SHARANA PATHAVol. 22 No.2Vol. 22 No.2Vol. 22 No.2Vol. 22 No.2Vol. 22 No.2 July-December 2020July-December 2020July-December 2020July-December 2020July-December 2020A Half-Yearly journal devoted to religion, Sharana Philosophy, history, culture,literature and their comparative studies and practice.

FounderJagadguruJagadguruJagadguruJagadguruJagadguruDr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Dr. Sri Sri Sri Sri Sri Shivarathri Rajendra MahaswamijiShivarathri Rajendra MahaswamijiShivarathri Rajendra MahaswamijiShivarathri Rajendra MahaswamijiShivarathri Rajendra MahaswamijiPresidentJagadguruJagadguruJagadguruJagadguruJagadguruSri Shivarathri Deshikendra MahaswamijiSri Shivarathri Deshikendra MahaswamijiSri Shivarathri Deshikendra MahaswamijiSri Shivarathri Deshikendra MahaswamijiSri Shivarathri Deshikendra MahaswamijiEditorial CommitteeDr. C.G. BetsurmathDr. D.A. ShankarProf. K.B. PrabhuprasadDr. C. NagannaSri SubbaraoSri R.S. PurnanandaEditorProf. Chandrasekharaiah

CONTENTSCONTENTSCONTENTSCONTENTSCONTENTSFrom the Editor's Desk 2Jagadguruji Writes...... 3Shatsthala Vachanas of Allama Prabhu 5Sri Siddheshwara SwamijiSri Siddheshwara SwamijiSri Siddheshwara SwamijiSri Siddheshwara SwamijiSri Siddheshwara SwamijiShiva in Tulsidas’ Sri Ramcharitmanas 9Sri K.S.Ram and Dr.Uma RamSri K.S.Ram and Dr.Uma RamSri K.S.Ram and Dr.Uma RamSri K.S.Ram and Dr.Uma RamSri K.S.Ram and Dr.Uma RamSpirituality in the poetry ofGeorge Herbert and Shishunala Sharif 13Prof. Varada Mohan NikaljeProf. Varada Mohan NikaljeProf. Varada Mohan NikaljeProf. Varada Mohan NikaljeProf. Varada Mohan NikaljeThus Spake Vemana 17Prof. N. Narasimha RaoProf. N. Narasimha RaoProf. N. Narasimha RaoProf. N. Narasimha RaoProf. N. Narasimha RaoThe Dialogue betweenAkka Mahadevi and Allama 19Dr. C.R. YaravintelimathDr. C.R. YaravintelimathDr. C.R. YaravintelimathDr. C.R. YaravintelimathDr. C.R. YaravintelimathBasaveshwara and Mahatma Gandhi 23Dr. Basavaraj NaikarDr. Basavaraj NaikarDr. Basavaraj NaikarDr. Basavaraj NaikarDr. Basavaraj NaikarSurrender! 28Sri N Krishna RaoSri N Krishna RaoSri N Krishna RaoSri N Krishna RaoSri N Krishna RaoLesser Known VachanakarasKUGINA MARITANDE 31Dr. C.S. NanjundaiahDr. C.S. NanjundaiahDr. C.S. NanjundaiahDr. C.S. NanjundaiahDr. C.S. NanjundaiahLingayat StudiesHow Does it Matter to the Present? 33Dr. N.S. GundurDr. N.S. GundurDr. N.S. GundurDr. N.S. GundurDr. N.S. GundurThe Veerashaiva Cult in Telangana 35Sri K. Venkateshwara RaoSri K. Venkateshwara RaoSri K. Venkateshwara RaoSri K. Venkateshwara RaoSri K. Venkateshwara RaoAshvaghoshaAn Ancient Buddhist Sanskrit Poet 38Dr. H.V. Nagaraja RaoDr. H.V. Nagaraja RaoDr. H.V. Nagaraja RaoDr. H.V. Nagaraja RaoDr. H.V. Nagaraja RaoA Scintillating Biography of a Veteran Actor 41Dr. C. NagannaDr. C. NagannaDr. C. NagannaDr. C. NagannaDr. C. NagannaNews Round-up 45Contributions for publication, exchange of journals, books for review, letters need to be addressedto the Editor, Sharana Patha, JSS Mahavidyapeetha, Dr. Sri Shivarathri Rajendra Circle, Mysuru 570 004or e-mailed to: editorjsssharanapatha@gmail.comSubscription: Life Membership Rs. 500/- or $ 50Single copy Rs. 10 or $ 1Published by Dr. C.G. Betsurmath, Executive Secretary, on behalf of JSS MahavidyapeethaMysuru 570 004. Printed at : JSS Printing Press, Mysuru

Allama Prabhu, a saint of Himalayan magnitude calls Basaveshwara, in one of hisVachanas as the yugada utsaha, meaning the spirit of the aeon. Here Yuga does not meanan age or a life-time, but an aeon! No wonder Allama's outburst was the result his lifetime study and understanding of Basavanna. His opinion has been endorsed by scoresof other contemporary Sharanas variously in their vachanas too. Similarly Basaveshwara'saccomplishments have been the subject of many a literary classic, poetic compositionsand prose works down the centuries. In this respect, they are candid, that Basava wasand is nonpareil. What actually constituted his persona that doggedly persists to hauntand enthrall even the most jealous, contemptuous and resentful ones to nod their heads,may be privately, in approval of what he said and did, rather than merely preaching. Hepossessed a host of sterling characteristics. But the one, it appears, that made him what hebecame later was his irrational surd butressed by his tenacity and courage to revolt evenas a boy against injustice and inequality meted out to a bigger chunk in society.

Allama Prabhu who had travelled all over the land knew the divisive forces at workstriking at the roots of a meaningful life. At the first sight itself of Basava he understoodthe immense possibilities already at work in him. Like Allama hundreds of thousands ofmen and women, largely victims of social evils, rallied round Basava who very soonbecame their icon, messaiah, guiding light and their emancipating spirit. His words anddeeds affected and moved them so much that soon perceptible changes for the betterbecame a reality.

We do not know for certain the organizing skills of Basaveshwara. But he was busyand active in Kalyan, the capital of Bijjala II, that people moved in and out of the city inhundreds daily only to meet and hear him and get transfigured, transformed and switchedto a new way of life of equality, brotherhood and fraternity. Anubhava Mantap cameinto existence where Sharanas, men and women, sat as equals and discoursed on issuesmundane, temporal and spiritual resulting in the creation of a new literary genre inKannada – the Vachanas. The spirit of Basava reigned supreme personifying the hopesand aspirations of the voiceless for ages. One of his Vachanas says:

There is one earth to holdThe pariah colony, and God's temple,One water for the closet and the ritual bathOne caste for those who know themselvesBy means of the six fold mystic-wayThe same deliverance for those who know Thee,Lord Kudala Sangama.

Prof. Chandrasekharaiah

From the Editor's Desk…..

'Conserve Nature and Protect Wildlife'

Today, the 'prakruthi vandanam' - salutation to nature - is being organized by HinduSpiritual and Service Foundation and Initiative For Moral and Cultural Foundation isnot only pertinent, but also salubrious, especially at these extraordinary times of humancrisis due to COVID-19 pandemic, where the humanity is at the cross roads of its veryexistence. The civilization is staring at its own destruction by nature. The divine Natureis expressing its wrath through all these elements for merciless destruction. It appearsthat the humanity is yet too far from comprehending the art of understanding Nature. Itis not the revenge of the Mother Earth, but repulsion against the cruel assault on thebountiful Nature. The pandemic is the clear signal of total destruction that the civilizationis bound to face anytime soon. The programme 'Prakruthi Vandanam' is an attempt torestore sanity in the social structure to reset its goal of economic development withoutharming Nature. The conservation of forest and protection of wild life is one amongst itsseries of activities.

The Hindu civilization was acknowledged as the pinnacle of human achievement onthe planet earth. The ancient rishis had intuitively grasped the secrets of life on earth andelsewhere, which the present scientific world is yet too far from understanding in itstotality. Every creation, according to Hindu culture, both living and nonliving, at theelemental level, consisted of five elements called 'Pancha Bhoothas'. Nature is nothingbut its own vivid expression in myriad forms, where human being is one small speck inthe whole of creation. Hence, worshipping of Nature in us is an innate and inborn quality.Not only every plant, animal and insect an expression of divinity; but every river andmountain is sacred. Sacred texts have exemplified the power of Nature, worshipping itin every form needs to be replete with daily ritual for man.

The spiritual literature is full of descriptions of this uniqueness of Nature. Nature isan inseparable part of human life in India and reverence to it was the highest form ofworship. In one of her Vachanas Akkamahadevi brings it out sensibly: water, earth andair are the same, but plants in their shape, colour, size, and flowers or fruits are infinitelydifferent. If not God, who else can cause such infinite expression? Similarly, the idea ofNature worship was deep-rooted in the culture of our ancestors. Sri Basaveshwara, in hisVachana shows how deep is the devotion of man for Nature when he says: men wouldtake a holy dip in every river they come across; they would circumambulate every treethey chanced upon. Thus God was seen in every element in Nature and life of man wasinseparably bonded with Nature. Undoubtedly, man is dependent on Nature for his

Jagadguruji Writes....

very existence and survival, without Pancha Bhoothas life on earth is unimaginable; soshall be his reverence and responsibility towards Nature. He has to respect Nature tohelp himself.

But during the course of evolution human mind was exposed to corruption, and manthought that he was only body and mind. Thus began the decline of civilizations. Naturebecame the bounty of hunters' target for exploitation. The sacred Ganga got polluted,mountains became sources of raw material and trees became timber.

As Mahatma Gandhi said, 'Nature can satisfy all the needs of man, but not his greed'.The greed in man is the biggest viral attack on humanity, if not vaccinated soon it woulddevour the very humanity. Planting trees, as part reforestation, by everyone should be aritual like the morning prayer. Gradual changes on earth cannot be prevented, but canbe contained by these efforts. The global warming, ozone depletion, ocean rising, soilerosion, erratic rainfall etc., are planetary changes due to various disturbing activities ofliving organisms of the planet. If man learns to live with Nature rather than living offNature, it bounces back with abundance. Henceforth, human beings must consider thatthey are a part of Nature and every other living and nonliving thing is a partner on theplanet. And our mantra for existence is 'together we flourish, divided we perish'.

Serving the fellow living objects should become the inherited culture of human beings.The cause of 'Hindu Seva Prathisthana and Initiative For Moral and Cultural Foundation'through its 'prakruthi vandanam' is clear to everyone, and we urge everyone to be partof this blessed journey.

Save Nature to save humanity*

Om Tat Sat

Sri Shivarathri Deshikendra Mahaswamiji

*A teaser by Jagadguruji in connection with Hindu Spiritual and Service Foundationand Initiative for Moral and Cultural Training Foundation.

4 / Sharana Patha

Shatsthala Vachanas of Allama PrabhuIn English Translation with Commentary

-Sri Siddheshwara Swamiji

BHAKTA-STHALA

Pinda-sthala

Sthala:

Plane of consciousness. State of mind formanifestation of Shiva who is thesupport for everything, the primalsource.

Pinda-sthala:

Paramatman, the Supreme Reality isnishkala (indivisible); devoid of form andqualities. He rests in Himself asprofound serenity, like silence in sound.He is theNishkala Linga (illimitablesource); anadi (beginningless); chit-pinda(spiritual substance). Recognition of thisSupreme Reality as such is Pinda-sthala.

· This vast cosmos and the individualbody, these are the two forms of matter(Jada-pindas). Chaitanya-pindaor spiritualsubstance underlies these two materialforms. This realization is Pinda-sthala.

1Like —Fire in stone, reflection in water.Tree in seed, silence in sound.O Guheshwara, such is the relationBetween You and Sharana.

(1.3 Shileyolaganapavakanante*)

* Given in the brackets is the first line of theVachana in Kannada, preceded by Vachana No.and the Page No. of the original Kannada work,“AllamaPrabhudevara -- Vachana-Nirvachana” by Sri Siddheshwar Swami.

PURPORTFire is present in stone as unseen;

reflection in water is unattached; tree inseed is unmanifest; silence in sound isimpenetrable. Similarly, in Sharana, in allliving beings, in this vast universe,Parashiva is present. He is the essence ofeverything. He is unseen, unattached, un-manifested and also impenetrable. Sensesfail to perceive Him. He is not affected byany object. Being devoid of qualities andactivity, He is always unmanifest. Noweapon or word has the power to penetrateinto Him. He is the principle of tranquilitythat transcends mind and intellect.

COMMENTARYLike fire in stone.

In stone fire is present unseen. So doesParamatman reside in the material world;He is the very light of consciousness.

Like reflection in water.There is reflection in water. But it is not

affected by the qualities of water – good orbad. It is detached. Likewise, Paramatmanis present in the world which is prone to

Sri Siddheshwara Swamiji, Jnana-yoga-ashrama, Vijayapura

change. He is not affected by any qualitiesor shortcomings of the world. Because, Heis fullydetached and acosmic.

Like tree in seed.A big tree is hidden in a small seed. Seed

is visible, but not the tree. Even so Godexists in the embodied Jiva, unseen.

Like silence in sound.Sound can be heard by the sense of

hearing. There is profound silence behindthis sound. Like space, it is deep stillness.Sound waves rise and fall in this ocean ofsilence. It is least disturbed by the sound.No matter how thunderous the sound is, itcannot pierce the silence wee bit. Likewise,Paramatman is infinite tranquility. All thewords, thoughts and feelings appear for amoment and then disappear like waves. Inthe background, there is eternal tranquility–- the divine. Millions and millions of starsmay appear and disappear but thisprofound tranquility is not at all disturbed.It is silence, perfect silence.

O Guheshwara, such .............. between Youand Sharana.

Guheshwara = God who dwells in thecave of heart. Sharana = The seeker whoaspires for God experience. Relation= Thenature of relationship between the two,Paramatman and Jivatman; the wayParamatman exists in the world of livingand non-living.

The word, ‘Sharana’ denotes all livingbeings and the universe. The first sense of‘I’ that flashes (Asmitasphurane) from thedivine principle is Sharana. This is theprimordial principle from which the wholeuniverse comes into existence. So, the word‘Sharana’ denotes the entire world.

Paramatman is called Mahat-pinda, theenormous cosmic egg of Consciousness.

Four characteristics of this Mahat-pinda arementioned here. He is unseen, unattached,unmanifest and impenetrable.

2Does the fire hidden in stone burn?Does the tree hidden in seed make rustling sound?Not seen, not felt by anybody.One who revels in God-experience aloneCan know Guheshwara’s ature.

(2. 5 Kallolaganakicchuuriyaballude)

PURPORTThere is fire in the stone but it does not

burn. There is tree in the seed, but it doesnot display itself. In the same way, Godwhose nature is consciousness, exists in thematerial world. But He remains alwaysunseen. So subtle and so mysterious is Hisnature. He alone knows Him, who isspiritually enlightened and rejoices inhimself.

COMMENTARYDoes the fire hidden in stone burn?

There is fire in the stone but it does notburn. So, in the material world exists Godwhose nature is consciousness. But He isnot seen.

Does the tree hidden in seed make rustlingsound?

There is tree in the seed, but it is not seen.It does not move or display itself. In theindividual the great God exists. But He doesnot show Himself.

Not seen, not felt by anybody.Though Paramatman fills every object,

He is not seen by the worldly minded. Hispresence is not felt by anyone.

One who revels in .............. can knowGuheshwara’s nature.

6 / Sharana Patha

One who revels in God-experience (Anubhavasukhi ) = The person who rejoicesin God-experience.

The one who disassociates himself frombody, mind and intellect rejoices resting inoneself. He who realizes the mysteriouspresence of Paramatman delights inhimself.

3The fire hidden in water burns it notBut exists as water itself.If you look into its nature, it is not water.Being in the body, an aggregate of five elements,He stands apart from it.Who knows this truth?O Guheshwara, you are inside and outside.Yet, you come not to sight.Such is your nature.

(3.6 Jaladolagirdakicchu,)

PURPORTThere is fire in water. Yet it won’t heat

up the water. It exists being one with water.If you look for the truth, by nature, the fireis not water. Similarly, Paramatman existsin the body which is made of five elements.But He is not one with the body. Body ismaterial and finite whereas Atman is non-material and infinite. By nature, they arequite different. Rare are the persons whoknow this truth. Who knows that their realnature is different from that of the body?Where are those who know Atman to bedifferent from the body? He is inside andoutside the body. Though He is within andwithout the world, He remains ungraspableand incomprehensible.

COMMENTARYThe fire hidden ………………………………as water itself.

The fire is in water, but it does not burnit. It appears to be water itself.

