INTRODUCTION
This article is about Sri Kanadasa and serves as a brief account of his life history.
CHILDHOOD & EARLY LIFE:
Timmappa
(would-be Kanakadasa) was born in c.1508 to Beerappa and Bachchamma.
Beerappa was a palegar of Bada village under Vijayanagara rule.
Bada village was a strategic & vantage point for Vijayanagara empire
as the road leading to port city of Goa was passing through it.
Timmappa who lost his father at young age took over the reins as
palegar. Luck got him a huge treasure of gold (kanaka) & precious
stones. Since then people started calling Timmappa as Kanaka Nayaka.
Kanaka was trained in warfare & was in-charge of a regiment at
Bankapura.
KANADA NAYAKA BECAME KANAKADASA:
He
had a deep love for his wife. But she died at young age. Kanaka got
devastated with this incident. But he continued his career. At his time,
quite often, Vijayanagara and Bijapur were at war to wrest control
over Goa. Kanaka seems to have fought in one such battle.
He
was severely wounded & was almost dying on the field. A old man
brought water for him and said “become my dAsa. Will heal your wounds.”
Kanaka recalled a recurring dream in which his family God Chennakeshava,
like this old man, was repeatedly asking him to become His dAsa. The
battle, the wounded body & the changed mindset made Kanaka Nayaka
to become Kanaka Dasa. ‘Adikeshava’ became his ‘ankitanAma.’
Kanakadasa himself narrates this incident, albeit subtly, in one of his kirtanas.
ದೊರೆತನವ ಬಿಡಿಸಿ ಸುಸ್ಥಿರ ಮಾರ್ಗ ತೋರಿಸಿದಿ
ನರಮಾತ್ರದವನೆನದೆ ಹರಿಯೆ
ಗರುವದಲಿಹೆನೆಂಬುದರಿತು ನಿನ್ನ ದಾಸರಿಗೆ
ಮಾರಿದೊಯೆನ್ನ ಹರಿಯೆ
TRANSLATION: "O Hari! by not ignoring me as a mere mortal, You have released from ruler-ship and showed me the unwavering path; You were aware that I was filled with pride but now you have made me surrender to Your servants."
LITERARY WORKS:
Since
then, Kanakadasa traveled all over Vijayanagara Empire & living to
his warrior trait, conquered it as a mendicant saint-singer. At Hampi,
he met with his mentor Sri Vyasaraya & Karnata Sangeeta Pitamaha Sri Purandaradasa and got enriched by their patronage/friendship.
The trio
of Vyasaraya, Purandara and Kanakadasa forever turned the
Vijayanagara Empire into the capital of Bhakti & haridAsa movements.
Together, they transformed the just rule of Krishnaraya into a golden
epoch of not Vijayanagara alone but of S. Indian history itself.
Kanaka’s
love for his departed wife has taken the form of ‘mOhanatarangiNI’ a
kAvya written by him probably when he was 35-36 yrs old. Literary
experts opine that the description of Dwaraka in Kanaka’s
mOhanatarangiNi is nothing but the description of Hampi city itself!
The
literature of post-mOhanatarangiNi by Kanaka is focused on the darker
side of the samsAda & its bondage that bring pain & agony.
His
songs are full of deep mysticism. His words/phrases are like
unfathomable codes of universe’s greatest secrets. Tough nuts to crack! He
himself said in one of his kritis that his enigmatic writings are
“ಕನಕನಾಡಿದ ಗುಟ್ಟು” whose meanings known only to God Adikeshava.
END OF KANAKADASA'S EARTHLY APPEARANCE:
There
are different versions as to where did he pass away. One version says
he entered Tirumala temple & vanished [into God Shrinivasa].Another
version says that he died at Kaginele village where he constructed a
temple for his tutelary god, Adikeshava. Wherever he might have left the
mortal body, his immortal literature is reverberating throughout the
land for last 500 years.
ಯಮಾಂಶ ಪರಾಭಕ್ತೋ ಸುಪ್ರಸನ್ನೋ ಹರಿಃ ಸ್ವಯಮ್ |
ಯಸ್ಯಾಚಾರ್ಯಃ ವ್ಯಾಸರಾಯಃ ತಮ್ ವಂದೇ ಕನಕಾಭಿದಮ್ ||
To
Kanaka who is an incarnation of Yama, great devotee who realised Sri
Hari & whose Guru is Sri Vyasaraya, I bow to him in reverence.
*****
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