There is no effulgence that does not come from Lord Narayana. Even the Sun gets its brilliance from the Lord, said Uthamur Rajagopalachariar. But we, with our wrongdoings, burden the Earth. So in order to provide relief to the Earth, the Lord came as Krishna and gave us the Bhagavad Gita . The Vaishnavite Acharya Vedanta Desika says the Lord lit a light called the Gita in a palace. The Vedas constitute that palace. The light lit by the Lord dispels the darkness called tamas.
Acharya Ramanuja wrote his commentary on the Gita , and Desika wrote the Tatparya Chandrika , explaining Ramanuja's commentary. A greater service for mankind could not have been done. Who is a guru? He who dispels darkness is a guru. Desika, by explaining Ramanuja's commentary, sought to dispel the darkness in our minds, and so is an honoured preceptor. God lit a lamp called the Sastras. The Azhvars lit lamps with their love for the Lord. Ramanuja himself may be described as a light. He was bright and everyone associated with him acquired brightness. If the light called Ramanuja had not come into this world, the world would have been dark.
Desika describes Lord Rama as the Moon, and the women of Mithila as chakora birds. The chakora birds are believed to live only by consuming the rays of the Moon. So do the women of Mithila feast their eyes on Rama as He enters Mithila as if their very lives depend on their gazing on Him. Desika describes Ramanuja also as the Moon. But Ramanuja is superior to the Moon that we see in the sky. The Moon, which remains in the sky, is destroyed during the great deluge. But Ramanuja always remains beside the Lord. Ramanuja has mastered all the arts. While the Moon waxes during the full moon period, and wanes during the new moon period, Ramanuja is always effulgent. The Moon has a blemish on its surface, but Ramanuja has no blemish. The Moon can be eclipsed, but Ramanuja remains untainted. Desika himself has been described as the Moon for he, in his compassion, wrote many works, keeping in mind the spiritual needs of every segment of the population.
