Vijaya Dasa
Encyclopedia
Vijaya Dasa(1682-1755) or Sri Vijaya Dasa was a prominent saint from the Haridasa
tradition of Karnataka
, India
in the 18th century. Sri VijayaDasaru is an amsha of Sri Brighu Muni; the very same muni, who was the nimmita for the eternal kshetra Tirumala ! Sri Krishna himself in BG 10.25 says "maharsinam bhrgur aham". Thereby indicating his Vibhuti roopa as present in Brighu Muni. He is one of the most accomplished scholars belonging to the Dvaita
philosophical tradition. Along with contemporary haridasa saints such as Gopala Dasa, Helevankatte Giriamma, Jagannath Dasa, Prasanna Venkata Dasa, Venugopala Dasa, Mohana Dasa and Kallur Subbanachar, he propagated the virtues of the philosophy of Madhwacharya across South India through devotional songs called Devaranama written in simple and lucid Kannada language
. An integral part of Kannada Vaishnava devotional literature, these compositions in praise of Vishnu
are called dasara padagalu (compositions of the dasas). These compositions can be more specifically categorized as keertanas, suladis,ugabhogas, and simply padas. They were easy to sing to the accompaniment of a musical instrument and dealt with bhakti (devotion) and the virtues of a pious life.
family in Cheekalaparvi in Manvi
taluk of Raichur district
, Karnataka state. His parents were Sri Srinivasappa and Kusamma. He left home at a young age and studied Sanskrit
in Varanasi
for four years. Later when his marriage was troubled by poverty, he went back to Varanasi where he became a scholar. Legend has it that the great Carnatic music
composer and wandering saint of the 16th century, Purandara Dasa
appeared in his dream, initiated him into the Haridasa tradition and gave him the nom de plume (ankita nama) Vijaya Vittala. As he slept one night in Kashi, he had a Divine Dream; Sri Purandara Dasaru escorted him from Kashi; crossed the Ganges to Vyasa Kashi. (VYASAKASHI IS 6KM FROM KASHI (ALSO CALLED BENARES OR VARANASI). Under the Ashwatt Vriksha, there was Sri Veda Vyasa looking resplendent and self shining holding Sabha with all the learned Sages. Sri Purandara Dasaru introduced Dasappa to Sri Veda Vyasa. Sri Veda Vyasa smiled pleasantly and asked Dasappa to stick his tongue out. Sri Veda Vyasa then wrote "Vijaya" on his tongue. This is the turning point for Dasappa who was now transformed to Sri Vijaya Dasaru. Sri Purnadara Dasaru escorted Sri VijayaDasaru back to Kashi and disappeared. Sri VijayaDasaru woke up from his dream; it was a surreal experience to say the least. He prepared for his morning bath, as soon as he entered the Ganga River for his daily ablutions, Sri VijayaDasaru realized it was no ordinary dream. Sri VijayDasaru was chanting Sanskrit mantras with the force of Ganga (Ganga Pravaha). From that day he was called Vijaya Dasa (dasa means slave to God).
(Kannada Sahitya). One distinct feature of his compositions is that he has explained the historical importance of many kshetras for which there was no information. Ghatikachala Suladi is one such example where he has narrated the historic story or sthala purana of the place. He has clearly shown his miracles clearly after aparoksha including resurrection, making a uneducated man speak difficult Sanskrit proficiently, etc. Sri Hari himself on many occasions has shown that he clearly favors Vijaya Dasaru. Once Sri Vijaydasaru was mistreated in Tirumala, to rectify this; Sri Hari stopped the Brahmotsava chariot from moving. Sri Hari himself took the form of a Vatu (young brahmin boy) and mentioned the reason; when Sri VijayDasaru heard that the ratha had stopped, he composed a song. The ratha sped on its own towards VijayDasaru, the authorities apologized to Sri VijayDasaru and begged his forgiveness. He died at the age of 79, leaving behind such accomplished disciples as Gopala Dasa and Jagannatha Dasa to carry the message of peace and devotion to Hari
. Tradition has it that it was the haridasas who initiated the practice of singing devotional songs while walking up the Tirumala hills in modern Andhra Pradesh
. These hills are the abode of the Tirumala Venkateswara Temple
, one of the most important pilgrim locations for Vaishnava Hindu
s. The fundamental values contained in these compositions was the true relationship between people, need for tolerance, a better understanding of the value of a non-materialistic life and true devotion to God. With this objective, Vijaya Dasa and other haridasas tried to purge religion of its hypocrisies and obscurantism, its insularity and exclusiveness.
