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 story of the suladi

The suladis were a form of poetry that were introduced in this world by the Haridasa of Karnataka.

The first among the Haridasas and saint-composers of Karnataka to use this form extensively to express his devotion to Hari was Sripadaraja (1412-1504) of Mulabagal near Kolar in Karnataka.

Sripadaraja used the suladi to describe Hari and he taught this form to his favourite disciple, Vyasa Raja or Vyasa Theertha (1447-1539)who then passed it on to Purandara Dasa, Kanaka Dasa, Belur Vaikunta Dasa of the Dasa Koota and Vadiraja Theertha, Vijendra Theertha of the Vyasa Koota.

The word Suladi comes from the Sanskrit word Suda, which means gita. The Suladi is a composition rather very similar to the gita, another musical genre, in its arrangement and its musical structure. The Suladi is unique in the sense that for centuries after Sripadaraja it was composed only by Haridasas.

Musicians and musicologist trace the origin of Suladis to Salaga Suda (prabandha). The Salaga Suda was first described in detail in the 13^th century by Sarangadeva. These prabhandas comprised seven closely related sub-types all of the same tala. The first recorded Salaga Suda Prabhanda was called Dhruva Salaga Prabhanda and Sripadaraja, an incarnation of Dhruva, was among the first to use this form.

The content of the suladis by the Haridasa is more devotional and they are composed in different tempos such as vilambita, madhya and druta.

In a Suladi, each section is independent by itself. The pallavi (Pallavi generally is a single-line composition set to a single cycle of tala. The tala could range from the simple to the complex and there may also be different gatis being employed). is not sung at the conclusion of each section in a Suladi. In Suladis, some sections are sung in different tempos.

Usually, Haridasas, who were masters of music and literature,  composed their suladis in such a manner that a given Suladi will have a single raaga but multiple talas-generally seven. These talas will be set in place in a Suladi in succeeding parts. Some times, the Haridasas are such intricate masters of this genre that  there is a variation in raaga too. As such, it is not easy to compose Suladis. It requires mastery over music to render them properly. All the suladis of Haridasas have mythological, spiritual and religious themes. They do have an undercurrent of ethics too.

Purandara Dasa used the Suladi to focus on the conflicts of human life and Kanaka Dasa uses them to demolish the caste system. Vijaya Dasa uses them to exhort people to surrender to Hari and not to lead a decadent life.

Thus we see that the Suladi is an important vehicle for the Haridasas to give us a unique and thought provoking combination of intricate poetry with seamless music. The Suladis are lengthier compositions than the Ugabhogas and they are set to specific raagas and taalas.

Apart from Sripadaraya, other Dwaitha saints and Haridasas who composed Suladis were Vyasa Raya (1447-1539), Purandara Dasa (1484-1564), Kanaka Dasa (1509-1609) Vadiraja (1480-1600), Vijaya Dasa (1682-1755), Gopala Dasa (1722-1762) and Jagannatha Dasa of Manvi (1722-1809).

However, it must be remembered that it was Narahari Theertha, one of the four direct disciples of Madhwacharya, who first used this form to address Sri Hari. However, these suladis were in Snaskrit and his ankita here was Raghu Kula. After him, it fell into disuse and it was left to Sripadaraja to popularise it and compose in Kannada.

Sripadaraja taught the nuances of suladi to Vyasa Raja who in turn handed the baton to Purandara Dasa. Interestingly, Vyasa Raja follows his guru in writing a highly autobiographical suladi. In the Namasmarana Suladi, Vyas speaks of the many distractions and asks Hari to help him overcome them. He agrees that he has committed many sins and says he can get over them only by the grace of Sri Hari.

In Vyasa Raja’s next avatar as Raghavendra Swamy (1595-1671), he composed his only suladi- Avatara Traya Mukhyaprana Suladi – called Maruta Ninnaya Mahime.  

Vijaya Dasa in his suladi, “Dasa Purandara,” praises Purandara Dasa as his guru. He has also composed a suladi detailing the greatness of Sripadaraja.

