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 13th 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. 
