Purandara Dasa

Purandara Dasa (1484-1564) is one of the most prominient composer in carnatic music.Contribution by Purandaradasa to music is immeasurable and he is often called the "Karnataka sangeeta pitamaha" (Father of Carnatic Music) . The dasas, among them Sripadaraya, Kanaka Dasa, Jagannatha Dasa, Vijaya Dasa, and Kamalesha Vittala and others, propounded bhakti to the Lord through music over several years.

Purandara Dasa always concluded his songs with a salute to Lord Purandara Vittala. He is believed to have composed around 475,000 songs, although only a thousand or so of them are known today. All his musical compositions are in Kannada language, the state language of Karnataka. Purandara dasa is among the great saints of India in his understanding of the power of music and its appeal to illiterate common folk.

Life of Purandaradasa

Inscriptional evidence shows Purandaradasa was born in 1484 AD in Ksemapura, near Tirthahalli, Shivamogga district. He was the only son of Varadappa Naik, a wealthy merchant. He was named Srinivasa, after the Lord of the Seven Hills. He received good education in accordance with family traditions and acquired proficiency in Kannada, Sanskrit, sacred lore, and in music. Some scholars had proposed that Purandaradasa was born in Purandaragad near Pune. But it has been argued that this is a historical mistake connecting the "pen name" (ankita) of the dasa with the name of a location which mainly served as a military encampment in the 15th and 16th century where neither Kannada could have been popular nor any commericial activity, much less a jewellery business could have flourished.

When he was sixteen years old he married Saraswatibai, a pious god-fearing girl. He lost his parents when he was 20. He inherited his father's business (in precious stones and pawn-broking), and in the course of a short time, he expanded it and amassed immense wealth, thereby earning the appellation 'Navakoti Narayana'.

When he was at the zenith of his business, Providence enacted the now-famous 'nose-ring' episode, to make the greedy and miserly merchant realise the worthlessness of his attachment to worldly possessions. The shock treatment marked a turning point in his life. Giving away all his wealth to charity, he left his house with his wife and children to lead the life of a wandering minstrel to spread the gospel of God. He was only 30. In his very first song after the incident, he laments his wasted life of indulgence.

In the course of his wandering he met the holy sage Vyasaraya. According to Prof. Sambamoorthy, Srinivasa had his formal initiation at the hands of Vyasaraya in 1525 when the former was about 40 years old, and that the name Purandaradasa was bestowed on him by Satyadharma Teertha, a later occupant of the Vyasaraya Mutt.

Purandaradasa travelled extensively through the length and breadth of the Vijayanagara empire, composing and rendering soul-stirring songs in praise of god.

Purandaradasa spent his last years in Hampi. The mandapa in which he stayed is known as Purandaradasa Mandapa. He took sanyasa towards the close of his life. He joined his Maker in 1564.

His philosophy

Purity of heart, devotion to God and compassion towards all living beings form the core of Purandaradasa's philosophy. A householder's life was no impediment to spiritual progress, as his own life was an example.

According to him, mere accumulation of knowledge, repetition of formulas and observance of rituals are worthless if the heart is not pure. Equally useless is the wrangling over the 'nature' of God. Trust in God is far superior to beliefs in astrology and horoscopes.

Caste is not a matter of birth; it is in the character and conduct. The real service to God is the service to the poor and the suffering.