A staff saved him from snake bite

He was asleep when Lord Hari came in his dream and asked hi to stop working as a clerk. The Lord directed the man to approach Jagannatha Dasa of Manvi and take instructions from him.

Lord Hari also told the man that he should become a disciple of Jagannatha Dasa and become a Haridasa. When the dream ended, the man got up and he determined to follow his dream.

The man went to Jagannatha Dasa who then was living in Manvi. He served Jagannatha Dasa devotedly for twelve years. One day, he was ruing his fate at having to spend 12 years when Jagannatha Dasa came to him and said he had asked him to stay back here as he would have otherwise died. He then gave him a staff and warned him that he would be bitten by a snake. However, he would live of he kept the staff on the wound. He then blessed Narasimha and asked him to leave.

Narasimha then took leave of Jagannatha Dasa and came under the influence of Hundekara Dasa or Srisha Vittala. He was given the ankita Sreesha Vittala Dasa by Hundekar Dasa. When a snake bit him, he remembered the words of Jagannatha Dasa and kept the staff on the wound. Sreesha Vittala Dasa survived the snake bite. 

He then settled down in Kuntoji village on the banks of the Tungabhadra.

After staying for some time in Kuntoji, he made Kampli his home. Kampli too was on the banks of the Tungabhadra. By then, this man had earned name and fame as Kuntoji Dasa or Narasimha Dasa or Kuntoji Narasimha Dasa. He was also known as Shreesha or Srisha Vittala Dasa.

Born in Kanakagiri, his father was Thamanna, a clerk. Thamanna had performed seve and pooje to the famous Narasimha of Kanakagiri to beget a son, whom he named as Narasimha.

Thamanna decided to retire from service and he asked Narasimha to take over his duties. He stopped working as a clerk only after Lord Hari asked him to do so. 

Like Jagannatha Dasa, his Guru, this Haridasa too was a devotee of Raghavendra Swamy or Rayaru and he has composed some of the most evocative and beautiful songs on the bard of Mantralaya.    

“Nodele Manave, Kondaadu Gurugala Padaa, Eedillavo Punyake, NadOge Guru Raghavendra Rayara Seve Madidhava Parama Dhanya Maanya”, is one of his best known songs on Rayaru.

His composition, “Guru Madhwarayarige NamO NamO, Guru Madhwa SaMtatige NamO NamO” is another famous work that even today is sung at the beginning of any Bhajan programme or Haridasa Sammekana.

“Baro Guru Raghavendra, Barayya baa Baa Narahari Priyane Baa, Guru Shreesha Vitalana KaruNa Patrane Bega Baa Guruvarane Parishoshisennanu Mareyadhale tava CharaNa Koteyalirisi Charambujavva Thorutha Twarithadhali Ododi Baa Baa”, is another popular song by this Haridasa.

He has written a beautiful commentary on Sriharikathamrutsara. Born in 1740, he lived for more than a hundred years. He died in 1846.

The aradhane of this great saint is being held at Kampli from January 1. 

The Rangoli Dasa

Jagannatha Dasa of Manvi (1727-1809) was not only a great scholar but he was also a well-known Rangoli artiste.

The Dasa would spend time by drawing various Rangoli designs even as he sang the glory of  Hari.

He would draw different deities in Rangoli and they became so popular that people started calling him as Rangoli Dasa.

The Rangoli that the Dasa drew were so life like and so beautiful that people felt highly devotional on seeing them.

One day, Jagannatha Dasa happened to visit the house of Dewan Purnaiah in Srirangapatna. Tipu Sultan was the ruler of Mysore Kingdom and Srirangapatna was his capital.

Dewan Purnaiah and Jagannatha Dasa were great friends. When Jagannatha Dasa stayed in the Dewan’s house for some time, he began drawing Rangoli.

The rangoli drawings were highly appreciated by every one. When Purnaiah came back home from office, he was delighted to see the beautiful Rangoli. He was all the more happy when he noticed that the Rangoli was that of Ranganathaswamy, the presiding deity of Srirangapatna.

Both Hyder Ali and his son Tipu had great faith in Ranganatha and they did not harm the Ranganantha Temple. In fact, both donated liberally to the temple.

Dewan Purnaiah too was a devotee of  Ranganatha. He was a Madhwa Brahmin from a village near Coimbatore. When Purnaiah saw the Rangoli drawing of Ranganatha, his joy knew no bounds.

Purnaiah prostated before the Rangoli. But when he looked at it closely, he found that the God did not wear any crown.

Purnaiah then pointed out to Jagannatha Dasa that the drawing did not have the crown of Ranganatha. He said the Rangoli would have been complete had the crown been drawn.

