The composition on Srinivasa

This is a composition by Guru Srisha Vittala of Kanakagiri. He is also called Kuntoji Dasa or Narasima Dasa and he was a disciple of Jagannatha Dasa of Manvi.

This composition of his is on Srinivasa and it is called Srisha Vittala  Stutirathnamamala.  

Here are the Kannada, Sanskrit and English lyrics.

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The lyrics in English are:

BhanukOTi tEja,lAvaNya mooruti

sri vEMkaTEshanE namOnamO,

srinivAsa dayaanidhe |

shEShAchalanivAsa, dOShadUrane,

bhaktapOShaka, srikAMta, namOnamO,

srinivAsa dayaanidhe |

neelamEghashyAma, pAlasAgarashayana,

srilakumeeshane,namOnamO,

srinivAsa dayaanidhe |

khagarAjavAhana, jagadoDeyane,

ninna agaNita mahimage, namOnamO,

srinivAsa dayaanidhe |

shaMkhachakradhara, vEMkaTaramaNaa

sakaLaMka mUrutidEva, namOnamO

srinivAsa dayaanidhe |

pannaMgashayanane, ninnaMta dEvaru innuMTe,

ajabhavasuravaMdyaa,

srinivAsa dayaanidhe |

sRuSTi illadale ottattigiddavarannu

sRuSTisi jIvarasalahuvI,

srinivAsa dayaanidhe |

tanumana, karaNagaLanu koTTu

animiSharanu abhimAnigaLenisidI,

srinivAsa dayaanidhe|

deenavatsala, ninnAdheenadoLagittu

j~JAna karmagaLAmADisuviyO

srinivAsa dayaanidhe |

kShaNa biDadele bhaktajanara rakShisuvi,

durjanarige durlabhanenisuvI,

srinivAsa dayaanidhe |

vaiShamyanairghuNya lEshavillavara,

upAsanadaMte PalagaLIve

srinivAsa dayaanidhe |

oMdE roopadi, bahumaMdiyoLagiddu,

baMdhamOkShapradha enisuvI

srinivAsa dayaanidhe |

j~JAnigaLarasa, aj~JAnigaLoLu nAj~Jaani,

suj~JAnava pAlisO

srinivAsa dayaanidhe |

naMbide nA ninna biMba mUruti

enna biMbadoLage poLi anidhIna,

srinivAsa dayaanidhe |

ninna horatu enage aMnyariMdEnayya,

ninna stutipa sukhakke eNegaaNE

srinivAsa dayaanidhe |

ghanna mahima enaginnoMdu bayakilla,

ninna dhyAnadoLidu mariyadE,

srinivAsa dayaanidhe |

durjana saMga vivarja mADisi,

sAdhu sajjanara sEveyoLagidO,

srinivAsa dayaanidhe |

Esu janmagaLIye lEsyu chiMteyu illa,

dAsaneMdenisu dAsyaviTTu,

srinivAsa dayaanidhe |

ennappa ennaNNa enna kAyva dEva,

ninna vismaraNeya koDadirO,

srinivAsa dayaanidhe |

manasina chaMchalavannu tolagisi,

pAdavanajadallirisayya jitavAgi,

srinivAsa dayaanidhe|

karaNagaLiMda Acharisuva viShaya,

srihari ninna sEveyAgali swAmi,

srinivAsa dayaanidhe |

hariyE sarvOttama surarella dAsaru,

tAratamya bhEdha j~JAnavaneeyO,

srinivAsa dayaanidhe |

budhdhipoorvaka guru madhwamathava,

tiLididdavane j~JaanavRudhdhanO,

srinivAsa dayaanidhe |

gurugaLa karuNa susthiravAgiddavarige,

hari ninnanughahavAguvudO,

srinivAsa dayaanidhe |

ninnavarallade anyaru ballare

ghannamatada sukha saviyannU,

srinivAsa dayaanidhe |

ninna chittake baMdudenna chittake barali,

atyaMta bayakeya koDadirO,

srinivAsa dayaanidhe |

sthutiratnamAlA saMstutisi higguvarige,

pratidina sukha abhivRudhdhiyO,

srinivAsa dayaanidhe |

gurugaLu madhwaraayaru, mUru lOkakke dore

guru srishaviTala namO

srinivAsa dayaanidhe | 

This Dasa could not speak as a child

Till the age of five, he could not speak. Try as they might and pray as they did at several temples, the young boy’s inability to speak did not go away.

Worried about what the future would hold for such a boy, his parents took him to Guru Jagannatha Dasa, a devotee of Raghavendra Swamy and a leading Haridasa.

Guru Jagannatha Dasa kept his hand on the head of the boy and blessed him. He then told the astonished parents that there was nothing wrong with the boy and that he would go on to become a renown Haridasa.

A few days after this incident, the boy began speaking and soon exhibited signs of  mastery over Kannada. He learnt Sanskrit and became a school teacher. He also began composing poetry.

This man is none other than Shyamasundara Dasa (1903-1957), a Haridasa of the 21^st century.

Shyamasundara was earlier known as Karodi Gundacharya. He was born at Ballatagi, a small village near Manvi in Raichur district. He was a disciple of  Ikoor Acharya who was also known as Narasimhacharya.

He has composed songs with the ankita Shyamasundara and a compilation of them are available in a book called Shyamasundara Sthotra Mala. Some of his well-known compositions include Kayo Cauvery Ranga, Karunya Panga, Kelu Kelelo Tatvajnana, Nataka Darushana, Nodide Venkataramanana Dwarawada Gramadi Ninta Devana, Ninage Bhodisuve naa, Kshetra chalisalare, Motaru Vahana, Ide Piyusha Pana, Kshetra Muruthi Shyamasundara Vittala, Kshetradolage Baro, Sanjeevaraya porevudo sanjeevaraya, aanjaneya bhavabanjana bhayahara, sanjeevaraya

He is a contemporary to Suladi Kupperayara, Sririvara Ramachandra Rao, Chitradurga Ramachandra Rao (Tande Venkatesha Vittalan).

Karodi Gundachar could not speak till the age of  five. His parents took him to Guru Jagananatha Dasa.

Shyamacharya, father of Karodi Gundachar, requested Guru Jagananatha Dasa to solve the problem. Guru Jagannatha Dasa blessed the child and asked the parents not to worry. He forecast that Gundacharya would become a Haridasa.
Soon, Gundachar studied Sanskrit under Gururajachar. After that, he became a Puroit at Manvi in Raichur district. He then took up the post of a school teacher for an year. He resigned his jib and came back to Manvi and continued his job as a Purohit.

He had the ability to compose songs on the spot. He made use of his knowledge of Sanskrit in composing devaranamas and even enact plays based on Ramayana and the Mahabharata.  
He came in contact with Askhpal Govinda Dasa who then gave him the ankita Shyamasundara.

He had an excellent command over the SriHarikathamurutasara and other texts. He lived most of his life in and around Manvi.   

One of his most memorable composition is Kayoo Kaveri. The English lyrics of the composition is as follows:

Kayoo Kaveri Ranga |

Karnuya Panga|
Devaadideva Ninu|

Pranatha Janarige|
Devathru Manidhenu|

Eandarithu Nistalli|
Dhavisi Bhandananu|

Raghuvamsa Bhanu|
Kavnayaa Neenuolidhu Karunadi|
Pavamaniya Shatravarithu|

Bhava Bhakthili Ninna Paduva|
Kovidhare Sevana Madi||

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.

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 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.