Translation of Sri P.B. Annangaracharyar Swami's Commentary

Sri Vedanta Desikar who was born as the incarnation of the bell of Lord Srinivasa, possessed not only great knowledge ("gnAna bhUshaNam"), but also was possessor of great inner strength and indifference to matters of this world ("vairAgya bhUshaNam"). So, just like Sri Kooratthazhvan, he too took care of himself and his family through the tradition of unja vrutti (collecting alms). With this itself, he was able to take care of all his needs, perform daily prayers to the Lord, teach ubhaya vedAnta to his disciples and perform mangalahsasanams to Kanchi Varadaraja Perumal.

Sri Vidhyaranya Swamigal was a great friend of Swami. He was in the court of the king of Vijayanagar. There, he was helping many vidwans get the favor of the court and gain wealth.

He decided that he should help Swami also gain wealth and so invited him to come to the court of the king. Swami, feeling hurt that his friend, knowing his nature, was offering such an invitation, sent him a shloka as an answer turning down the offer. That shloka was

"na me pitrArjitam kincit na mayA kincitArjitam,
asti me hastishailAgre vastu paitAmaham dhanam"

Here Swami is stating that he has no wealth gathered by his father; no wealth that he himself has gathered; the only wealth that he has is that which his grand father (ancestor) gathered, which is the Lord standing on top of the Hastigiri hill.

This is a beautiful shloka. The wealth gathered by some one due to his great effort does not bring him satisfaction as he had to struggle for it. Since his father has full rights to distribute to anyone the wealth that he made, waiting for that wealth is also not a fulfilling thing. The wealth gathered by his grandfather is, however, guaranteed to him. Even if his father begins to throw away that wealth, he could go to court and stop that. Therefore, the wealth gathered by the forefathers is the best form of wealth.

Since that wealth is gathered on top of the hill and is there for eternity ("karigirimEl ninRanaiththum kAkkinRAnE", "malaimEl thAn ninRu en manaththuL irundhAnai nilai pOkkalAgAmai niccithirundhEnE"), Swami says that he has no need to go ask for the ephemeral wealth of this world from the lowly kings.

Here the word "paitAmaham" not only refers to a grand father, but also to Brahma. Since Brahma was the one who did the yagna in which Kanchi PeraruLALan appeared, the use of that word in this shloka is most delightful.

Vidhyaranya Swamigal saw the shloka but in his anxiety and affection for Desikar, sent him another offer to come to the court. At this point, Swami wrote the divine set of shlokas called Vairagya Panchakam.