| Sages,Rushis & Saints |
 |
| Biographies of Great Indians & Hindus |
VEDANTA DESHIKAR |
|
| At
Sriranga Later, the acharya left Kanchi and settled down in Sriranga. At that time, men like Pillai Lokacharya, Sudarshana Bhatta and such elderly scholars and devotees were living in Sriranga. It was at their instance that Deshikar went to Sriranga. He liked the place. He was happy that he had the opportunity of offering worship to Sri Ranganatha. The Srivaishnavas of Sriranga nominated Deshikar as the head of the Mutt there. He had to contend in polemical arguments with poets like Dindima and Krishnamishra. He established his superiority over all such opponents. People assembled in the presence of the deity and conferred on him the titles 'Sarvatantra-swatantra and 'kavi-tarkika-kesari'. While at Sriranga, Deshikar wrote many literary and philosophical works. He composed a poem, 'Yadavabhyudaya'. The theme of this beautiful poem is the story of Srikrishna. He also wrote a drama called 'Sankalpa-suryodaya'. And many other prayer-songs. It was at that time that he wrote critical commentaries on the works of Sri Ramanuja. Deshikar devoted all his time to prayer, contemplation, teaching, and philosophical discussions with learned men. The acharya's departure from Sriranga is
itself a long story. Some people were envious of his erudition, humility and his spirit of
renunciation. During his stay in Sriranga, some miscreants tried to cause vexation and
make him miserable. Actually some of these tormentors were themselves Srivaishnavas. The man chagrined and he decided to disgrace Deshikar at
any cost. He wanted to humiliate him, and committed ashameful deed. He tied a couple of
sandals in an archlike fashion at the entrance of the acharya's house. Deshikar saw it
then entering from the house, and guessed who the culprits were. But he did not lose his
temper. He said with his characteristic composure: "Some people trust the philosophy
of work; some depend on The more the patience Desh ikar cultivated, the more such people vexed and tormented him. |
|
