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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´ÉÏÌlÉuÉÉxÉ SrÉÉÌlÉkÉã |

zÉåwÉÉcÉsÉÌlÉuÉÉxÉ, SÉåwÉSÕUlÉã,

pÉ£ümÉÉåwÉMü, ´ÉÏMüÉÇiÉ, lÉqÉÉålÉqÉÉå,

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SÒeÉïlÉËUaÉã SÒsÉïpÉlÉãÌlÉxÉÑuÉÏ,

´ÉÏÌlÉuÉÉxÉ SrÉÉÌlÉkÉã |

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EmÉÉxÉlÉSÇiÉã TüsÉaÉVûÏuÉã

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oÉÇkÉqÉÉå¤ÉmÉëkÉ LãÌlÉxÉÑuÉÏ

´ÉÏÌlÉuÉÉxÉ SrÉÉÌlÉkÉã |

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´ÉÏÌlÉuÉÉxÉ SrÉÉÌlÉkÉã |

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Lã³É ÌoÉÇoÉSÉãVûaÉã mÉÉãÍVû AÌlÉkÉÏlÉ,

´ÉÏÌlÉuÉÉxÉ SrÉÉÌlÉkÉã |

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´ÉÏÌlÉuÉÉxÉ SrÉÉÌlÉkÉã |

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´ÉÏÌlÉuÉÉxÉ SrÉÉÌlÉkÉã |

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bɳÉqÉiÉS xÉÑZÉ xÉÌuÉrɳÉÔ,

´ÉÏÌlÉuÉÉxÉ SrÉÉÌlÉkÉã |

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AirÉÇiÉ oÉrÉMãürÉ MüÉãQûÌSUÉå,

´ÉÏÌlÉuÉÉxÉ SrÉÉÌlÉkÉã |

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´ÉÏÌlÉuÉÉxÉ SrÉÉÌlÉkÉã |

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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 | 

The Vijayanagar Queen who composed the longest single word in the world

She was a genius. Apart from being an excellent grammarian, she was also a woman who knew many scripts. A poetess herself, she was employed as a Royal reader-a job that required her to read out the compositions of women from the royal family in the royal court.

A musician, she was also well-versed in the epics. She was a scholar in poetry, drama and philosophy. A bibliophile, she was also a linguist.

She was such a multi-talented woman that the Emperor fell in love with her and married her after elevating her to the status of a Queen. Even after her marriage, she continued writing poems and indulging in other literary activities.

She immortalized herself when she wrote a beautiful composition on the marriage of her husband-the Emperor-with the senior queen. She thus ensured her place in history when as a junior queen she lavished praise on her husband’s first marriage. No wonder, she was liked and loved by everyone who came across her. Of course, it goes without saying that the senior queen adored her and loved her as her own younger sister.

This remarkable woman was Oduva Thirumallamba. Oduva in Kannada means student. She lived during the Vijayanagar period and her husband was Emperor Achuta Deva Raya (1529-1542), the younger brother of Krishna Deva Raya (1509-1529).

Achuta Deva Raya had employed Oduva Thirmallamba as a Royal Reader. She attended the court of the Vijayanagar Emperor and read out the literary compositions of the women from the royal household.

Since she was poet herself, her language and diction was flawless. A master of several languages, she was best in Sanskrit. She conversed in several languages, including Kannada, Sanskrit and Telugu.

Emperor Achuta Deva Raya was himself an accomplished musician. He played the veena exceeding well. Just like his elder brother, Krishna Deva Raya, he too was a great patron of art, architecture and literature.

He honored Vyasa Raja as the Raja Guru and set great store by his advice. He also patronised Purandara Dasa (-1484-1564) and Kanaka Dasa (1509-1609). He was also an ardent follower of Vadiraja Theertha (1480-1600).

Thirullamba was one of the many women of literary talents in the Vijayanagar court. However, this multi-talented woman made a deep and everlasting impression on Achuta Deva Raya. Her simplicity, her goodness and her talents ensured that he fell in love with her.

Achuta Deva Raya them married Thirumallamba and gave her the status of a junior queen. Soon after her marriage, she composed Varadambika Parinaya Champu, a romance in Sanskrit,  celebrating the wedding of Achuta Deva Raya with his senior queen Varadambike.

This champu is the only one composed in Sanskrit by a woman. It ends with the investiture of  the young price, Chinna Venkatadri, as the heir apparent.

