Purandara DAsaru- Life history- Part 1

[Guest guest]

Dear Krishnabhakthas:

 

As requested by few very active bhakthi list members, I will be bringing

out few postings on the life of Sri Purandara DAsaru as a devotee of the

Lord Vittala.

 

Hari SarvOththamma, VAyu JIvOththamma

 

bhuDhirbalam yashODhaiRyam niRbhayathvamarOgathah |

ajAdyam VAkpatuthvam cha hanumath smaraNAbhavEth |

 

abhramam bhamba rahithamajadam vimalam sadhA |

AnamdhathIrThamathulam bhajE thApathrayApaham ||

 

chithrai padhaishcha gambhIraih vAkyaiRmAnairakhamdithaih |

gurubhAvam vyamjayamthibhAthi shrI jayathiRthavAk ||

 

pUjyAya rAghavEmdhrAya sathyaDhaRma rathAya cha |

bhajathAm kalpavRukshAya namathAm kAmaDhEnave ||

 

namah srIpAdharAjyAya namasthe vyasayogine |

namah puramdhara dAsAya vittalayA thE namaha ||

 

manmanObhiShta varadham saRvAbhIShta phalapradham |

puramdhara gurum vamdhE dhAsa shrEshtam dhayAniDhim ||

 

nAham kartA hariH kartA tatpUjA karmachaakhilam.h|

taThaapi matkR^itaa pUja tatprasaadhEna naanyaThaa|

tadbhakti tadphalam.h mahyam.h tatprasaadaat.h punaH punaH |

karmanyaasO harAvevam.h vishNOsthR^iptikaraH sadhA ||

 

"I am not the doer, shri Hari is the doer, all the actions that I do are

His worship. Even then, the worship I do is through His grace and not

otherwise. That devotion and the fruits of the actions that come to me are

due to His recurring grace"

If one always practices to do actions with a dedicated spirit to Hari, in

this way, it pleases Vishnu.

 

Introduction

 

Purandara Dasa is famous among the Haridasas of Karnataka; foremost among

the talented Karnatic composers. He earned much money and lived only to

earn it, but eventually gave away all his wealth

because of a strange incident and became a devotee of Sri Hari. He

practised the principle contained in the popular saying "we must swim

across suffering win victory over it". He earned the well-deserved

praise-'Among the devotees of Hari, Purandara Dasa is the greatest'(from

his preceptor Sri Vyaasa Tiirtha). His works have earned the name

'Purandaropanishat'.

 

After Nayaka Became Saint

 

After Srinivasa Nayaka became the saint-singer celebrating Sri Hari, he

sourght a teacher for guidance and was received as a disciple by Sri

Vyaasaraja. Sri Vyaasaraja who had been accepted as a great

saint had composed verses both in sanskrit and Kannada. He bestwoed the

name of 'Purandara Vittala' on the unattached Srinivasa Nayaka and blessed

him heartily. Purandaradasa has expressed his

gratitude to Sri Vyaasaraja in one of his verses thus: "My only refuge is

the feet of Vyaasaraja. I was able to understand Purandara Vittala by his

grace"..

 

Srinivasa Nayaka who had earned the name of Navakoti Narayana, became a

devotee of Narayana, the protector of the mankind and started a new life

along with his wife and children. Purandara Dasa's

wife and children appear to have composed verses like him.

 

In course of time Purandaradasa came to Hampi and settled down with his

wife and children. He had four sons-Varadappa, Gururaya, Abhinavappa and

Gurmadhvapathi. Every morning Purandaradasa

went into the town wearing bells on his ankels and tulasi mala around his

neck. He carried a tamboori in the hand and sang his Hari-keertanas

sounding the tamboori with his fingers. The verses he sang were

his own compositions. They were on a variety of themes. Some of them

described Sri Krishna's adventures in this world. Some others sang about

God's kindness to man. A few more verses were simple

compositions expounding the philosophy contained in the Vedas, Upanishads

and Bhagavadgita in simple words. In yet other verses Purandaradasa praises

Lord Krishna affectionately. In some verses

Purandaradasa has even made fun of the Lord. He sang these songs to the

accompaniment of tamboori and the bells tied to his ankles and went about

the streets of the town. The people admired the listened

to his songs. Purandaradasa accepted alms given to him during the wandering

and led a life of renunication. He who had been called Navakoti Narayana

now had willingly accepted the life of a saint and

begged for his food.

 

In Praise of the Devotees

 

It is intersting to note how Srinivasa Nayaka, having changed his life

influenced by his wife's role and having been accepted by Sri Vyaasaraja as

disciple naming 'Purandara Vittala', earned the belssings of Sri

Hari. In his verses (keertanas) he praises all the devotees of Sri Hari who

had earned the blessings of the Lord and supplicates before Sri Hari. He

praises the good fortune of Lakshmi, the consort of Sri

Hari, who had the rare fortune of serving the Lord with love at all times.

He sings "How fortunate is Lakshmi, how pious is Lakshmi who serves Sri

Hari with love at all times!"... Yashoda treated the

protector of the world as her child and played with him and enjoyed every

moment she spent with the child Krishna. Purandardasa envies her and sings

"It is the good fortune of the Gopi that Sripati is in the

form of a child". Thinking of Vidura who satisfied his friend and Lord of

the World with just one cup of milk, he praises him for his good luck and

sings: "it is the good fortune of Vidura that the universe in the

for Padmajaanda (Lord Krishna) is fully satisfied with what Vidura has

offered".

 

Anxiety

 

Even though Purandardasa had taken the vow of Haridasa, his mind had not

yet acquired equipoise (peace/restfulness). He feels unhappy over the state

of his mind which was still unable to reach a stage of

complete restfulness. He bemoans in a verse: "I did not think of you during

the day, I failed to do so during the night also because of thirst and

hunger. I am the victim of these two desires. O Purandara

Vittala."

 

Again he gives expression to the conflict in his mind about his inability

to give up his house, wife and children in a verse: "the love of my house

and my wife on the one hand and the longing and anziety for the

children on the other hand..". The all-too-human weakness and conflict are

beautifully depicted in this verse. The sole object of Purandaradasa was to

be victorious over these desires and to win God's

blessings. This problem was constantly before him. Sometimes he dreamt that

Sri Hari appeared before him because of his constant preoccupation with the

Lord. At times he appeared to him (at a mental

level) the screen of his mind. The Lord seemed to test the depth of his

longing and his sincerity. Purandardasa seems to have been disturbed and

upset because of the severe test to which he was subjected.

Hence he complains in a bannering verse "who was ever rescued by you, Sri

Hari having placed complete trust on you!" The next moment there is

complete surrender to the Lord as the verse indicates "No

one who trusted you was ever ruined." This is the comfort he derived at the

end of the conflict in his mind.

 

Sri KRuShNARpanamasthu