In Andhra, Annamacharya composed the lone Suladi in Telugu and it has seven sections with each in a different raga. The suladi starts in Malavagaula and ends with Sriraga. The other ragas used in between are Daruva, Matya, Rupaka, Jhampa, Trivida, Ata and Eka. This Suladi figures in the Tirupathi copper plate No: 41. In Tamil Nadu, Sahu Maharaja (1684-1720), the son of Shiavji’s half brother Ekoji, composed a suladi with seven sections in the order of  the following ragas- Malavagaula, Kedaragaula, Ritigaula, Kannadagaula, Narayanagaula, Purvagaula and Chhayagaula.

Much earlier, in Karnataka, Purandara Dasa had written  “navavidha bhakti prasamsa”, a Suladi where a particular bhakti mudra was introduced in each of the seven sections.   

By the way, the only available three notated Suladis composed by Purandara Dasa are contained in the Sangita Sampradaya Pradarshini written by Subbarama Dikshitar, a Telugu scholar and composer. It contains sections on composers, musicology and ragas of south Indian music. This book was first published in 1904.

Jagannatha Dasa of Manvi composed a suladi on Narasimha. It is a beautiful song and it shows us how much this dasa was devoted to his Narasimha. Gopala Dasa has written the suladi Virachita Rayara. In another suladi, he describes how Narahari, Rama, Krishna, Veda Vyasa can be seen atop the Brindavana of rayaru in Mantralaya and how they accept the offerings.

Kanaka Dasa has set his songs to Suladi as it is his most preferred genre.

Almost all the Haridasas have wriiten suladis and it would be well impossible to enumerate all of them. The suladi was one of the most popular forms of expression and in them, the Haridasas restructured music, made it more appealing and soul stirring. The Haridasas hewed the system to ensure that the suladis became the vehicle for propagation of Dwaitha philosophy in which Hari was supreme and Taratamya a way of life.    

The Haridasis of Karnataka

Talk of Women Haridasas or rather Haridasis and the first name that comes to out mind is Helavanakatte Giriamma and  Harapannahalli Bheemavva.

What many tend to forget is that apart from these two Haridasis-yes they should be called so if the men can be called Haridasas-there are a host of others who are credited with more than 7,000 compositions.

A majority of these women writers were Haridasis and Vaggeyakara.

One of the first Haridasi was Galgali Avva who wrote under Ankita Rama. She lived from 1670 to 1760 and her compositions on the Pandavas are unique and distinguish her from others of her ilk.

She had an apt disciple, Bhagamma who was also called Prayagavva.

Harapanahalli Bheemavva (1823-1903) was introduced to Dasa Sahitya by her grandfather who always sang Dasara Padagalu for her. She was given the Ankita Bheemesh Krishna by Narada.

She has many compositions on Hari, Krishna, Prana Devaru. She is famous even today for her Harati Hadagalu.

One of  her best works is on the Dasavathara and it is called Stuthi Mallike. Many of her compositions are on Madhwa philosophy. In one of her compositions, while describing Krishna’s Rasa Leela, she speaks of more than 70 types of saris, including, Uppada, Kornad, Benares, Chanderi and varieties of Paithani.

Yadugiriamma (1828-1908) was another Vaishnava poetess. Her collection of songs was brought out in 2003 under the title. “Yadugiriammanavara Krutigalu”.

She was a versatile writer and she knew Sanskrit apart from Kannada, Telugu and Tamil. She visited several pilgrim places and wrote about them. Her compositions on  Melkote, Tirupati, Srirangam are evocative. She gives us a visual description of  the various festivals of the Srirangam temple and Ranganatha.

She was a master of composition and this is shown when she gives the gist of the Ramayana in 100 stanzas of two lines each. This is the Ramayana Mangalam. It is a composition in 55 stanzas and it is classified as one of her 52 dheerga kritis or long compositions.