Jagannatha Dasa replied that he had not draw the crown as Ranganatha had not worn it. This reply so astonished Dewan Purnaiah that he sent his servant to the temple to ascertain whether or not Ranganatha was wearing a crown.

The servant went to the temple and had a darshana of Ranganatha. He then came back to Dewan Purnaiah’s house came and told him that the priests had not yet kept the throne on the head of Ranganatha.      

Dewan Purnaiah was filled with admiration and respect to Jagannatha Dasa. He then acknowledged the holiness of the Dasa.

From then on, he became an ardent devotee of  Jagannatha Dasa.

Another Haridasa, who was well-known for Rangoli, was Helevankatte Giriyamma.

This Haridasi would draw Rangoli depicting the life and times of Krishna, particularly his sport with the Gopis, at the Ranga Mantapa in Helavankatte and then sing songs. People of the village liked her songs and Rangoli too.

Rangoli is known by different names in different states. If it is rangavalli in Karnataka, Kollam in Kerala, muggu in Andhra Pradesh, purna in Uttar Pradesh, mandana in Rajasthan, aripan in Bihar, alpana in Bengal and Maharashtra, alikhthap in Kumaon and saathiya in Gujarat.

It is not just the names but the designs too vary  from State to State. In Maharashtra, rangoli are drawn on the doors of homes to ward off evil forces attempting to the house. In Kerala, during Onam, flowers are elaborately set out and designed for each of the ten days of the celebration. In Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, the rangoli is drawn upon the ground or floor daily.

The designs of the Rangoli are geometric and symmetrical shapes but the materials used are either rice flour or slurry.

Chitralakshana, the earliest Indian treatise on painting, gives us an interesting legend about the origin of Rangoli. It says when the son of a King’s high priest died, the king was distressed. Lord Brahma asked the king to paint a likeness of the boy on the wall so that he  could breathe life into him again. That painting is believed to be the first Rangoli.
Another legend has it that God extracted the juice of a mango and painted a figure of a woman with it. Whatever its story of origin, the rangoli is mentioned in the Epics. Rangoli is a Sanskrit word, meaning creative expression of art by means of colors.

This ancient art form is drawn at the entrance of a house to usher in peace and prosperity. These drawings can either be simple or highly intricate. Apart from making the surroundings aesthetic and auspicious, they are believed to usher in peace and prosperity.

By the way, Suyatheendra Theertham senior pontiff of  Mantralaya Matha or Sri Raghavendra Swamy Matha (he was earlier known as (Susheelendracharya) is an excellent exponent of Rangoli art. 

There is a beautiful story about Rangoli and Purandara Dasa.

One day, Purandara Dasa came home and when he stepped on the threshold of his house, he was astonished to see a beautiful rangoli. He called his wife, Saraswathi, and complimented her on drawing such a beautiful design.

Saraswathi told her husband that it was nothing new but the rangolis are drawn every day and each of them are beautiful. She then stunned Purandara Dasa when she said that the Rangoli was not drawn by her but they were beautifully set when she opened the front door every morning to wash the courtyard and draw rangoli.

Purandara Dasa then decided to find out the mystery of the rangoli. He sat up the whole night and early in the morning he found a group of women washing the courtyard and drawing the rangoli.

Purandara called out and asked the women who they were and why they were drawing rangoli in front of his house. One of the women replied and said she was River Ganga. Introducing the others, she said they are  Yamuna, Godavari, Saraswati, Narmada, Sindhu and Cavery. 

She said all of them were river goddesses and they had come to paint rangoli so as to serve pious people like you. The women bowed to Purandara Dasa and vanished.

Even Emperor Krishna Deva Raya had noticed the beautiful rangoli in front of the house of Purandara Dasa. When he asked Vyasa Raja about it, the Rajaguru told him that they had been drawn by the seven river goddesses. This story may look imaginary but look at the moral of it. A drawing in front of the house not only pleases human beings but gods and Gandharvas too. What was the outcome of the beautiful rangoli in front of the house of Purandara Dasa. The Dasa went ahead and composed a beautiful song on Rangoli and he first sang it before his Guru, Vyasaraja.

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 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 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 Narasimha Suladi of Jagannatha dasa

If Vijaya Dasa has written a Suladi on Narasimha, so also has Jagannatha Dasa of Manvi.

The Narasimha Suladi has an interesting antecedent.  

Jagannatha Dasa was touring holy places and he came to a temple near Surpur. The province of Surpur in Gulbarga district was ruled by a local chieftian. (Today, Surpur is called Shorapur and among the temples is the Venugopala Swamy Temple) The Dasa halted at a temple singing the glory of Hari when he noticed a poor Brahmin in his entourage. The Brahmin looked sad and he appeared anxious.

