In Praise of Swami Vedanta Desika

This year is the 751th birth anniversary (1268 AD- 1369 AD) of the famous poet, philosopher and dialectical genius, Swami Vedanta Desika. He lived for 101 years. By the age of 20 he became proficient in all branches of spiritual knowledge. He had mastered the Vedas, Sastras and Agamas and the Divya Prabandhams of the Azhwars. His forte was logic, poetry and philosophy. He wrote extensively in Sanskrit, Tamizh, Prakrit and Manipravala and composed numerous devotional hymns which reflected his poetic genius. He received the honorific titles of 'Vedantacaryar" from Lord Ranganatha and "Sarvatantra Swatantrar" from the Divine Mother Śri Ranganayaki. Swami Desika was a polyglot and an author of 166 granthas. Besides strengthening and further propagating the Visișhtadvaitic philosophy of Sri Ramanuja, he established beyond any doubt the doctrine of Prapatti (self surrender) as the guaranteed route to mokșa (liberation). This book is a translation of 73 verses composed in Sanskrit by Prativadi Bhayankaram Aņņangaracaryar Swami (Aņņan) who was the disciple of Nayanaracaryar, son of Swami Desika. This ode on Swami Vedanta Desika contains what needs to been known about Swami Desika's greatness, the depth of meaning in his works, the faith in him of his devotees and efforts made by his opponents to demean him which boomeranged and put such people to shame. Some of the great Acaryas who came after Swami Desika quoted several verses from 'Saptati Ratnamalika' in their writings and thus gave it a pride of place among other literary works. **Contents and Sample Pages**