Yadugiriamma’s compositions are similar to the Neeraattam pasurams that we see in the Divya Prabandham. Her compositions on Andal are superb.

Yadaugiriamma’s Ankita was Venkata or Venkatakrishna.

Another outstanding poetess is Nanjangud Thirumalamba (1889-1982). She was married, as was the custom during those times, at the age of 10 and was widowed at the age of 14. She then educated herself and learnt to read and write Kannada, Telugu and Tamil all by herself.

A doughty woman, she began a journal in 1916. She published 28 books in 20 years. One of her stories became controversial. Here, the housewife reforms her philandering husband, who apologises to her. This story incensed Masti Venkatesha Iyengar who objected to the idea of a husband apologising to his wife. He then wrote an essay criticising Thriumalamba’s story and this can be seen in  Vimarse, Volume IV, a collection of Masti’s critical writings.

Masti’s trenchant criticism led to Thirumalamba being ostracised by the literary world until the late 1970s. Thirumalamba died in 1982 at the ripe age of 93.

Helavanakatte Giriyamma (1691-1725) is perhaps the most famous among all of the Haridasa poetess of Karnataka. She was born in Ranebennur. Her Ankitha was Helavanakatte Ranga.

Her Udhalikana Kathe has 448 charanas and Chandrahasana Kathe has 355 charanas. The Kannada Adhyayana Aamsthe (Institute of Kannada Studies, University of Mysore) has published a book on her called “Helevankatte Giriammana Hadagalu in 1987. It was edited by T. K. Indubaayi.

Udupi Yashodamma was popularly known as Bhajane Yashodamma as she was regularly performing bhajans in temples n and around Udupi for four decades. She was a well-known Harikatha, bhajan and harmonium artiste.

There are several other women poetess or Haridasis. Some of them include, Turadagi Timmamma (Her ankita was Hoohoor Esha), Orevaayi Lakshmidevamma who wrote under the pen name  Narasimhavithala, Tulasabai who was also called sunadarabai and her Ankita was Shreevenkatesh.

Other Haridasis are: Nadigara Shantibai (Her pen name was  Shanti), Radhabai (Venkatavitala Raghavendra), Sarasabai ( Ramavallabhavittala), Namagiriyamma (Guru Prasanna Venkata Vittala), Rangamma (Balakrishna), Gundamma ( Rukmaneeshavittala), Amabai (Gopalakrishna Vittala)

Kalasada Sundaramma (Kalimardana Krishna), Nidaguruki Jeevubai (1897-1983- Kamalanabhavithala), Venkatasubbamma ( Venkatasubbi), Kalasada Sundaramma (Mookambike), Chechamma (Sheshakka) Maruti Odeya, Kamalabai  (Gurujayesha Vittala), Saraswati Bai (Sri Srinivasa), Saraswati Raajawade ( Giribale), Padmavati Kolara (Krishnaveni), Sarpaadi Ganagamma (Ganagajanaka), Rukmini Bai Rotti (Rukminikrishna), Maniyamma (Venugopala), Doddi Sudhabai (Kapila), Lakshmibai Badasheshi (Koppara Narasimha), Shanatabai Maski (Venkatavittala), Lakshmibai Bannigola (Lakumipriya), Chandoobai (Giri Venkatesh).

Many of these poetess wrote about common things of life just as Purandara Dasa did. All of them were devotees of  Hari and their compositions are as evergreen today as they were when composed. 

When Krishna reproached Vyasa Raja

Krishna Nee Beegane Baro…….. is perhaps one of the most popular compositions of all times. Infact, this song is closely associated with dance and it generally forms the opening sequence of any performance, particularly Bharatanatyam.

One of the Haridasas was so fond of this song that he included it in his repertoire and sang that in his own style. Over the years, this song was so closely associated with this Haridasa that many people believed it to one of his own.

This Haridasa too did not discriminate between his compositions and that of others. He sang all kinds of songs and as a wandering minstrel, he popularised the Haridasa Sangeeta all over south India.

