Prasanna Venkata Daasa
Bagalkot, Buttermilk, Badami
Born to aged parents in the year 1680 in Bagalkote, little Venkayya was very fond of chanting “Venkatesha Stotra”. He considered Tirupati Venkateshwara as his protector and parent, for his mother had sowed the seeds of devotion in the little child and had told him umpteen times that human parents were but parents for a few years but Venkateshawara is a parent forever. Losing his parents early in life, he was left under the care of his elder brother and his wife. He remained uneducated and was forever busy with the menial tasks his sister-in-law assigned him. When an exhausted Venkayya is said to have asked for a glass of buttermilk, one hot day, his sister-in-law not only did not oblige but also berated him. He made up his mind that if he must ever ask anybody for anything, it would be the Lord, and should anything be ever granted to him, it should be from the Lord.
Venkayya left the house and joined a band of devotees travelling to Tirupati by foot. Reaching Tirupati, he poured out his sorrows to the Lord, shedding tears at his fate. He stayed in Tirupati and spent all his time praying to the Lord.
The Lord, pleased with Venkayya’s earnestness, appeared before him and granted him wisdom and inscribed his new name and ankitha, “Prasanna Venkata” on his tongue. Prasanna Venkata moved by the Lord’s blessings, sang the famous “Tappu nodade bandeya, yennaiyya tande….” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P93hBqXrHAU (Pandit Bhimsen Joshi)
The Lord appeared before the chief priest in his dream and asked him to hand over a bundle wrapped in silk from the sanctum sanctorum to Prasanna Venkata. When Prasanna Venkata opened the bundle, he found a resplendent idol of Venkateshwara with Shridevi and Bhoodevi, taala and GopaLabutti. He was also presented a tamburi from the temple.
He continued to remain in Tirupati when the Lord instructed him to return to Bagalkote. He received a warm welcome and spent his days as a Haridaasa before pursuing formal education (unlike Vijaya Daasa who did not have to undergo formal education after being blessed by the Lord). Once his formal education was complete, he wrote an easy to understand treatise on the Dashamaskanda* of the Bhagwatha, amongst other works. He spent the last years of his life at Badami where he passed away in the year 1752.
*description of Krishna avataara, the 10th chapter of Bhagwatha
Taming the tigers
A strange tale about the Daasa describes how when he would travel by horseback through forests, if he encountered a tiger, he would command it to become docile. The story goes that the suddenly subdued tiger would walk next to the horse carrying his “Devara pettige” (box containing idols and other instruments of worship). As they came to the boundary of the forest, he would request the tiger to stay away from the village and not attack cattle. He would then apply “angaara” (the black soot from dhoopa applied ceremonially on the forehead) on the tiger’s forehead. This earned him the epithet, “Angaaraachar.” The tiger would go back to being a tiger but would honour its word and stay away from the villages. This legend became so popular that every village that was next to a forest hankered for a visit by Angaaraachar, for protection from tiger attacks on their cattle!
Yentha Shrimantha-ananthano Shrikaanthe Kaantha…
How rich is Anantha, the husband of the Goddess of fortune?... goes the song which Prasanna Venkata Daasaru sang for the Peshwa’s writer to pen. The writer was very proud of his writing prowess and speed. He even had a gold pen balanced on his ear. But he was no match for the Daasa’s speed of composition and play of words.
You can listen to this song and more of his famous compositions on these links:
Yentha shrimantha Ananthano…. Ananth Kulkarni
Yentha shrimantha Ananthano…. Vijay Krishna (with video from the movie)
Anudina bhavabdiyalli bhavataranga raashiyalli… by Puttur Narasimha Nayak
*Gelisu bhavava guru Hanumantha….*Vijay Krishna https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_48w9mJxo
Bideno ninnangri Srinivasa…. V V Prasanna https://www.youtube.com/shorts/AwREbeShI9E
Govinda, Govinda, nanna tayi tande Govinda… Raichur Sheshagiri Das
A unique composition of Prasanna Venkata Daasa is in baby talk, representing the conversation of Krishna with his mother Yashoda, seeing himself in the reflection of a mirror and pleading with her not to entertain the ‘other’ baby!
Here’s a part of the song, including the ankitha in baby talk!
Koochigammi kobyaale nangangachchatane avanole koosi
Kodabyaade nanage anakisuttane… ava node Pachanna
Venkathakithappa…..
This melodious song sung by Venugopal Khatavkar describes Krishna and Satyabhaama’s flight to present day Assam to vanquish Narakaasura, rescue the hapless 16100 captive women and also retrieve the items stolen from the heavens.
Prasanna Venkata Daasa invokes Vittala of Pandharpur, famed for his benevolence towards his devotees, and requests the Lord to hold his hand… The profound plea has been energetically sung by Pt Jayateerth Mevundi.