| Music Composer |
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| Title | : | Vadiraja Tirtha - a gem among Haridasas |
| Guest | : | Manasi Prasad |
| Saint Vadiraja is one of the forsas of Karnataka. His contribution to society as a composer .,.... |
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| Saint Vadiraja is one of the
foremost among the Haridasas of Karnataka. His
contribution to society as a composer, religious
leader and as a scholar is unique and invaluable.
While his work was largely unexposed as compared
to the works of his more famous contemporaries
(Puranadara Dasa and Kanakadasa), today there
is a growing awareness about this great Saint
and his compositions.
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| Vadiraja was born in 1480 AD
in Hoovinakere, Kundapura district of Karnataka.
His parents, Ramacharya and Saraswati made their
living by growing crops in the fields. There is
a story connected with his birth. It is said that
his parents were childless for many years, and
went to Sode Mutt (in north Karnataka) to receive
the blessings of the pontifical head- Sri Vagisha
Teertha. Vagisha Teertha blessed them and said
that they would have a child on one condition-
were the child to be born inside the house, the
parents could bring him up, but if the child were
to be born outside the house, the parents would
have to give him up to the Sode Mutt. Tide of
events led to Vadiraja (originally named as Varahacharya)
being born outside the house, and hence as a young
boy, he left home to join the Mutt for his religious
instruction |
| Vadiraja began his spiritual
journey under the guidance of Sri Vagisha Tirtha
and was bestowed with the title of Vadiraja Tirtha.
From then he continued his life as a staunch Madhwa
saint, committed to the cause of spreading Dwaitha
philosophy. |
| Vadiraja's chosen deity was
Hayagriva (or Hayavadana), one of the forms of
Lord Vishnu. He adopted 'Hayavadana' as his 'ankita'
(signature) in his compositions. |
| Sri Vadiraja grew in knowledge
and experience, and became the head of the Sode
Mutt (one of the Ashtamathas - eight Mutts - in
Udupi). He was responsible for introducing the
Paryaya system in Udupi, whereby each of the 8
Mutts is responsible for the puja and upkeep of
the Krishna temple in Udupi for a period of two
years. Thus, one entire cycle of Paryayas spans
sixteen years, and this ensured an equitable distribution
of privileges and responsibilities between all
the Mutts. He travelled extensively to all the
famous pilgrimage sites in India and chronicled
his travels in a treatise known as the "Tirtha
Prabandha". He was adept in both Sanskrit
and Kannada. His other famous works include "Rukmineesha
Vijaya", "Yuktimalika", "Mahabharata
Tatparyanirnayatika" and others. |
| As a composer of keerthanas,
Sri Vadiraja's creativity and devotion knew no
bounds. He has left the musical world with hundreds
of compositions which abound in scope for musicians
to present. They are composed such that they are
suitable to different tala formats. Most of his
compositions are Bhakti oriented and praise the
virtues of Lord Krishna, Narayana and Hayavadana
in beautiful and simple language. Some of his
well known compositions are 'Narayana Enniro',
'Govinda Gopala Gopika Vallabha' and 'Vani Paramakalyani'. |
Vadiraja had boundless creativity.
In one composition 'Enu sukritava maadidalu Yashodhe',
he describes the good fortune of Yashodha, as
she is able to call the Almighty as her son. The
similarity of thoughts between this composition
and 'Enna thavam sheidanai Yashodha' by Papanasam
Sivan in the 20th century shows how great minds
sometimes think alike, even when they are separated
by time and space.
In another composition, Vadiraja shows how he
was not bound by constraints of his school of
thought, and believed that all Gods were one.
In his composition "Ondu Mooruthiyalli",
he describes how he imagined seeing both Shiva
and Vishnu in the same idol, and draws comparisons
between them. |
| Sri Vadiraja was also aware of
the ways of society around him and used his compositions
to gently chastise those on the wrong path. In
one composition - "hanave ninnaya gunavenu",
he sarcastically says that one without money ('hana")
is equivalent to a corpse ("hena")!
It seems as though things weren't very different
from today in the 16th century! Then in the same
composition, he describes how money could make
one forget the Lord, and thus warns people against
greed. |
| Despite being a sanyasi, who
was never bound by material ties, Vadiraja has
composed many beautiful javali-like compositions,
which are filled with sringara rasa. These describe
the longing of the nayika for her Lord Krishna.
These compositions are all the more remarkable
because javalis are supposed to be fairly recent
compositions in the Carnatic tradition, but Vadiraja
seems to have composed these much earlier. |
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