Songs of Vyasa Raja

Vyasa Raja is one of the most important saints of the Madhwa parampare. He started the Vyasa Koota and the Dasa Kota. While the Vyasa Koota was a philosophical movement comprising among others Vadiraja Theertha, Srinivasa Theertha, Rama Theertha, Vijendra Theertha, Sudhindra Theertha and several others, the Dasa Koota was made of poet-composers and singers like Purandara Dasa, Kanaka Dasa, Belur Vaikunta Dasa.

Vyasa Theertha or Vyasa Raja was a master of both the kootas and he has written scores of songs in all genres but only a few remain.

The most famous of his composition is “Krishna Nee Begana Baro” which is sung even today in all the dance programmes.

Vyasa Raja or Vyasa Theertha (1447-1539) first wrote with the Ankita Krishna and then changed to Sri Krishna.

Some of his other compositions include Avava Bageyinda: Bharatipatiya Pada: Eduraro Guruve Samararo: Ellimaya Yaadane: Yenna Bimbamuruthiva: Govinda Govinda Krishna: Jarathvavanu Maadida: Jayavayu Hanumantha: Kava Divayu: Krishna Krishna Krishna: Labavahudu Harikathamura: Mahiume Salade Iste: Pavamana Sanjatha Maruti and Tore Begane Toraja Nayane

The English lyrics of Avava bageyinda are as follows:

AvAva bageyiMda nInE rakShisuveyO

dEvAdi dEva shrIkraShNa nInennanu

hiMdinakAlava vyarthavAgi kaLedenO

muMdina gati chiMte lEshavillavo

saridu hOyitu dEhadoLagina balavella

maMdavAdavu iMdriya gatigaLella

AseyeMbudu ajana lOkakke muTTutide

kAsu hOdare klEshavAguttide

mOsamADi mrutyu baruvuda nAnariye

vAsudEvane enna dayamADi salahO

janaru dEhava biTTu pOpuda nA kaMDu

enna dEha sthiraveMdu tiLidukoMDu

dAnadharma modalAda hariya nEmava biTTu

The lyrics of  edurAro are:

edurAro guruve samanAro

madana gOpAlana priya jayarAya

kaDugarjisuva kEsariyaMte nimma vAda

gaDaNeya kELuta nuDi muMdODade

gaDagaDa naDuguta mAygOmAygaLu

ADaviyoLaDagOru nimma bhItiyali

kuTila matagaLeMbo chaTulaMdhakArakke

paTutara tatvaprakAsikeyeMteMba

chaTulatApadiMda khaMDisi tejO

tkaDadi merada budhakaTakAbja mitra

amita dvijAvaLi kumudagaraLisi

vimatara mukhakamalaMgaLa bADisi

svamatara hratsaMtApagaLODisi

vimala sukIrtiya paDedeyO chaMdra

vEdashAstragalEmbO shraMgagaLiMda su

dhAdi graMthagaLembO stanadiMdopputa tatva

bOdhaneyeMba dugda shiShyavatsaMgaLige

Adaradali koTTa yatisuradhEnu

vyAsasUtragaLeMba maMdaravanu vEda

rAShiyeMba varAShiyoLiTTu

shrI sarva~g~jara vAkyapAshadi sutti

bhAsura nyAyasudhA paDeda yatIMdra

vanajanAbhana guNamanEgaLu sarva~g~ja

munikrata graMthagaLavaniyoLagaDe sa

jjanarige bEkAMjanadiMda tOrisi

ghana sukhasAdhana mADidyOdhIra

ArthimaMdAra vEdArthavichAra sa

martha ShrIkraShNa pAdambhujalOla pra

tyarthi mattEbhakaMThIravakvObya

tIrtha karaja jayatIrtha yatIMdra

The song elli mAyavAdane goes as follows:

elli mAyavAdane raMgayyanu

elli mAyavAdane

elli mAyavAda pullanAbha kraShNa

chelve gaMgaLeyaru huDuka hOguva banni

maMdagamaneyarella kraShNana kUDe

cheMdadi iddevalla

kaMdarpa bAdhege guriya mADidanalla

maMdamati namage baMdu odagitalla

sarasijAkShiyaru kUDi kraShNana kUDe

sarasavADutaliddeve

karekaregoLisi manathribAdhegoppisi

charaNasEvakarAda taraleyaranu biTTu

bhaktavatsala dEvanu tannavarannu

akkaradali poredanu

sikkade hOganu huDukuta hOguva

akkayya bannire uDipi shrIkraShNanu

The enna biMba is anothert famous song:

enna biMba mUrutiya pUjisuve nAnu|

manamuTTi anudinadi mareyadE janarE||

gAtravE maMdira | hridayavE maMTapa | sUtravE mahaddIpa | hasta chAmaravu |

yAtre pradakShiNe | shayana namaskAra | sAstra mAtugaLella maMtraMgaLu ||

 enna svarUpaveMbude rannagannaDi | enna manOvratteyeMbudE Chatrike |

innu nuDiva harinAmAmratavE tIrtha | enna manaveMbudE siMhAsana ||

anya dEvate yAke | anya pratime yAke | anyavAda maMtrataMtravEke |

ennalli bharita sAdanegalu irutiralu | chennAgi shrIkraShNasvAmiya pUjisuvE ||

The Govinda Govinda song is as follows:

govinda govinda kriShnA hari

govinda mukunda gopala krishnA

kaDegannilindomme noDo nee

naDigeraguveno nee dayamaaDo

biDadenna ninnavarolu kUDo en-

noDeya nityaananda nee nalidADo

makkalagoDeya neenaagi hasu

makkalakuDa neenaaDa hogi

sikkide bahu dinakaagi dindi-

mikendu kunisuve baa chennagi

hrudaya kamala dolage ninnA

padakamalavanne nee daya gaiyyo munna

chadura kuniyo chelvaranna vibudara

oDeyane nityaananda Krishna

 

The jAratvavanu song is as follows:

jAratvavanu mADida pApagaLigella

gOpIjana jAraneMdare sAlade ?

chOratvavanu mADida pApagaLigella

navanIta chOraneMdare sAlade?

krUratvavanu mADida pApagaLigella

mAvanna koMdavaneMdare sAlade?

prati divasa mADida pApaMgaLige ellA

patitapAvananeMdu karedare sAlade?

iMtippa mahimeyoLogoMdannAdarU omme

saMtasadi neneye salahuva sirikraShNa

The song on Hanumantha or Anjaneya is equally famous:

jaya vAyu hanumantha jaya bheema balavantha

jaya pUrna mativantha jaya salaho santha

anjaneyali huTTi andhu rAmana seve

nandadindali maaDi kapi balava kuDi

sindhu langisi kalara vana bhangisi site-

gungurava koTTi lankapurava suTTi

harige chuDAmani yanitthu harigala kuDi

sharadiyanu kaTTi aribalavanu kuTTi

uraga bandandinda kapivararu maimareye

giriya sanjivanava thandhu badukisida

dwaparAnthyadalli paanDu bhupanatmanendenisi

sripArtha sArathiya bajaka neenAde

paapi baka keechaka hiDimbakara

kopadindali taride mUrjjagadi merede

dhuradali duryodhanana bhalavanu thilide

aritu dushaasanana oDalanu bagede

urava tappisi kauravanna thoDegala muride

hariya kinkara durandharagaaru sariye

kali yugadali kallarudisi durmatigalanu balisi

sri hariya gunagala maresi

kaliyabbu sarisalu guruvaagi avatarisi

kalara durmata muride srikrishna paranende

The Abhavahudu is as follows:

