Some Saint-Singers of Karnataka

Purandaradasa is the most important figure among Haridasas, but, like Basavanna among the Siva-saranas, he was one of a large group of like-minded people, Naraharitirtha, the reputed originator of the movement, and Kanakadasa, a contemporary of Purandaradasa, are famous saint-singers. Well-known successors of these are Vijayadasa, Jagannadhadasa and Gopaladasa; other singers are named in the tradition and songs attributed to them occasionally sung.

Kanakadasa was a shepherd by birth, became, it is said, a disciple of the same Vyasaraya who was Purandaradasa’s preceptor, and was held in great respect by his teacher and friends. Some stories are told of this saint which suggest that his rise in the preceptor’s favour was not quite pleasing to persons who were conscious of their superior caste. One story states that the teacher wanted to teach the grumblers a lesson and one day, in open assembly, called to him some of these men as well as Kanakadasa and gave each a plantain with the direction that they should eat it where they could not be seen. They all went out and came later, Kanaka last. Kanaka brought the fruit intact. The others had eaten theirs. The preceptor asked them all what they had done. One man said that he ate his under water in a pond; one that he stood in a closed room and ate it. Thus each mentioned some place where no human eye could have seen him. Kanakadasa was asked why he did not eat the fruit. He said: "I could not eat it anywhere. You told me to eat it unseen. Wherever I went I felt God’s eyes on me," "See," said the teacher, "That is why Kanakadasa is better than the rest of us. We all know that God is everywhere but we do not act in realisation of the truth. He realises it and it comes out in all his actions." A tradition at Udipi runs to the effect that when Kanakadasa came to the temple to worship and could not gain admission to the presence of the Deity, he went to the rear of the temple and prayed. The image in the temple turned towards him; that is, towards the wall behind which Kanakadasa stood. The people then realised how great the devotee was and made a hole in the wall so that he might have a view of the image.

Kanakadasa’s songs show more subtlety than Purandaradasa’s. They are more philosophical in tone. The following song of his is very familiar to people:

This body is yours; so is the life within it;
Yours too are the sorrows and joys of our daily life.
Whether sweet word or Veda or story or law,
The power in the ear that hears them is yours;
The vision in the eye that gazes as if lidless
On beauty of young form, yea, that vision is yours.
The pleasure that we feel in living together
With fragrance of musk and sweet scents–that is yours.
And when the tongue rejoices in the taste of its food,
Yours is the pleasure with which it rejoices.
This body of ours, the five senses which are caught
In this net of illusion, all, all is yours.
O source of all desire that in our frames arises,
Is man his own master?–All his being is yours.

The following piece by the same devotee teaches trust in God:

Tremble not, O mind; bear up a little.
He will protect all. Have no doubt of this.
To the tree that has grown on the top of the hill,
Who digs up the root and feeds it with water?
He who gave it birth took the burden of rearing it.
Know this, mind, and cease having so much doubt within.
Who limned the colours on the feather of the peacock?
Who splashed on the coral its scarlet hue?
Who taught speech to the mellow-toned parrot?
He who did all this–will he give up you?
To the worm and the insect that live under the stone,
Who brings their food there?–Pray tell me who?
He of the loving eyes, the Lord, ancient, eternal,
He will protect all. Of this there is no doubt.

The feeling of wonder which comes over us when we look into the structure of our life and thought, and of nature around us, is expressed by Kanakadasa in a piece beginning

Are you in Maya or is Maya in you?
Are you in the body or is body in you?
Is the building in space or space in the building?
Or are both space and building in the eye?
Is the eye in the mind or the mind in the eye?
Or are both eye and mind in you, O Krishna?

Then come lines making the same observation regarding the sugar and its sweetness, and flowers and their fragrance. Then says the saint:

O Self-born and ancient Lord of Kaginele,
I cannot encompass you in words. All is in you.

"I tell you, O mind," says Kanakadasa in a piece. "I tell you again and again, O mind, beware or you will go to ruin."