Very few people are aware that the Guinness World Record for the longest word used in any language in world literature is a Sanskrit compound word composed of 195 Sanskrit characters. This word is a part of the Varadambike Parinaya Champu. This word in Sanskrit transliterates into more than 400 letters in the Roman alphabets used by the English language. It is therefore rated as longest word to ever appear in any literature in the world.

The Sanskrit word is

निरन्तरान्धकारितादिगन्तरकन्दलदमन्दसुधारसबिन्दुसान्द्रतरघनाघनवृन्दसन्देहकरस्यन्दमानमकरन्दबिन्दुबन्धुरतरमाकन्दतरुकुलतल्पकल्पमृदुलसिकताजालजटिलमूलतलमरुवकमिलदलघुलघुलयकलितरमणीयपानीयशालिकाबालिकाकरारविन्दगलन्तिकागलदेलालवङ्गपाटलघनसारकस्तूरिकातिसौरभमेदुरलघुतरमधुरशीतलतरसलिलधारानिराकरिष्णुतदीयविमलविलोचनमयूखरेखापसारितपिपासायासपथिकलोकान्.

She also composed two other works in Sanskrit. The first was called Anandanidhi and this was written on the occasion of  one of Achuta Deva Raya’s ceremony where he gave away gifts. She had the event engraved in many places.

The second composition was to commemorate Achuta Deva Raya’s gift of gold to Brahmins in Hampi in 1540. This is immortalised in one of the stone inscriptions in the Vittala temple in Hampi. It is in this inscription that we find her name as Oduva Turumalamba..

Whet is surprising is that at the end of the composition, Tirumallamba does not identify herself as the queen but as one who is dear to the King and as one who is his confident.

However, she herself reveals that she is musician, grammarian, rhetorician, writer, and a connosiur of several arts.

She says she is religious minded and that she made rich offerings to priests, temples and religious institutions. She says she is happy to enjoy the full confidence of the King.

Tirumallamba was also the first woman pot to write about Kannada language and culture and to appeal to Kannada nationalism.  

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||

Mastering the 64 arts

In Indian religion and culture, we have sixty four distinct arts or kalas or arts and each is distinct from the other. The arts cover a wide spectrum of  talents and if some come under fine arts, others come under physical feats such as yoga, walking on water or the art of levitation.

Magic is also considered an art as is juggling and so is a task as simple as covering a bed and cleaning one’s teeth.     

Apart from these 64 kalas, our texts also distinguish fourteen different kinds of vidyas or sciences.

The credit for clearly distinguishing 64 arts goes to Vatyasayana. Many other writers have followed him in naming them. However, some have come up with numbers greater than 64.

In the Chandogya Upanishad, sage Narada tells Sanatakumara that he has learnt the arts and he mentions their names too. However, he admits that he has not been able to learn the atma vidya or science of soul.

  

    “Sarvam Nara Vara Sresthau  

      Sarva Vidya Pravartakow

      Sakrin Nigada Matrena

      Tow Sanjaghrihautar Nripa

      Ahoratraris Catau Shastya

      Samyattau Tavatih Kala..”

This is what the Bhagavath Geetha says in chapter 10. It says both Krishna and Balarama mastered the 64 arts in 64 says at the ashrama of Sandipana in Ujjain or Avanti. This ashrama can still be seen in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh.

The 64 arts are:

          (1)            Geeta vidya or the art of singing.
(2) Vadya vidya—playing on musical instruments.
(3) Nritya vidya—art of dance.
(4) Natya vidya—art of theatricals.
(5) alekhya vidya—art of painting.
(6) viseshakacchedya vidya—art of painting the face and body with color
(7) tandula kusuma bali vikara—art of preparing offerings from rice and flowers.
(8) pushpastarana—art of making a covering of flowers for a bed.
(9) dasana vasananga raga—art of applying preparations for cleansing the teeth, clothes and painting the body.
(10) mani bhumika karma—art of creating the groundwork of jewels.
(11) sayya racana—art of covering the bed.
(12) udaka vadya—art of playing on music in water.
(13) udaka ghata—art of splashing with water.
(14) citra yoga—art of applying colors.
(15) malya grathana vikalpa—art of designing wreaths.
(16) sekharapida yojana—art of setting a coronet or crown on the head.
(17) nepathya yoga—art of dressing.
(18) karnapatra bhanga—art of decorating the tragus of the ear.
(19) sugandha yukti—art of practical application of aromatics.
(20) bhushana yojana—art of applying or setting ornaments.
(21) aindra-jala—art of juggling.
(22) kaucumara—a kind of art.
(23) hasta laghava—art of sleight of hand.
(24) citra Sakapupa bhakshya vikara kriya—art of preparing delicious food.
(25) panaka rasa ragasava yojana—art of preparing palatable drinks.
(26) suci vaya karma—art of needlework and weaving.
(27) sutra krida—art of playing with thread.
(28) vina damuraka vadya—art of playing on lute and small drum.
(29) prahelika—art of making and solving riddles.
(30) durvacaka yoga—art of practicing language which is difficult for others to answer.
(31) pustaka vacana—art of recitation.
(32) natikakhyayika darsana—art of enacting short plays and anecdotes.
(33) kavya samasya purana—art of solving enigmatic verses.
(34) pattika vetra bana vikalpa—art of designing shield, cane and arrows.
(35) tarku karma—art of spinning by spindle.
(36) takshana—art of carpentry.
(37) vastu vidya—art of engineering.
(38) raupya ratna pariksha—art of testing silver and other jewels.
(39) dhatu vada—art of metallurgy.
(40) mani raga jnana—art of tinging jewels.
(41) akara jnana—art of mineralogy.
(42) vrikshayur veda yoga—art of practicing medicine or medical treatment, by herbs.
(43) mesha kukkuta lavaka yuddha vidhi—art of knowing the mode of fighting of lambs, cocks and birds.
(44) suka sarika prapalana - art of maintaining or knowing conversation between male and female cockatoos.
(45) utsadana—art of healing or cleaning a person with perfumes.
(46) kesa marjana kausala—art of combing hair.
(47) akshara mushtika kathana—art of communicating  with fingers.
(48) dharana matrika—art of the use of amulets.
(49) desa bhasha jnana—art of knowing provincial dialects.
(50) nirmiti jnana—art of knowing prediction by heavenly voice
(51) yantra matrika—art of mechanics.
(52)mlecchita kutarka vikalpa—art of fabricating barbarous or foreign sophistry .
(53) samvacya—art of conversation.
(54) manasi kavya kriya—art of composing verse mentally.
(55) kriya vikalpa—art of designing a literary work or a medical remedy.
(56) chalitaka yoga—art of building shrines.
(57) abhidhana kosha cchando jnana—art of the use of lexicography and meters.
(58) vastra-gopana—art of concealing clothes.
(59) dyuta-visesha—art of gambling.
(60) akarsha-krida—art of playing with dice or magnet.
(61) balaka-kridanaka—art of using children's toys.
(62) vainayiki vidya—art of enforcing discipline.
(63) vaijayiki vidya—art of gaining victory.
(64) vaitaliki vidya—art of awakening master with music at dawn.

If we look at the list closely, the first one is music. This shows the importance that our ancestors attached to this art. In the Mahabharata, we find that Krishna has exhibited many arts at different times. Though the occasion in Krishna using these arts expertly may have been different, the end result was to enlighten the people that God is One and that He is the supreme being without whom nothing in the world  moves.

All these arts were taught at Hindu Universities and Gurukulas. The Nalanada University had experts in each of the field as was the university at Taxila. Several gurukulas and centres of education such as Ujjain, Benaras, Kanchi, Hampi taught these arts.  

Hindu, Jain and Buddhist texts mention these arts and sciences frequently. Patanjali, the author of Mahabhasya and the compiler of yoga shastras, also mentions these 64 arts. The Sutras of Jains also mentions 64 kalas apart from mastery of 18 dialects, which they say one of their Theerthankara, Mahavira, was proficient. Gauta, Buddha was also said to be proficient in several arts.  Buddhist texts also mention the kalas, particularly those relating to

that a king has to master if he has to rule his kingdom efficiently.

Among our seers, the best known exponent of these 64 arts was Vijendra Theertha (1514-1575), the paramaguru of Raghavendra Swamy and one of the leading lights of the Madhwa parampare in the sixteenth century.

A renowned astrologer, this Madhwa seer could also foretell events. When he was invited to Vijayanagar at the invitation of Aliya Rama Raya, he foresaw the fall of the great empire and warned the Emperor but to no avail.

He prayed at the Brindavana of his Vidya Guru, Vyasa Raja, at Nava Brindavana and returned back to Kumbakonam and when he heard of the news of the defeat of Vijayanagar and the sacking of Hampi, he heard it with characteristic equanimity though he was deeply anguished and pained.

Vijendra Theertha also foresaw the decline of the Haridasa movement and the troubled time for Hindus that was to follow the defeat of Vijayanagar. He saw in young Venkatanatha the catalyst for revival of Madhwa way of life and the reemergence of the Haridasa movement. It was for this reason he instructed his disciple, Sudhindra Theertha, to hand over the pontificate of the Sri Matha to Rayaru after him.  