on the banks of the Ganges river, the river was in spate. Unperturbed, Vijaya Dasa sat in penance on the turbulent waves without getting wet. Once he prevented a woman from committing suicide and took care of the woman and her child. The child Mohana who grew up as Vijaya Dasa's student became one of the most important saints of the Haridasa tradition of 18th century, wrote many compositions in Kannada language and went by the name Mohana Dasa and the nom de plume Mohana Vittala.
Haridasa
The Haridasa devotional movement is considered as one of the turning points in the cultural history of India. Over a span of nearly six centuries, several saints and mystics helped shape the culture, philosophy and art of South India and Karnataka in particular by exerting considerable spiritual...
tradition of Karnataka
Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
in the 18th century. Sri VijayaDasaru is an amsha of Sri Brighu Muni; the very same muni, who was the nimmita for the eternal kshetra Tirumala ! Sri Krishna himself in BG 10.25 says "maharsinam bhrgur aham". Thereby indicating his Vibhuti roopa as present in Brighu Muni. He is one of the most accomplished scholars belonging to the Dvaita
Dvaita
Dvaita is a school of Vedanta founded by Shri Madhvacharya....
philosophical tradition. Along with contemporary haridasa saints such as Gopala Dasa, Helevankatte Giriamma, Jagannath Dasa, Prasanna Venkata Dasa, Venugopala Dasa, Mohana Dasa and Kallur Subbanachar, he propagated the virtues of the philosophy of Madhwacharya across South India through devotional songs called Devaranama written in simple and lucid Kannada language
Kannada language
Kannada or , is a language spoken in India predominantly in the state of Karnataka. Kannada, whose native speakers are called Kannadigas and number roughly 50 million, is one of the 30 most spoken languages in the world...
. An integral part of Kannada Vaishnava devotional literature, these compositions in praise of Vishnu
Vishnu
Vishnu is the Supreme god in the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God....
are called dasara padagalu (compositions of the dasas). These compositions can be more specifically categorized as keertanas, suladis,ugabhogas, and simply padas. They were easy to sing to the accompaniment of a musical instrument and dealt with bhakti (devotion) and the virtues of a pious life.
Early years
Vijaya was born in a poor BrahminBrahmin
Brahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...
family in Cheekalaparvi in Manvi
Manvi
Manvi is a town in Raichur district in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is one of the taluks in Raichur District. It has paddy fields irrigated by water from the Tunga Bhadra left bank canal.This is hometown of the great Madhva follower and dasa Sri Jagannatha Dasa , who wrote the...
taluk of Raichur district
Raichur district
Raichur District is an administrative district in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located in the northeast part of the state and is bounded by Yadgir district in the north, Bijapur and Bagalkot district in the northwest, Koppal district in the west, Bellary district in the south, Anantapur...
, Karnataka state. His parents were Sri Srinivasappa and Kusamma. He left home at a young age and studied Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
in Varanasi
Varanasi
-Etymology:The name Varanasi has its origin possibly from the names of the two rivers Varuna and Assi, for the old city lies in the north shores of the Ganga bounded by its two tributaries, the Varuna and the Asi, with the Ganges being to its south...
for four years. Later when his marriage was troubled by poverty, he went back to Varanasi where he became a scholar. Legend has it that the great Carnatic music
Carnatic music
Carnatic music is a system of music commonly associated with the southern part of the Indian subcontinent, with its area roughly confined to four modern states of India: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu...
composer and wandering saint of the 16th century, Purandara Dasa
Purandara Dasa
Purandara Dāsa is one of the most prominent composers of Carnatic music and is widely regarded as the "father of Carnatic Music". Purandara Dasa addressed social issues in addition to worship in his compositions, a practice emulated by his younger contemporary, Kanaka Dasa...
