Swami Vedant Desikan, poet, philosopher and proponent of Sri Vaisnavism....a contemporary of Sant Dnyaneshwar...

Swami Vedant Desikan, poet, philosopher and proponent of Sri Vaisnavism....a contemporary of Sant Dnyaneshwar....

It's almost a week since I attended a community chanting of shlokas, stotrams and prabandham composed by Swami Vedant Desikan at the Desika Sabha in Matunga, Mumbai. The serenity I experienced set me thinking. Swami Vedant Desikan was a contemporary of Sant Dnyaneshwar yet many would neither know him nor know the fact that he has composed over 100 works on every aspect of life in about 7 languages.
Born in 1268, a poet, philosopher and disciple of Swami Ramanujam, he was a proponent of Sri Vaishnavism. Legend says he was born out of the divine bell of Lord Venksteswara of Tirupathi and so known as
as Ghantaavataara.
He was truly blessed with great intellect as he was able to impress great scholars from the time he was five. He became a disciple of Saint Kidambi Appullar when he was 7 and by the age of 20 he had gained mastery over poetry, logic, linguistics, science, vedanta. He had a rare mastery over several languages such as Tamil, Sanskrit, Prakrit and Manipravala (a mixture of Sanskrit and Tamil). His literary works include 28 devotional poems in Sanskrit, 24 devotional poems in Tamil, 11 philosophical treatises, 10 commentaries on acharyas, 5 narrative poems, 32 esoteric texts, 1 drama, 13 works in art an science, 4 works on religious rites and practices. His shlokas and stotras touch every aspect of our life. Their uniqueness is in the 32 metres he has given to them which makes their chanting a real pleasure.
His debating talents were avant-garde as he accepted many such challenges and composed something unique each time.
Knowledge was something he was always seeking and blessed he was by none other than Lord Hayagreeva, the God of learning. The Hayagreeva stotram dedicated to Lord Hayagreeva transformed his life. He was blessed with such deep knowledge that he could compose poems in a fraction of seconds. So he composed the Abhiteestavam for becoming fearless and to drive away fear, the Dashavataaram stotram on the Dashavataras, Daya Satakam seeking God's benevolence, Sudarshanaastakam for fearlessness, Kaamaasikatakam for surrender and self- realisation.
Sri Stuti was composed by him when some malicious elements wanted to scorn his poverty by sending a friend to seek financial aid for his daughter's wedding. Swami Desikan quietly took him to the shrine of Goddess Lakshmi and composed the Sri Stuti which resulted in a shower of gold coins from the Godess herself.
Despite seeing such riches he was cut off from all desire. He even refused the position and riches offered by his friend, Vidyaranya, a Court official in the 'Vijayanagara kingdom' and composed the famous ' Vairagya Panchakam' emphasising on his renunciation and detachment from worldly wealth.
Paaduka Sahasram, the 1008 verses are unique as they were composed in just one night, and set to 32 metres of music. This was in response to a challenge by another scholar and Swami Desikan stood tall as he accomplished the impossible task of not only composing 1008 verses but also setting them to metre.
The Yadavabhyudaya, a unique composition on Krishna is as decorative as the poetry of Mahakavi Kalidasa.
His mastery over any subject enabled him to compose even on Aahaara, food. Thus the Ahara Niyamanam, tells us what should be eaten by us and how.
When he was put in a corner by being asked to construct a well using uneven bricks he accomplished the task and even composed a stotra for the same. This well still exists at Tiruvaheendrapuram.
'Sankalpa Suryodaya'- a marvelous allegorical drama on human emotions like greed , jealousy and qualities like wisdom, was written by him in one night.
'Rahasya Traya Saram' an important book for any Sri Vaishnava written in Manipravala style (a mixture of Sanskrit and Tamil) is his magnum opus and explains the philosophy of Tattva, Hita And Purushartha.  
There are several such literary works to his credit and he was therfore conferred the title of Sarvatantra Swantantra and Kavitaarkika Kesari.
His devotion to the Lord blessed him with every skill so much so that he could take up the challenge of sculpting his own idol which can be seen at Tiruvaheendrapuram even today.
Such was his devotion to the Lord that in 1327 when Malik kafur was forcing plunder and massacre, he dared to hide himself and two other shisyaas among the dead bodies to protect the Archana idols of God.
Swami was a great traveller and went on a pilgrimage to several Kshetras like Kadigai, Ayodhya, Kaasi, Mathura, Avanti, Badarikasramam, Puri, Brindavan, Dwaraka, Triveni, Gaya , Salagramam,
He was egalitarian by nature and despite opposition he insisted on installation of idols of all Alwaars including those who were from other castes in temples since they were devoted Sri Vaishnavas.
Blessed with a long life, he lived to be a centenarian as he served the Lord till 1369.
He always emphasized on the need for purity of thought, word, and deed for realizing God and eliminating feelings of desire, sin, false knowledge.
The human mind has the innate ability to gain knowledge and use it for one's own growth and the development of society. Through innumerable examples in his life Swami Desikan has shown us this path. It is for us to realise our true self, gain true knowledge and follow the path of Dnyana, Karm and Bhakti leading to our own salvation.