Vedanta Desika’s kavya titled Hamsa Sandesam has 110 slokas, with 60 slokas in the first AsvAsam (section) and 50 in the second. Rama had been agitated not knowing where Sita had been taken. But Hanuman returns with the news that Sita is in Lanka. So at least now Rama knows where She is. But how is He to send word to Her? Even as He thinks about this, pacing up and down beside a lake, He sees a swan. The swan’s grace reminds Him of Sita, and He wonders why He should not make the swan His messenger. He suggests that the swan take a picturesque and pleasing route to Lanka. And this path begins with a visit to Tirumala. Through Rama’s words to the swan, Desika describes the wonders of Tirumala, said Sujatha Raghavan, in a lecture. The mountain resembles a snake, for it is Sesha, the serpent couch of the Lord. The flow of the Swarnamukhi river is a treat to witness. Rama talks about the hill known as Anjanaadri, for it was here that Anjana Devi, the mother of Hanuman performed tapas. After having worshipped Srinivasa of Tirumala, the swan is to proceed to Satyavrata Kshetra (Kanchipuram). It is a place that destroys one’s sins, says Rama. If we desire something and seek it here, we will not only have our wish fulfilled but in fact we will receive hundred times what we prayed for! In other words, we will be blessed beyond imagination. This is the city in which Brahma performed Aswamedha yaga, and it was also here that an angry Saraswathi took the form of river Vegavathi to thwart Brahma. But Lord Narayana assumed the form of Yatoktakari, and in reclining form, prevented Saraswathi from executing her plan. Brahma’s yaga thus proceeded unhindered. Rama asks the swan to bathe in the Vegavathi river. Sages too will have a dip in the river along with the swan, says Rama.
