Haridasas on Madhwacharya

The Haridasas of Karnataka and even elsewhere owe a lot to the teachings and philosophy of Madhwacharya. Though Madhwacharya or Acharya is supposed to have written a few poems or Devara namas in Kannada, they do not seem to have survived.

The first tentative step on the Haridasa path belongs to Narahari Theertha. He has written a few poems and since he was one of the four direct disciples of Madhwacharya, he could not escape the Acharya’s influence.

However, all the Madhwa saints who came after the Narahari Theertha, have acknowledged the role of the Acharya in shaping their consciousness and thought. These saints have left no ambiguity that they owe to the Acharya their knowledge and scholastic bent of mind.

All the Haridasas and Madhwa saints sing the praise of the Acharya,. Sripadaraja Theertha, who is better known as the Bard of Mulabagal, is considered to be the originator of the Dasa Sahitya movement in Kannada.

He was the first saint to write in Kannada so that the local people could understand the lyrics and meaning of the work. In one of his songs he eulogises the Acharya as     

“Jaya Jaya Jagatrana,

 Jagadolagesutrana

saddama madwa nama”.

Sripadaraja Theertha’s disciple Vyasa Theertha or Vyasa Raja gave Kannada and Sanskrit literature a body of  devotional work called Vyasa Koota. He too has paid rich tributes to the Acharya.In consecrating 732 temples of Hanuman, the first avatar of Madhwa, the seer says “varijavadana samiraja kapi nrupa dvijana bhavi ajana.”

Here, Vyasa Theertha explains the three manifestations of Hanuman, Bheema and Madhwa.

For the seer from Sode, Vadiraja Theertha, the first avatar of Madhwa-Hanuman- is “pranava nodiree, mukya prana padirai yenerahita pavana charita sadgunacharita”.

Vadiraja addresses Bheema as “Bheema nissima mahima, aganitha gunastoma kamapithana bhanta nenevara nenta.”

He showers the Acharya with praise as the third avatar of the holy trinity, saying “Gurumadhwa munipa.. bapure parama pavana roopa bhalire pratapa.”

To Vadiraja, the first avatar is gentle and full of goodness and devotion. Bheema is full of incredible strength and is multi faceted. Madhwa is the divine teacher and fountain head of  knowledge.

Another song by Vadiraja on Madhwa goes as “Madhwa yithane kaniro madhwa muni yithane kaniro”.

The two famous disciples of Vyasa Theertha-Purandara and Kanaka-too have paid respects to the Acharya.

Purandara Dasa, an incarnation of  Narada, waxes eloquent about Madhwa, singing

“Madwa raayaa Guru Madhwa rayaa
madhwa rayaa guru madhwa rayaa,
raamaavataaravolomme madhwa rayaa
aa mahaa hanumanaade madhwa rayaa
vaama mushtialli ravanana gelide madhwa rayaa
kaami taartha soorarigitte madhwa rayaaa

krishnaavataaradolomme madhwa rayaa
dushta kulakke bheema naadhe madwa rayaa
kuttide kauravaranella madhwa rayaa
sri krishna preetiya padadiyo madhwa rayaa

darayelu yatiyaagi janiside madhwa rayaa
guru vyaasara hitava padade madhwa rayaa

durula maayi madava muride madhwa rayaa
purandara vitalana daasanaade madhwa rayaa.”

Here each line ends with Madhwa Raya.

In another he compares Madhwa with Kalpavruksha Kamadhenu.

“Kamadenu chintamani kalpavrukshanada swamy,

 premadindali nenevara bhagyakkeneyunte,

samanyanallovo yita mokshadi sampadadata,

aa maha aparokshgynadadrya bhakutiyaniva,

hanuma bheema madwamuniya nenedu bhadukiro”.

This is perhaps the first time that a saint is called Kalpavruksha Kamadhenu, a name which later struck to Raghavendra Swamy.

I may be permitted to make a small digression here. Purandara also acknowledged his debt to Vyasa Theerta, composing “Isu munigaliddarenu Vyasa muni uddarisida madhwa mathava.”

In another composition, Purandara tells us that Madhwa is his teacher.

“madhwam uniye namma guru madhwa muniye.

Madhwa muniyu namanela uddarisuva kaniro”.

Kanaka Dasa goes a step further than Purandara and says

“Aandantamasu inyarige govindananindisuvarige,

moolaguru mukhyaprana kunti balanennadavarige.”

Another Haridasa-Vijaya Dasa says

“Nanu niruthadali ynenisagidemanasadi

karma ninagoppisideno prana natha

siri vijiaya vittala kanisi koduvudo bhanuprakasha”

This Dasa also composed one of the most famous songs on Madhwa calling him “'pavamana pavamana jagadaprana”.

Another poem praising Madhwa is

“Madhwarayara karuna padedava

 dhareyolage idarenu Illadarenu”.

Gopala Dasa calls Madhwa a holy messenger of Lord Rama and sings thus

“Ramadoothana pada tamarasava

 kanda aamanujane dhanyano”.

In yet another composition, he calls upon Madhwa to “ Adariso Adariso Agama pratipadya modatiirtha purnabhodh acharya”.

Jagganatha Dasa, in his Harikathamrutasara, pays his dues to Madhwa saying “palastuti marudamshana matha pidiyade ihaparagalali gathiyilavanthe”.

If for Sripadaraja Theertha, the Acharya is the fountainhead of knowledge (Jnanasudha), for Gopala Dasa he is the messenger of Rama. To Purandara, he is nothing short of Kamadhenu Kalpavruksha-the umbrella of knowledge and light.