Vijaya Dasa (1682-1755) or
Sri Vijaya Dasa was a prominent saint from the
HaridasaThe 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
KarnatakaKarnataka is a state in the southern part of India. It was created on November 1, 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act...
,
IndiaIndia, 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, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
in the 18th century. He is considered one of the most accomplished scholars belonging to the
DvaitaDvaita , a school of Vedanta founded by Shri Madhvacharya, stresses a strict distinction between God and the individual souls...
philosophical tradition. Along with contemporary haridasa saints such as Gopala Dasa, Helevankatte Giriamma, Jagannath Dasa, Prasanna Venkata Dasa, Venugopala Dasa and Mohana Dasa, he propagated the virtues of the philosophy of Madhwacharya across South India through devotional songs called
Devaranama written in simple and lucid
Kannada languageKannada is one of the major Dravidian languages of India, spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka. Kannada, whose native speakers are called Kannadigas , number roughly 38 million, making it the 27th most spoken language in the world...
.
Vijaya Dasa (1682-1755) or
Sri Vijaya Dasa was a prominent saint from the
HaridasaThe 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
KarnatakaKarnataka is a state in the southern part of India. It was created on November 1, 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act...
,
IndiaIndia, 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, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
in the 18th century. He is considered one of the most accomplished scholars belonging to the
DvaitaDvaita , a school of Vedanta founded by Shri Madhvacharya, stresses a strict distinction between God and the individual souls...
philosophical tradition. Along with contemporary haridasa saints such as Gopala Dasa, Helevankatte Giriamma, Jagannath Dasa, Prasanna Venkata Dasa, Venugopala Dasa and Mohana Dasa, he propagated the virtues of the philosophy of Madhwacharya across South India through devotional songs called
Devaranama written in simple and lucid
Kannada languageKannada is one of the major Dravidian languages of India, spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka. Kannada, whose native speakers are called Kannadigas , number roughly 38 million, making it the 27th most spoken language in the world...
. An integral part of Kannada Vaishnava devotional literature, these compositions in praise of
VishnuVishnu , , is the Supreme God in 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, 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
BrahminBrahmins have historically been the class of educators, scholars and preachers in Hinduism. They are considered as belonging to the "forward castes" of the four varnas of Hinduism....
family in Cheekalaparvi in
ManviManvi 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 districtRaichur District is an administrative district in the Indian state of Karnataka.-Geography:The district is bounded by the Krishna River on the north and the Tungabhadra River on the south. The wedge of land between the rivers is known as the Raichur Doab, after the city of Raichur. Bijapur and...
, Karnataka state. His parents were Sri Srinivasappa and Kusamma. He left home at a young age and studied
SanskritSanskrit is a historical Indo-Aryan language, one of the liturgical languages of Hinduism and Buddhism, and one of the 22 official languages of India. It is also declared as a classical language by the government of India....
in
VaranasiVaranasi , also commonly known as Benares or Banaras and Kashi , is a city situated on the left bank of the River Ganga in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, regarded as holy by Hindus, Buddhists, and Jains...
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 musicCarnatic 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 DasaPurandara Dāsa was 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. 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 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). 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
HariVishnu , , is the Supreme God in 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 PradeshAndhra Pradesh , abbreviated A.P., is a state situated on the south-eastern coast of India. It is India's fourth largest state by area and fifth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Hyderabad...
. These hills are the abode of the
Tirumala Venkateswara TempleTirumala Venkateswara Temple , is a famous Hindu Temple of Lord Venkateswara located in the hill town Tirumala of Andhra Pradesh...
, one of the most important pilgrim locations for Vaishnava
HinduA Hindu is an adherent of Hinduism, a set of religious, philosophical and cultural systems that originated in the Indian subcontinent. The vast body of Hindu scriptures, divided into Śruti and Smriti , lay the foundation of Hindu beliefs which primarily include dhárma, kárma, ahimsa and saṃsāra...
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-materialistc 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 Kashi 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.