The gift of Life

There was news a few days ago that Dwayne Johnson, the WWE wrestler-turned actor, had gifted his housekeeper, Esperanza, a new Ford Edge car

The gift came to light after Dwayne took to Twitter, saying that the gift was for his housekeeper as, she has cared after their home with for ten years.

The gift may have created news on the net, but does it match up to the gift a diamond merchant form India gave to his employees. This was sometime in December  and a Surat-based diamond merchant had gifted brand new Chevrolet-Beat as incentive to 70 of his employees for achieving their annual targets.

But what makes this gift all the more poignant is that several of the Surat diamond merchant’s employees  do not even know how to drive.

The diamond merchant, Savji Dholakia, had an year ago, set specific targets to all his diamond artisans. Savji employs 2,000 artisans and of them 100 achieved their target. Savji gifted cars to 70, while the remaining 30 opted for cash.

The cash wasgiven to some employees as some of them had to repay home loans, while others wanted to buy gold jewellery for their wives.

 Dholakia has a diamond-cutting and polishing unit at Varachha in Surat.

This post is not about gifts we give ourselves or to our friends and family. It is about what people give to their employees. One of the earliest such act in India is by Duryodhana, the eldest of the Kauravas, during the Mahabharata period when he sees Karna in tears and magnanimously gifts him the Kingdom of Anga and makes him its ruler.

True, die hard critics may say Duryodhana gifted the Kingdom for a purpose. They may say that he anted Karna on his side and he saw him as a champion who could take on the redoubtable Arjuna. Whatever it may be, the fact that Duryodhana elevated Karna to the ranks of a King ought to be appreciated.

There are several other such tales in India, which has a huge storehouse of such acts. Our epics-Ramayana and Mahabharata, Puranas, Shastras and history is full of such instances.

A unique case of a gift is by a Haridasa from Karnataka, Gopala Dasa (1722-1762), whose aradhane was celebrated yesterday. He  gifted forty years of his life to Jagannatha Dasa of Manvi after his guru Vijaya Dasa asked him to do so.

Gopala Dasa not only gifted his life but also took on the pain of Jagannatha Dasa.

Jagannatha Dasa was suffering from severe stomach ache. When Gopala Dasa gifted him his life, he also took upon himself the pain of Jagannatha Dasa. Till he met his end, Gopala Dasa suffered from severe stomach ache. But there was no murmur of dissatisfaction or repentence.  Gopala Dasa continued with his life with equanimity. This is perhaps the greatest gift of all-the gift of life which is unparalled anywhere in the annals of world history.      

The song of protection

Vijaya Dasa (1682-1755) was one of the foremost Haridasas and it was he who was responsible for the second coming of the Haridasas.

The Haridasa tradition had gone into a terminal decline following the defeat of the Vijayanagar forces at the hands of the Muslim states pf Deccan, This was in 1565 and the Mulsim states had destroyed Vijayanagar and burnt it down.

The Haridasas had fled Vijayanagar and the Haridasa tradition that was given a new meaning by Purandara Dasa had virtually come to a standstill.

It was Vijaya Dasa who pioneered the second revival and he write many kritis on Raghavendra Swamy. He had several disciples, including Gopala Dasa.

Vijaya Dasa sent Gopala Dasa (1722-1762) to Udupi and asked him to have a darshana of Udupi Sri Krishna. Gopala Dasa obeyed his master and made preparation to travel to Udupi.

In those days, the route from Adoni (where both Vijaya Dasa and Gopala Dasa were staying) to Udupi was full of dacoits and robbers. This region was the centre of pitched battles between the Peshwas who were at war with the Nizam of Hyderabad and the Mughals.

The death of Aurangzeb in 1707 had led to the decline of the Mughal power. The Nayakas and smaller states in the Deccan were trying to assert their independence. The Vijayanagar Empire had collapsed and so had the mighty Adil Shahis of Bijapur and the Nizam Shahis of Golconda.

Even as Gopala Dasa made his preparations to visit Udupi, Vijaya Dasa decided to protect him from dacoits and evil forces by composing a small but powerful Ugabhoga. He taught Gopala Dasa this Ugabhoga and asked him to keep on chanting it throughout the journey.

Vilaya Dasa told Gopala Dasa that no harm would come to him if he continued chanting the Ugabhoga through his journey. Vijaya Dasa warned Gopaa Dasa to be careful about a dacoit gang which was led by a Vaishnava called Bheema in Mandegadde near Udupi.

Vijaya Dasa said the modus operandi of Bheema or Mandegadde Bheema was to invite pilgrims to have food at his place and take some rest.He would then obtain details of the pilgrims and pass it on to a dacoit gang of which he was the leader.

When the pilgrims left Mande Gadde, the dacoits would waylay them and rob them of their belongings. Vijaya Dasa said only the Ugabhoga could save Gopala Dasa from the clutches of the dacoit.

 Gopala Dasa then took upadesha and collected Mantrakshathe from the Vijaya Dasa and left for Udupi with several others.  

Gopala Dasa managed to fend off dacoits or thieves en route to Udupi by reciting the Ugabhoga. The Ugabhoga also transformed Bheema into a pious man.

Gopala Dasa then came to Udupi where he had the darshana of Sri Krishna, which has been consecrated by Madhwacharya more than five centuries ago.

On seeing the beautiful idol of  Sri Krishna, Gopala Dasa sang the Ugabhoga composed for his safety by Vijaya Dasa. Legend says as soon as Gopala Dasa finished singing the Ugabhoga, Krishna gave him darshana.

The Ugabhoga goes as follows:

            

“Ondu kaiyalli khadga ondu kaiyalli halage

Andavaagi pididukondu diwaaraatriyalli

Ondu badiyalli nitya baaraasanaagi

Hindu mundupadravaagadante

Indireramana kaayuttalire enagaava

Bandhanagalilla dhanya dhanya

Kandarpanayya siri vijayavithalareya

Endendigaapattu baraleesanO”

This Ugabhoga is supposed to be a powerful mantra and it protects people from evil and diseases. You can repeat it as many times as you want and it has a curative effect.