If you look into its nature, it is not water.If you make an investigation into the

nature of fire and water, you find that fireis not water, water is not fire.

Being in the body ………………….………knows this truth?Stands apart = Different by nature.

This body, gross and subtle, is theformation of five elements. Atman whodwells in the body is like fire. As He isdifferent from the body, He does notbecome one with it. Body is body andAtman is Atman. Most of the people do notknow this truth. And they have no desireto know, and make no effort to know thetruth.

O Guheshwara, you are …………….………Such is your nature.

Atman, without being seen, fills thisworld from inside and outside, theindividual as well as the universe. This isthe true nature of Atman.

4Like the treasure hidden in the earth.Like the lightning hidden in clouds.Like the mirage hidden in the open area.Like the lustre hidden in the eyes isYour presence, O Guheshwara.

(4.7 Neladamareyaladagida .....)

PURPORTTreasure lies unseen in the earth. There

is lightening hidden in clouds. There is amirage concealed in the void. The lustrethat shines over the world is hidden in theeyes. Likewise, Paramatman is presenteverywhere hidden from our external andinternal senses.

COMMENTARYLike the treasure hidden in the earth.

Eyes cannot see the treasure deep insidethe earth.

Shatsthala Vachanas of Allama Prabhu / 7

Like the lightning hidden in clouds.The lightning that flashes for a moment

to show plains and forests is hidden in theclouds.

Like the mirage hidden in the open area.Mirage = Strange forms such as water

body seen in open deserts in the hot sun.Mirage exists for a person who looks at

it from a distance. But not for the one whois at the spot of the mirage. He sees onlyempty space. That does not mean there isno mirage. It exists unseen.

Like the lustre hidden in the eyes.Lustre = Special power of the eyes that

shows form; its light.

Eyes are endowed with a special powerof seeing forms. But this power remainsunseen.

Is your presence, O Guheshwara.Such is the nature of Paramatman. The

universe that extends in all directionsendlessly is visible to the eyes. This wholeuniverse is filled with the sense objects suchas sound, touch etc. Hence this universe isperceived. God exists unseen in this vastuniverse. Eyes cannot see Him. Mindcannot feel Him. He is so subtle andinvisible. If a person knows Him as such, itis Pinda-sthalam and he is a Pinda-sthali. Heis Mahat-pinda, the great spiritual truth.

About 14 billion years ago, the Universe materialized out of nothing forunknown reasons. Infinitely smaller than an atom to begin with the Universeexpanded to a trillion kilometers across in under a second - an event called BigBang!

Time came into existence when the Universe began, so the question, 'Whathappened before? has no meaning. Space also came into existence. The BigBang was not an explosion of matter through space - it was an expansion of spaceitself.

At first the universe consisted of pure energy, but within a trillionth of asecond some of this energy turned into matter, forming a vast soup of subatomicparticles (particles smaller than atoms). It took nearly 400,000 years for theparticles to cool down enough to form atoms and then another 300 million yearsbefore the atoms formed planets, stars and galaxies. The expansion that began inthe Big Bang continues to this day, and most scientists think it will carry onforever.

What caused the Big Bang? We may never know for sure but some scientistshave suggested that there may have been lots of Big Bangs, with the Universeexpanding after each one and then shrinking again. This theory is called the BigBounce. The process repeats itself.

-From Knowledge Encyclopedia

8 / Sharana Patha

Shiva in Tulsidas’ Sri Ramcharitmanas-Sri K.S.Ram and Dr.Uma Ram

Tulsidas authored more than a dozenworks. But his reputation rests almostentirely on Sri Ramcharitmanas. You wouldhardly find a household in the Hindi beltthat does not have at least one copy of thiswork. In most houses, multiple copies areavailable – one for each member – for useduring group recitation. In any religiousevent, a non-stop (akhand) recitation of theepic is common practice, followed bybhandara, mass-feast. In the month ofShravan, a monthly recitation; and duringthe two navratris,a nine-day recitation isdone by many persons, individually or ingroups. The Manas is now available inalmost every Indianscript, includingKannada.

Sri Ramcharitmanas was published in1577. The Moghul Emperor, Babar, hadpassed away in 1530. Tulsidas (b.1497) wasin his thirties then. A question commonlyasked (and this was asked in the RamJanma Bhoomi case) is, how come Tulsidasnowhere refers to any Ram Temple beingdemolished in Ayodhya and a mosquebeing raised in its place? The answer to this,probably, lies in the fact that (a) Tulsidasnever could have cared too deeply for anybrick-and-mortar temple to glorify Rama,and (b) there were other conflicts in societythat he sought to resolve, more urgent thanHindu-Islam politics. The most major ofsuch conflicts related to Vaishnavites and

Shaivites being pitched one against theother. The other major rivalry raging at thattime was Sagun-vadi (believers in God withattributes) versus Nirgun-vadi (believers inGod without attributes). Bhakti versusritualistic karma (karma-kanda) and jnana(knowledge) was yet another raging issue.Tulsi felt that all these debates wereessentially frivolous dogma and born of anerror in understanding. Ramcharitmanas ishis attempt to reconcile and put to rest theserivalries.

Ramcharitmanas is composed in Avadhi,the local tongue of Avadh, modern-dayeastern Uttar Pradesh. The invocation toevery Kaanda (Section) is in the form ofshlokas composed in Sanskrit. There aresome hymns in Sanskrit elsewhere also inthe epic. There are more than half-a-dozendifferent meters employed. The bulk of thenarrative is in quatrains called choupai.These are interspersed with two forms ofcouplets (dohas and sorthas) and a range ofstanza forms, simply called chhand.

The two major sources forRamcharitmanas were (a) the Ramayana ofValmiki, and (b) the Adhyatma Ramayana.Tulsi acknowledges his debt to a thirdsource, namely, the oral version narrated(multiple times, he says) by his Guru.

Structurally, Ramcharitmanas is a fabricthat weaves four narrations: Yagyavalkya

Sri K.S.Ram, 402, Block 3, RMV Clusters, Phase-2, Devinagara (Lottegollahalli), RMV 2nd Stage,Bengaluru 560094

narrating the story to Bharadwaja; Shivanarrating it to Parvati; the crow,Kakbhushundi narrating it to Garuda; and,Tulsidas narrating it to other sages inPrayag. These four narratives are criss-crossed together into one seamless work.

Shiva, as actor and narrator, is quitecentral to the work. Yagyavalkya narratesto Bharadwaja what he describes as theconversation that took place between Shivaand Parvati. While narrating the story toParvati, Shiva tells her that his is the versionfollowed by the crow while narrating thestory to Garuda. Shiva thus has a role inthree of the four narrations. Every Sectionopens with invocatory shlokas by Tulsidas.And every time Shiva is invoked alongsideRama.

Three of the narrations are occasionedby almost similar queries. Bharadwaja asksYagyavalkya whether the Rama whosename is ceaselessly chanted by Shiva andothers is the same as ‘the prince ofAyodhya, who was distraught when hiswife was abducted, and in a rage slayedRavana’; or are the two Ramas different?Yagyavalkya says this query is similar toSati’s query to Shiva the starting point ofShiva’s narration to Parvati) and narratestheir conversation. Shiva was oncereturning from the ashram of sageKumbhaj, after a treat of Harikatha. Satiwas with him. Shiva was walking chantingblissfully Rama’s name and glory. This wasin the Treta aeon when Mahavishnu hadsecretly taken humanavatar as Rama, who,in deference to his father’s command, hadcome to the Dandakaranya, where Sita hadbeen abducted. Shiva was musing how hecould get a glimpse of Rama. Just then hesees Rama and Lakshman in the forest,coming from the opposite direction insearch of Sita. Shiva is thrilled, but he hides

his emotion, lest the secret of avatar getknown. He discreetly greets Rama as‘Satchidananda’ and as ‘the worldsanctifier’. Both, Rama and Shiva, crosseach other and move on. Sati is astounded.Shiva is hailed by all as ‘Jagdisha’, lord ofthe world. Who,then, was this person whoso thrilled Shiva and who he hailed asSatchidananda and the world-sanctifier?She finds Shiva still in a state of thrill.Shivacan read her mind, and tells her thatthis was Mahavishnu, born as Rama, hisishta, favourite. Sati finds it hard to believethat such a wan-looking human could beMahavishnu. This, despite Shiva’s repeatedassertions. Shiva settlesdown to rest in theshade of a banyan tree, and asks her to gocheck for herself. She departs. She choosesto play a trick. Assuming the form of Sita,she walks towards the two brothers. Rama,the all-knowing, greets her with foldedhands and asks her where Shiva is and whyshe is walking in the forest, alone. Satiisstunned.She is now sad that she did nottrust Shiva’s words and was foolhardy totest Rama. She turns to join Shiva, but seesRama, Sita and Lakshmana walking aheadof her. She turns back, and sees the samespectacle. Turn where she may, she seesthem everywhere. All the gods are seendoing service to Rama. Dazed, she closesher eyes and sits down. Instantly, the visiondisappears. She rises and returns to Shiva,only in remorse, but trying to seem normal.When Shiva(who knows all that hadtranspired) asks her if she tested Rama andwhat the result was, shelies to him sayingshe simply bowed to Rama and returned.

Rather than be disappointed, Shiva isthrilled at the power of Hari’s maya thatmade even Sati – the truthful – lie!However,he feels he can no more cohabit withher,since she had faked herself as Sita. They

10 / Sharana Patha

reach their abodein silence, and Shiva goesand sits in deep and long samadhi,contemplation. Sati realizes her inequityand prays to the Supreme Lord for an easyrelease from this body. That shortlyhappens when she goes to Daksha’s eventin spite of Shiva’s admonition not to gothereuninvited. Her self-immolation in theyagya fire and all that happens thereafter isa story well-known. In time, Sati is rebornas Parvati in the house of King Himalaya.Narada happens to visit Himalaya. He isshownthe young Parvati, becauseHimalaya is curious to know from the all-knowing sage as to what the future holdsfor his daughter. Narada studies and saysshe has great positives (guna), but there aresome negatives (avguna) as well. She is fatedto wed someone who is ‘devoid of meritand dignity (a-guna; a-maan), without fatheror mother (maatu-pitu hina), an ascetic withno thought for anyone (udasina), ananchorite (jogi) with matted hair (jatila), anda heart devoid of all desires (a-kama mann),stark naked (nagan), and in inauspiciousguise (a-mangal bhesha).’ Himalaya andMaina are appalled. But Parvati is joyed.Narada comforts the parents, saying thatthe ‘negatives’ mentioned by him fit Shivawell and all negatives transmute intopositives in association with him. Parvatimust therefore do penance to win Shiva asher consort. She does that. And, eventually,after much persuasion by the gods,Shivaagrees to wed Parvati.

At the wedding, Shiva and Parvati firstinvoke Ganesh. Tulsi tells the readers notto be shocked about this. Because thegods are ‘unborn and eternal’. This is Tulsi’sway of deconstructing people’santhropomorphic mindset regarding gods.We treat the gods too much in humanterms. How can a couple at their weddingpropitiate theirfuture son? Family-trees

cannot be constructed in respect of gods asthey can be in respect of humans. Theanthropomorphic conception of gods mustbe taken as merely notional. When thispoint is missed, and gods are seen too muchas humans, religion becomes banal.

Likewise, to cut Rama from becoming acult-figure, Tulsi pluralizes him. He says,Ramas are many:‘Hari is infinite (ananta);and Hari-katha (Ramayanas) are also infinite.Sages have from time to time heard andrecited these tales in various ways (bahu-bidhi).’ The crow, Kakbhushundi, anothernarrator, says ‘every time Rama is born’,he visits Ayodhya to witness the sports oftoddler-Rama. Ayodhya, Rama, birth,Ramayana, Bramha, Shiva … all are plural.It is foolish to try to confine them to thesingular. And yet they are singular, and itis foolish to view them as many! This is thedivine paradox one needs to grasp andappreciate.

When Rama is set to cross the sea to‘play’ the battle in Lanka, he declares thatthe spot of their camp, Rameshwaram, issupremely beautiful (param ramya) andexcellent (uttam) and its glory (mahima)defies expression. He therefore resolves toinstall Shambhu there. The needfulaccessories are instantly fetched by themonkeys and a linga is raised and poojaperformed. Rama declares to all, thatanyone who bathes the linga with the waterfrom the Ganga shall effortlessly attainliberation through absorption in Him(sayujya mukti) by the grace of Shiva.

The relation between Rama and Shivais special (biseshi), defying definition (baranina jahi). Tulsi never employs specific termsin this regard. An interesting point is thatwhen gods, the manes (Dasharatha), oreven the Vedas in human form visit, theyare visible to all beholders. But when Shiva

Shiva in Tulsidas’ Sri Ramcharitmanas / 11

visits Rama at the coronation in Ayodhya,no one other than Rama can see him! Shivahymns Rama’s praise in a panegyric (stotra)that has become very popular: ‘Jai Rama-rama-ramanam-samanam / Bhav’taapa-bhava’kul paahi janam’.

Rama terms his regard for Shiva amystery (bhed) no one can comprehend. Hedeclares: ‘Those who are devoted toShankara (Shankar-priya) and are hostile tome (mam-drohi); and those who are opposedto Shiva (Shiva-drohi) but would fain to bemy servants (mam-daasa), shall have theirabode in the deepest hell for a full aeon.’

The message is very clear: Rama andShiva are the same. Anyone who callshimself a devotee of one and insolentlyreviles the other, has missed the basic plot

and is in the reverse gear. Rama declaresthat such a person will suffer hell (narak)for an aeon (kalpa). The crucial point is thatit is not about ‘both or none’. To talk interms of ‘both’ implies duality andconstitutes a gross error. A true devotee ofone necessarily, spontaneously, is a devoteeof the other. If that be not the case, thedevotion of the person to either Rama orShiva is misplaced. This was the error ofRavana, who prided in his devotion toShiva to the extent that he discountedRama. As Mandodari laments, he got thedessert (phala) anyone who is counter toRama (‘Rama-bimukh’)is doomed.Interestingly, even as he is slain, Ravanacries out ‘Where is Rama?’ And Ramaaccords him, the great devotee of Shiva, hisown realm (nij-dhaam).

The quest of mankind ever since its birth has been to worship God, to unravelthe mysteries behind outward appearances, and to grasp the fundamental truth.This is the genesis of religion. The worshiper has before his eyes the eternalbliss of paradise, or some similar view, which he aims at as his final approach.There have thus arisen religions in the world with their prescribed forms andrituals, based upon the personal practical experiences of their great founders.But after the lapse of thousands of years, when the entire surroundings havechanged and life has undergone a radical transformation, the same old formsand principles are being adhered to the outer form alone now remains intactwhile the inner spirit has become hackneyed, and it will not be wrong to saythat the present-day religion has become only a relic of the past or the bones ofthe dead.

-Sri Ram Chandra(Founder, Ram Chandra Mission)

12 / Sharana Patha

Spirituality is that aspect of religionwhich transcends cultures and centuries.Although spirituality is linked with reli-gion, it is quite distinct from religion. For,religion has definitive parameters: origin,tenets, and a name. Spirituality is compara-tively a diffuse concept.

According to the Random House Dic-tionary of the English Language (1979), re-ligion is a specific fundamental set of be-liefs and practices generally agreed uponby a number of persons or sects; and gen-erally includes the idea of the existence ofa single being, a group of beings, an eter-nal entity that has created the world, thatgoverns it, that controls its destinies, or thatintervenes occasionally in the naturalcourse of its history. Spirituality, however,is the process of continually transcendingcentricity (e.g., egocentricity) involving anincreasing openness to exploring a relation-ship with an intangible and pervasivepower or essence that exists far beyondhuman existence and rational humanknowing.

Over the centuries, the world has had amosaic of literary traditions in the prism ofspiritual poetry. Although the rootednessof the poets in a particular religion or soci-ety does exert a powerful influence in theirwork, the spiritual nature of the poems ush-

ers in the universal. If one were to borrowthe basic principle of the complexity theoryfrom the field of science, it would perhapsthrow some light on how spiritual poetrypercolates down to the common man. It isin this context that the poems of GeorgeHerbert and Shishunala Sharif have a com-mon ground.

One of the newest branches of study isthe science of complexity. Complexitytheory deals with the study of the organi-zation of simple elements in nature intocomplicated structures, ranging from gal-axies and ecosystems to the human brain.An examination of such organized struc-tures shows that all complexity consists oftwo opposing functions supporting eachother—differentiation and unity. When ap-plied to the poetry of Herbert and Sharif,both create an understanding of spiritual-ity by oscillating from simple to complexand back again.