Abhavahudu harikathAmrutha

padumanAbhana pAdada pathadi

ahudu sajjana gaNake satyA

arishaDvargaMgala toradu

jaridu tApatrayava kaledu

muraharana pAdada pathadi

iralu sajjane gaNake satyA

elu dinavu pariskshitanu

veley arithu hariya katheya

keli mukthanaada mele

kelida katheya kela beku

eraDu galige kaTwAnga rAya

harana puradi sri kRuShNaMNa katheyu

smarisi mukta naada mele

nirutha katheya kelabeku

Another small but beautiful composition on Hanuman is

pavamana saMjata maruti !

ninageNeyaaro ee jagadi maruti !!

aMjane udaradi janiside bhava baMjana namava paaDide !!

aMjade siMdhuva daaTide mudreyuMgura seetege neeDide !!1!!

kuMti kumaara kali bheemane mahadaMta sameera niseemane !!

naMda kishOrana oliside maha saMdhaana korryava seeLide !!2!!

vEdaaGna viprara varasuta divya vEdaaMta peeThada yativara !!

gOpi caMdanadoLu aDagida muddu gOpaala kRuShNana pUjipa !!3!!

hIna viShayagaLigeraguve sirikraShNa

koLalanUduva chadura yaare pELammayya||pallavi||

taLiraMdadi taa poLeva karadi piDidu||a.pa||

naadadi tuMbitu gOvardhanagiri

yaadavakula ghana oreditu khagakula

saadhisi nODalu kRuShNanu Igale

saadhyavE nI bRuMdaavanadoLu||koLalanUduva||

mEvu maretavu gOvugaLellavu

saavadhaanadi haridaLu yamune

aavu kaavutali gOvaLarellara

haavabhaavadali bRuMdaavanadoLu||koLalanUduva||

suraru suridaraakaaSadi sumagaLa

saridu pOgi nODe bRuMdaavanadoLu

saari saari SrIkRuShNanu Igalu

turugaLa taa kaayda kadaMbavanadoLu||koLalanUduva|

Some of these songs are also Taratamya songs. The Taratamya concept was one of the most important tenets of Madhwacharya. For him, there was a clear and distinct gradation of gods or Taratamya and all Madhwa saints, including Vyasa Raja or Vyasa Theertha and all Haridasas accepted and propounded this in their writings.   

How a shepherd came to write Harikathamrutasara

The Sriharikathamrutasara is one of the leading works in Madhwa siddantha and it is an unparalled piece of literature. Written by Jagannatha Dasa (1727-1809) of Manvi, it is rated among the most influential books of Vaishanavasa.

While we all know that Raghavendra Swamy (1595-1671), Vadiraja Theertha (1480-1600) and a host of others were responsible for goading Jagannatha Dasa in writing the Sriharikathamrutasara, very few know that Vyasa Raja or Vyasa Theertha also had a hand in the shaping of the work.

Though the Sriharikathamrutasara was written in the eighteenth century and Vyasa Raja lived in the sixteenth century, the Madhwa seer (Vyasa Raja) was able to foretell the writing of this text and this is how the incident happened.

It was sometime in the sixteenth century and Krishna Deva Raya was the Emperor of Vijayanagar. Vyasa Raja was the royal preceptor or Rajaguru and Purandara Dasa (1484-1564) accompanied him wherever he went.

Vyasa Raja had just completed writing Chandrika, a commentary on the Srimannyaya Sudha of Jayatheertha or Teekacharya. Vyasa Raja and Purandara Dasa were proceeding towards the Vijaya Vittala Temple in Vittalapur township which was part of the city of Vijayanagar or Hampi, the capital of  the Vijayanagars.

The road leading to the Vijaya Vittala temple was surrounded on both sides by shops and business establishments of a bazar or local market selling horses. Business from Arabia and Portugal could be seen haggling for a good price for their horses.

The road to the temple led to the Purandara Mantapa on one end and the Vijaya Vittala Temple on the other. (Both these monuments exists even today and the ruins of the bazaar where horses were traded can still be seen on either side of the road).      

As both Vyasa Raja and Purandara Dasa were talking about Sri Hari and his mahime, Vyasa Raja realised that his another illustrious disciple, Kanaka Dasa (1509-1609), was not present. He said Kanaka Dasa could easily show them Sri Hari in any form. He wanted to call Kanaka Dasa to the place where they had come.   

He saw a shepherd standing near by and asked him to bring Kanaka Dasa. “Tell him that Vyasa Raja and Purandara are near the Vijaya Vittala Temple and they are both waiting for the arrival of Kanaka”, said Vyasa Raja.  

The shepherd agreed to go and bring Kanaka Dasa. He went away and saw Kanaka Dasa and mentioned to him that Vyasa Raja and a few others were waiting for him. Kanaka Das then asked the shepherd what Vyasa Raja was doing. The shepherd said he was shouting incoherently.

He said the words coming out of Vyasa Raja looked like he was laughing and crying simultaneously. Kanaka Dasa then realised that Vyasa Raja was giving a discourse and singing about the glory of Sri Hari and this looked like crying and laughing for the shepherd.

Kanaka Dasa then turned to the shepherd and said as he had conveyed a message, he had to be rewarded. “What will you ask from Vyasa Raja”, Kanaka Dasa said.

The shepherd though for a while and said he would ask for fruits as he was hungry. He said he had seen the seer with some fruits and, therefore, he would ask for it.

Kanaka Dasa then advised the shepherd to ask for an equal share of Vyasa Raja’s crying and laughing and not fruits. The shepherd looked puzzled but agreed.  

When the shepherd came back to where Vyasa Raja and Purandara Dasa were present, he said he wanted to be rewarded for carrying out an errand. He then asked for an equal share of  Vyasa Raja’s crying and laughing.

Vyasa Raja immediately looked at Kanaka Das and guessed that it was he who had goaded the shepherd to ask for an equal share of Hari’s compositions and discourse.

He then blessed the shepherd and said such a blessing would not be possible in this birth. He promised the shepherd that he would get the wish that he wanted in his next birth.

The shepherd , in his next birth, was born as Jagannatha Dasa and he composed the Sriharikathamrutasara at Manvi and Hosaritti.    Vyasa Raja then asked Kanaka Dasa to show them Sri Hari. Kanaka Das then showed them Sri Hari in the form of a dog. Even as the startled people looked on, Vyasa Raja worshipped the dog even as Purandara Dasa burst into a song.

Let us now see what happened to all these people after this incident. The Vijayanagar Emperor, Krishna Deva Raya died in 1529. Vyasa Raja entered brindavana in Nava Brindavana, an island near Hampi, in 1539. Purandara Dasa passed away the Purandara Mantapa in 1564. Kanaka Das left Hampi after it was vandalised by the Musilm states of the Deccan in 1565 and he died in 1609.

