HINDU ENCYCLOPEDIA

सनातन धर्म भूमिका

Meaning of "Kanakadasa"

Word

Kanakadasa

Sanskrit

In General

Kanakdada (1509 -1609 CE ) was a Bhakti cult poet and musician belongs to the tradition of Haridasa literary-spiritual movement which ushered in an era of devotional literature in present day Karnataka Telungana region. Although Kanakadasa belong to Kurumba, a lower cast shepherd community his parents being the chieftain of the local king was able to give a good education to him. Kanakadasa grow as an intelligent young man but determined to keep away from his paternal profession for some noble cause. Yearning for spiritual truth, Kanakadasa became a disciple of the celebrated Madhwa philosopher-saint Sri Vyasatirtha. He also found it necessary to make changes in the society. His friendship with Purandaradasa gave him a direction in his life. He wrote kirtans, bhajans, prayers and poetry in simple Kannada that any illiterate villagers can understand and memorize. He composed music for his literary work and that really promoted his work popular among masses

There is legend that when Kanakadasa, a lower cast person was not allowed to enter the Shri Krishna temple of Udupi, he sang in praise of Lord in full devotion for many days. Suddenly a breach appeared in the wall where Kanakadasa stood and lord Krishna offered full darshan bending towards the poet. A small window was constructed at the breach later. The idol has still a bend. Now it become a customary that every devotee visiting the temple try to peep through the widow to have a vision of the great Lord.

His compositions addressed social issues in addition to devotional aspect. Kanaka Dasa was very aggressive and straight forward in criticizing evils of society such as caste discrimination, hollow ritualism and superstition. His poem "Kula Kula Kulavendu hodedhadadiri" asks humans not to segregate themselves from one another, because every human is born the same way, everyone eats the same food and drinks the same water, hence none is superior or inferior to one another.

Major works

Nalacharitre

Haribhaktisara

Nrisimhastava

Ramadhanyacharitre

Mohanatarangini

Kanakadasa also wrote hundreds of Carnatic Music compositions

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