(No subject)

[Guest guest]

Dear Members of the Prapatti Group,

 

Sri Sadagopan's informative posts on Purandara Dasa's Krithis and the

Dasa's special relationship to the Daya Sindhu of Seven Hills spurred me

to write this article. First, I shall provide a brief history of the life

of the Dasar and then summarize a couple of his compositions. Since I

do not have the text or a tape of the renditions of the Krithis, my summary

is entirely from memory. Therefore, I seek the forbearance of Kannada

speaking folks and other knowledgable members of this group for any

errors.

 

Born as Srinivasa Nayak, the son of Varadappa Nayak, the Dasa in his

Purvashrama was a shrewd businessman who successfully pursued his father's

business of money lending. Varadappa Nayak was very kind and humane while

carrying on his business and was extremely sympathetic to those who

could not repay their debts to him. However the young Srinivasa Nayak,

who believed in extracting "a pound of flesh" at every possible opportunity,

vehemnetly disagreed with his father's business practices. Upon his father's

demise, Srinivasa inherited the family business and went about his task

of collecting the debts owed to his father with great ruthlessness. He seemed

intent only on hoarding wealth. At this juncture, Lord Krishna decided to

intervene and turn the Dasa's thoughts away from material wealth and bless

him with supreme bliss. The Lord appeared before him as an old man stricken

by poverty and requested Srinivasa Nayak: "I am a poor old man who does not

have money to buy jewels for my daughter's marriage. Since you have

so many gold bracelets I plead with you to give me but one bracelet for

my daughter."

 

Srinivasa Nayak ridiculed the old man and sent him away. However, the

"old man" was persistent. He tried to approach Srinivasa Nayak again but

his attempt met with no success. Therefore, the "old man" chose an alternate

path. He went to Srinivasa Nayak's home when Srinivasa was at the place of his

business and approached Srinivasa's devout wife with the same request.

Srinivasa's wife was moved by the "old man" 's plight and parted with

her gold bangle without hesitation. The "old man" was extremely happy

at this gesture of Srinivasa's wife. He thanked her profusely and went

away. Srinivasa returned home and immediately noticed the missing bangle

from his wife's hand. Angrily, he demanded an explanation from her about

the missing bangle. She told him that she had forgotten to wear it and that

she had kept it in the Puja Graham while offering morning prayers. Accordingly,

she went to the Puja Graham to get the bangle. Fearful of Srinivasa's

wrath (for both the missing bangle as well as her help for the old man who

was turned away by her husband) she resolved to commit suicide in the Puja

Graham by consuming powdered diamond from her ear-rings. Just as she prepared

to powder her ear ring, the missing bangle dropped in front of her from

the image of Lord Krishna in her Puja Graham. Overjoyed by this experience,

she rushed to her husband and gave him the entire account of the episode

with the "old man", the missing bangle and its subsequent restoration.

 

Srinivasa was ashamed at himself for his greed and his failure to

recognize the Lord when the Lord appeared before him. At the same time,

he was overjoyed by the Lord's compassion for him which made the Lord

persist in HIS attempts to bestow Srinivasa with HIS grace. Srinivasa Nayak

gave away all his wealth to the needy and decided to dedicate his life in

service to Lord Krishna. Sri Sadagopan succinctly described the adoption of

Sanayasa by Srinivasa Nayak and his subsequent Nadopasana.

 

We shall now examine the importance of a few Krithis of Karnataka

Sangita Pitamaha in the context of his being a Parama Bhakta of Lord

Krishna. In the Kriti Kallu Sakkare GollirO Neevellaru, the Dasa seeks to

gain attention of kids who were playing while he was passing by them.

