Page:The Indian Antiquary Vol 2.djvu/347

 November, 1873.] KARNATAKA VAISHNAVA DASAS. 309 Purandara lived, to his being posterior to Pu¬ randara. , That Mad h v a Dasa was later than (or contemporaneous with) Purandara ap¬ pears certain from his Abhimanyu Kaluga, a song which he composed “ having remembered the feet of the excellent Purandara Dasa.” There are seven songs more or less connected with Udupu, the author of which I am inclined to call Hayavadana, as this is the con¬ stantly recurring epithet of Krishna in the mu- drikds. The songs of Vaikuntha Dasa in the collection all state that his idol, the Vai¬ kuntha Kesava or Vaikuntha C h a n n i g a (i.e. Ranga), was inVelapuraj in one he speaks of a & r i Ranga Yatra (pilgrimage to a town Sri ranga P or generally pilgrimage con¬ nected with Krishna ?), calling, however, his deity Velapuradhisa. Another place re¬ ferred to by one song is Kera vasi pura, where Sri Subrahmanya (Sankara) re¬ sides, who in another one is entitled S u b b a Raya, and in the mudrikd of this is spoken of as follows: “ On earth in Kukke pura who has seated himself, he, Isa, is, and no other.” At the renowned place of pilgrimage, I may remark, at the north-western foot of the Coorg mountains, called Subrahmanya, the ge¬ neral cry is : “ Govinda, Govinda !” I do not know who were the originators of the Vaishnava DAsa movement in the south ; but it seems to have been only a new effort for the development of what had been begun al¬ ready in Ramanuja’s and M a d h v a ’ 8 time, in opposition to the Smnrtas or A d - v a i t a s, SankarachArya’s followers. Let us see. Madhva Dasa says: “From love to man in the Kali age Vishnu came down. He, the best of all, took care of the Urdhva Pund- ra* doctrine (mala) that had become unstable (chalita), and remembered Madhva muni. Remember ye our Madhva muni, who is the slave (kifikara) of the feet of the Narahari Gopala that is very firm on the coast of the excellent (purva) sea which is great in the world! ” And in a song of G6 verses he goes put horizontal marks on their foreheads. f Compare the Vlra Saivas! According to the Ka¬ narese Basavx Pur fail, tho struggles between bairns and Yaishnavas existed under tho Chdja kings; and latdr, under tho B i ji a}as of Kaly&na, they were still fighting against each other. According to the Clumrui (= Ranga) Basavch Purfaia (of a.d. 1585), the fight was also continually on : “ Bow to the lord of the guru Madliv A - charya! Say with praise that Hari is truly the supreme deity! Except Hari there is no perceptible supreme deity. You must read Hari’s tale, you must read the veda that says there is Duality (dvaya) in the One. Have continual intercourse with the Vira Vaish¬ nava s f! Do not adore all the deities you see ! Join the Hari Dasas, saying: ‘They are my relations! * Burn thy bad deeds in the fire of Hari’s tale ! The name of Govinda is the orb of the sun for all darkness. Go to emancipa¬ tion (moksTia) by steadily following the Ma¬ dhva doctrine ! Say the world is the imperish¬ able Vithala (Krishna) ! Continually remember the thousand names of Hari! Perform M a - d h v a ’ s pujd with devotion ! Say, that of all which is going on, Ranga’s pilgrimage is the best! As Radha put her desire on Ranga, quickly place your love in Mukunda (Vishnu) ! To overcome the fear of death, daily think of and bow to him who is one with the eternal spirit! Love Narasimha, and thus bum the germ-body (lingdhga), and thus bum the dread¬ ed births connected with Advaita! Look upon M a d h v a ’ s doctrine as the true Hari doctrine ! See the Hari Dasas in this Kali age, and thus get rid of your sins you have committed from want of (Hari) knowledge! Observe the doctrine of the Guru that favours the T u 1 u Brahmans ! He who knows the sweetness of Hari’s name knows indeed ; to him who knows it, sugar and honey do not match it. Come and eat the dainties of Hari’s tale! The charm (mantra) that raises the unknowing ignorant is tho charm that the' HariDasa is kind enough to give.” And in other places he says: “In a ship our Ranga came, he came to U d u p u and remained there. See, O mother ! ” “ Say : Hari, Go¬ vinda, thou who, in the world, tookest thy seat in U d u p u, didst found the Madhva doctrine in the world, didst fulfil the wishes of devotees, Krishna, lord of M a d h v a, who art with thy followers (sarana) ! ” “ Treating with contempt the twenty-one (?) doctrines, telling people the going on still later. For their service to Jangamas the Lingutas (Saivas) accepted the term dfisoliam, using it as a declinable substantive. Instead of d a s a the Liii- gAitas generally use sarana; the Vaisknavas, as far as I know, do not make so much use of this term, at least iu the Dflsa Fadas. Vlra Vaishnavas or Suddha Vai.shnaiaj are Brahmans preeminently or wholly devoted to Vishnu.
 * The perpendicular sectarian mark; tho 8 m A r t a s