Jagannatha Dasa was born in Manvi in Raichur district in 1727 and he is supposed to have composed the first ten chapters of Sriharikathamrutasara in Manvi and the rest 22 in Hosaritti which is a small village on the banks of Varada.  

The process of creation

It is common knowledge that Purandara Dasa (1484-1564) spent a fairly long time in Hampi or Vijayanagar, the capital of the Vijayanagar Kingdom.

Purandara Dasa was a close and favourite disciple of Vyasa Raja who was the royal preceptor of six Vijayanagar Emperors, including Krishna Deva Raya (1509-1530). Wherever Vyasa Raja went, Purandara too went.

When at Hampi, Purandara Dasa composed his poems and sang on the glories of Vittala from the Purandara Mantapa located amid the Tungabhadra. He also visited along with Vyasa Raja and others the now ruined Vijaya Vittala or Vittala temple.

This temple has played a major role in the emergence of the Dasa Sahitya and Sangeeta as Purandara Dasa is believed to have taken inspiration from this magnificent structure and the Vittala idol  to compose thousands of his songs. (Purandara Dasa is believed to have composed 4,75,000 songs).

The beautiful Vijaya Vittala temple, which had been embellished by several Emperors over a period of time, the Purandara Mantapa nearby, the fast flowing Tungabhadra and the incredible stone chariot that stands in the courtyard of the temple gave Purandara Dasa the necessary inspiration to compose some of his most famous songs.

We could not be too far away from the mark if we said that the process of literary creation for Purandara Dasa commenced from within this temple. What adds strength to this argument is that the temple even today displays evidence of  Madhwa influence.

All the Haridasas were Madhwas and so was Purandara Dasa who was a great devotee of Purandara Vittala. Since Pandrapur was several hundred kilometers from Hampi, Purandara Dasa frequented this temple and idolised the Vittala in innumerable compositions.

The temple was originally built in the 15th century and successive kings, including Krishna Deva Raya, Achuta Deva Raya and Aliya Rama Raya have added to the temple’s architecture by adding to the present form.

Even today, we can see the remains of a locality or township called Vittalapura that existed around this temple. Though the township is gone, the ruins are in place. We can also see the influence that Purandara Dasa wielded on the literary and musical field of Vijayanagar when we visit the temple.         

The pillared hall of the Vijaya Vittala Temple, which is known all over the world for producing musical notes, was constructed by Udayagiri Thimmaraju, a relative of Aliya Ramaraya and a follower of Sri Vaishnava tradition. Thimmaraju built the pillared hall as per the instructions of his guru Kandade Bhuvanacharya of Srirangam.

There are records to prove that the maha ranga mantapa built by  Krishnadevaraya at  Virupaksha temple, was taken as a model for constructing this pillared hall.

The pillared hall has scores of sculptures and many of them are dedicated to Narasimha.In one of the pillars we can still see sculpted images of  Sri Krishna Leela, Purandara Vittala and Purandara Dasa.

There are many sculptures in this hall that will remind us of the compositions of this great Dasa. The exquisitely carved sculptures of  Narasimha reminds us of several compositions where he has written about this God, an avatar of Vishnu.

There are several compositions where Purandara Dasa has referred to Krishna leelas. The sculpture on Kalinga mardhana also reminds us of this Dasa’s compositions on the incident.

Apart from these carvings, there are a number of inscriptions referring to Vyasa Raja or Vyasa Theertha, the Rajguru.

There is also an inscription in front of the Yoga Varada Narasimha Temple which is said to have been built by Vyasa Raja.

Vyasa Raja stayed in Hampi during his last days and he left the world in 1534. Purandara Dasa was a witness to the entombment of the venerable Vyasa Raja at Nava Brindavana, a few kilometers down the Vijaya Vittala temple.

As far as Purandara Dasa is concerned, he stayed at the Purandara Mantapa after the passing away of Vyasa Raja and composed several hundred devaranamas. He is believed to have passed away at the Purandara Mantapa in 1564.  

Apart from the Vijaya Vittala temple, there are several other temples that were the cradle of Haridasa sahitya. Unfortunately, many of those temples have been vandalised and completely destroyed by the Muslim Deccan states in 1565. Only a few like the Vijaya Vittala and Virupaksha, Hazari Rama remain.   

The Purandara mantapa today has a small statue of Purandara Dasa with the tamburi, a classical music instrument. The pavilion is used to celebrate many religious festivals even today.

The Vijaya Vittala temple and the stone chariot are major tourist attractions of Hampi. They are situated northeast of Hampi and just opposite the village of Anegondi.

The road leading to the temple was once a market where horses from Arabia and Portugal were traded. Even today, we can see the ruins of the market on both the sides of the road. Interestingly, the temple contains carvings of foreigners selling horses.

It is very fitting that the temple is the venue of the annual Purandara Dasa festival which attracts thousands of  music lovers and students.

The Sriharikathamrutasara

There have been many books, commentaries, interpretation and even differing versions of  Sri Harikathamrutsara, the magnum opus of Jagannatha Dasa (1727-1809) of Manvi.

The Harikathamrutsara is one of the most important books in Madhwa parampare and today there is not one discourse or lecture on Vaishnava thought and philosophy where it is not mentioned.

The work is one of the most important in Vaishnava idealogy. However, it would be very unfair to restrict it to just one segment of society. The work is rare text of passion and devotion, of godliness and rare beauty, The language is unmatched and so is the style. This surely must be one of the most read and most commented work of all times and it has transcended all barriers time and language.

The Harikathamrutasara is also one of the most discussed and dissected texts and we find seminars, workshops, discourses, discussions, debates and even contests relating to this work.

Ever since the Sriharikathamrutasara came to be written, it has been commented upon and each word and each syllable has been intensely scrutinised.  

Some of the earliest commentaries on the Sri Harikathamrutsara are by Sankarshna Wodeyar in Telugu and by Modekal Sesha Rao or Guru Vijaya Vittala, Guru Sreesha Vittala or Kuntoji Dasa, and Drupedesha Vittala.

Pranesha Dasa, one of the most prominent disciples of  Jagannatha Dasa, too has written a commentary on the Sri Harikathamrutasara and this is supposed to be among the very first such works.

But what many do not know is that Jagannatha Dasa himself composed a separate poem extolling the virtues of the Sri Harikathamrutasara.

He called the eulogy as “Taaraka vidu Harikathamrtasara Janake”. The entire poem is believed to have been dictated by Jagannatha Dasa to his son Sri Damodara Dasa.

We know that Damodara Dasa lived upto 1770 when he died. Strangely, Damodara Dasa refers to the fact that the Sri Harikathamrutasara had ten verses or chapters. He makes a clear allusion to this. This means that Jagannatha Dasa dictated the first part of the Sri Harikathamrutsara in 1770 at Manvi itself and the rest at Hosaritti where he went with all his prominent disciples.

There is enough evidence of  Jagannatha Dasa composing the rest of the work at Hosaritti where he stayed along with Dhirendre Theertha, the then pontiff  of the Raghavendra Swamy Matha.