Choose not evil.
Hold the rod of chastisement in the hand; use it against yourself.
Be not elated at thought of body and possession;
Walk not the way of destruction, consort not with the wicked;
Fall not, fall not.

Again:

Kasi and Benares, Kanchi, Rameswara;
What is the use of going to these and other places, what do you gain there?
What good comes of living beside the sacred rivers Krishnaveni, Ganga, Godavari and Thungabhadra,
And fasting and bathing in them with devotion and performing ceremony and fulfilling vows?
Why this exertion?
Get near to the soul of all dwelling within, experience good, and get real release,
Get strong.
You bow a hundred times and plunge into water?
Yet turn your eyes to women and make your mind prisoner to them.
Your show is like filling the inside of the gourd with toddy
And putting on the outside a garland and decorations of purity.
Give up these conjuror’s tricks;
Hold to the great name;
Quell desire and approach release.
Taste the pleasure of the nectar of God’s name and reach bliss,
O useless life, O wasteful life.

He says elsewhere:

They say caste, caste, caste. Where is caste for those who know the pleasure of right life? What caste is the soul, what caste is life, what is the caste of the vital principles and the senses? Where is caste for the man whom the Great God Adikeshava has looked on with grace?

Of himself he says in one piece in humility:

I have not devotion of the size of the gingelly seed. I am thief amidst thieves, showy like the crane.

He advises people worshipping endless numbers of village-deities:

Give in charity and do good;
Do not ruin yourself by low ways.
Worship not the gods of the crowd who receive
Sacrifices of goat, buffalo, and sheep.
Give in charity, do good, help others.
Do not ruin yourself, O mad one.
What will you gain by missing the true God and worshipping low deities?

Vijayadasa, a successor of Purandaradasa and Kanakadasa, revived the tradition in his time. In the piece describing his awakening he says:

The door of my being opened today.
I know not how I reaped this fruit that comes only of righteousness.
I know not when my being was closed and sealed.
It was the home of evil all this time.
I was deceived till today.
Through the mountain of darkness I could not see.
God’s grace was the key
And the teacher’s mercy was the strength.
In company with the servants of God I went to my being
And in the name of God opened the seal.
The enemies that were around fled.
I went in through the door holding firmly in the hand
The light of knowledge fed with devotion. What do I find?
A beautiful palace all around:
And there seated on the lotus of the heart,
Praised by the lords of creation, served by the wealth of earth and heaven,
Surrounded by reflections of his being, I saw
Vijayavittala in whom existence, knowledge and bliss are one.

Mere knowledge and ceremony are no good, he says, in another piece. There is no liberation without realisation:

Liberation comes not without realisation,
Come whatever else will.
Read the Veda, study the Shastra;
Wrangle in disputation and win;
Without realisation liberation is not.
Travel to Kasi, dwell in forest;
Wear the scholar’s embroidered clothing on the body;
Without realisation liberation is not.
Practise austerities, parade your cleverness;
Shout the name of Vijayavittala himself.
Without realisation liberation is not.

Addressing men talking gossip he says:

Why have ye not so much sense, O mind?
Do not speak evil of another, nor talk of his conduct;
What have you to do with him? Who is he? Who are you?
Do you share in his sin?
If he is good he will live.
If he walks aright, his lineage is saved.

He confesses to God in another piece:

I have sat in silence for meditation
And shown wondrous qualities to the eyes for men;
But have not given up the self
And have been worst of human creatures.
I have no jot either of wisdom, or unwavering faith
Nor have I given up desire.
O Lord of the Universe, you are said to meet
Every wish of your devotees.
I do not know the thousand ways
In which you dwell in the world.
O slayer, sharp as the sword to evil,
I have been a sinner before you through countless lives.
Reckon not my failings against me.

Earning livelihood by speaking of God, he describes in one piece as giving a ruby and taking vegetables in exchange.

