The Great Saint Kanaka Dasaru who was Born in Namma Karnataka. Who Played with Lord of the Universe Sri Vishnu Who took the form of Little Krisha to Play,Sing and Dance Devotionally with Kanakadasaru. Kanakadasa has special association with Udupi and as he was the follower of Vyasaraya Swamiji. On the sayings of Vyasaraya Swamiji of Vyasaraja Math he had come to Udupi. But it was time when the discrimination on the basis was at its peak. The Brahmin fundamentals did not let him to enter the temple as he was from a lower cadre of the society. He stood outside and prayed to Lord Krishna by singing songs of praising Lord Krishna. Owing to the call of his devotee Krishna turned to West and gave darshan to Kanaka through a window. Today that window (commonly called as Kanakana Kindi) stands as a tribute to Kanakadasa. Upper caste people tie him in the back of the Udupi Krishna temple and beat him for they thought he was fooling people with a saintly appearance in the public. To bless his Lord Krishnas statue miraculously turns around and the bricks in the wall fall away forming a hole in the middle of the wall so that he can see Krishna from where he is.In UdupiAlmost all devotees who visit Udupi Krishna temple try to have a peep at the idol through this small window wishing to relive the ecstasy, Kanaka had at the divine ‘darshan’. It is also a memorial to Kanakadasa and a testimony to the eclectic Hindu belief that devotion, poetry and sainthood are above caste and creed and certainty above orthodoxy. It is said that Kanakadasa lived in a hut in this place in front of the “gopura”. Later, a small shrine was built in his memory and it came to be known as “Kanakana Gudi” or “Kanakana Mandira”. Although many saints such as Purandaradasa and Vijayadasa visited Udupi and were devotees of Lord Krishna, it is Kanakadasas association to Lord Krishna, which is more strong and deep. In fact, Udupi became famous because of Kanakadasa. Stunned by this miracle all the so called religious people finally accept Kanaka Dasa to be a real saint. Thimmappa Nayaka was his original name and he belonged to chieftain (Kuruba) family of Kaginele in Haveri district. He was born to the Kurubagowda couple Biregowda and Beechamma at bada. Kanaka Nayaka being of the warrior community(Kuruba) his defeat in the field of battle, directed him to the path of devotion. He came to be called Kanaka Nayaka as he found a treasure-trove of gold ( kanaka means gold in Kannada). Kanaka Dasa was well educated and capable of analyzing the society microscopically. In his early age he acquired deep knowledge about poetry and understood the nuances of Karnataka Music that was just founded by Purandara Daasa. Based on one of his compositions it is interpreted that after he severely got injured in a war and was miraculously saved, he gave up his profession as a warrior and devoted his life to composing music and literature with philosophy explained in common mans language. It appears that he started traveling to places a lot to gain more knowledge. Though he came from Shaivism community followed by Kurubas, he became a follower of Vaishnavism. However he had maintained a balanced view about all faiths[citation needed]. At a young age he authored poetries Narasimha stotra, Ramadhyana Mantra, andMohanatarangini. (See Ref 2) His writing started showing his innovativeness in using day to day activities of common man. For e.g. Ramadhyana Mantra is a poetic expression of conflicts between rich and poor classes where he uses ragi ( staple food of poor and high in nutrients) and rice(main food of rich but not as rich in nutrients) to synonymously to represent poor and rich. He joined Haridasa movement and became a follower of Vyasaraja who named him as Kanakadasa. His poems and krithi deal with many aspects of life and expose the futility of external rituals. They stress the need for cultivation of moral values in life. Similar to Purandara Daasa, Kanaka Daasa’s compositions addressed social issues in addition to devotional aspect. Kanaka Daasa was very aggressive and straight forward in criticizing evils of society such as superiority claims using castesystem. His poem Kula Kula Kula vendu hodedhada dhiri asks humans not to segregate themselves from one another, because every human is born the same way, everyone eats the same food and drinks the same water, hence none is superior or inferior to one another.The deity he worshiped was Adhikeshava of Kaginele, presently in Haveri district of Karnataka. Kaginele, now a village, was a prosperous place and trading center in the Middle Ages. Out of the many of his compositions, are fully accountable today. All his Karnataka Music compositions end with mudra (signature) Kaginele Adhikeshava. In addition to being a poet he worked as a social reformer by down playing dogmatic communities that were suppressing the disadvantaged communities. Kanakadasa made extreme effort in reforming the disadvantaged communities by convincing them to give-up their age old obsolete social practices and adapt to the changing world. He effectively used music to convey his philosophy. He lived at Tirupathi in his last days. He is one of the greatest musician, composer, poet, social reformer, philosopher and saints that India has ever seen. Thimma Nayaka, Born as a son of a village leader is a warrior, Played by destiny, he falls in Love with the daughter of his fathers enemy. They both fall in Love, unfortunately the rivalry between the parents does not allow the young lovers to be united. Thimmas father soon dies. All of Thimmas enemies unite and start a fierce fight. When Thimma Nayaka is on the verge of death in the battle field he is miraculously saved by the Lord Vishnu and the Lord takes him away from the battle and makes him build a temple. Timma finds the treasure of Gold with which he builds the temple, henceforth he comes to be known as Kanaka Dasa. Transformed by the grace of Lord, Kanaka becomes a real saint. Kanaka is criticized and tested by the upper caste people, while the common people accepted him as a saint.
Posted on: Sun, 30 Nov 2014 09:51:35 +0000
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