Saint Shishunaala Sharif was a 19th century poet of North Karnataka

North Karnataka

North Karnataka is an arid plateau from elevation in the Karnataka state of southwest India. It is drained by the Krishna River and its tributaries the Bhima, Ghataprabha, Malaprabha, and Tungabhadra...

, South India

South India

South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...

. Shishunaala is popular for his simple metaphor

Metaphor

A metaphor is a literary figure of speech that uses an image, story or tangible thing to represent a less tangible thing or some intangible quality or idea; e.g., "Her eyes were glistening jewels." Metaphor may also be used for any rhetorical figures of speech that achieve their effects via...

s to explain intricate philosophies of life. His teacher was Guru Govinda Bhat. By birth Shishunaala was of Islam

Islam

Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

ic faith. His guru was a Hindu Brahmin

Brahmin

Brahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...

. Like Kabir, he took the best from both the faiths.

He has composed many songs. The notable ones are

• Kodagan Koli Nungitha
• Gudugudiya Sedi Nodo
• Januvaara Hakidava
• Nishchintalaga bekanti

All his songs are sung in the folk style.

C S Aswath, a popular singer of has sung many of the songs; in experts opinion, rendered them true to Shishunaala's spirit.