One of the well-known poems ofHerbert, titled ‘The Pearl’ is prefaced withan epigraph from the Bible – specifically,from the Book of Matthew, chapter 13, verse45. That is to say, the reference is given,with the poet assuming that the readerknows the Bible chapter and verse, ratherthan providing the quotation himself.

Prof. Varada M. Nikalje, Prof. of English, Dept. of Languages, NCERT, Sri Aurobindo Marg,New Delhi.

Spirituality in the poetry of

George Herbert and Shishunala Sharif-Prof. Varada Mohan Nikalje

The Pearl

MATTHEW xiii

I know the ways of learning; both the headAnd pipes that feed the press, and make it run;All these stand open, or I have the keys:Yet I love thee.

I know the ways of honour;How many drams of spirit there must beTo sell my life unto my friends or foes:Yet I love thee.

I know the ways of pleasure; the sweet strainsThe lullings and the relishes of it;I know the projects of unbridled store;Yet I love thee.

I know all these and have them in my hand;But thy silk twist let down from heav'n to meDid both conduct and teach me how by itTo climb to thee.

(Due to constraints of space, the wholepoem is not given here.)

The quote from Matthew is ‘the king-dom of heaven is like unto a merchant man,seeking goodly pearls’ (King James Ver-sion).

In this poem, Herbert tells us how he iswell-acquainted with certain key pursuitsand benefits in life – learning, honour, andpleasure – but that these things are noth-ing when laid beside the poet’s love forGod. The structure of each stanza of ‘ThePearl’ brings this out: Herbert’s lengthydiscussion of the various advantages ofeach of these ideals (learning, honour, plea-sure) is lengthy and syntactically complex,unfolding across the first nine lines of thestanza in iambic pentameter. The final lineis short and strikingly simple: ‘Yet I lovethee.’ These four monosyllables are re-peated at the end of the first three stanzas,suggesting God’s constant nature.

The repetition of the words in the last

line of each verse also conveys a sense ofsuppressed passion with its repeatedstress. It makes it clear that the genesis ofpoet’s love for God is not because he is un-acquainted with worldly things; on the con-trary, he is familiar with these materialisticthings and events and can appreciate theirpower, what we would call maya, but rejectsthem in favour of God. The idea that the up-ward progression of the soul is not a simpleand easy process is reemphasized.

Further, Herbert states that it is not hisown ‘groveling wit’ that enables him toknow that God is better than the attractionsof the world: instead, he gives thanks to theguidance of God, who throws down a tiedsilken sheet from heaven, which the poetmay use to climb up to heaven and to God.

It’s worth recalling that Herbert began‘The Pearl’ with a reference to a biblicalquotation about a merchant searching forpearls to sell. Buying and selling is some-thing that the common people can easilyrelate to; and their interest is retained in thestanzas that follow, with their references to‘stock and surplus’(stanza one); ‘returns’and ‘gains’ (stanza two); ‘the projects ofunbridled store’ (stanza three); and in thefinal stanza, ‘the main sale, and the com-modities’ as well as the ‘rate and price’. Butwhat started out in the realm of financialtransactions ends up being used to refer toHerbert’s heavenly relationship with God:the pearl.

A similar spurning of maya, and disgustof a mind that craves it, is expressed by thesaint–poet Shishunala Sharif, in a more ve-hement manner:

The Fickle Mind

Your craving mindThat is attracted to the false glitter

14 / Sharana Patha

Of gold, of riches and of wealth –Chastise it! Hit it with your slipper!

Your unfocussed mindThat is caught in the coils of an illusory world,Forgetful of Lord Shishunaladheesha –Chastise it! Hit it with your slipper!

As may be seen, both Herbert and Sharifuse language relatively accessible to thecommon man. Yet,seemingly straightfor-ward though they are, they possess an in-tellectual depth which shows both to beastute analysts of the world they livein.Rooted in the life and beliefs of the com-mon people, using similes from their ev-eryday existence, the songs have a univer-sal appeal.As Herbert himself stated, ‘Thetrue beauty and love of God are perfect andready to be copied out; it does not needquaint words and trim invention’.

Herbert applied this principle earnestlyin all his poems. One such example is be-low:

The Altar

A heart alone

Is such a stone,As nothing butThy pow'r doth cut.Wherefore each partOf my hard heartMeets in this frame,To praise thy name:

There is hope of renewal and transfor-mation as the poet calls on God to turn the‘broken heart’ into something new, and dif-ferent.

Many of Sharif’s poems too, have a reso-nating religious or spiritual drive. Situatedin the context of rural life, his songs estab-lished an immediate connect with the com-

mon people, and facilitated a movementbetween the mundane and the metaphysi-cal.

BEHOLD THE TEMPLE

Behold the temple.Behold the body that is the temple.Behold that within which God resides,Brightness undimmed.

Listening to the drum, bugle and conch,Moving beyond the music to experienceThe calmness of utter bliss,When the body does not merely reflect the inner lightBut itself becomes luminous,Behold the temple that is the light.

Both poets were significant in recreat-ing philosophy through vernacular lan-guage. Each listener could interpret a com-mon core of symbolic and cultural elementswithin his/her cognitive framework. AsSufi Shah Niaz Ahmad has stated, “Thenightingale’s melodious songs raise hun-dreds of notes, and every time it is a newtune, but it comes from the same throat, thesame beak”.

Devotional verse need not always be se-dately contemplative, it may, at times, dis-play an upsurge of startling images and thetechnique of paradox that energizes thereaders/ audience. Both the poets haveused this to great advantage:

The Collar

Is the year only lost to me? Have I no bays to crown it,No flowers, no garlands gay? All blasted? All wasted?

But as I raved and grew more fierce and wild At every word,Methought I heard one calling, Child! And I replied My Lord.

Spirituality in the poetry of George Herbert and Shishunala Sharif / 15

the idea that, the jibes and jealousies of theworld mean nothing, using the metaphorof killing and death to convey the conceptof everlasting peace and the love of God.

As stated in the beginning of this article,complexity is broken down into simplerelements for better understanding, andwhen compiled and brought togetheragain, fruitfully evolves into new orders ofstructure, with each successive elementcontributing to a whole. Swedenborgshowed that this scheme displayed God’sdivine nature and character because Truthdistinguishes and Love unites. The real-ization of the unification of these two fac-tors results in utmost humility and surren-der, which is the cornerstone of all that isspiritual.

The Ego

I have mastered many disciplines,But the pride of having mastered them,The ‘I’, did not disappear.

(Sherif)

The Elixir

Teach me, my God and King, In all things Thee to see,And what I do in anything To do it as for Thee.

(Herbert)

Ultimately, humility is the fundamen-tal essence of all religions that contributesto spiritual fulfillment.

The poem begins with the speaker stat-ing that he will not tolerate his present lifeany more. It is time for him to make achange and he intends to resurrect the partsof himself lost in his youth. He declares thathe will not reflect on right or wrong. Thefinal lines bring the speaker back to his re-ligious reality. The voice of God penetratesthrough his “raving” and calms his ardour.

As one mellows, and gains deeper un-derstanding of concepts, layers of meaningbegin to emerge. The collar can be inter-preted:

* Literally, as the piece of clothing wornby a member of the clergy.

* Metaphorically, as representing submission

* Symbolically, connotations of control

Grace

Let me be worthless, with no trade or pro fession,Let my intellect be dead within me,Let me be killed, with a dose of poison,Let vultures and crows tear at me.

Let no tongue, or cult, exist in me,Let the world look at me jeeringly,But may the grace of Lord Shishunaladheesha,Be bestowed on my bowed head eternally.

In similar fashion, Sharif’s compositionsuses a series of strong statements to explore

Even if the goal of true communion with God is achieved only intermittently,it justifies the discipline, the routine, even the long periods when the heart is silentthough the lips move, when God seems absent though his name is repeated timeand again.

-Rabbi Robert Gordis

16 / Sharana Patha

Thus Spake Vemana-Prof. N. Narasimha Rao

Vemana is a Telugu poet and philoso-pher of the 17th century. It is not certainthat he lived in the 17th century or muchearlier. There are different views held re-garding his parentage and place of birth.He lived in the midst of society though ayogi. He watched life at close quarters andhad given expression to his thoughts andfeelings. His poems, some of which areextant today were written in a prosodicscheme called ‘Ataveladi’. They are four-line short poems ending with a refrainwhich is very popular.

Vemana’s poems bear testimony to hiskeen powers of observation of the men andmanners of his time. Though written truthcenturies earlier they have the ring of trutheven today. The one thing that is strikingabout his attitude towards life is the idolworship. At a time when people under-take long and arduous journey to places ofworship to catch a glimpse of their favouritedeity, Vemana calls them fools. Here onemy not agree with him. Then it is consid-ered that each one to himself Vemana em-presses himself rather too strongly againstidolaters. He is not alone in this. There arefew thinkers the here against temples asabodes of god according to Vemana. Godlives in one’s own heart. One only has to lookinwards to see Him. There is no need forhim to imagine Him in idols. Temples aredark places which are wrongly believed tobe houses of god. Vemana puts emphasis onthe purity of heart. Without pure heart mererituals, however elaborate they are mean-

ingless. It is just like cooking somethingdelicious in a vessel not made clean earlier.

Vemana does not recommend renuncia-tions. He does not want a person to deserthis family, friends and close relatives inorder to live like a recluse. He does notspeak is favour of those who leave homeand their villages and harden their mindsto live by themselves in the forest. Be leav-ing the family and overcoming simple de-sires of the body they cann’t attain heav-enly bliss. Vemana speaks promisingly ofhard labour. Those who work in the fieldsfor long hour deserve a word of praise.There is nobody viler than those who lookdown upon physical labour. The caste onebelongs to is of no importance.

Truth and wisdom go hand in hand. Aman who possesses both shall be consid-ered a man of virtue. Mere searches are invain in the forest or without being pure ofheart one cannot hope to reach a higherplane of life. The soul should be free fromall bondage to realize the goal. Age is norestriction on the mind, young or old. Aman is fit to hold a spiritual lamp at anyage. Once a man is free from the blemish ofcontamination he can see a reflection of Godeverywhere; the darkness of ignorancegives place to the light of knowledge. Hisrealization is like an axe which clears theforest of false ideas and light his way tosalvation. The mind free from wrong im-pression is better than ritual offerings. Theman’s character is more than the caste hebelongs to though a man of low birth, he

Prof. N. Narasimha Rao, ‘Sri Hamsa’, 74, 3rd main road, Yadavagiri Mysuru 570 020

ceases to be low when he has the ability toconcentrate on his spiritual goal. God be-comes visible to him who overcomes hissensual pleasures. It’s wrong of him to losehimself in the pursuit of lustful emotions.Vemana calls him a yogi who he rises abovehis attraction to women and wealth. Oth-erwise he will be in for disappointmentafter meeting the object of his desire and abrief enjoyment.

A man should be like a lamp protectedfrom the fury of winds by the glass chim-ney placed around it. His wisdom will con-tinue to protect him in all adverse circum-stances. Vemana talks of transient natureof life. People responsible for our birth andthose we have given birth to all will die.None is immortal. Forgiveness is a virtuedifficult to practice. But the poet urges allto be kind to an enemy and let him go with-out doing any harm to him.

Vemana lays emphasis on leading arighteous life. The good deeds done in theprevious life will not fail to stand one ingood stead in the present one. Withoutdoing anything meritorious in the past it isfoolish to long for comfort and wealth now.It’s not enough if one has a desire for com-fort in life. He’s very much like the thought-less fish which is caught in the metal bookwhen it tries to swallow the delicious bait.Sometimes a man turns a renegade andembraces another religion or he makes it apractice to run down other religions whilehe extols his own. He’s clearly in thewrong. Vemana speaks well of a man whois steadfast in his own religion while hedesists from criticizing other religions. Hewill lead a continued life if he does not yieldto the pleasures of life. Knowledge whichdoes not make for wisdom does not changea man’s nature. He’s like a piece of coalwhich does not cease to be black thoughwashed with milk several times.

A countless number of people look forshortcomings in others while they turn a

blind eye to their own. A ripe fig fruit ap-pears very attractive tempting one to eat it.But if you open it there will be worms in-side. A man of no worth appears in thesame way to be of any importance. Oncetested he will be found to be useless. Wherea man dies, he leaves behind all the wealthaccumulated by him. When he is bornagain he does not find his former wealth.He has to begin again the process of amass-ing a fortune. A good man born in a com-munity will bring laurels to the peoplearound. He’s like a sandal tree growing ina forest making it fragrant.

There are home truths expressed byVemana apart from the philosophical con-tent of his short poems. It’s wrong to post-pone doing something good. On the otherhand nothing should be done in haste. Anunripe fruit when plucked too early willnever become ripe. God alone knows whatis good and what is bad. It’s just like waterflowing downwards or a mother knowingwho is her child. Salt and camphor lookalike. When you taste them you will knowthe difference. In the same way all menlook alike when, but known personally youwill realise who is truly virtuous and whois worthless. Vemana gives the example ofa crocodile to illustrate the importance ofone’s own place. When he is in water acrocodile can catch hold of an elephant andmake it struggle to free itself. Out of water,the crocodile is helpless when dogs attackit. The strength of the crocodile is deadlywhen in its elements.

A devout man who is free from worldlydesires knows where a true spiritual mas-ter can be found. He’s like a honey bee thatnever fails to find the way to its hive or likea dragonfly that knows which flowers area source of the sweet sap. It’s a wasted effortto sink a well in a rocky terrain. It’s usefulto the entire community when the sameeffort is made in a low lying ground full ofsoft soils holding plenty of life giving water.

18 / Sharana Patha

The Dialogue between

Akka Mahadevi and Allama-Dr. C.R. Yaravintelimath

Despite Akkamahadevi revealed theidentity of her husband who was none butthe Supreme Reality, Chennamallikarjuna,Allama seemed to be not satisfied with heranswers. He remarked:

"However, though you laid on theworldling Kaushika the reproach of notaccepting Veershaivism and as such notwearing the Linga, and came here in asemi-nude state, your self- consciousnessis not yet shed since you wear your hair asa garment to screen your nudity. How doyou justify your wearing the hair-cloth?

You say that God loves you and youlove God:

What does it mean?Casting off your garment,When your spirit is pure,Why do you clothe yourself in hair?The shame of your heart thus shows outside.This will not please Guheshwaralinga.”

To this reaction of Allamaprabhu,Mahadeviyakka gives her reasons for cov-ering her body with hair:

“… With the intent that lest the sight of the seal of cupidshould hurt you, I have covered it up(with

my hair).Why should it hurt you?Pray, do not trouble me, who has submitted herselfTo Chennamallikarjuna , God of gods.

Then Allamaprabhu is puzzled at herstatement that she has submitted herself toGod and hence she has no body to be calledher own. He sees a sharp contradiction inher statement. So he asks her: “You stillhold on to the body which is the abode oflust, anger, senses, etc. Tell me how andwhen did you submit yourself to God.”

To that Mahadeviyakka says that herbody is like a burnt corpse or burnt ropewhich shows some form but it has shed allits properties:

“Does one who isVerily a corpse, consigned to fire;like a puppet whose wire is cut;like a tank whose water has dried up,like a cord burnt completely, andwho has made Chennamallikarjuna’s body her abode,retain the trace of her former body?”

And she also says:

“I loved a handsome youth, Formless, deathless, and beyond destruction.I loved a handsome youthPlaceless, infinite, entire and without a sign, O mothers!loved a handsome youth,,Who is birth-less and fearless, and boldI loved a youth, who being boundless is im- measurable.O Mothers, I loved my husbandChennamallikarjuna passionately.

Dr. C. R. Yaravintelimath, Professor Emeritus(Rtd), 'Chaitra', 11/A, Nirmal Nagar, Dharwad 580003

Then Allamaprabhu points out thesharp contradiction again in her argumentand says—that the form dissolves and theformless does not. Then how can there bemarriage between the one with form andthe formless?

“Destruction awaits form, not the formless.Tell me how form and the formless get to- gether?It is a bond that cannot be bound.As long as there is natural taint of body and sense,You cannot reach Guheshwaralinga, listen O mother!”

Mahadeviyakka says that when thetaint of the body is removed and the sensesare subdued, the body and mind becomepure, and then nothing comes in her wayof meeting with her lord Chenna-malikarjuna, which becomes easy.Allamaprabu leaves no stone unturned totest Mahadeiyakka. So he puts his nextquestion seeking further explanation:

“When you have understood the body, the mindought to be purified.When you have understood the mind, senseought to be purified.Hear me, O Mother:Until the body, mind and sensesAre made pure and tranquil, andTurned Lingaward,You cannot make a prayer to Guheshwara!”

