Bio of alwar.
Genius that he was, Vedanta Desika wrote in Sanskrit, Tamil, Prakrit and Manipravala (mixture of Sanskrit and Tamil). The works of the Azhvars and Ramanuja Nootrandadi in praise of Ramanujacharya are collectively known as Divya Prabandham. The total number of prabandhams in the Divya Prabandham is 24. Vedanta Desika’s Tamil works also number 24, said Koothapakkam Chakravarthi Ranganathachariar in a discourse. Of these, the following are lost to us: Pandhu, Kazhal, Ammaanai, Oosal and Yesal. Of the ones available, the following are considered the most important: Adaikkalapathu, Adhikara Sangraham, Prabandha Saaram and Pillai Andadi.
Pillai Andadi was composed by Desika’s son Kumara Varadacharya, but is included in the Desika Prabandhams. In Prabandha Saaram, which has 18 verses, Desika gives details about the birthplace and the star of every Azhvar, the number of works to the credit of each Azhvar, and the number of pasurams each of them composed. Each verse gives us such details about an Azhvar. Prabandha Saaram, therefore, is like a biography of the Azhvars in condensed form, making it a unique work. Desika composed this work so that we would have a clear idea about the Azhvars and their pasurams.
In the case of many Sanskrit poets, biographical details have to be inferred from their usage of words or descriptions. For example, in the case of Kalidasa, we guess he could have been from Ujjain, because of his descriptions of Ujjain. But nothing about him can be established beyond doubt. When palm leaf manuscripts are copied, mistakes can occur due to oversight or even if the copier omits or adds a detail. It was to avoid any such possibility in the case of the Azhvars, that Desika composed Prabandha Saaram.
God captive of affection.
The legendary King Paari is said to have taken pity on a trailing vine and offered his royal chariot as a support for the creeper. Vallalar’s love for flora and fauna was just as immense as this. Vallalar said that he shed tears whenever he saw crops wilting because of lack of water. It is one thing to melt for human beings, or even animals, for even the latter are capable of expressing their emotions through gestures. Thus a dog shows its affection by wagging its tail. Plants, however, are silent sufferers, when there is a drought or a flood. So sensitive was Vallalar that tears came automatically to him when he saw plants suffer. He was always in tune with Nature.
In his Vairagya Panchaka, Vedanta Desika shows us the need to spurn opulence and the need to seek Lord Narayana instead. In the very first verse, which is in the metre known as Saardoola Vikreeditha, Desika mentions Kuchela, the poverty stricken friend of Krishna, said V.K.S.N. Raghavan, in a discourse.
Desika says that there are many petty kings, rulers of small kingdoms, who are always surrounded by sycophants. These men sing the king’s praises, for a few rewards from him. On receiving these rewards, they consider themselves to be very fortunate indeed. But to Desika, this is totally undesirable. He sees no need to praise any king. What is the need to do so for one who worships the Supreme One — Lord Narayana? He then talks of Kuchela and refers to him as a muni. Kuchela was a childhood friend of Krishna. Hoping to get some financial help from Krishna, Kuchela went to meet Him. He had nothing to offer Krishna, except a few rice flakes. He was ashamed of his humble offering. But Krishna took the rice flakes from Kuchela and ate them with relish. That very instant, Kuchela’s poverty vanished. When such a One as Krishna was being worshipped by Desika, would he care to praise a mortal? But Kuchela was not a sage. Why then did Desika use the word ‘muni’ for him? That is because anyone who focuses on the Lord and meditates on Him is fit to be called so.
Sage Agastya is called a great and noble sage, because when he was about to sip ocean water, in the tiny drop of water in his right palm, the Lord showed him two of His avataras. The two avataras Agastya saw were the Matshya and Kurma avataras. Thus, by seeing the Lord’s avataras, Agastya became great. Kuchela became great through his bhakti towards Krishna,, and so deserved to be called a muni.
