Sriranga Vimaana? (v45). The poet makes a very ingenious reference here to Srirangam, which had not yet been established at the time of the incident described in the poem. Rama anticipates the installation of the deity through VibheeshaNa, as it was predicted so, by the sages:


TeerE tasya virachita padam saadhubhih sEvyamaanam
Sraddhaa yOgaad vinamita tanuh sEshapeetam bhajEtah /
Yasmin asmat kula naathaaya saumya! SaakEta bhaajah
Sthaanam bhavyam munibhir-uditam sreematO Ranga dhaamnah //(V45)

The word ?kuladhanam? is an obvious reference to the RamayaNa verse (Yuddha khaaNDa)
?labdvaa kuladhanam raajaa lankaam praayad vibheeshaNah?

The primeval Being who is going to occupy that sEshapeeTa, Rama tells the swan, is the very life of the daughter of the milky ocean. The deity has large eyes and rests on AadisEsha and shines like an emerald kept in a casket.