To this Mahadeviyakka gives a convinc-ing explanation:

“My body became pure by eatingThe left-over of what the Shiva-devotees had tastedMy mind became pureby remembering innumerable saints.My eyes became pureby seeing the whole cohorts of Ganas. My ears became pureby hearing their praise.

This feeling is vital to me. O Linga father!By worshipping you,My mind being in direct contact with you,I made the wheel of birth stand still,O Chennamallikarjuna!”

She also adds: “Seeing Basava’s feet, mybody has come to nought; seeingChennabasavanna’s feet, my life too hasbecome void.O Prabhu, bowing to yourholy feet, my consciousness has come tome. Now that I have earned the mercy ofyour Sharanas, there is nothing more Iwant, O Prabhu.” Prabhu, who is stillunconvinced, seeks further explanationfrom her so that everybody can understandher tall stature of renunciation:

“If you say your body has become pure,Linga does not stay firm in you.If you say your life-breath has become pure. Linga does not stay firm in you.If you say your will has become pure, Linga does not stay firm in you.If you say you have become pure and calm,Reality cannot be realized,in Guheshwaralinga, listen, O Mother!

To this Mahadeviayakka’s reply is veryrevealing:

“Within my body, there is a bodiless state.Within my life there is a lifeless state.Within my will, there is a will-less state.The Absolute has filled my mind.Because you have looked after me.Seeing my womanly form with locks of hair and breasts,I have become Chennamallikarjuna’s maid of mercy.”

Then Allamaprabhu shoots one morequestion at Mahadeviyakka, who remainsdauntless:

(i) “O Mother,What is the way of merging in the Absolutewhich does not permit merging in?

20 / Sharana Patha

In the way you spell it out, there appears some flaw in it.Tell me how to merge in Guheshwaralingaand yet to keep Him apart!

(i) “It is a miracle,Tell Guheshwaralingawhere to find joy without body, and will without life.”

Observe carefully how Mahadevia-yakka, who is least perturbed byAllamaprabhu’s baffling questions andhow, without losing her calm, she answersall questions:

“When a person falls asleepOblivious of himself,And babbles something in dream,It’s as it were the dead waking.The milk curdled turns into frozen ghee,tastes sweet again.Why find fault in this.O brothers of Chennamallikarjuna, God of gods?

Then Allamaprabhu agrees with hermost satisfactory answer, and expresses hisfull satisfaction and joy as follows:

“This is all right.The spirit of Guheshwara is the same ,--Whether it is a unit added to a full account, orA thief hiding behind an installed Linga, or a bird flying over an inlet of the sea.”

Mahadeviyakka finally appeals toAllamaprabhu to forgive her bygone mis-takes and accept her as his householddaughter as she will not give up her truequality and humility, like sandal wood,gold or sugar cane, which do not give uptheir true nature under any circumstance,come what may:

“Did ever the sandal wood lose its fragrance,Because it was cut, sawn and rubbed?Did ever gold lose its lustre when heated,

because it was cut and whetted?Did ever sugar cane lose its sweet tasteBecause it was hurt when it was cut into pieces,Crushed and boiled to make sugar?If you collect all my bygone sinsAnd cast them into my face, the loss is yours.I’ll never cease to say, “I bow to you”Even if you slay me, O father Chennamallikarjuna!

We will be pleased to knowAllamaprabhu’s response to this Vachanawhich reflects Mahadeviayakka’s inner-most heart:

“The body has assumed woman’s form.The mind is one with the spirit of the Thing.You came with a purpose, andYou have achieved that, O my sister!You have shed the sense of twainIn Guheshwarlinga, O sister mine.

Then Mahadeviyakka too expresses herjoy as follows which sounds like an answerto all her riddles : “While still in body’scompany, I have become Linga’s compan-ion, and while in Linga’s company, I ambody’s companion, and transcending thecompany of both I have attained peace.After forgetting this cluster of words whatif one lives an integral life. Once I am joinedto Chennamallikarjuna, I do not recognizemyself as anything.”

Then Basavanna, who was witnessingall that with immense absorption, ad-dresses Mahadeviayakka intending to testher further:

"… Here me, O mother! Shiva lovesA union where the woman becomes man.If you would unite yourselfWith Kudala Sangama , you must withoutA sense of difference be a valiant man: that is so.!”"

Also here is her final submission toBasavanna :

The Dialogue between kka Mahadevi and Allama / 21

"I conquered Kama by your grace, O Basavanna.I will make Somadhara a captiveBy your grace, O Basavanna.What if I am a woman for name’s sake?I am a man in will,By your grace, O Basavanna.Putting shackles to lusty ChennamallikarjunaAnd knowing no duality, I became one with Him,By your grace, O Basava!"

Then Basavanna pleased expresses hisfull throated appreciation:

"Behold the body of the woman-child, O ancients!Behold the innocent form, O ancients!

Behold her, wearers of the Linga,Who lives by means of chastity,In self forgetfulness!Establishing herself within her Self,The life she livesWithout infringement of her pledgeHas come to be,In Lord Kudala Sangama,For our Mahadeviyakka!"

After getting through the ordeal,Mahadeviyakka was admitted into theAnubhava Mantapa. Mahadeviyakka staysin Kalyaana for quite some time, taking ac-tive part in the discourses conducted at theAnubhava Mantapa, relishing the spiritualcompany of all the great Sharanas.

The Kalamukha Acharyas attached to the Mathas ormonasteries were great educationists. They were probablyfollowers of Bhakti Cult. Their names had terminalendings as Shakti as such they were known as Shivashakti,Rudrashakti, Vamashakti, Ishvarashakti, Vishwashakti.Rashi and Abharana seem to have been affixed to theirnames. Though the Kalamukha Mathas were pre-eminently religious institutions, from the comprehensivescheme of studies accepted and taught by them and thedistinction which some acharyas claimed in grammar andliterature one can see that secular learning also wasimparted in them. The curriculum of studies includedamong others grammar, philosophy, Lakula Siddhanta,Yoga, Dharmashastras, Puranas, poetry, drama, polity,logic, music and painting.

-Dr. M.V. Krishna Rao(Glimpses of Karnataka)

22 / Sharana Patha

Basaveshwara and Mahatma GandhiA Comparison

-Dr. Basavaraj Naikar

Grace of God:

Basaveshwara easily resemblesBhagavan Buddha in teaching the necessityand extraordinary importance of compas-sion for all the living creatures of the world.He had to highlight the importance of com-passion against the background of animalsacrifice and inhuman treatment of sudrasby the high-caste Hindus. He, therefore,said that compassion is the very founda-tion of all religions. In his famous vachanahe says:

What sort of religion can it beWithout compassion?Compassion needs must beTowards all living things;Compassion is the rootOf all religious faiths;Lord Kudala Sanga does not careFor what is not like this.

Like Basaveshwara, Gandhi also taughtthe importance of compassion for all thehelpless people in the world. In his viewthe principle of ahimsa or non-violence isclosely connected with compassion. Whilehe was engaged in his Satyagraha, he clari-fied his views on compassion and ahimsaas follows: “Ahimsa is a comprehensiveprinciple. We are helpless mortals caughtin the conflagration of himsa. The saying

Dr. Basavaraj Naikar, 'Shivaranjani Nilaya', Opp. Tirupathi Appt., Kotur Plots, Malapur Road,Dharwad 580003

that life lives in life has a deep meaning init. Men cannot for a moment live withoutconsciously or unconsciously committingoutward himsa…” Though both the think-ers used different words, they meant thesame thing. Whereas Basavanna high-lighted to positive side Gandhi highlightedthe Negative side of the same ideas.

Both Basaveshwara and Gandhi weremen of God having their ultimate aim inbringing the kingdom of heaven uponearth. They believed in the grace of God andtheir faith enabled them to fight for Truthand struggle against injustice.Basaveshwara expresses his belief in thegrace of God in his famous vachana:

O Lord, with Your graceEven a dry log of would burgeon forth;O Lord, with Your grace even a barren cow will become a mulch cow;O Lord, with Your grace even poison will

turn into nectar;O Lord, with Your grace, all the gifts will

be heaped up before me;O Lord Kudala-Sangama!

Everything he did in his life was in thename of his personal God, Lord Kudala-Sangama, which happens to be his signa-ture in all the vachanas that he composed.Whereas Basaveswara has offered a

broader definition of God, Gandhi has per-sonalized his faith in the grace of God. Al-though Gandhi is widely known for hisgreat work in politics and social reforms hewas essentially a man of religion. His aimwas to attain deliverance (moksa) throughthe service of humanity. “I claim to be aman of faith and prayer, and even if I wascut to pieces, God would give me thestrength not to deny Him but to assert thathe is”.

Like Basaveshwara, Gandhi also be-lieved in the grace of God. He says that hehad made a rule that the inmates of theSabaramati Ashram should not kill thesnakes, which may easily enter the build-ing accidentally. He followed it for morethan twenty five years in his life only be-cause of the grace of God that he must haveenjoyed. “The rule of not killing venomousreptiles has been practiced for the most partat Phoenix, Tolstoy Farm and Sabaramati.At each of these places we had to settle onwaste lands. We have had, however, no lossof life occasioned by snake bite. I see, withthe eye of faith, in this circumstance thehand of God of Mercy… Even if it be a su-perstition to believe that complete immu-nity from harm for twenty five years in spiteof a fairly regular practice of non-killing isnot a fortuitous accident, but a grace of God.I should still hug that superstition”. Gandhiobviously shows how the grace of God hashelped him to maintain his vow of not kill-ing any snakes or other animals. ButBasaveshwara’s belief in the grace wasmore comprehensive than Gandhi’s, whichwas rather personal than philosophicallyuniversal. Likewise, Gandhi believed in theefficacy of Ramanama, which had beentaught him by his nurse in his boyhood toward off his fear of spirits and ghosts. Ashe grew older, his belief in the efficacy ofRamanama grew more and more powerful.

For example, speaking about his success inmaintaining brahmacharya, he confesses andattributes it to the efficacy of Ramanama andgrace of God. “Saints and seers have lefttheir experiences for us, but they have givenus no infallible and universal prescriptions.For perfection or freedom from error comesonly from grace, and so seekers after Godhave left us mantras, such as Ramanamahallowed by their own austerities to Hisgrace, complete mastery over thought isimpossible. This is the teaching of everygreat book of religion, and I am realizingthe truth of it every moment of my strivingafter that perfect brahmacharya”. This holdsmirror to Gandhi’s firm belief in the graceof God. His belief in Ramanama is equiva-lent to Basaveshwara’s belief in LordKudala-Sangama.

But what is significant is that both ofthem believed in a higher power of God,which would help them to follow the pathof morality and acknowledge it gratefully.

Vegetarianism:

Basaveshwara strongly opposed the ani-mal sacrifice during the twelfth century,because of his rational and compassionateattitude to life. His opposition to the ani-mal sacrifice presupposes vegetarianism.He indirectly pleads for vegetarian diet,although it was not necessary for him tomake it explicit as Gandhi did. All thesharanas were supposed to practice non-vio-lence to both men and birds and beasts.That is why Basaveswara says in one of hisfamous Vachana that an untouchable is onewho kills the animals; that an untouchableis one who eats the dirty flesh and that thesharanas are all known for their compassionto man, bird and beast.

But in the case of Gandhi, vegetarian-ism becomes an important issue because of

24 / Sharana Patha

his encounter with British culture in En-gland where he had to continue his educa-tion in Law. He was surrounded by theBritish people who were used to eatingmeat and drinking liquor. But Gandhicould not force himself to eat meat or touchwine or woman as he had promised hismother that he would not touch thosethings. But when he read Mr. Salt’s book,Plea for Vegetarianism he was extremelypleased and emboldened by it to practicehis vegetarian diet with a great firmness ofmind. He not only practiced it himself butalso persuaded others to follow the vegetar-ian diet. He strongly believed that non-veg-etarian food is not necessary for humansustenance. “I read Salt’s book from coverto cover and was very much impressed byit. From the date of reading this book, I mayclaim to have become a vegetarian bychoice. I blessed the day on which I hadtaken the vow before my mother. I had allalong abstained from meat in the interestsof truth and of the vow I had taken, but hadwished at the same time that every Indianshould be a meat-eater, and had looked for-ward to being one myself freely and openlysome day, and to enlisting others in thecause. The choice was now made in favourof vegetarianism, the spread of whichhenceforward became my mission” (Auto,p.35). One may easily see how the same ideais expressed differently by Basaveshwaraand Gandhi. Whereas vegetarianism is im-plicit in Basaveshwara’s opposition to kill-ing animals, in Gandhi’s plea for vegetari-anism, violence to animals is implicit.

Sacred Thread:

Another conspicuous similarity betweenBasaveshwara and Gandhi is that both ofthem rebelled against the traditional ritu-alistic practices like wearing the sacredthread and growing tuft on their heads.

Basaveshwara, though born in a KammeBrahmin caste in the twelfth century, re-belled against the wearing of the sacredthread when he was a boy of about twelveyears. Being a precocious child he had anoriginal thinking and a radical approach tolife. When his parents asked him to un-dergo the ritual of wearing the sacredthread across his chest, he boldly rebelledagainst it by tearing off the sacred threadand by describing it as a ‘creeper of karma’and a symbol of dehumanization and ex-ploiting and dividing the society. He wasso independent in his approach to life thathe did not oblige his parents at all to un-dergo the ritualistic ceremony. On the con-trary he left home and went to Kudala-Sangama to pursue his liberal education inthe school there.

Though Gandhi, being a Vaisya by birth,wore the sacred thread in India, he dis-pensed with it when he had to tour aroundin the world. When he went to differentcountries like England and South Africa, hegave up the wearing of the sacred threadand growing a tuft on his head, because herealized that the external symbols are irrel-evant once a man internalizes their spiritand meaning. When a sanyasi in Hrishikeshaccosted him and enquired about whetherGandhi wore the sacred thread and the tufton his head, Gandhi replied in the nega-tive thereby disappointing the sanyasi. “AsI grew up several well-meaning attemptswere made both in India and South Africato re-invest me with the sacred thread, butwith little success. If the shudras may notwear it, I argued, what right have the othervarnas to do so? And I saw no adequate rea-son for adopting what was to me an un-necessary custom. I had no objection to thethread as such, but the reasons for wearingit were lacking". Then Gandhi replied to thesanyasi in clear terms, "I will not wear the

Basaveshwara and Mahatma Gandhi A Comparison / 25

sacred thread, for I see no necessity for it,when countless Hindus can go without itand yet remain Hindus. Moreover, the sa-cred thread should be a symbol of spiritualregeneration, presupposing a deliberate at-tempt on the part of the wearer at a higherand purer life. I doubt whether in thepresent state of Hinduism and of India,Hindus can vindicate the right to wear asymbol charged with such a meaning. Thatright can come only after Hinduism haspurged itself of untouchability, has re-moved all distinctions of superiority andinferiority, and shed a host of other evilsand shams that have become rampant in it.My mind therefore rebels against the ideaof wearing the sacred thread. But I am sureyour suggestion about the sikha is worthconsidering. I once used to have it, and Idiscarded it from a false sense of shame…Ishall discuss the matter with my com-rades”. One may easily see the similaritybetween Basaveshwara and Gandhi as faras their rationality and rebellious spirit areconcerned, in regard to the meaningless-ness of the rituals.

Internal and External Purity:

Both Basaveshwara and Gandhi pleadedfor the achievement of inner purity as wellas external purity in man’s life.Basaveshwara severely attacked the fakebelievers, who followed the path of achiev-ing external purity in terms of taking bathtwice or thrice a day and performing therituals like the worshipping of the symbol(ishtalinga) on their left palm and wearingit on their chest or treating the jangamasrather peremptorily, without realizing thedeep truth hidden behind them. He insistedon the unity of being and strongly advo-cated the harmonization of inner purity andexternal purity. In one of his famousvachanas he says:

Thou shall not steal or kill;Nor speak a lie;Be angry with no one;Nor scorn another man;Nor glory in thyself;Nor others hold to blame;This is your inward purity;This is your outward purity;This is the way to win our LordKudala-Sangama.

Here Basaveshwara has offered fivemoral commandments to be followed by allpeople to lead a happy and noble life. Thesefive commandments form the very essenceof all the religions of the world. They helpman to harmonize his inner purity with hisoutward purity.It is only the believer whohas achieved the harmony between the two,who can achieve union with God or God-realization. Although Basaveshwara taughtthis principle in the religious context, it issupposed to be observed in all walks of life.