When he moved from Manvi to Hosaritti on the banks of the serene Varada, Jagannatha Dasa has lost his son. Thus the new chapters of the Sri Harikathamrutasara that were added in 1791 was  at Hosaritti in Dharwar district, when his son,

Damodara Dasa was not alive.

Manohara Dasa, another disciple of Jagannatha Dasa, was at Manvi in 1765-66. He composed a poem of 17 verses extolling the Harikathamurtasara” as a book with 10 chapters only.

In the thirteenth verse  of his book, Manohara Dasa specifically

mentions the exact number of verses in the Sri Harikathamrutasara. He says the magnum opus of Jagannatha Dasa had 10 chapters with 302 verses and this tallies with the total number

of verses of the ten chapters.

It is believed that Pranesha Dasa wrote down the text even as Jagannatha Dasa dictated. This original manuscript of Pranesha Dasa, as dictated by Sri Jagannatha Dasa himself, is supposed to have been written between 1756-58 to 1798. This text is in Devanagari script and it is still available at Manvi

in Raichur district.

We know that the chapters after the tenth (till the 32^nd chapter ) were dictated by Jagannatha Dasa to his other disciples and they were most probably written in Hosaritti. Among his disciples was Karagji Dasa who wrote the Phala Stuti for the Sri Harikathamrutasara.

Karjagi Dasa or Dasappa later came to be known as Srida Vittala. The other disciples who were with Jagannatah dasa at Hosaritti include Guru Srisha Vithala of Kampli (Bellary),  Abhinava Janardana Vittala, Pranesha Dasa and Srisha Vittala.

However, the first work which indicates that the Sri Harikathamrutasara had 32 verses or chapters is mentioned in a book written by Bhimsena Vittala called “Pancharatna Prakashike”.

Bhimsena Vittala was a contemporary of Jagannatha Dasa and possibly his disciple.

Sankarshana Wodeyar (1810-62), who hailed from Dharwar, gave the first discourse on the Sri Harikathamrutasara in Girimpeta in Chitoor district of Andhra Pradesh. He is believed to have dictated his commentary in 1852 to Arni Hanumanta Rao and other disciples.

Wodeyar’s commentary is generally accepted to be one of the most authoritative of its kind. However, it differs from the account of Pranesha Dasa.

Guru Jagananatha Dasa of Kowthalam or Kosigi Dasa  (1837-1918) wrote commentaries on Sriharikathamrutasara in both Kannada and Sanskrit. This Jagannatha Dasa is often confused with the Jagannatha Dasa of Manvi.

The rare Peshwa Daftar

One of the most well-known archives in India is the Peshwa Daftar, which is also called the Pune archives.

As the name itself suggests, the archives are located in Pune and a majority of the archives belong to the Peshwa period. Since, the records and archives were collected and indexed during the Peshwa period, they came to be called as Peshwa Daftar.

The Peshwas, whose headquarters was at Pune, maintained a separate establishment for records and administrative purposes and the British continued with the Daftar after they defeated the Peshwas in 1818.

Today, the Daftar is housed in an old granite building which houses the State documents of the Peshwa Government. These documents are kept in 39,000 bundles called Rumals.

The archives are located in a building opposite the council hall and it is often described as a storehouse of old and rare documents. The archives even has documents dating back to the period of Chatrapati Shivaji.

The building houses over four crore documents and of them three lakhs are classified as rare manuscripts.
When the Peshwas were defeated, the then British Governor Mountstuart Elphinstone took over the Peshwa Daftar and decided to preserve the documents. The British then constituted a Imam Commission to look into land records and documents of the Peshwa Kingdom and also suggest measures about preserving these documents. By 1863, the Inam Commission had concluded its task and it gave a report. The British then decided that the documents verified and drafted by the committee should be kept along with the Peshwa Daftar in Nana Wada, in central Pune. To this day, these documents are part of the archives.
The British government finalised the design for the new building (Till the new building was completed., the archives were kept at Nana Wada building) in 1884 and the then under secretary, W A Baker, sanctioned Rs 1,14,335 towards the construction of the building.
The building has eight big halls meant for preserving documents. A special tower houses a water tank that was made for storing water in case a fire broke out in the building. The documents were shifted to this building from Nana Wada on February 6, 1890.

The archives today sees a rush of people. No, the people do not come here to study. They want  copies of old land records.

This is so as most land records are found in the Inam Commission Enquiry Daftar that has 7,864 rumals. If you need your family's s land rights claims verified and attested, the archives is the place. To obtain a Inam Commission document, you have to pay an Rs. 250 fee. The copies are provided in a month’s time.

Most records are in the Modi script. In the Inam section, one can find papers from the times of Shivaji, the Adilashahs of Bijapur and the Nizamdshahs of Ahmadnagar.

The Inam Commission papers comprise of land records given as inams or gifts by the Marathas. Since the Marathas ruled over large parts of south India, the records are many. The Imam Commission was formed in 1843 when the British rulers wanted to investigate and adjudicate on inams. In course of investigations, the Commission collected papers from individuals, officers, watandars and sanad holders.

The collection at the Archives has sanads, nivadapatras, mahzars and kaifiyats along with accounts of other areas. The archives need to be preserved so that we can read about our forefathers and the history of a place.

The archives has plans to digitalise its vast collection. There are also plans to refurbish, renovate and repair the building housing the archives. This is different from the National Film Archives, which is also headquartered at Pune.

Pune is also home to the archives belonging to the Tata group. It contains thousands of documents, letters, agreements, maps, press clippings, audio and video recordings, awards, trophies, medals, citations, paintings, and memorabilia relating to the House of Tatas.

The avatara Purusha

We all know that Madhwacharya is an avatar of Hanuman first and Bheema next. Madhwacharya himself has referred to these avatars of his.

His Hanumana avatar was during the period of Ramayana. Bheema was during the Mahabharata. If Hanuman was a vanara, Bheema was a Kshatriya. Both the Hanuman and Bheema avatars are part of ferocious wars.

Hanuman has to take on the might of Ravana and is evil forces at Lanka in Ramayana. Hanuman plays a crucial role here and his burning son of Lanka is symbolic of wiping out the evil from the Earth.

The Bheema that we know kills Duryodhana by ripping him apart. Here too, Bheema is sending out a message that evil has to be uprooted and that all means have to be employed to get rid of it.

As Madhwacharya, the avatar is a pious Brahmin who leads a life of Sanyasa. If in both the earlier avatars he is married, as Madhwa he takes a vow of a Sanyasi from an young age.

His weapon as Madhwacharya is the shastras and Vedas that he has so diligently studied and mastered. He writes a commentary on both the Mahabharata and Ramayana, pointing out the many inconsistencies that have crept in and giving it the correct and proper interpretation. This is the Manabharata Tatpariya Nirnaya.

The Nirnaya is a highly scholastic work and Madhwa here picks up only a few passages from the epics whose meaning, he says, have been distorted. Madhwacharya should know about the contexts as he next only to the central figures in both the epics.

Madhwacharya himself has referred to his avatarhood in many of his works. In fact, there are eleven works where there are references to this unique phenomenon.