appeared in his dream, initiated him into the Haridasa tradition and gave him the nom de plume (ankita nama) Vijaya Vittala. As he slept one night in Kashi, he had a Divine Dream; Sri Purandara Dasaru escorted him from Kashi; crossed the Ganges to Vyasa Kashi. (VYASAKASHI IS 6KM FROM KASHI (ALSO CALLED BENARES OR VARANASI). Under the Ashwatt Vriksha, there was Sri Veda Vyasa looking resplendent and self shining holding Sabha with all the learned Sages. Sri Purandara Dasaru introduced Dasappa to Sri Veda Vyasa. Sri Veda Vyasa smiled pleasantly and asked Dasappa to stick his tongue out. Sri Veda Vyasa then wrote "Vijaya" on his tongue. This is the turning point for Dasappa who was now transformed to Sri Vijaya Dasaru. Sri Purnadara Dasaru escorted Sri VijayaDasaru back to Kashi and disappeared. Sri VijayaDasaru woke up from his dream; it was a surreal experience to say the least. He prepared for his morning bath, as soon as he entered the Ganga River for his daily ablutions, Sri VijayaDasaru realized it was no ordinary dream. Sri VijayDasaru was chanting Sanskrit mantras with the force of Ganga (Ganga Pravaha). From that day he was called Vijaya Dasa (dasa means slave to God).
His compositions
Considered second only to Purandara Dasa, his 25,000 compositions earned him the title Dasa Shresta (noble among the dasas). His compositions which comprise of use of many Sanskrit words come under the category of Kalasha and Urasu creations and are considered an important component of Kannada literatureKannada literature
Kannada literature is the corpus of written forms of the Kannada language, a member of the Dravidian family spoken mainly in the Indian state of Karnataka and written in the Kannada script....
(Kannada Sahitya). One distinct feature of his compositions is that he has explained the historical importance of many kshetras for which there was no information. Ghatikachala Suladi is one such example where he has narrated the historic story or sthala purana of the place. He has clearly shown his miracles clearly after aparoksha including resurrection, making a uneducated man speak difficult Sanskrit proficiently, etc. Sri Hari himself on many occasions has shown that he clearly favors Vijaya Dasaru. Once Sri Vijaydasaru was mistreated in Tirumala, to rectify this; Sri Hari stopped the Brahmotsava chariot from moving. Sri Hari himself took the form of a Vatu (young brahmin boy) and mentioned the reason; when Sri VijayDasaru heard that the ratha had stopped, he composed a song. The ratha sped on its own towards VijayDasaru, the authorities apologized to Sri VijayDasaru and begged his forgiveness. He died at the age of 79, leaving behind such accomplished disciples as Gopala Dasa and Jagannatha Dasa to carry the message of peace and devotion to Hari
Vishnu
Vishnu is the Supreme god in the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God....
. Tradition has it that it was the haridasas who initiated the practice of singing devotional songs while walking up the Tirumala hills in modern Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh , is one of the 28 states of India, situated on the southeastern coast of India. It is India's fourth largest state by area and fifth largest by population. Its capital and largest city by population is Hyderabad.The total GDP of Andhra Pradesh is $100 billion and is ranked third...
. These hills are the abode of the Tirumala Venkateswara Temple
Tirumala Venkateswara Temple
Tirumala Venkateswara Temple ), is a Hindu temple in the hill town of Tirumala, near Tirupati in the Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh, South India. It is around from Chennai, from Hyderabad, and from Bangalore....
, one of the most important pilgrim locations for Vaishnava Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
s. The fundamental values contained in these compositions was the true relationship between people, need for tolerance, a better understanding of the value of a non-materialistic life and true devotion to God. With this objective, Vijaya Dasa and other haridasas tried to purge religion of its hypocrisies and obscurantism, its insularity and exclusiveness.
Anecdotes
Legend has it that once when Vijaya Dasa visited KashiVaranasi
-Etymology:The name Varanasi has its origin possibly from the names of the two rivers Varuna and Assi, for the old city lies in the north shores of the Ganga bounded by its two tributaries, the Varuna and the Asi, with the Ganges being to its south...
on the banks of the Ganges river, the river was in spate. Unperturbed, Vijaya Dasa sat in penance on the turbulent waves without getting wet. Once he prevented a woman from committing suicide and took care of the woman and her child. The child Mohana who grew up as Vijaya Dasa's student became one of the most important saints of the Haridasa tradition of 18th century, wrote many compositions in Kannada language and went by the name Mohana Dasa and the nom de plume Mohana Vittala.