Jagannathadasa is another well-known devotee. He calls on God to come and dwell with him:

Come, O merciful One, and stay for ever in my heart;
Thou Great without a second, Lord of all that is good.
Come, O beautiful, Gracious to devotees,
Come and stay ever in the soft petals of my heart-lotus.
To see your holy feet, O merciful One, I performed
Numerous austerities, observed numerous vows.
I have given up thought of body, mind and wealth
And dream always of your lotus-like feet;
I have now felt the desire for you;
Giver of men’s desires, fulfill that desire.
Delay not, I have lost my heart to you.

He says elsewhere:

How shall I become your servant’s servant?
I am always transgressing.

Worship of God is not difficult to those who know:

To those who know, worship of God is very easy;
Those who do not know are indeed unfortunate.

He asks for the company of good people:

Give me the company, Ranga, of the beneficent souls
Who call on your name in delight.
They know no god but you;
They forget not the benefits they have received from your grace.
They do not omit to worship you day in and day out.
They have not matter for thought but it concerns you.
They appear like deaf and dumb to those who look on;
They give no place in their minds to common cleverness.
They take nothing that has not been consecrated to you.
They need not heaven’s bliss, so happy are they here.
Success, failure; gain, loss; honour and disgrace;
Fear and hope, pain and pleasure, gold and mud;
Sweet and bitter, praise and blame;
They take all good and evil as subject to your sway.
They see your face in all things and miss it in no place.
All that they eat and give to others they consider as service to you.
They relish the taste of your name as the bee the juice of the flower.
They treat wives and children as your devotees
And care for them as such.

"Listen," he says to his mind, "I tell you clearly. Devote yourself to God’s story. In the worship of metal and stone images there is nothing to be gained."

If you bathe in many waters, you wash dirt; but you do not get real knowledge. Give up low thoughts and serve good men.

The following is a prayer by Vasudevadasa, another well-known devotee:

This only I ask you; be propitious and grant it.
I shall take nothing else, thou knower of all.
Place me not in the company of evil-minded persons.
Make me not to beg of all and sundry.
Show me only the story that concerns you.
This I beg, this only, slayer of evil.
I cannot live a moment without you or yours;
I rejoice to see your servants;
O Physician of the soul, when I can hear of you,
I like not to hear useless talk of other things.
Lord, long life without thought of you
Is worthless as nothing, Merciful One;
Living but an hour he truly lives
Who, Vasudeva Vittala, counts as your men.

This prayer is by Gopaladasa:

Saviour of your flock and granter of salvation
Show me your lotus-like feet today.
O beautiful, O Son of Nandagopa,
Saviour of the distressed, Lord of wealth.
I have been caught in the bonds of life;
I see not the way and am weary;
Say I am your child and forget my faults;
And save me, O father, Source of desire.
I knew not the truth and have lived as a coward,
And have not devoted myself to you;
I have not seen you, nor sung your glory;
O Graceful, I pray you, save me.
I have been a burden in the life of the world.
I strayed from the path and joined evil men.
There is no one to save me, I have come to you,
Magnanimous, sweet musician, take me across, father!

A large number of the songs of the Dasas relate to the story of Krishna, the individual soul being thought of as the Gopi and the love of God described in terms of human love. Some of these pieces show keen love of Nature’s beauty. The following song is an example:

Who is it, sister, playing so sweetly on the flute, holding it in hands soft as tender leaves? The hill-side is filled with the sound and the birds have gathered round the flutist. Is it possible, sister, to go to Brindavan and see Krishna there immediately? Who is it playing on the flute?
The cows have forgotten to graze and Jumna has slowed down her pace; with cowherds tending their cows all round, who is it, so graceful and handsome, playing on his flute in Brindavan?
The Gods have shed heaven’s flowers on him. Go and see in Brindavan. It is Sri Krishna in the Kadamba forest, tending cows; go and see.

The Haridasa movement made an effort to place a complete code of morality and religion before the people. Its main object was to condemn formalism and ritualism in religion and a too arduous pursuit of worldly prosperity. It preached, instead, devotion to God and recognition of spiritual values. It preached also that the better life was not meant for a few people but was meant for all, and should be striven after by all.