The eleven works are: Brahma Sootra Bhashya; Anu Vyakhyan;  Vishnu Tatwa Nirnaya; Brahadaranya Bhashya; Chhandogya Bhashya; Taittireya Bhashya; Geeta Tatparya Nirnaya; Nyaya Vivarana; Mahabharata Tatparya Nirnaya; Tantra Sara Sangraha and Krishnamrita Maharnawa.

Alur Venkata Rao, in his work on Madhwacharya, mentions of the measurements of the Acharya’s body and the marks of Chakra which an Avatara Purusha should have.

Alur says Hanuman is made up of two words, Anu and Mahan. Here, Anu means small and Mahan means big. Hanuman is born small but he becomes big thereafter. This refers to his physical dimension.   

Alur says the Anu-Mahan concept that he talks about is first mentioned in an ancient Kannada book called “Shri Bhu Valaya”, which was written in 783  by a Jain poet, Kumuderidu.

To Alur “It is the most mystical book which fits itself in many, many languages of the world such as Sanskrit, Prakrita,

Telagu, Tamil, Maharashtra, and Bengali”.

In this printed book on page 21, there is an inscription and an image of Hanuman said to belong to the Iron Age. Here, he is described as Anu-Mahan and this fits in, with the mythological story of Hanuman that as soon as he was born as a child (Anu) he at once became big ( Mahan ) and jumped to swallow the

orb of the Sun.

It is not merely physically that Madhwacharya can be compared to the Sun. We seethe Hanuman and Bheema in the vastness of his works and their originality. We see him easily discussing Vyakaraiia, Nirukta, Logic, Prosody, Etimology, Jyotisha, Psychology, Science of Images, Science of Yoga and numerous other subjects. Madhwa buttresses his arguments on each topic with quotations and references and there are hundreds of  them from Vedas, Shastras and Upanishads.

Since he was proficient in Sangeeta Shastra and he himself was a very good songster. He composed the melodious Dwadesha Stotra. He himself prepared seventeen idols and presented them to his disciples. Both the Stotra and the idols exist.

Madhwacharya showed all his three avatars to Trivikrama Panditacharya and an awed Trivikrama Panditacharya wrote Sri Hari Vayu Stuthi.

Interestingly, his son, Narayana Panditachrya, has written about the Hanuman-Bheema avatar in Madhwa Vijaya.The Madhwa Nama of Sripadaraja is another work where we get to know the three avatars.

Vadiraja Theertha has a beautiful composition where he speaks of the three avatars.

ಈತನೆ ಲೋಕಗುರು ವೇದವಿಖ್ಯಾತ || ಪ ||

ಭೂತಳದಿ ಶ್ರೀರಾಮ ದೂತನೆಂಬಾತ || ಅಪ ||

ಅಂದು ಹನುಮಂತನಾಗಿ ಅಖಿಳ ದಿಕ್ಕೆಲ್ಲವನು

ಒಂದು ನಿಮಿಷದಲಿ ಪೋಗಿ ಉದಧಿ ಲಂಘಿಸಿದ

ಇಂದೀವರಾಕ್ಷಿಗೆ ವಂದಿಸಿ ಮುದ್ರಿಕೆಯನಿತ್ತು

ಬಂದು ರಾಮರ ಪಾದಕೆರಗಿ ನಿಂದಾತ || ೧ ||

ಅರ್ಜುನಗೆ ಅಣ್ಣನಾಗಿ ಅಂದು ದುರ್ಯೋಧನನ

ಲಜ್ಜೆಯನೆ ಕೆಡಿಸಿ ಶದ್ರಥಿಕರನು ಗೆಲಿದ

ಮೂಜಗವು ಮೆಚ್ಚಲು ಮುನ್ನ ಮಾಗಧನ ಸೀಳಿದ

ಸಜ್ಜನ ಪ್ರಿಯ ಭೀಮಸೇನ ನೆಂಬಾತ || ೨ ||

ಮೂರಾರು ಎರಡೊಂದು ಮೂಢಮತಗಳ ಜರಿದು

ಸಾರ ಮಧ್ವ ಶಾಸ್ತ್ರವನು ಸಜ್ಜನರಿಗೆರೆದು

ಕೂರ್ಮ ಶ್ರೀಹಯವದನನ ಪೂರ್ಣ ಸೇವಕನಾದ

ಧೀರ ಮಧ್ವಾಚಾರ್ಯ ಲೋಕದೊಳು ಮೆರೆದ || ೩ ||

The English translation of the composition is as follows:

Itane lOkaguru vEdaviKyAta || pa ||
BUtaLadi SrIrAma dUtaneMbAta || apa ||

aMdu hanumaMtanAgi aKiLa dikkellavanu
oMdu nimiShadali pOgi udadhi laMGisida
iMdIvarAkShige vaMdisi mudrikeyanittu
baMdu rAmara pAdakeragi niMdAta || 1 ||

arjunage aNNanAgi aMdu duryOdhanana
lajjeyane keDisi Sadrathikaranu gelida
mUjagavu meccalu munna mAgadhana sILida
sajjana priya BImasEna neMbAta || 2 ||

mUrAru eraDoMdu mUDhamatagaLa jaridu
sAra madhva SAstravanu sajjanarigeredu
kUrma SrIhayavadanana pUrNa sEvakanAda
dhIra madhvAcArya lOkadoLu mereda || 3 ||

Purandara Dasa, who is an incarnation of Narada, has this to say about the three avatars.

“'kamadhenu chintamani kalpavrukshanada swamy,

 premadindali nenevara bhagyakkeneyunte,

samanyanallovo yita mokshadi sampadadata, aa maha aparokshgyna dadrya bhakutiyaniva,

hanuma bhima madvamuniya nenedu bhadukiro.”

Alur on Madhwacharya

One of the most remarkable Kannada writers of the twentieth century has been Alur Venkata Rao (1880-1964).

Alur was one of the most eminent leaders of the Karnataka Ekikarana movement. He had a very strong impact on the Ekikarana movement which was fighting for a separate state integrating all Kannada speaking areas of Mysore, Bombay Presidency and Nizam's Hyderabad.

He is the author of Karnataka Gatha Vaibhava. It recounted in great detail the glorious history of Karnataka until the Marathas, Nizam and the British took over. The book created a tremendous impact on the people and the Ekikarana movement was an offshoot of this. The movement soon caught the imagination of the public and people started rallying around the Ekikarana movement and the movement picked up momentum

 The book had an impact that Alur came to be known as the Kannada Kula Purohita or the “High priest of the Kannada kula or family.

Alur has written a book on the philosophy of Madhwacharya in which he has specifically dealt with the Rg Bhashya.

Alur says, “The Shlokas of this book are composed in a very easy and flowing style. Such Bhashyas on Vaidic mantras are very rare, or we may say it, is the only one. Though it is easy in style, it is very, very deep in its meaning. Even well- versed Pandits cannot know easily its deep philosophical meanings”.

He says the Pramanas and examples given in the Bhashya can be  nowhere else but in the Vedas only. Hence, he feels that mere

Sanskrit Pandits or scholars cannot know its secret meanings.

He says another special feature of the book is that this book

on Vedas is composed by a Sanyasi. Of all the Sanyasis, Madhwacharya is the only one who has composed such a book.

To Alur, the Rh Bhashya is a small book in Sanskrit in Anushtup Chhandas. Alur found that it contained 489 Shlokas.

