Desika's hymn
NEDUNTHERU S. KANNAN
SRI VARADARAJA PANCHASAT OF VEDANTA DESIKA (Sanskrit-Tamil): Text with commentaries of Scholars and Explanatory Notes in Tamil and English by V. N. Vedanta Desikan- Editor; pub. by Paundrikapuram Sri Andavan Ashramam, 43-A/13, Ashram Road, Srirangam-620006. Rs. 100.
Lord Varadaraja, the presiding deity at the temple on the elephant-hill in Kancheepuram is believed to have influenced the lives of the preceptors Nathamuni, Yamunacharya and Ramanuja profoundly in laying a firm foundation for Visishtadvaita as enshrined in the Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita and the Brahmasutras. Vedanta Desika with his matchless intellect and vision reinforced Ramanuja's philosophy and spread the doctrine of surrender (Prapatti) as a means to the attainment of the highest bliss. Among the many works he composed, the Varadaraja Panchasat in praise of Varada of Kanchi, is a hymn comprising 51 verses which establishes the contours of Visishtadvaita and also lays bare the essence of the system as promulgated in Ramanuja's commentary on the Brahma Sutras, the Sri Bhashya.
Essence
This hymn is a scriptural text with Vedic bearings that starts with six prefatory verses and then proceeds to dwell on the Lord's nature in the next 10 verses, followed by 13 on His form and the rest on the endless reaches of His creation.
With closer scrutiny, according to Karur Swamy, the verses can be divided into sections carrying respectively the import of each of the four chapters of the Sri Bhashya. The essence of the hymn broadly is: the Lord, who is declared to be cognisable only through the scriptures, has become manifest on the hill-top so as to be visible to the naked eye of the devotees who are amazed that the form possesses all the qualities associated with His innate blissful nature. The fortunate ones meditate on Him and cross over worldly bondage never again to revert to the cycle of birth and death. None including the guardian deities can transgress His commands and prohibitions but those who do should repent and depend on His compassion personified by His consort in order to get out of the web of bondage. He resides in the cavity of the heart of every individual, sinner or not; in times of need He chooses to incarnate at the right moment personally to assure succour to the suffering humanity and the wronged. He is not only the goal but the means as well. The only means is total surrender (Prapatti). The entire universe of the sentient and the insentient constitute His body of which He is the soul. However, He is now accessible to redress the misery of those who surrender and also to draw the delinquent gently into His fold.
A boon to scholars and devotees alike, this treatise includes the commentaries of three eminent scholars. The editor's indefatigable passion for tracing and retrieving old precious texts is really commendable.
More importantly, he has brought out remarkably the philosophic and literary nuances of the commentaries in a fashion that will appeal to the percipient modern reader who will appreciate better the seminal contribution of Vedanta Desika to Vedanta and spiritual literature.
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