Just as Akshobya Theertha had poured his heat and soul in teaching Jayatheertha all the tenets of knowledge so also did Vyasa Raja strive to educate young Vishnu Theertha who later became Vijendra Theertha.

Many Indian Emperors, including the legendary Vikramaditya and  Bhoja were reckoned to be masters of arts.             

The Haridasa tradition

There are more than a thousand Haridasas from Karnataka alone and all of hem have contributed their mite to the development of Haridasa or Vaishnava literature.

Unfortunately, many of these Haridasas are only heard of and their compositions have either disappeared or lost forever. Though the first ever recorded Haridasa would be Naraharti Theertha, one of the four disciples of  Madhwacharya (1238-1317), the Haridasa tradition is believed to have started sometime around 880 When Achalananda, who lived near Bangalore, began composing songs.

However, Achalananda’s songs and the compositions of others, which Prof. B.N.K. Sharma calls as Adyas, has not survived.

Prof. Sharma surmises that these Adyas could be Smarthas and that they could have lived and composed songs in the period between Narahari Theertha and Sripadaraja of Mulabagal.

Whatever be the context and setting, there is not much Haridasa literature till the advent of Madhacharya and his disciples.

Narahari Theertha, therefore, must be regarded as the first Madhwa saint to have written several Devara Namas and he can therefore be rightfully considered to be the first Haridasa.

However, Haridasa experts say the Dasa tradition goes back several centuries earlier to Narahari Theertha. They agree that the Haridasa tradition got a huge boost during the life and time of Madhwacharya.

Though Madhwacharya composed several works and many of them are still existing, all of them are in Sanskrit. Since he lived in and around Udupi, and since his parents belonged to the same area, there is no doubt that he knew and spoke Kannada and Tulu. Yet, there are no composition and works of his in Kannada though he is believed to have written a few.

By the way, only three songs of Narahari Theertha has been discovered so far. They are “yanthu marulade nanenthu”. Narahari here is saying that he has so far been deluded and it is only now that he has become enlightened. His second composition is “hariye idu sariye”. This could perhaps be the first ever composition on Hari and here Narahari is asking Hari himself whether this is proper. The third composition is “tiliko ninnologe neene” meaning knowing within thyself. He had his Ankita as “Narahari” or “Narahari Raghupathi’’.

Before Narahari, it was the turn of Padmanabha Theertha to inspire people to take to the Dwaitha way of life. An ardent disciple of  Madhwacharya, he was the first to write commentaries on works of  Madhwacharya. Though he is credited with having written 16 works,  he appears not have written any Devara Namas. Yet, his influence over other Madhwa seers such as Jayatheertha, Sripadaraja, Vyasaraja cannot be underestimated and the last two are among the foremost among Haridasa composers.  

Similarly, while many hundred compositions of Purandara Dasa out of his supposed 4,75,000 are available, that of  his wife who too was a composer and their sons, including Madhwapathi, are lost. However, only a few compositions of Madhwapathi are available though he was as prolific a composer as his father. Very few compositions of Purandara’s other two sons-Hebbana Dasa and Lakshmana Dasa- are available.

Even before Purandara turned to god, his wife Saraswati Bai, was a highly religious person and it was she who had brought up her sons and a daughter in a highly religious and orthodox manner. Except for this fact, very little is known of her literary achievements.

He had his formal initiation at the hands of Vyasaraja in 1525 when he was about 40 years old.

Purandara then writes his first song. This is Ana Le Kara in Shudha Savaeri raga and set to Triputa tala, where he laments how he wasted so many years of his life in going after materialistic things.

We also have no information about the literary career of  Gopikambe, mother of Raghavendra Swamy. Even she is supposed to have composed several Devara Namas and she sang them even as her husband, Thimanna Bhat, played the Veene. No wonder, our Rayaru too was proficient in both-playing the Veene and composing.

Another prolific composer is Mahipati Dasa (1715-1790). He hailed from Kakandhiki in Bijapur district. His son too was a well-known Haridasa of the times but Krishna Dasa’s compositions are very few. While we have a fairly large body of literature belonging to Mahipati, the same cannot be said of Krishna Dasa.

There is also little information on the life and times and of course compositions of  Vittala Dasa, Vijata Dasa, Venkata Dasa and Krishna Dasa. The last three dasas belonged to Udupi. Nekkar Krishna Dasa  or Krishna Dasa was also called Varaha Thimmappa. He was a scholarly  person of the Dasa Parampara. Many of his poems are reported to have been plagiarised by singers.