He found it easy to memorise the lines as they are ion the form of poetry. Madhwacharya’s scholarly work in writing in poetry what is essentially one of the oldest literary works in the world is nothing short of stunning for Alur.

He sees the Bhashya as the first of its kind-a fitting annexe to the  Veda Mantras. Such a writing is rare and exceptional to Alur as he says all commentaries in Sanskrit literature such as Panini Sutras, Maha Bhashya of Patanjali, Shaber Bhashya and works on Mimasa and Upanishats are in Sanskrit prose. None, he says, have ever even attempted to wrote in poetry, let alone attempt a metrical text.

Therefore, Alur says, the Rg Bhashya deserves to be ranked alongside other Vedic compositions.  

Alur reveals that the book comes up with the etymological meaning of Vedic words, which are not to be found in common Sanskrit literature. Some of the meanings are so complex that they have not been understood even today. Madhwacharya, on the other hand, not only explains them but also traces their etymology and history.  

Madhwacharya, to Alur, has fashioned the meaning of  Vishnu Para in a broad sense. Unfortunately, it became sectarian in the eyes of some people. He finds the Shlokas very easy and composed in a flowing style.

Alur, therefore, says such Bhashyas on Vaidic mantras are very rare, or this should be the only one. Though the style is easy, Alur says it has several layers of meaning. Even well versed Pandits cannot easily understand its deep philosophical meanings.

Alur finds it interesting that Madhwa’s last main proposition in the Bhashya is about the hierarchy of Gods from Chaturmukha Brahma downwards differing in grades and degrees. He says Madhva views the whole of Rg Veda as essentially a  

theosophical document. Madhwacharya thus takes the words of the Geeta, the Katha Upanishad and the Bhagavata literally, and views the entire sacred literature as part of Vedanta.

Alur notes that Madhwacharya maintains the doctrine of three-fold interpretation of Veda in the Bhashya. The Supreme Being or Vishnu is its highest subject matter. All scriptures, including the Rg Veda, primarily sings the glory of the Supreme being. Madhwacharya thus discounts the popular notion that the Vedas  sing the praises of plurality of gods.

All the gods for Madhwacharya are subordinate to Vishnu. Thus, the Bhashya for Alur provides details of the mystic line of interpretation of Madhwacharya.

Interestingly, Madwacharya’s stand on the Rg Veda has been vindicated by modern scholars. The scholar-mystic Sri Aurobindo, in his “The Secret of the Veda” completely agrees with Madhwacharya that vedic hymns are clothed in symbolic terminology.

India’s philosopher President, Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, too accepts the authority of the Vedas and its infallibility. 

The Rg Bhashya of Madhwacharya

This is a work wherein Madhwacharya has interpreted the first forty slokas of the Rig Veda. According to the Acharya, each sloka and statement in the Vedas has at least three meanings.

Elaborating further on the etymology of the words used in the Rig Veda, he says the underlying meaning when he reads the slokas is that they are all in praise of Vishnu or Hari, who according to him is supreme.

The three levels of understanding are  Adhibhautic, Adhidaivic and Adhyatmic.

The first level or Adhibhatic or agryadidevataparatvene-meaning looking at the slokas from the physical level. The second also called tadantargatavisnuparatvena  is to understand them as a praise to the Abhimana devethes or gods who dwell within us. The final level or adhyatmaparatvena is interpreting them as the Supreme being or Vishnu. All the three levels of meaning is contained in this sloka,

 “tryo'rthah sarvavedesu dasarthah sarvabharate,

Visnoh sahasranamapi nirantarasatarthakam. ”

He commences his brilliant work by starting with “AgnimeelE purOhitam”. He shows us how the words in these forty lines are nothing but a prayer to Vishnu and his glory. Vishnu is supreme and the other gods are dependent on him.

He bases his argument that the Rg Veda means Vishnu on two main planks or doctrines. The first is the repeated use of Omkara as conveying a Brahaman and this means Vishnu and Vedas.

The second is that the entire Vedas and its study is meant to provide us a vehicle to move away from the worldly  to the holy and from the materialistic to the spiritual. Only the supreme being or Vishnu ca help us attain this goal and nobody else. Since Vishnu is supreme and all other gods subordinate, the Rg Veda is an exposition of Vishnu himself. The niruKti of the vedic deities and the adjectives given to them are explained. We can also find a similar explanation in the work or teeke of Jayatheertha and Mamtrartha Manjari of  Raghavendra Swamy

This is not a very big text. There is no colophon or closing notes at the end of the book and, hence, we are unsure whether the Acharya commented further and whether this was among the many parts that he wrote. As even Jayatheertha or Teekacharya wrote his commentary or Teeke on these forty lines only, we can surmise that this is all that has survived.

The text is important from two points. The first is because Madhwacharya shows us how the Rg veda can be interpreted to highlight the supremacy of Vishnu. The second is because he becomes the first saint-philosopher to directly refer and touch upon the Rg veda and comment on it. He is also the first to interpret the Veda, which is among the earliest religious texts of India.

Madhwacharya, here, adopts a poetical form to point out, the supremacy of Vishnu. He thus becomes the first religious leader to give us a totally spiritual meaning of the Rg Veda. 

Madhwacharya draws upon his vast repertoire of Sanskrit and he used many Sanskrit phrases and idioms to buttress his argument. We find that he follows the ancient rhythmical patterns while composing the Rg Bhashya.

Raghavendra Swamy too wrote a commentary on the Rg Bhashya but the text is no longer available. However, we have an oral tradition of this work. But it remains to be seen how authentic this can be.

The first to write a commentary on this work was Narahari Theertha, one of the four direct disciples of  Madhwacharya. Jayatheertha has written an excellent commentary on this text and to date it remains the most outstanding interpretation and commentary of Madhwacharya’s work.

Jayatheertha has written a detailed commentary on Rg bhasya and he explains each hymn of Rg veda and gives their meaning word by word. He also gives us grammatical explanation of the words, Risi, devata, Chandas and also the three levels of meaning.

The Mantrarthamanjari of Raghavendra Theertha is much more simple in style and Rayaru explains the importance of each hymn and he adheres to the interpretation offered in the Bhasya by Madhwacharya and Jayatheertha’s Teeka.  

Another excellent treatise on the Rg Bhashya is “Rgbhasyatika vivrti Padartha Prakasika” by Srinivasa Theertha (1590 – 1640). A disciple of  Yadavarya, some of his works supplements the work of his guru.

His commentary is rather elaborate. He explains the grammatical points in detail by liberally quoting the relevant sutras of Panini and a few other texts of Vyakarana shastra.

The “Rgbhasya Tippani Padartha Deepika by Pandurangi Kesavacharya (1580-1640) is another scholarly book. He was the younger brother of Vidydeesha Theertha who headed the Uttaradi Matha from 1619 to 1631.

His commentary on Rg Bhasya is a magnificent example of  giving  grammatical explanations for the Vedic words occurring in the hymns. He quotes extensively from Vyakarana shastras.

Chalari Narasimhachar (1620-1674) also has given us a commentary on Rg bhasya. He was a contemporary of Satyanatha Theertha of Utaradhi Matha.