Jagannatha Dasa called the Brahmin aside and asked him for the reason of his sadness. The Brahmin replied that he was an extremely poor man and that he did not have sufficient needs to even have a meal a day.

He sought the blessings of  the Dasa to come out of his poverty. Jagannatha Dasa meditated and found out that the Brahmin had come to this state as he had not given any dhana or given anything to people in his earlier birth.

He had, therefore, been cursed to be born poor and was forced to lead a wretched life for the past three lives. Jagannatha Dasa asked the Brahmin what he could donate.

The Brahmin said he had no money except a small copper vessel.
Jaggantha Dasa asked the Brahmin to sell the vessel, prepare panaka from the money he got and give it to him.

The Brahmin sold the vessel and with the money he got from it , he prepared panaka for Jagannatha Dasa and other members of the party. After Jagannatha Dasa completed his pooje, he took the panaka along with his disciples and blessed the Brahmin.
He then composed the Narasimha Suladi and gave upadesha to the Brahmin. He then asked the Brahmin to stay back at the temple they were camping. “Worship God here and he will do the rest. Do not forget to recite the Narasima Suladi”,  the Dasa told the Brahmin.

The Brahmin was overjoyed and he followed the instructions of Jagannatha Dasa. He recited the Narasimha Suladi with devotion and sincerity. Narasimha then gave the Brahmin riches and also helped him attain a high post in the durbar of  Surpur.

This is a powerful sloka and if recited with sincerity and devotion, it can help us get over all our difficulties.

The English translation is as follows:

“Dhurithavana kuTAri dhurjana kula vairi
sharaNAgatha vajrapamjara kumjara
vara samrakShaka janma maraNarahitha mahitha
parama karuNAsimDhu BakthabamDhu
svaratha svathamthra jagadhBaritha chithsuKapUrNa
hariye kSharAkShara puruShOththama
urugAya vaikumTa vara mamdhira chamdhira
tharaNi kOti samkAsha vimala kEsha
DhuradhoLagarjunana thuraga nadesidha sam
gara Bayamkara lOkaika vIra
narasimha ninna pAdhakkeragi bEdikombe
morehokka dhAsage bamdha Bayava pari
harisi souKyava karuNisu dhayadhimdha
sarvaramthaRyAmi lOkasvAmi
smaraNe mAthradhi ajAmiLage mukthiyaniththe
aridhEnO nInIga porevudhemma
saruva kAmadha jagannAThaviTTala Baktha
paripAlakanemba birudhu ninnadhallave? ||

viDhipitha nInalladhe niDhipathigaLumte?
saDhananAgi ippe ninna dhaasarigaagi
maDhusUdhana jagannaaThaviTTalarEya
niDhananenisikombe ninna dhvEShigaLige ||

mUru lOkasvAmi sarva~G~Ja suKapUrNa
prEraka sAkShi kAraNakArya dhOShavi
dhUra sadhguNasAmdhra sajjanAmbuDhi chamdhra
BArakartha jagake nInire emma manOraTha
salisuvudhEnasADhyavO ninage?
krUramAnavara samhAramAdisu guru
mAruthanimdhathi shIGravAgi
nIrakShisemdhu prArThisuve Baktharige BUri
sAra BAgyavaniththu kRupemAdu anudhina
shUra jagannAThaviTTala nInalladhi
nnAru Bakthara kAva karuNigaLu jagadhi? ||

pithanimdha nomdha praHlAdhananu kAydhe dhE
vathegaLige bamdha Baya pariharisidhe dhrou
padhiya more kELi dhivyaambarava karuNisidhe
kShithijanAlayadhi baLaluva bAleyara dhvArA
vathige karedhoydhu olidhavara pOShisidhe mA
ruthiya karadhim bRuhadhraThakuvarana kolisi
pRuThivipara bidisi pAlisidhe karuNadhali kuru
pRuThanadhoL pAmdavara gelisi kIrthiya padadhe
shathamOdhanasthradhimdhali garBadhoLage pI
dithanAdha shishuparIkShithana samthaisidhe
shithikamTagolidhu sAyakanAgi muppuradha
sathiyaranolisi kIruthiyiththe Bakthanige
mithiyumte ninna karuNake dhEvapathi sAm
pratha bEdikombe binnapa kELajasra sam
sthuthipa Bakuthara manOraThava pUraisu su
vrathanAma shrIjagannAThaviTTala BAga
vatha janara priya nInE gathi emage ihaparadhi ||