Varaha Thimmappa Dasa lived during the time of Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan. When Sagar in Shimoga district fell into the hands of Hyder, he fled to Tirupathi. He was a contemporary of Madhwa Dasa of Udupi.

So, we see that not all Dasas have got their rightful due. There are several other Dasas whose compositions are not well known or have disappeared, but that is for another post to report.  

An ode to a brother

The pioneer of the Dwaitha system and saint philosopher Madhwacharya not only write several books but he was also instrumental in inspiring all people around him to write, compose and even give discourses on Dwaita Siddantha.

All the four direct disciples of  Madhwacharya-Padmanabha Theertha, Narahari Theertha, Madhava Theertha and Akshobya Theertha have left behind an important body of work, mainly in the field of philosophy.

Similarly, Narayana Panditacharya and Trivikrama Pandit who were closely associated with the Acharya (Madhwacharya) wrote on their Guru himself and his teachings.

Madhwacharya’s sister, Kalyani Devi, and brother Vishnu Theertha, too were inspired by the Acharya and wrote to express their support to Dwaitha system.

Kalyani Devi too was a scholar and she too along with Vishnu Theertha had been given education in Shastras and other religious texts by her parents.

Her father is believed have been her first teacher and late she came under the influence of her brother-Madhwacharya.

She is known to have authored  three works Krishna Stotra,  Anu Vayustuti and Laghu Taratamya Stotra.

All the three books are in Sanskrit and they form an important part of the Sanksrit writing during the Hoysala period.   
The Laghu Taratamya Stotra starts with an invocation to Vishnu and places him among the first in the hierarchy of Gods and Goddesses. The rest of the Gods come later.  

Both Anu Vayu Stuti and Laghu Taratamya Stotra deal with the gradation of gods and they place Hari at the top, with the rest of the gods following him.

The third work-Krishna Stotra- as the name itself suggests, is a work on Krishna. Kalyani Devi is believed to have written it after seeing the Krishna idol her brother consecrated in Udupi-the Sri Krishna Temple.

The Krishna Stotra comprises eight verses and it was first printed from Kumbakonam. It is out of print now.

However, apart from these three works, nothing else is known about her.

Another Kalyani Devi we come across almost during the same period is the sister of Trivikrama Panditacharya.

She too wrote a short composition on Vayu, extolling his virtues and referring to the three incarnations. This work too is called Laghu Vayu Stuti. It is in six verses. It is a short composition of  22 lines with five paragraphs of four lines each and the last paragraph has just two lines.

The Stuti too is a short work. Here, Kalyani Devi praises Vayu and his incarnation. It uses a constant refrain in the second line of each verse- “Anandatheertha mahamunirajam govinda bhakta shikhamanimide”.

This means that I worship Ananda Theertha, another name of Madhwacharya. The Stuti dwells on the three avatars of the Acharya-Hanuma during the Ramayana, Bheema in the Mahabharata and now Madhwa.  

The Stuti is a beautiful play on Sanskrit words and it gives us several meanings. If one meaning of Ananda Theertha is Madhwacharya, another means he is the head of a monastic order, the chief of an order and the first among equals.

Govinda can be broken into Go which in Sanskrit means cow. A deeper meaning is one that gives and one which is a Kamadhenu. Madhwacharya here is the Kamadhenu who has given us the nectar of Dwaitha.

The word Go in Govinda can also mean Vedas, rays of the Sun God, Varuna or water, Indra's weapon Vajra and even the sky or Akasha. It could also depict the Earth, Heaven or Swarga, and some of the organs like a hair or eye.

Thus, the Stuti yields multiple interpretation

Kalyani Devi remained unmarried and she spent time at her house near Vishnu Mangala in Kasargod, Kerala.

Her brother, Trivikrama Panditacharya, wrote the more famous and comprehensive work, Sri Hari Vayu Stuti, during this time.

Trivikrama Panditacharya also wrote commentaries on the Dwaita philosophy and a poem narrating the story of Usha and Aniruddha called Ushaharana.

Narayana Panditacharya composed Madhwavijaya, Manimanjari and a poem called Parijataharana. The daughter of  Trivikrama Panditacharya was also known as Kalyani Devi. She too is known as an author but there appears to be no information about them.

Thus, Madhwa, inspired a number of people to write. Even after he disappeared, his influence continued with the Haridasa literature in Sanakrit and Kannada where all the Madhwa saints and composers who came after him, accepted him as their inspiration and his teachings as their Neethi.