The Suvalli of Jagannatha Dasa

Nearly a thousand years ago, one of India’s greatest mathematicians and astronomers wrote a book on mathematics and dedicate it to his daughter who had lost her husband just after marriage. The mathematician wanted to ensure that the memory if his daughter remains forever and he penned Lilavathi, one of the finest books on mathematics.

The mathematician was Bhaskaracharya (1114-1186) and his daughter was Lilavati. Determined to ensure that the world did not forget the name of his daughter, Bhaskarancharya wrote Lilavati.

Seven centuries later, a Haridasa from Karnataka lovingly compiled a text and gifted it to his daughter-in-law. You see, the Dasa had just lost his son and he deeply sympathized with the plight of his daughter-in-law. He wanted to console her and help her come out the agony of being a widow.

This Dasa was none other than Jagannatha Dasa (1726-1809) of Manvi and his daughter-in-law was the pious Gopamma.

Gopamma had just lost her husband Damodara and she was grieving continuously. She was also lamenting her fate of becoming a widow so early in life. More than anything, she was holding herself responsible for the death of her husband. Nothing that Jagannatha Dasa said could console her. Left with nothing else, the Dasa decided to write about Sri Hari and gift it to his daughter-in-law.

The Dasa then composed the Tatwa Suvalli which is a beautiful composition on the mahime of Vishnu and his family. It is a composition in Tripadi and since it is penned in the Janapada or folklore style, it is easy to memorise and easier to recite.

The Tatwa Suvalli is based on several other Hindu religious and philosophic works such as the Harivamsha of Vedavyasa, Brahma Sutra Bhashya and Mahabharata Tatparya Nirnanya of Madhwacharya, Bhagavatha, Upanishads, Theertha Prabhanda and Yukti Makkika of Vadiraja,Vamana, Garuda and Brahmanada Puranas, Vishnu Rahashye, Sri Sumadhwavijaya of Narayana Panditacharya and other famous works.

Gopamma began reciting the Suvalli and soon other women followed. Just as women in and around Bijapur began singing Chakki namas (composed by sufi saints and they dealt with ordinary chores that women would perform at home every day), the Suvalli son became famous in and around Raichur district.

Of the 1200 suvallis that formed the text, only 456 have survived.

The Tatwa Suvalli contains stuthis like Dashavatara, Brahma, Krishna, Tulasi, Rukmini Vilasa, Navagraha, Ganesha, Surya, Chandra, Vaisha Deva prakara, Maha Rudra Deva, Pranadevaru,  Stuthi, Venkateshwara, Mayavadha Kandana, Bhu Durga Stuthi and others.

Interestingly, in the Suvalli, Jagannatha Dasa has treated Rahu and Ketu as Chaya grahas and included Surya, Chandra, Mangala, Budha, Guru, Shukra and Shani as Navagraha.

If we go through this work, we find that the Dasa has given us a summary of the teachings and philosophy of Madhwacharya. He strictly adheres to the Taratamya or the gradation of Gods preached by Madhwacharya. Some of the tenets of Vadiraja Theertha are also brought out. The Suvalli brings out the philosopher in Jagannatha Dasa.

He says people should at all times remember and meditate on Hari or Vishnu. It is only Vishnu who can provide a balm to sooth all the pains that human beings experience. Hari is the only one who can save us and remember him always and in all circumstances, says the Dasa.

In one of the lines of the Suvalli, he says “inna vismritigadika mahapApa mahapApa karmagalu inilla inilla lOkatraydolu” and this is addressed directly to Vishnu. What he means is that much time has been spent in going after worldly pleasures and we have forgotten the lotus feet of Vishnu. We have tended to forget Vishnu and this is the first among the sins that we have committed.

At another place, he says “kere bAvi dEva maMdiraMgalanu keDisi divya hiridAgi mane kaTTidE nere neDava mArgadolu aravaTigegalannu thara tharadi bichchi tegede”.

He says he has been the cause and the source of destruction of Nature and temples and also the cause of their neglect. He says man has been selfish and he has not made use of the gifts of Nature to help others.  

The Suvalli starts with Ganapathi Stotra. It is in Ananda Bhairavi and is set to Ekathala.   

The style of the Haridasas

In earlier posts, we had dealt with some Haridasas and their works. There was also a post on suladis.

However, the suladi is not the only vehicle of language that the Haridasas deployed. They wrote a range of poetry encompassing several forms, each with its own uniqueness and distinctness.

All the Haridasa writings are a harmonious bend of music and language. Purandara dasa was the first to systematize these and others followed suit.

Today, we are fortunate that Haridasa literature has emerged as a distinct genre and it is much different from mainstream literature.

Haridasa literature is purely devotional and it is religious, moralistic spiritual and even ethical.

Haridasa sahitya is popular even today unlike other forms of literature and this is because of its nearness to the common man and a deep and abiding understanding of  the trials and tribulations of the common man.  

The Haridasas preach the glory of Hari and some like Purandara pick on common ay events and themes to drive in their message. Kanaka Dasa talks of  a casteless, classless society.

Today, the Haridasa sahitya has become so popular that it has gone beyond the Vaishnava houses and mathas and the Haridasas have seen new readers and singers from all over the world, heralding their composition.      

The Haridasas used a variety of forms to compose and they include pada or prose: suladi: Ugabhoga: Tattva-suvali: Shloka: Kanda: Vachana: Vrittanama: Dvipadi: Tripadi: Choupadi: Shatpadi: Ashtapadi: Ragale and Yalapada.

The first ever Suladi in Haridasa sahitya can be ascribed to Narahari Theertha, one of the four direct disciple of Madhwacharya. He is the first Madhwa Yati or seer (I am not including Madhwacharya here as he is a class apart and he is the fountainhead of all Haridasa and Vaishnava literature) to compose songs on Sri Hari and his inspiration was his guru, Madhwacharya. Today, only three of his compositions survive and they are Entu Marulade Nanentu: Hariye Idu Sariye and Tilako Ninnolage Nine.

He is the first to use the Pada for music and this was later developed by others who followed him . The next to use the Suladi to great effect and also make an everlasting to Haridasa Sahitya was Sripadaraya of Mulabagal (1406-1504).

He was the first Madhwa seer to introduce rhythm oriented compositions set to seven talas called Suladis and excluded other talas such as Misra, Marga, Sankara and Desi.

He also composed Ugabhogas, Devaranamas and exclusive compositions for dance called Narthana Sevakritis, Bhramara Geethe and Viraha Geethe. He has also composed the only Dandaka or Uddanda in Kannada literature. Many of his compositions are in Kannada.

He also composed Gopi Geethe, Venu Geetha and lullabies and set his own compositions to music. Many of them are based on Bhagavath Geeta. The Vrittanama was perhaps the creation of  Sripadaraja himself. Its main features are that it comprises sections which are tala bound and unbound by tala and they occur alternately.

He is also the first to compose kirtanas or Keertanas in Kannada, which was subsequenbtly followed by other Madhwa seers and all the Haridasas.