nI salahalinnaaru mUrlOkadhoLu bamdha
ddaisuvaru oLahorage? dhAnava dhivou
kasaru ninage samarpaka kARya ma
hA suKadhi nadesuvaru niruthadhi lakShmi
dhAsiyemdhanipaLu ninnaramaneyalli
dhEsha kAla guNakarmAdhigaLu ninagA
vAsake yOgyavAdha sThAnavenipavu
Isha lOkake lEshAyAsa kANeno karu
NA samudhrane olidhu emma manadha aBi
lAShe pUraisemdhu bEdidheno vEdha
vyAsa kItage olidhu kottu mahAsim
hAsanavannErisi nI poredheyo pa
rAsharAthmaja ninna guNagaLa baNNise
nA samarThane emdhemdhigAdharu dhEva
nI sulaBanemdhAshrayisimdhu nA bi
nnaisidheno I rIthiyalli saru
vAsunilaya shrIjagannAThaviTTalarEya
Isu mAthugaLEke manmanadha
Ashe pUrthiya mAdi emmanu dhayadhi u
dhAsisadhe anudhina nOLpudhu ||

nigamathathigaLige vEdhyavAgadha ninna
agaNitha mahime lakumi bomma BavA
dhigaLu thAvariyaru sAkalyadhimdha ji
vigaLige gOcharisuvudhe ninna rUpa
Bagavamtha nIne dhayALuvemdharidhu nA
pogaLidheno yaThAmathiyoLage lEsha
bageyadhirennaparADhakOtigaLannu
jagathIpathi thanna maguvina thodhalu mA
thugaLane kELi thA nagutha kAmitha bage
bageyimdha pUrthisi mige haruShadhimdha
bigidhappi mOdhipanalladhe shishuvanu
thegedhu bisutu maththe pagegombanEnO thrai
yugane bidadhe pAdipogaLuva dhAsagI
bage badathanavEke samsAradhoLage nA
lmOganayya arThakAmagaLoLagippa I
rvage rOpavomdhAge AvudhasADhyavo
gagana BUpAthALa vyAptharUpage kara
mugive gOcharisemma dhRuguyugagaLigimdhu
yugavartha shrIjagannAThaviTTala nara
mRuganAgi kambhadhimdhogedhu bamdhodhagidhe ||

shrIniDhi prathidhEhamgaLalli gathi
nInalladhe emagArihaparadhalli
A naLinaBavaBavAdhyanimiShara ni
jAnamdhavarithu PalagaLa koduva ma
hAnuBAva emmaBimatha salisuvu
dhEnachchari ninnarisi lakumi kade
gANaLu paramaishvaRyadha prAmtha chi
dhAnamdhamayane praNathara aDhikA
rAnusAra nadesuva muKya
prANapathige nUthana vi~G~JApana
vEnumtinnanudhinadhali mALpudhu
mAnadha guru jagannAThaviTTala karu
NAniDhi sarvadha sulaBa nInallave? ||

chatula kARyagaLa samGatane mAduveyo ni
Shkutila jagannAThaviTTala dhEvOththama ||

The tamburi that Jagannatha Dasa gifted

An earlier post , “The story of a tamburi”  had dealt with several aspects of the Tamburi and why it was the chief instrument of music for the Haridasas of Karnataka.

Some of the most outstanding users of this instrument have been  Purandara Dasa, Kanaka Dasa, Vaikuntha Dasa, Vijaya Dasa, Jagannatha Dasa of Manvi, Gopala Dasa and Srida Vithala Dasa.

Purandara Dasa’s tamburi was reckoned to be divine and it was his travelling companion. The tamburi went with the Dasa wherever and whenever he went.

There is a story about how Purandara Das and Vaikunta Dasa were walking on the streets of Hampi discussing Hari when an enraged bull sprinted onto the road. Even as the people ran helter skelter and Purandara Dass too took cover, Vaikunta Das calmly walked on.

A little later, when the bull was tamed and taken away by the soldiers, Purandara Dasa came out from the place he had chosen to take shelter, tamburi in hand and he asked Vaikunta Dasa why he had not run away. Vaikunta Dasa said he had left everything to Sri Krishna and, therefore, there was no point in running away from such mundane things.

Do you know the response of  Purandara Das to this answer. He began stringing the tamburi and burst into a song. Today, we can see the tamburi of Jagannatha Dasa in Manvi, Vijaya dasa in Chikalparvi or Chippegeri and Gopala Dasa in Uthnoor. All these tamburis are considered to be sacred and they are worshipped.

Very few get to see these tamburis and fewer to touch them. However, a rare Bhrungi tamburi (Surashruta Veena), dating back to 18th century and used by some of our legendary dasas can be touched and worshipped.