Like Basaveshwara, Gandhi also pleadsfor self-purification, which is connectedwith his concept of ahimsa. Gandhi makesthis observation at the end of his autobiog-raphy. One may easily notice how his po-litical life has attained the height of spiri-tuality: “Identification with everything thatlives is impossible without self-purification;without self-purification the observance ofthe law of Ahimsa must remain an emptydream; God can never be realized by onewho is not pure of heart. Self-purificationtherefore must mean purification in all thewalks of life. And purification being highlyinfectious, purification of oneself necessar-ily leads to the purification of one’s sur-roundings. But the path of self-purificationis hard and steep. To attain to perfect pu-rity one has to become absolutely passion-free in thought, speech and action; to riseabove the opposing currents of love and

26 / Sharana Patha

hatred, attachment and repulsion. I knowthat I have not in me as yet that triple pu-rity, in spite of constant striving for it. Thatis why the world’s praise fails to move me,indeed it very often stings me…. The expe-riences and experiments have sustained meand give me great joy. But I know that Ihave still before me a difficult path totraverse. I must reduce myself to zero. Solong as a man does not of his own free willput himself last among his fellow creatures,there is no salvation for him. Ahimsa is thefarthest limit of humility". One may easilysee how Gandhi has made his entire politi-cal life a part of religion and spirituality astestified to by his own words. His desire tobe considered as the last among the fellowcreatures is parallel to Basaveshwara’s dec-laration that none is smaller than him andnone, greater than the sharanas. Both ofthem have clearly shown the extraordinaryimportance of the harmony between innerpurity and external purity and affirmed theprinciple of unity of life, which enablesthem to achieve self realization which isidentical with God-realization.

Both Basaveshwara and Gandhi believein the view that morality is the basis of allthe religions of the world. They want to be

away from the path of evil. Basaveshwarasays in his famous vacana as follows:

Make me, O Father, a crippled manWho will not wander here and there.Make me, O Father a sightless manWhose glances will not rove astray.Make me, O Father hard of earLest I should hear of aught but Thee.O Lord Kudala-Sangama,Keep me from all enticements free,But what will draw me to Thy feet.

He requests his personal God to makehim a cripple so that he may not wanderabout in search of sensuous pleasure. Herequests Him to make him a blind man sothat he may not see anything evil. Likewisehe requests Him to make him a deaf manso that he may not hear anything blasphe-mous. A similar message is conveyed byGandhi’s keeping a doll of triple faces onhis mantle-piece. One face has closed itseyes so that he may not see anything evil;another face has closed its ears so that hemay not hear anything evil; and the thirdface has closed his mouth so that he maynot talk anything evil. Thus there is a closecorrespondence of ideas betweenBasaveshwara and Gandhi.

Basaveshwara and Mahatma Gandhi A Comparison / 27

Reasoning, instrospection and contemplation,Prayers, rituals and singing,Self-discipline, meditation and control,Dispassion, selflessness and rigour,Are all but the roads to reach Him.But forget not, after the whole distance is traversed,There rest the gates of Infinite Patience and Trust,Without passing these, most ways are treacherous.

-Sri Shivananda

SURRENDER!-Sri N Krishna Rao

"SURRENDER!!!" How simple and di-rect it sounds. There seems to be no mysti-cal implications about it.But l.What is SUR-RENDER?

2. What are we to SURR£NOCR and towhom?

3. What would be the outcome of sucha SURRENDER?

These questions put us on track to ex-plore the very purpose of our life. Certainlythis would be the most challenging task thatman could ever take up. So what appearsto be a simple suggestion for attaining theheights of spirituality, turns out to be anarduous journey into the very depths of ourbeing.

There is an innate thirst in every man toget the best of what life has in store for him.Naturally he struggles hard to rise higherand higher. Whatever be the field that hechooses , the basic driving force is to getahead of others. Consciously or uncon-sciously we all get into an unending race,trying to excel one another. This starts atthe individual level and gets shifted to agroup with which he finds an identity. De-pending on one's social, cultural, and reli-gious backgrounds, one carries variousidentities that are ingrained in one's psyche.

What we call society today is nothing butan amalgamation of peoples having diverseidentities in the name of caste, creed, race,religion, nationality, etc. - all vying with one

another for attaining supremacy. Invariablywe find ourselves in a perpetual conflictthat keeps us restless allthe time. There is ahaunting fear of being overtaken by oth-ers. We are caught up in the grip of a com-petitive world. The struggle goes on. Andthe stress that man is put to proves to betoogreat to cope with. An ambitious Macbethgoes berserk with a reckless butchering ofhis rivals. In a moment of frustration, heblurts out a few philosophic words aboutthe futility of life that is given to success :

"Life is but a walking shadow, a poor player,That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,And then is heard no more; it is a taleTold by an idiot full of sound and fury,Signifying nothing."

Shakespeare, the genius, creates an oc-casion here for reflection with a fresh mindabout what exactly life would mean.

A sense of purposelessness leads us to alife of boredom, emptiness, etc. The enor-mous stress that one faces at the work place,at times, becomes unmanageable. Of lateWHO identified a new kind of health -is-sue and termed it as 'burnout'. It is as psy-chological ailment that debilitates one'scognitive abilities.This is what an inhospi-table work environment does to us.

' To be or not to be' has ever been an in-triguing question. One is often shaken by athousand and odd ills 'that flesh is heir to'.A state of crisis emanates. One has got to

Sri N Krishna Rao, 466/30-1-1, 2nd cross, Krishna Layout, Hulimavu, Bengaluru 560076

open up to the fact of one's-existence. Thethreat of war is always there. A trivial is-sue may provoke nations to unleash theirnuclear arsenal. The rising levels of pollu-tion and the accompanying-climate changehave begun to alter the very conditions ofour living. With all the wonders that sci-ence has created, life is perched on a pre-carious level.

It appears as though the very tenor ofour life has been that of suffering. A greatmany thinkers, poets, philosophers, sagesof all ages and provinces have dwelt on it.Matthew Arnold, in his Dover Beach, re-flects on the sad plight of man:

"And we are here as on a darkling plainSwept with confused alarms of struggle

and flightWhere ignorant armies clash by night."

The ancient seer could see it long backand forewarned of the impending disaster:

"when one knows truth, it shines forth.When not known the destruction that

could be wrought would becomeimmeasurable."

-Kathopanishad

Patanjali, the illustrious founding fatherof yoga, puts it in an aphoristic statement:

"A man of wisdom would find life being entirely riddled with suffering."

The Upanishadic seers pondered overthe basic questions of life. When they couldarrive at an answer, they were wonder-struck. They could find no words to con-vey the wisdom that dawned on them:

"The eyes won't go there; the speechwon't go there, nor does the mind. Weknow not any means by which it could bepassed on to others."

The revelation was so great and glori-

ous that any description of it would onlybe misleading. Yet the seers went on tospeak out their insights that took the formof MANTRAS. They have not approved thegeneral ritualistic practices. They say thatit is BRAHMAN which is the ultimatesource of our being. Our cognitive abilityis confined to time and space. What is saidto be transcendental as well as immanentsimply remains inconceivable to us.

It is at this stage that Bhagavad Gitacomes to our rescue. Lost in philosophicalabstractions, we are caught in doubt. Aclarification is needed to throw light onwhat is what. Lord Krishna lifts us literallyfrom this confused state. The BhagavadGita simplifies the abstratct philosophicthought. It encompasses the entire gamutof our life-activity. The different paths thatappeal to different types of personalities arelucidly presented.

It doesn't stop there. It exhorts us to actwithout any fear and hesitation. What isneeded is just a single-minded dedicationto what we do. It would be appropriate inthis context to take up the questions wehave raised at the outset.

1. What is SURRENDER?

It means to let go things that we hold onto. It could also mean to give up our senseof possessiveness. It amounts to an uncon-scious admittance of a higher power oper-ating through our day to day affairs.

" Whatsoever that moves on earthshould be covered by Lord (The SupremeRuler). Hence, having given up attachment,one can rest assured of shelter - (the prin-ciple being) not tocovet anybody's wealth."

- Ishavasyopanishad

This is what SURRENDER is - a with-

Surrender! / 29

drawal ofourstubborn resistance to thingsthat go against our expectations.

2. What are we to SURRENDER and towhom?

Here we have to see what we have tosurrender. We are self centered. What everwe do, we do in order to gratify ourselves.This is the ego that gets strengthened inevery act that we do. We get puffed up withour successes and build up an image forourselves. This false image is the false egowhich is entirely our own creation. Therearise moments when we are called upon tohumble ourselves and accept the bare factsof life.

Our ancient epics (puranas) are full ofstories that highlight this point. The storyof Gajendra is one such. He feels that he isinvincible. But when caught by a crocodile,he has to struggle on and on for years. Re-alization dawns on him when he arrives atthe final moment of collapse. His heart opensup. With all the humility he cries out utteringthe name of God. When there is that totalSURRENDER, God comes to his rescue.

Mahabharatha, thegreat epic, depicts acourt scene where Draupathi is put to anexcruciatingly humiliating situation. But inan absolute self-surrender to God, prayingwith all her heart, she throws her arms up.The divine help comes in time to safeguardher and put to shame all those that werepresent there.

Surrendering is not that simple as it ap-pears to be. The tenacity to hold onto thingsis there all the time. We are carried awayby a sense of doership. "The world is toomuch with us." A decisive 'U turn' has tobe made. An uphill task it is, but the answerlies in our prayerful submission to God.

"This is my prayer to my lord.... Give me thestrength to bear lightly my joys and sorrows.

And give me the strength to SURRENDERmy strength to thy will with love." (Gitanjali-Tagore)

3. What is the outcome of such a SUR-RENDER?

Our consciousness is trapped in thingsthat lay a grip on us. A realization that theysoon vanish like passing shadows has todawn on us. The episodes don't just pointto the help that we get in our tough times.They only symbolize the Truth, that whichis the Ultimate. The liberated consciousnessadmits no divisions, but merges into theOneness of Being

"When I was there thou wert not, nowthou art there, I am not. The love - lane isvery narrow and cannot contain two."Kabir

Namdev glorifies the Name that is all -absorbing.

" None can realize the Name by practiceof knowledge, meditation or austerity.SURRENDER yourself at the feet of Guruand learn to know that T myself is thatName. After finding the source of that T,merge your individuality in thatoneness....The name is PARA BRAHMANitself." Namdev

For the humanity to evolve and mergeinto the Oneness of Being, the one- wordwisdom that the sages have passed on tous is, SURRENDER!

Brushing aside all philosophic specula-tions, Lord Krishna, at the end of BhagavadGita, condenses the ancient wisdom intoone single word, SURRENDER!!

"( Arjuna ), I will grant you the salva-tion and liberate you from all sins and suf-fering, you set aside all your duties, andunto 'Me' alone, SURRENDER!!!"

30 / Sharana Patha

Lesser Known Vachanakaras

KUGINA MARITANDE-Dr. C.S. Nanjundaiah

In the complete set of vachanas pub-lished by the Department of Kannada andCulture we are given 11 vachanas ofMaritande. His antika is MahamahimaMareshwara. In making his point clear,Kugina Maritande makes use of brain-teas-ing words and phrases which offer layersof meanings to his vachanas.

A stone may be polished to shine bright.Can one polish the wave of brightness of a

gemstone?Only the wordly person has passion and

hatred.A true lingangi whose mind stays in MahatHow can he be bothered by duality?Mahamahima Mareshwara dwells with

such a one.

For him a true Shivabhakta is one whoconcentrates on and keeps his mind in thatwhich is eternal and everlasting. Observethe way in which he uses the metaphor ofpolishing in relation to ekagrathe, concen-tration of mind. In another vachana,Kugina Maritande writes:

As the string and stick did bend togetherthere was scope for arrow to move

As bhakti and virakti got unitedit was possible to become the body that

knows the thingThe thing when it once pierced the three

qualitiesthese three qualities are destroyed.

Dr. C.S. Nanjundaiah, #43, ‘Acchoda’, 5th Cross, Basavanagudi, Shivamogga – 577201

Kugina Maritande is an interestingvachanakara of 12th century. He is said tohave lived in Kalyana around 1160 AD.Many of his life’s deeds are recorded inParvatesha’s Chaturacharya Purana. He wasa regular, active participant of Shivanubhavaghostis arranged at the city of Kalyana byBasavanna, Allama and others. That par-ticipation enriched his life’s experiencesand enabled him to write vachanas. Alsohe understood the essence of variousVeerashaiva tenets which made him under-stand the correlation between ishtalingaworship and bhakti. In his vachanas he gavehis own interpretation of a true Shivabhakta, meaning and relevance ofShatsthala, and how the worldly desires thatobstruct the way to God realization andsuch other aspects.

Like the other Maritandes we discussedin earlier issues, this vachanakara also pur-sued a vocation which became a part of hisname. He was brave and courageous. Hejoined the Sharana Association that waslater forced to face the army of Bijjala. Hisjob then was to warn the sharanas of theimpending attack by the enemy army. Thatvocation of warning by shouting gave hima distinct position among the Sharanas. Forthis reason, the word KUGU was prefixedto his name only to differentiate him fromther Maritandes.

In that destruction five organs were undoneSeven elements and eightfold arrogance too.Sixteen services, twenty five principlesand the feelings were no more.The smell of caste which resides in all this

got its way lost.Once it is understood who I amthe cry of caste is no more.as one knows Mahamahima Mareshwara.

Observe how he enumerates the idea ofGod realization by shunning the man madecaste discrimination. The three qualities hementions are mind (Manas), promise(vachana) and body (kaya). The five organsof the body, he mentions are well known.The seven elements are husi (falsehood),kalavu (thieving), veshyagamana (going toprostitute), paradara (adultery), paradravya(other’s wealth), paraninde (blaming others).The eightfold arrogance he records arekulamada (pride of caste), chalamada (one’spride in achieving), dhanamada (pride ofmoney), roopamada (beauty obsession),youvanamada (pride of youth), vidyamada(pride of education), rajamada (pride ofpower), tapomada (pride of one’s penance).Reference to sixteen and twenty-five arerelated to the ways of worshipping Shiva.

Kugina Maritande exhibits his wideknowledge of different ways of achievingGod realization. The examples that he se-lects are all from day today experiences.

One finds his attempt to be novel and new‘in telling’ and ‘in showing’ the use of meta-phors to justify his viewpoint.

True to his vocation, Kugina Maritandehas said all his vachanas in loud voice sothat men and women of his age couldchange their styles, ways of life and becometrue devotees of Shiva. In some of hisvachanas he uses question-answer method.He puts a question as we see in thisvachana.

Can we etch a soft stone with the stonecutter’s chisel?

Can we write with the edge of a burning wax?Can we enter a river in a boat made of mud?

These are impossible things in life. Thenhe answers them in his own characteristicway. From interrogatives, he leads toheights of understanding the true mind ofa devotee. If proper instruments are used,he tells us, a flower comes out of a rock.The true Shivabhakta can find his truespirit.

Kugina Maritande’s vachanas are usuallylabelled ‘difficult’, ‘tough’ for ‘reading’ and‘comprehension’. One has to struggle to geta true understanding, true sense and truemeaning. But for a conscientious reader, hisvachanas offer myriad meanings and expe-riences.

Even as the sun is the seedFor all the motions of the worldSo is the mind that seeds the sensesThe mind I have but oneWhen that is lost in TheeChennamallikarjunaWould I be born again?

-Sri Akka Mahadevi

32 / Sharana Patha

Lingayat StudiesHow Does it Matter to the Present?

-Dr. N.S. Gundur

Our historical inquiries should not ig-nore two fundamental aspects: one, our lifeis historically constituted in the sense thatour present is shaped by past events, inter-pretations, narratives, perceptions, and soon; two, the task of a historical inquiry atpresent is to make past events, interpreta-tions, narratives, perceptions, and so onrelevant to the present. Ultimately, its goalis to shape the present by going back to thepast (s).

Giving an account of past events, under-standing past interpretations, exploring thelogic behind past narratives, perceptions,and so on should be directed to make senseof the present reality and solve contempo-rary problems. Therefore, the study of anepoch or past textual culture is not a one-time event. We need to reopen questionsraised in the past, raise new questions inthe present about what happened in thepast and rethink of what is alreadythought. In this respect, inquiries intoLingayat Studies should probe the geneal-ogy of Lingayat way of life in order to shapethe present Lingayatway of life. Hence, oneof the leading questions at present shouldbe: How to lead (a good) life as a Lingayatin the twenty-first century? Such a ques-tion will not lead us to unearth certain factsabout the Lingayat Movement and person-

alities associated with it, and such a ques-tion, instead of landing us in polemics, willdraw our attention to the art of living well.To live well, we need certain forms of life,and ‘Lingayata’ is a form of life discoveredat a particular historical moment to lead lifein a particular way. At present, it is to beconceived more as an alternative way of lifethan a movement against other ways of life.In other words, whatever its historical ori-gin, we have to conceptualize it at presentdifferently; in the past it might have aban-doned ritualistic or Vedic practices, but forthe present what should matter for aLingayat is to lead his life in this particularway (leading a life of Lingayata), insteadof simply looking at it what it stood for inthe past. People following two or more dif-ferent ways of life, with contradictory be-liefs and practices, may live together. Theyshould be conceived as independent, notantagonistic.