Nothing attracts a kid more than the mention of "goodies" and Purandara

Dasa uses the bait of sugar candy (Kallu Sakkare) to introduce Bhakti to Lord

Krishna. When the kids gather around him he adds "can there be any sweeter

candy than the name of Lord Krishna?" This brings to mind a couple of

related references. Jaganatha Pandita says "Patalam VrajayahivasurapurI

Maroha Meroshira: PArAvAra ParamparA Tava Thatapyasha na Shantyatava

Adi Vyadhi Jarapahara Hatha Yadi Kshemam Nijam Vanchasi Sri KrishNeti

RasAyanam RasayarE Shoonyai: Kimanyai Shramai:" Adi Shankara states in

his tribute "Adaram Madhuram Vadanam Madhuram Nayanam Madhuram

Hasitam Madhuram. Hrudayam Madhuram Gamanam Madhuram Madhuradipaterakhilam

Madhuram". (Sweet indeed are the lips, the eyes, the smile, the heart and

the gait of the Lord. Everything about the Lord of Madhura is sweet).

Therefore, nothing can be sweeter than the name of Lord Krishna.

 

In the Arabhi Kriti AadidanO Ranga Adbhutandindali Kalingana Phaneyalli,

the Dasa describes the most elegant dance of Lord Krishna on the hoods

of the snake Kaliya. Purandara Dasa declares that the dance of the Lord

was more beautiful than all the Bharata Natyam of Rambha, Urvashi and the

apsaras. The swarams in this song are a source of great joy to the

listener. Set to Jampe Tala, the song is widely used as a Padam for

dance recitals. A reference to Narada is contained in the Charanam of

this Krithi. The hoods of Kaliya symbolize Pancha Indriyas. Therefore, only

he who had conquered the Panchendriyas (Parama Purusha) could

majestically dance on the hoods.

 

In the Krithi "Muyyake Muyya Teeritho, Jagadayya Vijaya Sahaya Pandari

Raya", the Dasa calls out to Lord Krishna and says that "Oh Lord have

you not had your revenge!" This Krithi must be appreciated in the context

of its composition. One night the Dasa returned to his Ashramam very late at

night. His shishya (by the name of ApanNa), who used to wait for

his master with hot water in a vessel for the master to wash his feet,

fell asleep that night. Ever considerate to the need of his Bhaktas,

the Lord of Pandharpur (Lord Krishna) appeared before the Dasa in the

form of his disciple and offered the Dasa his customary vessel of hot

water. Evidently, th water was hotter than normal and the Dasa could not

bear it. In a fit of rage, he flung the vessel at the Lord accompanied

by abuses. The next day, the Dasa woke up with a heavy heart and apologized

to his Shishya for his wrath and consequent action. The Shishya was

totally bewildered by this action of his Guru and informed the Guru

tha he had fallen asleep well before the arrival of the master. At that

point, it dawned on Purdandara Dasa that it was his Lord who appeared

in the guise of the Shishya. Pained by his Apacharam to the Lord, the Dasa

rushed to the temple of Krishna. Lo and behold he found the Lord's cheek

swollen on account of the vessel striking it. The Dasa was profusely

apologetic for his action. He spent the whole night at the Temple crying

and asking the Lord for punishment.

 

The next morning, a necklace of the Lord was missing from the Temple.

When everyone was looking for it, a dancer at the temple arrived wearing

the missing necklace. When interrogated how she got the necklace, the

dancer replied that Purandara Dasa visited her that night and gave her

the necklace as a present. Thus, Purandara Dasa was falsely accused of

stealing the necklace and as a punishment, it was ordered that he

be lashed by a whip. Unable to bear the pain of the lashing, the

Dasa burst out in song asking Lord Krishna "Have you not had your revenge?"

As soon as Purandara Dasa concluded the song, the necklace went back

to its rightful place (neck of the Lord) and the Temple dancer was nowhere

to be seen. The Dasa is most repentant for his actions in this song

which is very movingly rendered in Nadanamakriya.

 

To be continued

 

Purandara Gurum Vande Dasa Shreshtam Dayanidhim,

 

Muralidhar Rangaswamy