PURANDARADASA

Purandaradasa is one of the most prominent composers of Carnatic music and is widely regarded as the "Grandfather of Carnatic Music". Purandara Dasa addressed social issues in addition to worship in his compositions.

Purandaradasa was famous among the Haridasas of Karnataka; foremost among the talented Karnatic composers. He earned much money and lived only to earn it, but eventually gave away all his wealth because of a strange incident and became a devotee of Hari. Purandaradasa was born and brought up at Purandaragadha. His first name was Srinivasa Nayaka. He had been working as a pearl merchant, which was his family business for generations. He became very rich. By nature he was a miser and he saved every pie. His love of money had made him forget everything else. It is said that God came in the form of a poor Brahmin in order to awaken him. He begged for money from Srinivasa Nayaka in order to celebrate the thread ceremony of his son. Days rolled by, Nayaka did not give anything. But the Brahmin did not give up. At last one day Nayaka poured in a heap all the worn out coins he had collected and said to the Brahmin, "Take one coin from the heap. But never come and trouble me again." The Brahmin became sad and went away.

Nayaka's wife was a very kind hearted soul. She was sorry for her husband's miserliness. The Brahmin went from Nayaka's shop straight to his residence. He begged to Saraswathi, Nayaka's wife, "I must celebrate the thread ceremony of my son. Please help me." She wanted to help him. But she was not in a position to give anything without asking her husband. She was fully aware of his miserliness also. Saraswathi said, "What shall I do? My husband is not at home. I cannot give anything without asking him." The Brahmin replied, "O mother, you may have something which your parents might have given at the time of your wedding. Can you not give that?" Her parents had given her a diamond nose stud and she gave it to the Brahmin feeling that she had given to God Krishna himself. The Brahmin took the nose stud straight to Srinivasa Nayaka's shop for sale. Nayaka became angry with the Brahmin for coming to him again. The Brahmin said, "I have not come to you to beg. I have a jewel with me will you take it as a pledge and give me a loan?" Nayaka wondered what jewel the poor Brahmin could have and asked him to show the jewel.


The Brahmin handed the nose stud to him. Nayaka was surprised. He even felt for a moment that it could be his wife's stud. So he asked the Brahmin where he got it. The Brahmin asked Nayaka, "Why? Do you think I stole it from somewhere?" But Nayaka told him that he asked him only out of curiosity. The Brahmin said, "Some generous person like you gave it to me as a gift. Evaluate it and give me a loan keeping it as a pledge. Do not delay because it is getting late." Nayaka asked him to come the next day. He locked the nose stud safely and went home. He called his wife and said to her, "Your nose is unadorned. Where is your nose stud?" Sarawathi did not know what to say, but said, "I have kept it away." Nayaka said, "Have you kept it away? Is it quite safe? Do not tell a lie." Saraswathi assured him that it is safe. Nayaka was burning with anger and asked her to bring it to him.

Saraswathi felt the ground giving way under her feet. She had given it away to the Brahmin and she knew that her husband would punish her if she told him that she had given it as a gift to the Brahmin. She decided that she should commit suicide. She poured poison into a cup and lifted the cup to her lips to drink it and breathe her last. She heard a metallic sound and lo! There was the diamond nose stud in the cup. She could not believe her eyes. Her heart was filled with gratitude. She prostrated before the idol of Lord Krishna and took the jewel to her husband. Nayaka could not believe his eyes. It was the same nose stud that the Brahmin had brought to him! There was no doubt. He asked his wife, "How did the nose stud which you had given to the Brahmin come here? Tell me the truth." Saraswathi told all that had happened. Nayaka was surprised. He went back to the shop and looked for the jewel in the box. It was empty. This opened the eyes of Srinivasa Nayaka. He understood that god had appeared before him as a poor Brahmin to open his eyes and to cure him of his love of gold. He felt ashamed of his miserliness. He gave away in charity every bit of his wealth and felt happy that he had made it over to Lord Krishna. From that day onwards he became a devotee of Hari.

As if it lend support to the belief that Srinivasa Nayaka's life underwent a change on account of his wife, Purandaradasa praises his wife in a verse which says, "All that had is for good, it paid the way for service of Lord Hari." He makes it plain in his verses that he took to a life of renunciation only because of his wife and became a Haridasa and wandered singing the glory of Sri Hari, scunding the cymbals and the tamboori. Not long ago he was a successful merchant. But he was himself surprised at the change that had come about in his life and compared it to a new kind of business he had accepted in his life. Srinivasa Nayaka who had earned the name of Navakoti Narayana, became a devotee of Narayana, the protector of mankind and started a new life with his wife and children. After he became the saint singer celebrating Sri Hari, he sought a teacher for guidance and was received as a disciple by Vyasara who had been accepted as a great saint, had composed verses both in Sanskrit and Kannada. In course of time Purandaradasa came to Hampi and settled down with his wife and children. Every morning Purandaradasa went into the town wearing bells on his ankles and a tulasi mala around his neck. He carried a tamboori in his hand and sang his Hari keertanas sounding the tamboori with his fingers. The people admired and listened to his songs. Purandaradasa accepted alms given to him during his wandering and led a life of renunciation. He who had been called Navakoti Narayana now had willingly accepted the life of a saint and begged for his food. Each stage of Purandaradasa's growth and development as a pious man moving towards the higher stages of God realization is significant. He had created a world of his own with his preoccupation with the life of the spirit and the strength of his devotion.

Although he took to life of renunciation and asceticism, he did not desert his wife and children. He lived with them. He suffered from poverty and went through the sorrows like diseases and death in the family. He made it clear to others by his conduct how it was possible to achiever purity of thought, word and deed regardless of caste, religion or creed. He did not believe that man could understand god by mere external purity unless it was accompanied by purity of mind.

Appanna was a dear disciple of Purandaradasa. One day Purandaradasa called out to Appanna to bring water to wash his limbs. Appanna did not respond for sometime. A little later Appanna brought him water. Purandaradasa was angry and he struck his head with the brass water container. He understood it all within a short time. The head of the idol of Lord Vittala had swollen with a wound. There were tears rolling down the idol's eyes. It was not Appanna who had brought water, but his dear god Vittala.

Purandaradasa had struck him. He ran to the idol and embracing him, begged to forgive him. The swelling on the idol's head disappeared. The tears falling down from the eyes stopped.

There is another incident where Vittala himself took the form of Purandaradasa and took the gold bracelet and gave it to a woman of the town. The priests complained to the authorities of the temple about the theft. The officers found the gold bracelet with the woman and she stated that Purandaradasa gave it to her. They summoned Purandaradasa to the temple and beat him up with a whip. A voice from the heaven declared that he was innocent. It is said that the officers regretted and released him. Scholars think that Purandaradasa lived for 84 years (from 1480 AD to 1564 AD). On the basis of a verse in the name of Madhvapati, his son, it is held that Purandaradasa must have passed away a year before the fall of Vijayanagar. Taking it as authentic, his death anniversary is celebrated on the new moon day, in the second fortnight of Pushya.