In Praise of Sw?mi Ved?nta De?ika

This year is the 751th birth anniversary (1268 AD- 1369 AD) of the famous poet, philosopher and dialectical genius, Sw?mi Ved?nta De?ika. He lived for 101 years. By the age of 20 he became proficient in all branches of spiritual knowledge. He had mastered the Ved?s, ??str?s and ?gam?s and the Divya Prabandhams of the ?zhw?rs. His forte was logic, poetry and philosophy.

He wrote extensively in Sanskrit, Tamizh, Pr?krit and Maniprav?la and composed numerous devotional hymns which reflected his poetic genius. He received the honorific titles of 'Ved?nt?c?ryar" from Lord Ra?gan?th? and "Sarvatantra Swatantrar" from the Divine Mother ?r? Ra?gan?yaki.

Sw?mi De?ika was a polyglot and an author of 166 granth?s.

Besides strengthening and further propagating the Vi?i?ht?dvaitic philosophy of ?r? R?m?nuja, he established beyond any doubt the doctrine of Prapatti (self surrender) as the guaranteed route to m?k?a (liberation).

This book is a translation of 73 verses composed in Sanskrit by Prativ?di Bhaya?karam A??angar?c?ry?r Sw?mi (A??an) who was the disciple of N?yan?r?c?ry?r, son of Sw?mi De?ika. This ode on Sw?mi Ved?nta De?ika contains what needs to been known about Sw?mi De?ika'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 ?c?ry?s who came after Sw?mi De?ika quoted several verses from 'Saptati Ratnamalika' in their writings and thus gave it a pride of place among other literary works.