This is the tamburi used by Jagannatha Dasa and Srida Vittala Dasa. This tamburi is currently with a retired bureaucrat-turned-Haridasa scholar called B. Sathyanarayanachar.

Mr. Satyanarayanachar got this instrument in 1995 from Raghavendra Swamy Math in Dixit Galli in Davangere.

This tamburi was used by Jaganntha Dasa and he had gifted it to one of his shishyas-Srida Vittala Dasa (1741-1820). The tamburi is belived to have come to Srida Vittala Dasa sometime in 1780.

Sirda Vittala Dasa was earlier known as Dasappa and he was a resident of Karajigi village near Hospet. This village now is in Haveri district.

He was among the many disciples of Jagannatha Dasa. It is this Dasa who wrote the phala stuti of the Sri Harikathamrutsara wriiten by Jagannatha Dasa.

Srida Vittala Dasa gifted the tamburi to Karadagi Narayanachar, a few days before his death. Mr. Sathyanarayanachar, who heads Sri Poorjaprajna Tatvajnana Prachara Sabha, is still in possession of this tamburi. He can be contacted on telephone no 080-32712716. 

The Dasa who began the tradition of singing at Tirumala while climbing

This incident occurred more than two hundred and fifty years ago. A group of Haridasas were climbing the hill at Tirumala to get a darshan of Lord Venkateshwara.

When one Haridasa said he was hungry, Vijaya Dasa (1682-1755) went away from the group to find some food.  He returned within minutes and offered food to the hungry Dasa who relished it.

A little while later, Vijaya Dasa, came to the group with food. When he offered food to the Dasa, he was stunned to be told that he himself had come sometime ago and given food. Both Vijaya Dasa and the Dasa who had been hungry and this was none other than Jagannatha Dasa of Manvi soon realised that the person who had offered food was none other than Lord Venkateshwara himself.

So overcome was Vijaya Dasa by this incident that he began singing the glory of Venkateshwara and Hari all through his journey to the top of the hill.

Vijaya Dasa continued singing even as he entered the sanctum sanctorum. He fell at the feet of Venkateshwara and burst into a song.

Vijaya Dasa continued to sing the glory of Venkateshawra even as he descended the hill. Today, the practice of singing  the Lord’s glory continues and the credit for starting this unique practice goes to Vijaya Dasa.

Vijaya Dasa wrote more than 25,000 compositions and it was he who led the second renaissance of the Haridasa movement in Karnataka.

A staunch devotee of Venkateshwara and Raghavendra Swamy, Vijaya Dasa went to Tirumala along with Jagannatha Dasa and other Dasas. He has written many songs on Srinivasa whom he lovingly called Venkatesha or Venkatachala and Tirupathi Thimappa.

A master of Suladis, he has written many in that genre on Venkatsha, including “Venkateshana yatri entado varunisalu”, “Venkatachala parvata mahime suladi”,   “ba ba baba bakutara hrudaya mandira”,  Saagi baraiah bhavarogada vaidyane, “Venkatesha mantra onde

By the way, “Saagi baarayya Bhavarogada vaidyane” was composed extempore and on the spot at Tirumala when the chariot carrying the idol of Venkatesha did not move. He had gone to Tirumala during Brahmotsava. Vijaya Dasa was meditating on the Lord even as the chariot was being prepared to take Venkatesha in a procession.

The chariot, however, could not be moved and it later transpired that As Vijaya Dasa was not present, Venkatesha did not want to move without him. This was revealed to the temple officials by a devotee who claimed that Venkatesha had come upon him and given him the reason for the chariot not moving.

The temple officials searched out Vijaya Dasa and brought him to the place where the chariot stood. The Dasa then sang “Saagi…” and the chariot began moving.

Today, chants of Govinda, Govinda and Srinivasa and Venkataramana are common when pilgrims and visitors climb the hill to reach Tirumala. Besides, the practice of saying the Lord’s name aloud when travelling originated from Vijaya Dasa. 

Now a days, thousands of  devotees from hundreds of bhajan groups from Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala  participate in the Tirupathi Tirumala Padi Vizha (Steps Festival) where they would trek their way through the hills to have darshan of Lord Venkateswara in Tirumala.

The festival is called Padi Vizha and it is preceded by the singing of devotional songs by the bhajan groups near the Balaji Busstand at the foot of the hills in Tirupathi. The festival generally commence at Alipiri on the foot of the hills.

Women devotees adorn each step with saffron and turmeric and offer camphor ‘aarti’. The devotees would climb the steps leading to Tirumala, singing devotional songs all the way.