We are historically determined. If we areborn in a family that followsLingayatsampradaya, we have to livethelife of a Lingayata. It is not a communal ar-gument. It is like asking a question like this:how to lead life as a scholar, if you happento be a university teacher? As long as youare a university teacher, this question isimportant, because excellence is the tar-

Dr. N.S. Gundur, Chairman, Dept. of English Studies, Davanagere University, Davanagere577 002.

get—the be-all and the end-all-- of a uni-versity teacher. Hence, the question of lead-ing life as a Lingayata needs to be raisedwithin the context of Lingayata community.Following the university-teacher analogy,as long as you are a Lingayata, this ques-tion of leading life as a Lingayata becomespertinent. If you are an athlete, the ques-tion is -- how to be a good athlete, or howto achieve excellence as an athlete. In thesame way, the vast literature of Lingayatatradition implicitly shows how to achieveexcellence in living the life of a Lingayata.If we read the predicates associated withthe sharanas as found in the vachanas, wecan reconstruct what it was meant to be a

sharana. Leading any form of life involvesobservance of certain practices and con-cepts. Hence, an inquiry into LingayataStudies should make one understand thepractices and concepts involved in theLingayata way of life, not in order to tracethe historical authenticity, but to makethem relevant today. How to make the prac-tices concerningtheLingayata way of liferelevant today? This should be a leadingquestion for anybody interested in makingenquiries into the field of LingayatStudies.The task at our hand is to rethink, recon-struct and re-read the Sharana Movementa fresh.

Will there be poverty for the devout?Will there be death for the eonian?Thinking that the devout are poorIf said I've helped!Nay, poverty will never strike them until the dayWhen Marayyapriya Amaleshwaralinga would become dead.

- Aydakki, Lakkamma

Come, my Way, my Truth, my life!Such a way as gives us breath,Such a truth as ends all strife,Such a life as killeth death.

Come, my Light, my Feast, My strength!Such a light as shows a feastSuch a feast as mends in lengthSuch a strength as makes his guest.

Come my Joy, my Love, my Heart!Such a joy as none can move,Such a love as none can part,Such a heart as joyes in love.

- George Herbert.

34 / Sharana Patha

The Veerashaiva Cult in Telangana-Sri K. Venkateshwara Rao

The Basava campaign gathered momen-tum gradually to become a mass movementin the country in which not only Dalithsbut also right thinking citizens, cuttingacross classes and castes, even contentiousBrahmins participated actively. It was aUniversalist movement, aiming at the wel-fare of the world becoming one single fam-ily. Saintly souls congregated at Kalyananot only from Kannada country but alsofrom remote Kashmir, to fuse a new soci-ety under the leadership of Basava. But hisrevolution had to overcome many hurdles,as the diehard conservative and casteist el-ements had started smear campaign againsthim. Basava was instrumental in arrang-ing the marriage between Haralayya’s son(an untouchable) with Madhuvarasa’sdaughter (a Brahmin) after initiating theminto Veerashaivism. His rivals took this asa shocking alliance and complained to KingBijjala against Basava and thus poisoned hisears. The King who was played into thehands of such vily intriguers awardeddeath punishment to Haralayya andMadhuvayya. This paved the way for agreat uproar in Kalyana. As a result, theking’s soldiers went after the Sharanas andkilled several of them. The remainingSharanas fled from Kalyana to save theirlives and to protect the Vachana literature.

In this background many Sharanas fledto the neighboring Telugu country whichwas under the rule of the Kakatiyas of

Warangal. They took shelter in the presentundivided districts of Nizamabad, Medak,Mehboob Nagar. They carried with themthe Vachana literature which taught thetenets of love, equality and brotherhood.Telugu people welcomed them and thus theSharanas settled in Telangana region. ManyVeerashaiva Maths came up in the aboveareas where the Sharanas were given shel-ter by the local people. The VeerashaivaMaths started propagating Veerashaivaprinciples and its literature in subsequentcenturies. Later the followers procuredlands, settled doing agriculture, business orother jobs and services. Subsequently thestatues of Basaveshwara on horseback havebeen installed in several towns and villages.Basaveshwara circles came up in cities andpeople started celebrating the Jayanthi ofBasava. The Veerashaiva Maths have beenmanaging educational institutions. TheVeerashaiva literature influenced Telugupoets during Kakatiya and Vijayanagaraperiods.

During the Shaiva Kavi Yugam (the eraof Shaiva poets), MallikarjunaPanditharadhya, was a great Shaivite poetin Telugu, who laid a strong foundation toShaivite literature. He was regarded asBrahma of Veerashaivism in Telugu coun-try. He wrote Shiva Thathvasara and was agreat worshipper of Shiva. For him Shivawas Parabrahma, Manthra waspanchakshari and Bhasma was his Raksha

Sri K. Venkateshwara Rao, Curator, JSS Museum, Sutturu, Mysuru Dist. 571129

Kavacham. His influence on Shaiva litera-ture has gifted great personalities likePalkurike Somanatha in Telugu literature.Palkurike Somanatha emerged as an unpar-alleled, powerful poet and has played a keyrole in spreading the teachings of Basava.He lived in 13th-14th century AD and fol-lowed Basava Philosophy whole heartedly.Basava’s word was final word for him.Somanatha or Somana as he was also calledbecame a part and parcel of Veerashaivismduring his days. He was a great scholarand did lot of work for Shaivism. He wrote'Basava Puranamu in Telugu dealing withthe life of Basaveshwara. This work was asensation during those days. He did a greatjob by focusing on Shaiva devotees. KaviSarvabhauma Sreenatha wrote severalbooks on Shaivism. For example,Eshwararchana Kalasela, ShivarathriMahathmya, Haravilasa etc., Another poetPothana was a Shaiva by birth andVeerashaiva by faith. Another great con-temporary, a Jnanapeetha AwardeeViswanatha Satyanarayana was also aShivopasaka. He authored several booksof which Veyipadagalu (Thousand hoods)and Ramayana Kalpavriksha are importantworks in Telugu literature.

Though there were only a fewVeerashaiva poets in Telugu literature, yetthey were very powerful poets.Mallikarjuna Panditharadhya was a con-temporary of Basaveshwara. He wasdeeply immersed in the teachings of Basavaand wanted to meet him. When he was onhis way to Kalyana, he heard the sad newsof lingaikhya of Basava at Kudala Sangama.With a heavy heart he went back and diedat Shrisaila.

Kaviraya Sikhamani Nanne Choda wasanother important Veerashaiva poet inTelugu literature. He authored Kumara

Sambhava, which is a great PrabhandaKavya in Telugu literature. DuringVijayanagara rule another important poetwas Dhoorjati who wrote KalahasthiMahatmya and Kalahasteeshwara Sathaka anddedicated them to Shiva. SriKrishnadevaraya honored him as his courtpoet. There were some less important po-ets who wrote books on Lord Shiva.

During the rule of the KakatiyasVeerashaiva cult spread to several interiorareas of Telangana. The Kakatiya rulers pa-tronized Shaivism and also built severalShaiva temples in their vast empire. Thenames of rulers like Rudradeva,Rudramadevi, Ganapatideva, PratapaRudra indicate their close affiliation toVeerashaivaism. Some of the villages werealso named after Shiva, Rudra, Ganapathi,Parvati etc., Besides Palkuriki Somana,several other poets authored books onShaivism. The kings have made severaldonations to the Shaiva temples for theirNitya, Dhoopa, Deepa and Nyvedya. Thethousand pillared temple at Warangal,Ramappa temple at Pamphlet and at sev-eral other places are the best examples.They also issued several copper plates,granite and stone inscriptions alluding theirfaith to Lord Shiva. Their vassals, noblesand other prominent persons have builtShaiva temples at different places. TheGanapeshwara temple built atGanapavaram in 1231 AD by Jayapa laterexpanded under Ganapatideva, the ruler ofVelanadu is best example. Common peoplealso named their children as Shivayya,Shivamma, Rudraiah, Rudramma,Lingaiah, Lingamma, Ganesha, Vinayakaetc.,

There is a close affinity between thewords, Linga and Trilinga. Trilinga inTelugu country refers to three famous

36 / Sharana Patha

Lingas such as of Shrishaila (presentRoyalseema), Draksharam (coastal Andhra)and Kaleshwaram (Telangana). Ptolemy andTaranath are of the strong opinion that theword Trilinga has been found in Buddhistliterature as well as in Prakrit language.They have substantiated it with historicalevidences. In Sanskrit it is Trilinga and inTelugu it is corrupted as Telungu, Tenugu.Vidyanath, a poet during the regime ofKakatiya king Prataparudra mentioned inone of his works that the regions ofSrishaila, Kaleshwaram and Draksharamamas Trilingadesa. In Veerashaiva literatureGuru, Linga, Jangama are prominent wordsand they are three attributes of Lord Shivabeing represented in Draksharama, inKaleshwaram and in Srishailam. PalkurikiSomanatha used the word Telugu in his

Basavapuranamu. Sri Krishnadevaraya in hismonumental work Amukthamalyada recordsthat Deva Bhasha Landu Telugu Less" mean-ing Telugu is the best language in the coun-try. It is a practice that the children aregiven “Om Namah Shivaya” at the begin-ning of their Aksharabhyasa. From birth todeath Shivasmarana is in vogue. There is aclose relation between religion and litera-ture that one can see the religion and cul-ture through literature. The poet Yerranawas given the title of Sambhu Das.

As can be seen above the influence ofVeerashaiva cult and Shaiva literatureswept the whole of Telugu country duringand after Basaveshwara. They influence theway of the life, tradition and culture ofTelugu people even today.

The Veerashaiva Cult in Telangana / 37

Mere adulation or adoration isn't observanceMere articulation of a spell or a charm isn't observanceMere burning of incense or waving a lamp isn't observanceNever coveting others', wealth, others' women and other gods is observanceLook, Ye brothers, such are the observances in Shambhu Jakkeshwara

-Sathyakka

Complete knowledge includes knowledge of the phenomenal world,the spirit behind it, and the source of both of them. This is transcendentalknowledge. Therefore one should be intelligent enough to know the sourceof all knowledge. Who is the cause of all causes and the only object formeditation in all types of yoga practice? When the cause of all causes becomesknown, then everything knowable becomes known, and nothing remainsunknown.

- The Bhagavadgeeta

ASHVAGHOSHAAn Ancient Buddhist Sanskrit Poet

-Dr. H.V. Nagaraja Rao

Gautama Buddha, arguably one of thegreatest human beings, was a revolution-ary who changed the view of life of manygenerations. He rebelled against the tradi-tional rituals and taught that a good wayof life is enough to gain salvation. His mes-sage traversed the oceans and transformedthe life of many lands. Even today, he isworshipped in many countries and histeachings are studied in various schoolsand universities. Many events of his illus-trious life have been recorded in theTripitakas, which are in a language knownas Pali. It is the sacred language for Bud-dhists.

After a few centuries past the demise ofthe Buddha, the Buddhist scholars felt theneed to write in Sanskrit which was the lin-gua franca of India in those days. ManyBuddhist philosophers and logicians wrotevaluable treatises in Sanskrit so that thefollowers of other religions could study andunderstand the outlines and essentials ofBuddhism. Some poets wrote works todescribe the life of the Buddha in Sanskritand Ashvaghosha appears to be the mosteminent among them.

We do not have any definite evidenceabout Ashvaghosha's date.According to aBuddhist tradition, he was a teacher of Em-peror Kanishka. So Ashvaghosha may be

said to have lived in the first or second cen-tury C.E. There can be no doubt about thefact that he flourished before the fifth cen-tury C.E. because Chinese and Tibetantranslations of his works done in that cen-tury are available. In the colophons of hisworks, we are told that Ashvaghosha’smother was Suvarnakshi, and, he residedin Saketa. He was respectfully called asAcharya, Bhadanta, Mahapandita andMahavadi. From his works, we can inferthat he was well-versed in the philosophiesof the Sankhyas, Jains, Vaisheshikas andMaterialists. He also knew the Ramayana,the Mahabharata and the Puranas of theHindus.

Ashvagosha's works

The two works that are very well-knownare, the Buddhacharita and theSaundarananda. Both these are consideredas Mahakavyas. If Kalidasa lived, as manyscholars believe, in the Gupta age,Ashvaghosha was his predecessor and heshould also be respected as a pioneer inwriting Mahakavyas. His other workSharikaputraprakarana is available only infragments. It is a social drama and so wecan say that it is the earliest available San-skrit play. However, if Kalidasa is acceptedas a poet in the court of King Vikramadityaof the first century B.C., Ashvaghosha will

Dr. H.V. Nagaraja Rao, 90, 9th cross, Navilu Road, Kuvempunagara, Mysuru 570 023

have to be considered as a successor ofBhasa, Kalidasa etc.,

Ashvaghosha's another workSutralamkara depicts Buddha's philosophy.The original Sanskrit work is now lost andonly its Tibetan translation is available.Mahayana Shraddhotpada, Vajrasuchi andGandistotragatha are also ascribed toAshvaghosha. It is also said that he hadwritten another drama known asRashtrapalanataka and it was staged in thecity of Pataliputra.

The Buddhacharita

As the title itself indicates, this work de-scribes the life of Sarvarthasiddha(Siddhartha), who later became the Bud-dha. The work contained twentyfourSargas (chapters) originally, but now onlythe first fourteen Sargas are available. Start-ing from the birth of the hero as the son ofking Shuddhodana, the story goes up to theattainment of Buddhahood in the extantfourteen Sargas. It cannot be said that theincidents are depicted historically. The poetuses his fertile imagination to raise the stat-ure of the Buddha even in his childhood.He says that divine beings like Yakshas andgods came from their celestial abodes to seeand bless the child. The poet also states thatthe sun shone more brightly on the child'sbirthday. Further it is said that a sagenamed Asita came to see the child and toldthe king that he was divinely ordained tohave a look at the child which was sup-posed to save the whole humanity. Thesage also predicted that the prince mayleave the kingdom and go to the forest toobtain higher knowledge.

Later too, according to Ashvaghosha, itwas the gods that caused the appearanceof a suffering patient, an old and weak man

and also a corpse in order to draw the at-tention of the prince towards the sorrow-fulness of the world. After Siddhartha aban-dons the palace and goes to the forest insearch of true knowledge (Bodhi), his meet-ing with the king of Rajagriha etc. are de-scribed dramatically. The prince's visit tothe hermitage of sage Arada and the de-bates that follow give the poet ample op-portunity to exhibit his mastery on severalbranches of philosophy. Siddhartha's pen-ance and Mara's attempts to disturb it andhis failure are also described byAshvaghosha vividly. The attainment ofBodhi by Siddharatha and his compassionfor the whole universe have been paintedin glorious colours by the poet.

In short, Buddhacharita is not a narra-tion of historical facts; it is a poetic render-ing of the life of a divine personality.

The Saundarananda

Fortunately, this work containing eigh-teen chapters is available in full. Descrip-tion of Kapilavastu, the capital city of kingShuddhodana, the king's administration,birth of Sarvarthasiddha (Siddhartha), hisgoing to the forest and gaining of Buddha-hood are described in this work briefly.However, the main story is that ofSaundarananda, Buddha's cousin.Saundarananda loves his wife extremelyand does not like to be separated from hereven for a moment. The Buddha wants toeradicate Saundarananda's fascination forthe woman and to draw him to the faith.For that purpose Saundarananda is takento paradise where he sees the most beauti-ful celestial damsels and becomes con-vinced that his pride about his wife's beautyis baseless. He converts him to Buddhismand he becomes a monk.

Ashvaghosha An Ancient Buddhist Sanskrit Poet / 39

Poetry and Religion

For Ashvaghosha, poetry and dramawere only tools for propagation of religion.He openly states at the end of theSaundarananda that the poem has beenwritten with the purpose of bringing tran-quillity to the minds of readers and the po-etic presentation is only to attract them. Inhis view, the poem is like a medicinewrapped in sweet sugar covering so thatthe people can gulp it happily. In otherwords, poetry is made a servant of religionfor the propagation of the latter. Accord-ing to Ashvaghosha, Moksha is the ultimategoal and everything should be utilised toattain it.