He also set the tone and tenor of Carnatic music and today he is acknowledged as the first great composer and pioneer of Carnatic music. This Haridasa was Purandara and the man who copmposed Krishna Nee Beegane Baro….. was Vyasa Theertha or Vyasa Raja.

Purandara not only sang his own compositions but generally included Krishna Nee….. in all his performances as a wandering minstrel.

Since Purandara acknowledged Vyasa Raja as his guru, he frequently accompanied him on his tours and pilgrimage. To give an example, Purandara accompanied Vyasa Raja to the Apremeya Swamy temple in Doddamalur near Chennapatna and he was so bewitched by the Ambegallu Krishna idol, that he burst into the song… Jaggadodarana.

Similarly, when Vyasa Raja consecrated the Srinivasa Temple in Chennapatna town itself (It exists even today), Purandara sang and danced and a large number of people donated money with which Purandara built a mantapa which came to be called as Purandara Mantapa.

So, the Guru and Shishya has a close bond and each respected the other. Purandara saw in Vyasa Raja, a seer unparalled in scholastic achievements and a selfless servant of God. To Vyasa Raja, Purandara’s songs were nothing short of musical philosophical treatises which he expounded in Vijayanagar University of which he was the Chancellor.

One day, Purandara had just finished singing Krishna Nee Beegane Baro and Vyasa Raja too was sitting in meditation. Suddenly a flash of light appeared and Krishna appeared in front of Vyasa Raja.

Even as the Madhwa Seer was taking in the glory of Krishna, the God gently castigated Vyasa Raja. Krishna, in his sonorous voice, reminded Vyasa Raja that he (Krishna) was a householder and he had wives and children.

He then sought to know from Vyasa Raja how he could compose songs just calling him Krishna. “I am a householder and I derives better respect. You are a mendicant and you would not mind is you are called in singular”, Krishna told a dumbfounded Vyasa Raja.

Vyasa Raja immediately saw the merit in Krishna’s gentle rebuke and immediately changed the tone of all his compositions on the lord and ended them with Sri Krishna rather than Krishna.

This is not the only time that the venerable Vyasa Raja had the darshan of Krishna.

Several decades before this incident, when he was studying under Sripadaraja of Mulabagal, Krishna had danced before the seer. This is how the incident unfolded.

Sripadaraja was famous in those days for conducting poojes in Kannada and for singing songs in Kannada. One day, he was busy and he asked Vyasa Raja to conduct the pooje of the Saligramas which were kept in a box.

Vyasa Raja commenced the pooje and soon he began singing the glories of Krishna. He took a pair of Saligramas and began singing to the beat of the sacred stones.

Very soon, he opened one box or Samputa which contains idols of gods. The Samputa had the idol of Gopala Krisjna and even Sripadaraja had not opened it. When Vyasa Raja placed the idol of the sacred peeta where other idols were there, the Gopala Krishna started dancing.

A little later, Sripadaraja came and was astounded to see the idol dancing. He immediately handed over the idol to Vyasa Raja and to this dancing deity is in possession of Sosale Vyasaraja Matha.

On another occasion, Krishna the presiding deity of the Krishna disappeared from view when it was being bathed in honey and milk. The devotees, who were shocked, ran to the Madhwa saint with the news. He asked the devotees what might have happened to make Krishna disappear.

Almost all the devotees and even some disciples of Vyasa Raja told him that a farmer whom the seer had allowed near the idol might have polluted Krishna and the lord might have disappeared because of that. They also said that the low-caste person should not have been allowed to tend to the cows at the Goshala as it is a sin.

Vyasa Raja did not say anything. He beckoned to all of them to follow him. Follow they did and to their surprise they found the low caste person scrubbing the cows at the goshala. He was so involved in the work and he was doing it with such sincerity and devotion that he did not even look up to see that Krishna himself was holding up the bucket of water for him to dip his brush and scrub the cows clean.

The devotes and disciples realised their mistake and feel at the feet of Vyasa Raja. The Seer then took the low caste person as his Shishya.