Early Life
Swamy Desikan was born in Thoopul, near Kanchipuram, (according to legend, on the order of Lord Srinivasa and Padmavathi Thayaar, the God and Goddess of the Tirumala Venkateswara Temple the divine bell of Narayana took the incarnation as Swamy), as the son of Ananta Suri and Totaramba. Swamy is also considered to be the incarnation of the 'Lord of Seven hills' known as Tirumala Sri Venkateswara himself. It is widely revered as Swamy is the incarnation of Baghavath Ramanuja to once again reform the Vaishnavism and to give the world about its elaborated Treatises.He was named "Venkatanatha" and belonged to the Vishwamithra gothra (lineage). He was educated and trained by a scholarly maternal uncle of his, Kidambi Appullalar who was a direct disciple of Nadadoor Ammal (Grand Nephew of Ramanuja). Appullalar also initiated Venkatanatha into Brahmacharya Upanayanam (sacred thread ceremony) at the age of seven and then to the SriVaishnavaite school of philosophy through Panchasamskara and made him master the Vedas, Divyaprabandam, Puranas and Sastras. By the age of twenty he was a great scholar without peer in the history of Vaishnavism. He got married at the age of 21 to Tirumangai (also known as "Kanakavalli"). Vedanta Desikan rose to the status of an "Acharya" by the age of 27. Swami Desikan was conferred the title of Sarva Tantra Swatantra (one with the capacity for independent thinking and originality in any field), by Ranganayaki thaayar Herself, and Swamy was adorned with the title Vedantacharya by the Lord of Sri Rangam Sri Ranganatha, Himself.
After becoming the "Acharya" in the Ramanuja tradition, Swami Desikan left for Thiruvahindhipuram (near Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu), as per the orders of his Guru Swamy Kidambi Appullar and spent some years there meditating on Garuda and had the darshan of Lord Hayagriva, from then on, Sri Lakshmi Hayagriva became his personal deity. Swamy composed numerous works of Literature in the languages of Sanskrit, Prakrit, Tamil and Manipravala.These works of Swamy Desikan live throughout the ages speaking about his mastery of language and excellence in the Traditional Knowledge known as Gyana. With the Divine Mercy upon him, he made pilgrimage to Kanchipuram, Tirupati, Brindavan, Ayodya and Badrinath preaching Ramanuja's philosophy through discourses and literary works. After many years of wandering from place to place ( the list of which include Melkote and Satyagala, near Kollegal), Swami Desikan returned to Srirangam and settled there. Swami Desikan left this material world in the year 1370 after living for 101 years. Before leaving this world, he arranged for the continuance of the "Guru Parampara" by initiating his primary disciple, Brahmatantraswatantra Swami, and his son, Kumara Varada Desikan into the Acharya tradition, the many disciples of whom still continue the Ramanuja tradition through various ashrams and mutts.
Read more about this topic: Vedanta Desika
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