Ashvaghosha has been ignored

In spite of his poetic merits,Ashvaghosha has not received the recog-

nition he richly deserved. Many poets andalso rhetoricians have ignored him. Banamentions many poets in the introductionto his Harshacharita viz., Vyasa, BhattaraHarichandra, Satavahana, Pravarasena,Bhasa, Kalidasa and Adhyaraja. ButAshvaghosha is left out. Mammata andother writers on poetics quote profuselyfrom Kalidasa, Bharavi, Magha etc., but nota single verse of Ashvaghosha. Were theyprejudiced against him just because he wasBuddhist, or, were the works ofAshvaghosha not easily accessible for studyand criticism? Even in the collections ofwitty and wise sayings like theSubhashitaratnabhandagara, Ashvaghoshahas not received due attention. Actuallyhis Buddhacharita is a mine of Subhashitas.Bias should not make us blind to the liter-ary gems.

40 / Sharana Patha

Is the master of the house gone out,Or is he in?Upon the threshold grasses sprout;The house is justA bowl of dust:Is the master of the house gone outOr is he in?When falsehood does infect your fleshAnd your heart is a sensuous mesh,The master of the houseCannot be in,Kudala Sangama Lord!

-Sri Basaveshwara

A Scintillating Biography of a Veteran Actor-Dr. C. Naganna

Actually, the title of this article shouldhave been: 'A Scintillating Biography of agreat theatre Actor of Yester Years'. Thebiographer is Prof. K.B. Prabhuprasad, whowas a teacher of English and writer in hisown right. He is approaching ninetysummers. Ranga Antaranga is the title ofthe book under review. It saw the light ofthe day in 1998, exactly three decades afterit was serialised in a Kannada Weekly,'Sudha'. Prof. Prasad thanks E.R. Sethuramand K.B. Singh who were in charge of thisweekly magazine for persuading him towrite on Kotturappa, the veteran stage actorof yesteryears. By then many actors' liveshad been covered under this series in thesaid magazine.

Prof. Prabhuprasad gladly accepted theassignment since Kotturappa was living inMysuru; to that it was easy for the formerto sit with his subject over a period of timeand write. Prof. Prasad assiduously tookdown notes even as Kotturappa went onnarrating his life in the theatre. ButPrabhuprasad has not called his writing abiography because he has retained theautobiographical tone and tenor. When heexpressed his intention to Kotturappa thatthe narration would be in anautobiographical strain the great actorapproved it after going through a sample.Prof. Prasad remembers this incident witha relish.

There are two parts in the book. Partone consists of some thirtytwo petite

chapters which are nothing but the mostmemorable episodes in the very illustriouslife of Kotturappa. The second part is theauthor's recollection of Kotturappa's familymembers and a reverential assessment ofhis personality. It is a very elegantsumming up of the life of an extraordinaryactor of company theatre.

The entire book moves at a pacereflecting the calm and serene approach ofthe author. As Kotturappa was already anoctogenarian leading a life of retirementafter donning myriad roles of greatsignificance, he was in a very idealsituation to recollect the bygone glory intranquillity.

'From where shall I begin?' is the loadedquestion asked by Kotturappa and theauthor is very ambitious in indicating.'Begin from the beginning'! Both of themknew that to hold a long and illustriouscareer of Kotturappa within the smallcanvas was a near impossible thing.Therefore he narrates some episodes whichhe considered to be important and livelyfrom the readers' point of view.

Thus, we gather that Kotturappa wasborn in the year 1892 at a village called Sogein Bellari district. His father wasKarkimathada Rudraiyya and motherGurubasamma. They belonged to theJangama sub-sect and his father taught himsongs from Nijaguna Shivayogi,Sarpabhushana Swamy, Shishunala Shariffand the ones from Bayalota.

Dr. C. Naganna, 3195, 21/C Main, Vijayanagar, 2nd stage, Mysuru 570 017

Kotturuppa had to move to Hire-hadagali to work in a household and alsoto learn Sanskrit. But the Sanskrit teacherover there, Veerappa Sastry, was moreinterested in teaching stage plays thanteaching Sanskrit. Since Kotturappa andhis class-fellow Chennayya were goodlooking with very impressive voice theyboth decided to join a company theatre andas such their next destination was Shirahattiwhere Venkobarao Huligekar had histheatre company. Both Kotturappa andChennayya attracted the attention oftheatre goers because of their sucessfulperofrmances in the play 'PadmavathiParinaya'.

Prof. Prabhuprasad takes theopportunity to introduce the readers tovarious companies that were active duringthose days and how they tried to snatch orswap successful actors by offering thembetter royalty and emoluments than theirrespective proprietors. Each company viedwith its rivals to introduce new things byway of scenery and lighting to attract thespectators. The actors had to excel in bothacting and singing and Kotturappa wasblessed on both counts and therefore verymany companies tried to swap him to theirfold. By and large he was loyal to thosecompanies which gave him a foothold andextended all encouragement to him to shineas an actor and earn name and fame.

Through this very warm narrative weget a glimpse of the lives of gifted actors-cum-proprietors like Venkobarao,Kalaburgimathada Shivamurthayya,Vamanrao Master and so on. Venkobaraopreferred to encourage local luminaries towrite plays and thus we have 'Indira' byGururao Mamadapur; 'Shani Prabhava' and'Parvathi Sathvapareekshe' by AdabaddiMaster; 'Ramanjaneya Yuddha' by

Thoranagal Rajarao; 'Divya Prema' by IlakalKanti and 'Kittura Chennamma' byGovindaraju. When Kotturappaaccompanied the company to Mysuru heplayed different roles in the plays'Prahlada', 'Lankadahana', 'Krishna Leela'and many other plays. His first circuitincluded places like Bijapur, Bagalakote,Gadag, Dharwad, Hubballi, Harihara,Davanagere, Tumkur, Bangalore, Mysuru,Udupi and Mangalore. The second circuittook him to Adavani, Rayachur, Kalburgi,Solapur, Kolhapur, Athani, Mudhol,Sankeshwar, Gokak, Belagavi and Goa.

Kotturappa was greatly benefited by hisstay in Solapur because there he picked upthe finer points of Marathi theatre. He actedwith aplomb the roles in historical andsocial plays after mythological ones.Lokamanya Thilak happened to be aspectator for one of the plays. He had saidhe would spend a couple of minutes butsat through the whole play because of theacting and the theme of the play ('Indira').

Hariram Master played on theharmonium and after he went awayKotturappa became the harmonium master.But the proprietor Venkobarao nevershared the profit with the artistes andKotturappa was very much disappointedby his attitude and hence he left hiscomapny. He decided to live in Bangalore.He taught music to the daughter of oneThammanna Jois who was a relative ofBidaram Krishnappa. This contact withBidaram Krishnappa bore fruit later onwhen Kotturappa learnt music under histutelage in Mysuru. Because of Bidaram,Kotturappa shifted his residence to Mysuruand joined 'Sri Chamarajendra SangeethaNataka Sabha' as Bidaram was its chiefconvener. Chamaraja Wadiyar was a greatpatron of theatre which was continued byNalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar.

42 / Sharana Patha

In this narrative there is a repeatedreference to Sardar Gopalaraje Urs who wasan officer in the palace and very close tothe Maharaja. Sardar Urs was a realconnoisseur and it was he who scrutinizedthe plays before they were staged beforeHis Highness. Even the musicians had tosing before him and get his nod of approval.

Kotturappa, as a young householder,after marrying his sister's daughterShantamma (1913) balanced his life as anartiste and as a family man to the best ofhis abilities. There are very manyunexpected and unanticipated incidentsduring the course of this narrative whichhave added elegance and value to the work.One such episode is pertaining to a musicalconcert in which there was a spontaneouscompetition between two giants in the fieldlike Bhaskar Rao and Abdul Karim Khan.At the end of the concert, Bhaskar Raovoluntarily declares that the prize shouldgo Karim Khan. But all of a sudden thereemerged a person from the audiencerequesting them to lend their ears for acouple of minutes even as he sang. He sangthe raga rendered by Karim Khan and helifted it to a newer height of glory. As suchKarim Khan declared that 'the prize shouldgo to that person and not to him'. ButKotturappa expresses his sadness that thiswonderful singer, Rahimath Khan wasworking in a circus and died an ingloriousdeath becoming a victim of opium.

The episode dealing with howKotturappa left the palace company andjoined Chamundeshwari Company is verypoignant as it brings out the dilemma of acreative artiste who wants to be loyal to theold company but at the same time, hecannot brush aside the lure of a greenerpasture. It speaks volumes of his talent thatthey always offered him plum parts, theAbhimanyu in 'Veera Abhimanyu',

Shahjahan in 'Noor Jahan' and Mana Simhain 'Mana Simha'.

As the history of Kannada companytheatre has recorded indelibly. Kotturappaacted the role of Karna which was etchedin the minds of the spectators all overKarnataka. M.S. Ramaswamy, who was thePrincipal of Maharaja's College had writtenthe play 'Danashoora Karna'. AfterRachappa had died of heart attackNagendra Rao played the role of Arjunaand Kotturappa donned as Karna. AgainM.S. Ramaswamy penned the play 'SantaThukaram'. As Thukarama, Kotturappaonce agian won the hearts of the spectatorseverywhere. He was honoured for this rolein places like Thiruchirapalli andKumbakonam. The period of 'SantaThukaram" and 'Danashoora Karna'dramas was 1927-28.

Kotturappa was never a spendthrift. Infact his thrifty approach to life made himrich by any standard. Theatre people arenot normally known for financialdiscipline. They make merry when thewind blows favourably and recede intobackground in adverse circumstances.Because of his disciplined life Kotturappadid not encounter financial difficulties afterattaining some stature. He is proud ofanother fact and that is his moral rectitudeconcerning women.

After Chamundeshwari Companyshowed signs of decline Kotturappa waspersuaded to join the association 'SutturinaNataka Kalavilasigalu'. He was alreadygetting old and also he did not want toassociate himself with any amateur troupesafter having seen the glory of the companytheatre. He imposed an impossible demandto the enthusiasts that he would play therole of Karna (the organisers were veryparticular that he played that role) if theybrought him a bag of rice (of hundred kgs

A Scintillating Biography of a Veteran Actor / 43

and more). They brought the bag of riceand he played the role.

Kotturappa's autobiography reads likea saga of a successful actor who enjoyedthe bounties of theatre. He profuselythanks the spectators of Karnataka that theywelcomed his roles even when he was oldand ought to have led a retired life. Thiswas a great source of satisfaction for himthat the spectators have kept the theatrealive and kicking which is a sure sign of asuperior culture. Prof. Prabhuprasadplayed the role of Kotturappa in the firstpart (thirtytwo episode chapters) as abiographer (but he had to give the stage tothe actor to narrate his life), but in thesecond part he appears on stage and takesstock of Kotturappa's life and concludesthat it is a life that's blessed beyond doubt.Kotturappa had married Shantamma in1913 and her sister Gangamma in 1919 -both of them happened to be daughters ofhis elder sister. Gangamma had no issueswhile Shanthamma had a son Somasundarand a daughter Vasantha.

It is really unfortunate that such a giantof an actor that none of Kotturappa'sdescendants has entered and made a markin the field of theatre (Kotturappa also hadacted in cinema) to perpetuate his memory.We have heard the stories of how great

scholars' children are found selling theirparents' books by their weight soon aftertheir passing away. But the grateful rasikasof Karnataka have always cherished thename of Kotturappa for his extraordinarycontribution to the theatre.

Prof. Prabhuprasad deserves our deepgratitude for sculpting the life ofKotturappa for the benefit of posterity. Hisprose is lucid and crystal clear. He hascarried out very assiduously the instructiongiven by Kotturappa at the outset that thenarration should be true to his(Kotturappa's) personality withoutunnecessary embellishment. The reader isthankful to both the actor and the writer asthey have enriched our culture by playingtheir respective roles ably and nobly. TheBook Authority of the Government ofKarnataka deserves our thanks forpublishing this important book when theNataka Academy procrastinated needlesslyand missed the bus. But it is quite revealingand also redeeming that the then Chairmanof the Nataka Academy Dr. K.Marulasiddappa became instrumental ingetting the book published by the BookAuthority through its Chairman, NelamaneDevegowda, a person of great warmth andunderstanding.

Shiva, the lord will make his devotees beg and entreat!He'll rub them like gold for purity on touch stone?Wet-grind them like sandal-wood!Press them in crusher sugarcane like!If they remain steady and sureRamantha will lift them up by the hand.

- Jedara Dashimayya.

44 / Sharana Patha

News Round-up

1. 'Shivapada Ratnakosha' a monumentalwork in Kannada was released online on28.7.2020 in the gracious presence of H.H.Jagadguru Sri Shivarathri DeshikendraMahaswamiji at Mysuru and simulta-neously at Bengaluru by Sri B.S.Yediyurappa, Chief Minister of Karnataka.The function at Mysuru was attended byscholars like Dr. T.V. Venkatachala Shastry,Vidwan Dr. H.V. Nagaraja Rao, Dr. C.Shivakumaraswamy, Dr. N.S. Taranath, Dr.M.N. Nandish Hanche, the Swamiji ofKanakapura Math, Sri Pratap Simha, M.P.,Dr. C.G. Betsurmath and others. Speakingon the occasion Jagadguruji observed thatthis work is a boon to those who lovereligio-cultural history of the land, since itis a mine of explanatory information whileat the same time giving appropriate mean-ings to thousands of technical words in thevast literature covering both Veerashaivaand Shaiva religious panorama. Describ-ing the work as invaluable SriSiddheshwara Swamiji of Jnanayogashrama,Vijayapura, observed that 'ShivapadaRatnakosha' is an authentic compendiumthat introduces Shaiva Siddhanta, Cultureand the philosophical concepts of religionas a whole. Speaking about the work Sri B.S.Yediyurappa said that this work publishedby JSS Granthamale is one among the fin-est works brought out by Sri Suttur Math.The work reflects just one among the manyambitious projects executed by JSSMahavidyapeetha being steered by the vi-

sionary saint Jagadguru Sri ShivarathriDeshikendra Mahaswamiji. The functionat Bengaluru was also attended by Sri C.T.Ravi and Sri Basavaraja S. Bommai, bothministers in the Karnataka Government. SriC.T. Ravi said that this work is a rare giftgiven to Kannada language and culture. SriBommai said that this work is a guidinglight in the hands of seekers of wisdom andknowledge. While speaking on this workboth Dr. Nirmalanandanatha Swamiji ofAdi Chunchanagiri Math and SriSiddhalinga Swamiji of Sri SiddhagangaMath paid rich tributes to it which they saidis of great use to both general readers andscholars and particularly to researchscholors.

2. Speaking on the occasion of releasingan immunity increasing kit on 10.8.2020brought out by JSS Ayurveda Medical Col-lege, Mysuru, at Sri Math, Mysuru,Jagadguruji said that the kit assumes sig-nificance in the backdrop of Covid-19pandemic. His Holiness observed that theefficacy of Ayurvedic medicines is timetested since the preparations are based onherbs and other natural elements whichhardly have any side effect. Indian medi-cal system is as old as the land primarilyguided by the principles of immunity de-velopment in human body. Ayurvedicmedicines cure the disease as well as de-velop immunity to resist deseases simulta-neously, the Swamiji said. Both Dr. N.Krishnaprasad, Medical officer in the col-

lege and Dr. Sarbeshwarkar, Principal ofthe college, speaking on the occasion re-vealed the contents in the kits-Chyavanapras, Haridrarasa, KashayaChoorna, Rakshnoghna Dhoopa, Anutaila,Snuff and Swamala mixture. They said thatthese contents if taken as directed willsurely increase ones immunity to diseases.Dr. C.G. Betsurmath, Sri Jayarajendra, SriS. Shivakumaraswamy, Dean Dr. RajeshUdupudi and others were present.

3. In the gracious presence ofJagadguruji, various associations, trustsand organizations in Mysuru and else-where distributed food and essential kitsto thousands of families affected by Covid-19 which had put them into terrible hard-ship. Sri Suttur Math as directed by HisHoliness took the initiative in this regard.The organizations which distributed suchkits in the presence of Jagadguruji are: 1)Sri Suttur Math and JSS Mahavidyapeetha,2) Mysuru Citizens Forum, Mysuru, atMysuru 3) Ex-MLA Sri Vasu family 4) Citi-zens Forum, Mysuru, at Mysuru 5) MysuruCitizens Forum, Mysuru, at Nanjangud 5)Sri C.M. Shailendra and Smt. SunithaShailendra of Dr. C.N. Mruthyunjayappafamily, at Mysuru 6) Dr. C.N.Mruthyunjayappa Family and MoolchandNahar Charitable Trust, Bengaluru atMysuru 7) Mysuru Citizens Forum,Mysuru at Mysuru 8) Kaveri KannadaSangha, America and Moolchand Chari-table Trust, Bengaluru at Mysuru, 9) KaveriKannada Sangha, America and MoolchandNahar Charitable Trust, Bengaluru atMysuru. The beneficiaries are Municipalworkers, Tonga Drivers, Street Vendors,Poor families, theatre artists and musicians,journalists, artists of Fine Arts schools andits senior students, temple priests and thou-sands of other families who had lost theirjobs.