Sripadaraja thus laid the foundation for Sangeeta by composing a variety of songs in different genres. The Haridasas like Puradara Dasa, Kanaka Dasa and Vijaya Dasa and Madhwa seers after him like Vyasa raja, Vadiraja and Vijendra Theertha composed in these forms and they range from biographical to religious, philosophical, social, ethical, ritualistic and  introspective.

Purandara Dasa also composed the famous pillari geetas, which is the basic foundation for students to learn Carnatic music even today.

Sripadaraja also commenced the genre of Vrittinama where verses are sung with tala first and without next. Apart from Sripadaraja, it was Purandara who mastered this difficult form.

The Haridasas also used ugabhogas, where the verses were set to  ragas. However, ughabhogas do not have any prescribed ragas.

The Ughabhoga is generally divided into tow parts called Udgraha and Abhoga and in between are the Melapaka, Dhruva andAntara. These compositions are four to twelve lines in length. Haridasas such as Purandara Dasa and Kanaka Dasa have excelled in using this form.

It is very similar to the Vachanas.  

Keertanas or devaranamas are perhaps the most attractive compositon of Haridasas. The emphasis here is on its aesthetic excellence and the raga and tala aspects are adhered to.

The Vrittinama is a combination of  word and hymn. After Sripadaraja, we find Vadiraja Theertha (1480-1600) using it extensively. Gopala Dasa has used this to excellent effect in “Rakshiso Venktatagiri Raja, ravishta teja Ashritakalpa bhUja”. All of them-Sripadaraja, Vadiraja and Gopala Dasa- used Sanskrit words in these compositions.

One of the rarest forms of composition is the Dandaka. This alternates between the text form and poetical form. In this form, one pada constitutes 20 matras and it is again subdivided into five  matras each. Sripadaraja has composed the seventh chapter of Bhagavath  Geeta in this style.

Jagannatha Dasa of Manvi used Tripadi extensively, particularly in his Tatwa Suvali, while the Shatpadi have been used by Vadiraja Theertha in Vaikunta Varnane (description of Vishnu’s Vaikunta) and Kanaka Dasa in his Nala Charitre and Hari Bhakta Sara.

Jagannatha Dasa has also used the shatpadi in Sriharikathamruthasara, his magnum opus.

In Kavya genre, the Sriharikathamrutasara is an unparalleled composition. These are highly philosophical in nature.   

Jagannatha Dasa was a master of Tatwa Suvali. He has written a composition by that name and dedicated it to his daughter-in-law.

Karma Nirnaya of Madhwacharya

This is generally believed to be the last of Madhwacharya’s works. Just like the Rg Bhashya, here too Madhwacharya shows himself as being conversant with the Vedic language and its idiom.

Here too Madhwacharya takes us to the supreme Being who he calls Vishnu and the underlying thread of this work is the glorification of Vishnu.

There is an interesting legend behind the composition of this work.

Madhwacharya had come to a temple in Ucchabuti near Ujire.

Today, Ujire is a small town near Dharmastala and it is situated in Belthangady taluk of Dakshina Kannada district.

When Madhwacharya and his disciples went to the Janardhana  temple, some of the seers assembled there questioned him on certain aspects of Vedic Mantras and procedures. They thought that as Madhwacharya was a monk, he might not know details about Vedic sacrifices, their meanings and details.

Others accused Madhwacharya of only propagating Tattvajnana as he was not well versed in the karmakanda of the Vedas

Madhwacharya, however, stunned the gathering when he easily outsmarted the gathering and defeated them in the argument. He easily tackled all the queries that the seers put to him and gave them convincing answers about several aspects.

The seers accepted defeat and requested him to explain Mahaa Naamni Mantras of Aitreya  Aranyaka. Madhwacharya then explained to them the meaning and significance of Mahaa Naamni Mantras. He then wrote them in the form of a book which he called  Karma Nirnaya.

This book is also known as Kandartha Nirnaya. This work too gives us a totally new interpretation of the Vedas just as the Rg Bhashya did. Scholars say the Karma Nirnaya is only next to Visnutattva Nirnaya in its extent. It deals with many sacrificial hymns that are generally recited in connection with the Prstha Stotra of the Naiskevalya Sastra, says BNK Sharma, a scholar.

It also deals with the concept of Karmakanda in conjunction with the Brahman. Madhwacharya interprets the Karmakanda in the light of supremacy of Vishnu.

He takes on the theory of Nirguna Brahman and attacks it, saying how can God be without attributes or form. This comes in the opening section where he says Vishnu is Saguna or a supreme being with attributes.

 To Madhwacharya, the Brahman is immortal, imperishable, eternal, and thus the basis of the impersonal Nirguna. He says this is clearly stated in the Geeta. For him, the personal form indicated is generally Narayana or Vishnu.

Madhwacharya then cites several passages in the Vedas investing several attributes to the Brahman. He says the denial of

attributes to the Brahman in some scriptures must be interpreted only in terms of  Prkritic attributes.

He also refutes the concept of Nirvisesa preached by Shankaracharya. How can a Brahman have no characteristics or nirguna of its own, he asks. Shankara had preached that the Brahman has no individual or personal characteristic. Madhwacharya here says there is a personal characteristic as there is a difference between the Creator (Vishnu or Paramatma) and the created (Atma).

Madhwacharya says Nirvisesatva cannot be negative.

The gathering accepts these arguments and then proceeds to question the Acharya on the Mahaa Naamni Mantras, their meaning and how Upasargas or prepositions should be joined to those Mantras.

Madhwacharya says that prepositions like pracetana, pracetaya, aayaahi, pibamatsva, kratuccanda ritham, bruhat, sumna aadehi No vatso should be added to the riks “adhatanyam  jatere prema” and others to get the correct meaning of the mahaa naamni riks.

Madhwacharya then goes on to record the meaning of Mahaa Naamni riks in this book.

He says even works dealing with karmas are actually

hymns in praise of Vishnu. He, therefore, chooses a mantra in the Mahaanaamni meter which apparently praises Indra and explains its significance with reference to Vishnu.

He then goes on to interpret the entire Mahaanaamni hymns word by word. He concludes the work with this Mangalacharana sloka

  namo nArAyaNAyAja bhavazkroSNa rUGmu khaiH  |

  sadA vandita pAdAya zrIpAya   preyase -dhikam  ||

The English meaning says “I prostrate at the lotus feet of  Narayana who is very dear to Madhwa and one who is worshipped by deities like Brahma, Rudra, Indra, Surya and others.

The Acharya tells us here that is very important to know and understand the etymological meaning of a word in addition to the traditional one. He then goes on to say that if Vedas are interpreted etymologically, it can give us the ultimate meaning of Vedas.

He says,

“rUDhiyOgau vinA kashchinnairvArthO vEdagO bhavEt|
tatrApi yougikO mukhyaH sarvatrAsti sa vaidekE||”

Here, he says the etymological meaning should be taken. He asks people to follow the epistemological meaning (yOgArtha) along with the regular meaning of usage (rUDhArtha). He rates the epistemological meaning as more important than the other.One of  the best commentaries on this work is by Jaya Theertha. The first however is by Narahari Theertha.

By the way, the Lakshana Granthas (2), Khandana Traya (3),

Tattva Granthas (4) along with Karma Nirnaya are collectively known as Dasaprakaranas.