Purandara Daasa Part 1

Behind every successful man...

This adage could not be truer than in the case of Purandara Daasa.

Many years of married life and many children later, when Srinivasa Nayaka was around 40 years, an incident involving his wife led to an instant transformation and the world of the devout got its most famous Hari Daasa.

His pious wife Saraswathi, had always been concerned about her husband’s excessive interest in material things and his utter lack of generosity, devotion and spirituality. And she constantly appealed to his good sense in vain. For unlike saints Vyaasa Tirtha and Vaadiraja Tirtha, the poorvashrama life of Purandara Daasa was a complete contrast.

Acknowledging the role of his wife in his transformation, Purandara Daasa sang in her praise… “aa patni kula saaviravaagali / hendathi santhathi saaviravaagali …” (may such a wife’s tribe increase a thousand-fold)

Navakoti Narayana to Hari Daasa

Born into a rich family which dealt in gold, Srinivasa Nayaka, was immersed in the family business and pawn broking. He was obsessed with increasing his wealth and was extremely uncharitable.

A poor Brahmin began to visit Srinivasa Nayaka every day at his place of work and plead for alms to conduct the thread ceremony of his son. Srinivasa Nayaka not wanting to even cast a glance at such poverty stricken people, avoided the poor man for as long as possible. Fed up with the man’s tenacity, he finally got rid of him with a defective coin.

The poor man hurried to Saraswathi’s house and showed her the defective coin and requested her to donate something that she could call her own. Saraswathi gave away her bejeweled nose-ring, momentarily forgetting consequences. The poor man went back to Srinivasa Nayaka and pawned the nose-ring and without taking any money for it, walked away quickly.

Srinivasa Nayaka locked away the nose-ring recognising it as his wife’s and rushed home in a thundering mood and asked her for her nose-ring. Mumbling an excuse that she would search for it, Saraswathi locked herself up in the Pooja room and is said to have pounded the diamonds in her bangle to swallow, and end her life. At that instant, there was a sound of something being dropped… and it was her nose-ring.

Saraswathi, not pausing to wonder about this mysterious appearance of her nose-ring out of nowhere, immediately sought out her husband and gave it to him. A baffled Srinivasa Nayaka, hurried back to the shop and opened the sealed box. The box was empty!

Understanding the divine “leele” of God, shedding tears of repentance at his past behaviour he spent two days and two nights without food or water.

The third day, he renounced the material world, his palatial house, business, and every form of wealth, with a single leaf of “Tulasi”, and a single word, “Krishnaarpana”.

Navakoti Narayana (the lord of nine crore) stood penniless on the road, now richer than ever. His wife and his adult sons happily joined him in the new course of life, which seems to be a bigger miracle, when we hear of it now.

Vyaasarayaru and the Daasas

Srinivasa Nayaka had visited the court of Krishnadevaraaya on many occasions and had seen Vyaasarayaru earlier, but he now sought out Vyaasarayaru for “deekshe” (discipleship).

Vyaasarayaru warmly welcomed Srinivasa Nayaka and his family and after doing “mudra dhaarane” (the stamping of hot seals of shanka and chakra) Srinivasa Nayaka was officially accepted into the Maadhwa order and was christened, “Purandara Daasa”.

Purandara Daasa composed his first “ugabhoga” (small poem-like composition, with or without taala) upon receiving deekshe, exhorting the auspiciousness of every moment, time, week of the day etc. The mere thought of Hari (Purandara Vittala) makes anything and everything auspicious.

Indina dinave shubha dinavu indina vaara shubha vaara indina taare shubha taare indina yoga shubha yoga indina karana shubha karana indu Purandara Vittalaraayana sandarshana phalavemagaayithu (phala emagaayithu)

Purandara Daasa was blessed with the divine vision of Krishna which led to the composition of his first “devara naama”… Krishna moorthi kanna mundhe ninthidanthide…

He sings of Krishna as he stands before him, describing his clothes and other accessories, and also hails him as one who solves every problem, grants wishes and always protects (kashtagalleva pariharisi manada ishtarthagalanella kottu rakshisuvantha…).

Purandara Daasa now became a wandering Hari Daasa, strumming his tamburi and singing songs on the go, while accepting alms in the cloth bag (gopaala butti) he carried on his shoulder.

Vaadiraja Tirtha, Purandara Daasa and Kanaka Daasa were contemporaries and were disciples of Vyaasa Tirtha.

It was a common sight to watch the two daasas donning “gejje” and dancing to their devotional songs every evening at the time of worship. Vyaasarayaru not only encouraged them but also participated in this spiritually ecstatic exercise. This was frowned upon by the orthodox sects of society.

If both the daasas were freely singing and dancing in the presence of Vyaasa Tirtha, the story of Kanaka Daasa not being allowed into the temple at Udupi, and Krishna turning around, is possibly a later interpolation.