Apart from the above as wished byJagadguruji, 1) Sri Suttur Math and JSSMahavidyapeetha gave Rs. 5 lakh throughcheque to the Mysuru Zoo to take care ofanimals there 2) Rs. 20 lakh through chequeto the Chief Minister's Covid-19 Relief fundand 3) Rs. 2.50 lakh through cheque to theChief Minister's Covid-19 Relief Fund byJSS Hostels Senior Students' House Build-ing Co-operative Society, Mysuru and also4) The Veerashaiva Pontiffs' Association ofMysuru and Chamarajanagar Dist. contrib-uted Rs. 1.50 lakh to the Chief Minister'sCovid-19 fund in the presence ofJagadguruji, and the Swamijis ofHosamath, Nilakanthaswamy Math,Harave Math and Kundur Math.

4. Water Resources Minister Sri RameshJarkiholi who visited Suttur Srikshetra on29.5.2020 and offered puja at the shrine ofAdi Jagadguru Sri ShivarathreeshwaraShivayogi in the presence of Jagadgurujiand after having a discussion with theSwamiji inspected the progress of workunder the scheme of filling river water toirrigation tanks in the region. He later as-sured that the completion of work will beover soon and the tanks will get water atthe earliest. Ex-ministers Sri N. Mahesh,Sri C.P. Yogeshwar, MLAs Dr. YathindraSiddaramaiah, Sri B. Harshavardhan, SriC.S. Niranjan Kumar and Sri S.P.Manjunath, Sri Shivakumaraswamy, SriS.P. Udayashankar and others werepresent.

5. Vice-President of India Sri M.Venkayyanaidu had a detailed telephonictalk with Jagadguruji on 14.5.2020 as to howthe spread of Covid-19 could be kept un-der check in and around Mysuru. Explain-ing the situation the Swamiji observed thatsteps being taken by the Central Govern-ment under the guidance of Prime Minis-

46 / Sharana Patha

ter Sri Narendra Modi have greatly helpedto limit the disease from further expansion.Similarly, Sri Vajubhai Rudabhai Vala, Gov-ernor of Karnataka, on 2.4.2020 and SriBandara Dattatreya, Governor of HimachalPradesh, on 14.5.2020 made telephonic callsto Jagadguruji and sought his guidance andblessings for success in combating covid-19. Jagadguruji told them that people, inparticular, need to fully cooperate with theefforts of the Government departments toregister success. The Swamiji observed thepersonnel involved in the war againstcovid-19 were indeed performing their du-ties unmindful of their personal safety. SriSuttur math, JSS Mahavidyapeetha andvarious service organizations in Mysuruhave on their part volunteered to contrib-ute money, materials, medicines, food andessential kits to the needy and poor, theSwamiji explained.

6. Buddha Jayanthi was celebrated at SriSuttur math, Mysuru, on 7.5.2020 in thegracious presence of Jagadguruji. Speak-ing on the occasion Sri Jayarajendra saidthat the Buddha's teachings are universalthat they should not remain as mere words.They need to be put into practise and onlythen all can move from ignorance to knowl-edge. Sri Basavalinga Deshikendra Swamy,Sri Immadi Murughi Swamy, Sri KumaraDevaru, Sri Rudrayya Devaru, SriShivakumara Devaru and SriChanndrasekhar Swamy including the ser-vice personnel at Sri Math were present.

7. Chief Minister Sri B.S. Yediyurappainaugurated Covid-19 Testing Laboratory,at JSS Hospital, Mysuru, in the graceouspresence of Jagadguruji on 29.6.2020. In-augurating the Laboratory online SriYediyurappa said that the disease contin-ues to spread unabated from day to day thatall need to take precautionary measures in

full swing. Private hospitals in the Statehave extended their support to the Govern-mental efforts to combat the scourge. Inthis context, establishing this Testing Labis timely and most welcome. Sri SutturMath known for its yeoman services hasthrough its health services initiatives in JSSHospital is doing commendable service,the Chief Minister said. Speaking on theoccasion Medical Education Minister Dr. R.Sudhakar said that Sri Suttur Math wellknown for education, health and Dasohahas been in the forefront of doing good tosociety. Establishing the latest virology Labat JSS Hospital is really most welcome andtimely. In his benedictory addressJagadguruji called upon the people to re-main confident, cantious, and careful whichalone will help tide over this national ca-lamity. Cooperation and District in-chargeMinister Sri S.T. Somasekhar, MLAs Sri S.A.Ramadas and Sri L. Nagendra spoke on theoccasion. Sri S.P. Manjunath, Dr. C.G.Betsurmath, Dr. B. Suresh, Dr. SurenderSingh, Dr. B. Manjunath, Dr. P.A.Kushalappa, Dr. H. Basavannagowdappa,Col. Dr. B. Dayanand, Dr. H. Guruswamyand others were present.

8. Following the call given by All IndiaVeerashaiva Mahasabha and BasavaSamithi, Bengaluru, Mass Istalinga wor-ship, led by H.H. Jagadguruji was per-formed at Sri Math, Mysuru, on 13.4.2020for peace, health, welfare, and happinessof all and praying for strength and courageto overcome the crisis created by thepandemic in the country.

9. Speaking at the 20th Mahakumbha-bhisheka ceremony of Sri Kalabhairavesh-wara Swamy temple at Adi Chunchanagiri,on 4.3.2020 H.H. Jagadguru Sri ShivarathriDeshikendra Mahaswamiji, who graced theoccasion, observed that any number of

News Round-up / 47

material possessions will not assure hap-piness let alone enduring peace and wellbeing. Only spiritual endeavours, if incul-cated and practised in life will surely prom-ise the desired ends and goals. And this ismade possible if one leads god-consciouslife, he stated. Recalling the spiritual emi-nence of Dr. Sri Balaganga- dharanathaSwamiji, Jagadguruji observed, he was agreat guru who has left behind the impres-sion of his motherly love on the populaceand whose life was dedicated to the wellbeing of all and sundry in society. Speak-ing on the occasion Dr. D. VeerendraHeggade, Dharmadhikari, Srikshetra,Dharmasthala, said that all monasteriesand Maths of South India have continuedto serve mankind since ages, a matter ofpride and remembrance. Dr. SriNirmalanandanatha Mahaswamiji, pontiffof Adi Chunchanagiri Math, said that thecountry is facing many problems whichscience and technology alone cannot solve.People need to become responsive and re-sponsible that individual accountability isthe need of the time, the Swamiji opined.Swasthisri Charukeerthi BhattarakaSwamiji and Sri Shivananda BharathiSwamiji graced the occasion. FormerChief Minister Sri H.D. Kumara Swamy,MLAs Sri C.S. Puttaraju, Sri Sa.Ra.Mahesh, Sri Murugesh Nirani, Sri K.Sureshgowda, Sri Sharath Bachchegowda,Sri L. Shivaramegowda and others werepresent.

10. Inaugurating the 30th anniversarycelebrations of Bharath Cancer Hospital,Mysuru on 29.2.2020, Jagadguruji observedthat health of a person alone will help himachieve goals in life. In this context BharathCancer Hospital has already served thou-sands in its glorious existence of 30 yearsand will do so in the years to come.Dr. Ajay Kumar, Chief of the Hospital

said that the Hospital has servedsincerely over 60000 patients so far and willdo so in the coming years with dedicationand commitment. Rev. Dr. K.A. William,Bishop of Mysuru, Sri Jaffer Mohiddin, Dr.M.S. Vishweshwara, Smt. AnjaliAjaykumar and others were present in thefunction.

11. In connection with the 105th JayanthiCelebrations of Jagadguru Dr. SriShivarathri Rajendra Mahaswamiji, theAnnual Oration and the Teachers' Day werecelebrated at Sri Rajendra Centenary Au-ditorium, JSS Hospital, online on 5.9.2020in the gracious presence of Jagadguru SriShivarathri Deshikendra Mahaswamiji.The Annual Oration was delivered by Dr.Randeep Guleria, Director, AIIMS, NewDelhi and moderated by Dr. B. Suresh,Pro-Chancellor, JSS AHER and Dr. K.S.Satish, President, Karnataka PulmonologyAssociation. The function was attendedby a host of dignitaries. Giving hisbenedictory address Jagadguruji said thatthe Oration given by Dr. Randeep Guleriaon the occasion was timely and relevant.Recalling the services of the late Jagadgurujiand Dr. S. Radhakrishan, former Presidentof India and a great teacher, the Swamijisaid that Dr. Randeep Guleria's views onthe present crisis created by Covid-19should guide one and all in combating thedisease. Any amount of discussion or in-teractions will hardly work. But concertedaction alone will put an end to the crisis,Jagadguruji said. Dr. C.G. Betsurmath,Dr. Surinder Singh, Dr. B. Manjunatha,Dr. Col. Dayananda, M., Dr.H. BasavanaGowdappa, Dr. B.J. Sharath Chandra,Dr. Subramaniyan and others werepresent.

48 / Sharana Patha48 / Sharana Patha

PHOTO GALLERY

H.H. Jagadguru Dr. Sri Shivarathri Rajendra Mahaswamiji's 105th Birthday Celebration wasinaugurated on 29.8.2020 by Sri Rajanath Singh, Defence Minister, Govt. of India, onlinefrom Delhi. Present in the picture at Mysuru are Jagadguruji, Minister Sri S.T. Somashekar,MLC Sri Adagur H. Vishwanath, M.P. Sri Pratap Simha, Prof.. Mallepuram G. Venkatesh,Sri S.P. Manjunath and Dr. C.G. Betsurmath.

The 105th Jayanthi Celebration of Jagadguru Dr. Sri Shivarathri Rajendra Mahaswamiji wasinaugurated online by Sri Rajanath Singh, Defence Minister, Govt. of India on 29.8.2020from Delhi. Chief Minister Sri B.S. Yediyurappa, MoS for Railways Sri Suresh Angadi, MPs,Former Prime Minister Sri H.D. Devegowda, Dy. Chief Minister Sri C.N. Ashwath Narayanand Opposition Party Leader Sri Siddaramaiah are in the picture at Bengaluru.

In connection with 105th Birthday Celebration of H.H. Jagadguru Dr. Sri Shivarathri RajendraMahaswamiji an online interaction on 'Covid-19: Challenges & the Management was ar-ranged on 29.8.2020. Jagadguruji, Sri D. Veerendra Heggade, Dharmadhikari, Dharmasthala,Dr. Manoj Sinha, Governor, Jammu & Kashmir, Smt. Sudha Murthy, Minister Dr. K. Sudhakar,Film Actor Sri Darshan, Dr. B. Suresh, Sri H.V. Rajiv, Sri S.P. Manjunath, Dr. H.Basavanagowdappa, Dr. Surinder Singh and Dr. M. Nandish Hanche took part in theprogramme.

Jagadguruji is blessing Film Actor Sri Darshan Tugudeepa on 29.8.2020 when he visited SriMath in connection with 105th Jayanthi Celebration of Jagadguru Dr. Sri Shivarathri RajendraMahaswamiji.

The Swamijis of Sri Hosamath, Sri Harave Math, Sri Nilakanthaswamy Math and Sri KunduruMath as members of Mysuru-Chamarajanagar District Pontiffs' Association are seenpresenting a cheque for Rs. 1.50 Lakh to Corona-19 Relief Fund on 11.4.2020 to Sri S.T.Somasekhar, Mysuru-District-in charge and Co-Operation Minister in the gracious presenceof H.H. Jagadguruji, at Sri Suttur Math, Mysuru. Agriculture Minister Sri B.C. Patil, formerMinister Sri Adaguru H. Vishwanath, Sri Pratap Simha, M.P. and others were present.

Jagadguruji is honouring R.S.S. Pramukh Sri Mohan Bhaagavat with his blessings who visitedSri Math at Mysuru on 17.3.2020.

Jagadguruji is presenting a cheque for Rs five lakh gifted by Sri Math and JSSMahavidyapeetha to Sri B.P. Ravi, Member Secretary, and Sri Ajith M. Kulkarni, ExecutiveDirector, Mysuru Zoo Authority for animal welfare through Ministers Sri Jagadish Shettar,Sri S.T. Somashekar and Sri Bhairati Basavaraj on 8.5.2020. Smt. Tasnim, Mayor, Sri PratapSimha, M.P., Sri B. Harshavardhan, MLA, Sri M.K. Somashekhar, Ex-MLA and others werepresent.

A simple Basava Jayanthi in the backdrop of Covid-19 was celebrated in the gracious presenceof H.H. Jagadguruji at Sri Math, Mysuru, on 26.4.2020 attended by the sadhaks of JSS Gurukulaand others.

Jagadguruji is seen amid the members of the team from JSS Academy of Higher Educationand Research and Ideas Unlimited who invented moveable ICU, Dental Chair Sanitizserand other equipments on display on 8.5.2020. Dr. B. Manjunath, Dr. S. Balasubramaniyam,Dr. B. Nandalal, Dr. Sreenivasamurthy, Dr. B. Suresh, Sri S.P. Manjunath, Sri Nagendra R.Shetty, Dr. C.G. Betsurmath, Sri R. Mahesh and others were present.

To Municipal workers, Tonga operators and others affected by Covid-19 food-kits weredistributed by Mysuru Citizens Forum in the gracious presence of H.H. Jagadguru SriShivarathri Deshikendra Mahaswamiji on 8.5.2020. Ministers Sri Jagadeesh Shettar, Sri S.T.Somashekhar, Sri Bhairati Basavaraj, Sri Pratap Simha, M.P., MLAs Sri S.A. Ramadas, SriG.T. Devegowda, Sri B. Harshavardhan, Ex-MLAs Sri M.K. Somashekar, Mayor Smt. Tasnim,Dy. Mayor Sri C. Sridhar, Commissioner Sri Gurudatta Hegade, Sri R. Vasudeva Bhat, Dr. R.Balasubramanya, Sri R. Narendra, Smt. Rashmi Koti, Sri C.G. Betsurmath, Sri S.P. Manjunathand others were present.

Home Minister Sri Basavaraj Bommayi is being felicitated and blessed by Jagadguruji whenhe visited Sri Math at Mysuru on 22.5.2020. Sri Jayarajendra, Sri S.P. Manjunath and otherswere present.

Jagadguruji is felicitating Minister Sri K.S. Ishwarappa when he visited Sri Math at Mysuruon 21.5.2020 seeking his blessings. Sri Jayarajendra, Sri S.P. Manjunath, Dr. C.G. Betsurmathand others were present.

In the gracious presence of H.H. Jagadguruji the family of Ex-MLA Sri Vasu distributed foodgrains and other essential items kit to 3000 poor families on 17.5.2020 at Sri MahadeshwaraKalyana Mantap, Paduvarahalli, Mysuru. Jagadguru Dr. Sri Nirmalanandanatha Swamiji ofAdi Chunchanagiri Math, Sri Somanatha Swamiji, Sri Vasu, Dr. C. Naganna, Prof. M.Krishnegowda and others were present.

The 24th Mahaprayan day of the 10th guru of Therapanth, Acharya Sri Tulasi, was celebratedin the gracious presence of H.H. Jagadguruji at Suttur Srikshetra on 7.6.2020. Sri Jayarajendra,Sri Arhanth Muniji, Sri Bharath Muniji and devotees were present.

On the occasion of Sri Kempegowda's 511th Jayanthi Celebrations on 27.6.2020 foundationlaying puja ceremony for installing his bronze statue and establishing central park around itin the premises of Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru was held. Jagadguru Dr.Sri Nirmalanandanatha Swamiji of Adi Chunchanagiri Math, H.H. Jagadguruji, SriSiddhalinga Swamiji of Sri Siddhaganga Math, former Prime Minister Sri H.D. Devegowda,Chief Minister Sri B.S. Yediyurappa, Dy. Chief Minister Dr. C.N. Ashwath Narayan, Sri D.K.Shivakumar, Sri Govinda Karajola, Sri S.R. Vishwanath and others were present.

In the gracious presence of H.H. Jagadguruji the book Shivapada Ratnakosha was releasedonline on 28.7.2020 at Sri Math, Mysuru. Dr. C.G. Betsurmath, Sri Pratap Simha, Dr. NandishHanche, Swamiji of Kanakapura, Dr. T.V. Venkatachala Shastry, Vidwan H.V. Nagaraja Rao,Dr. N.S. Taranath, Dr. C. Shivakumara Swamy and others were present.