Purandara Dasa

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Purandara Dasa
Father of Carnatic Music
Father of Carnatic Music
Background information
Birth name Srinivasa Nayaka
Born 1484
Origin Flag of India Kshemapura, Shivamogga, India
Died 1564
Genre(s) Carnatic music
Occupation(s) Carnatic vocalist

Purandara Dasa (1484 – 1564) (Kannada: ಪುರಂದರ ದಾಸ)[1] is the founder and one of the the most prominent composers of todays Karnataka Music (Carnatic music). His innovative contributions to music are immeasurable, and he is revered as the "Karnataka sangeeta pitamaha" (Father of Carnatic Music).[2][3]

Purandara Dasa's, Carnatic music compositions are mostly in Kannada, the state language of Karnataka and some in Sanskrit.[4]. He always concluded his compositions with a mudra(pen name) Purandara Vittala, dedicating to God Vittala (a form of Vishnu). It is believed that he has composed as many as 475,000 songs. However, only about 1000 are known today.[5] There are many book and official websites [6]that have published Purandara Daasa songs in different languages. For example, about 225 out of his very popular compositions are published in a Kannada book. [7] About 100 selected compositions are published in a English book .[8] Purandara Dasa is an all time great musician who invented and composed music for all classes of society. Every composition was characterized by a sustained level of excellence in ideas, language and music.[9]

Contents

[edit] Biography

© Kamat's Potpourri Stamp released in the memory of Purandara Dasa
© Kamat's Potpourri Stamp released in the memory of Purandara Dasa

Inscriptional evidence shows Purandaradasa was born in 1484 AD in Kshemapura, near Tirthahalli, Shivamogga district, Karnataka state.[10]Some scholars had proposed that Purandaradasa was born in Purandaragad near Pune, but this is considered a historical mistake - connecting the "pen name" (ankita) of the dasa with a location that mainly served as a military encampment in the 15th and 16th century, and where neither Kannada could have been popular nor any commercial activity would have flourished. The only son of Varadappa Nayaka, a wealthy merchant, he was named Srinivasa Nayaka, after the Lord of the Seven Hills. He received a good education in accordance with family traditions and acquired proficiency in Kannada, Sanskrit, sacred lore music and family business(in precious stones and pawn-broking).

When he was sixteen years old he married Saraswatibai, a pious god-fearing girl. He lost his parents when he was 20. He inherited his father's business, rapidly expanding it and amassing immense wealth. This earned him the appellation 'Navakoti Narayana'. (abundantly rich man).

Though his natural instinct to invent a new musical form might have made him to quit his flourishing business and devote himself completely to music[11], there is a popular belief that an unusual miraculous incident was responsible for it. When he was at the zenith of his business, Providence enacted the now-famous 'nose-ring' episode, to make the greedy and miserly merchant realize the worthlessness of his attachment to worldly possessions. Once, a Brahmin man wanted to perform the sacred thread ceremony (upanayana) for his son and came to Srinivasa 's wife for money. She gave him her nose-ring to sell for money, and the man went to Srinivasa himself to get the money. The miser lent the man his money, but his wife was worried about what to say to her husband, so she prayed to her favorite deity who gave her a nose-ring just like the one she had. When Srinivasa hurried home, anxious to know if the nose-ring was hers, he was bewildered seeing her wear the same one! She narrated the story, and he was converted, believing in the virtue of his wife and the virtue of a charitable life. The shock treatment marked a turning point in his life. Giving away all his wealth to charity, he left his house with his wife and children to lead the life of a wandering minstrel to spread the gospel of God. He was only 30. In his very first song after the incident, he laments his wasted life of indulgence. It begins as 'Ana lae kara' in raga Shuddha Savaeri, set to Triputa tala.

In the course of his wandering he met the holy sage Vyasatirtha. According to Prof. Sambamoorthy, Srinivasa [12] had his formal initiation at the hands of Vyasatirtha in 1525 when he was about 40 years old, with the name Purandaradasa bestowed on him by Satyadharma Teertha, a later occupant of the Vyasatirtha Matha (or Vyasaraya Matha).

Purandaradasa traveled extensively through the length and breadth of the Vijayanagara empire composing and rendering soul-stirring songs in praise of god.

Purandaradasa spent his last years in Hampi. The mantapa (mandap) in which he stayed is known as Purandaradasa Mantapa (mandap). He took sanyasa towards the close of his life. He joined his Maker in 1564 at the age of 80.

[edit] Purandara dasa and Classical music

Purandaradasa is credited with having founded todays Karnataka Music. He systematized the teaching method by framing a series of graded lessons such as swaravalis, janta swaras, alankaras, lakshana geetas, prabandhas, ugabhogas, thattu varase, geetha, sooladis and kritis.[13] He introduced the Mayamalavagaula as the basic scale for music instruction. These are followed by teachers and students of Carnatic music even today. Another of his important contributions was the fusion of bhava, raga and laya in his compositions.

Purandara Dasa was the first composer that started commenting on the daily life of the people in compositions. He incorporated in his songs popular folk language and introduced folk ragas in the mainstream. The most important contribution he made was the fusion of bhava, raga and laya into organic units.[14]

He also composed a large number of lakshya and lakshana geetas, many of which are sung to this day. His sooladis exhibit his mastery of the techniques of music, and are considered an authority for raga lakshana. Scholars attribute the standardization of varna mettus entirely to Purandaradasa.

Purandaradasa's era was probably the beginning of Carnatic music's movement towards krithi based classical music (one of its distinguishing characteristics compared to Hindustani). The peripatetic dasas who followed him are believed to have followed the systems he devised, as well as orally passing down his compositions.

Purandaradasa was a vaggeyakara(performer), a lakshanakara(musicologist) and the father of musical pedagogy. He is credited with having elevated Carnatic music from merely religious and devotional music into the realm of a performing art. For all these reasons and the enormous influence that he had on Carnatic music, musicologists call him the "Sangeeta Pitamaha" or the grandfather of Carnatic music. [15] Some scholars believe that for Purandara Dasa giving it a strong foundation and a clear sense of direction we would not be having Karnataka Sangeetha today.

Puranadara Daasa' had great influence on Hindustani music. The foremost Hindustani Musician Tansen's teacher Swami Haridas was Purnadara Daasa's disciple.[16] Purdara Daasa's compositions are equally popular in Hindustani music. Hindustani music legends such as Bhimsen Joshi, Basavaraj Rajguru have made them more popular in recent years. Young well known artists such as Venkatesh Kumar[1], Nagaraja Hawaldar [2] Ganapathi Bhatt and Nachiketa Sharma are continuing the tradition singing Purandara Daasa's compositions in Hindustani concerts.

[edit] Compositions

Purandaradasa was a prolific composer who is said to have composed around 475,000 songs. However, only around 1000 compositions have been found to date. Most of his compositions are written in simple Kannada, but he has also written in Sanskrit. He set most of his compositions in popular tunes/ragas of his time so that even a common man could learn and sing them. His compositions are also popular as 'padas' and 'devarnamas'.His keertanas are generally in Adi tala and Madhyama kala. His songs touch almost every aspect of spiritual life such as devotion, morality, ethics, good behavior and compassion to all living beings. Purandaradasa's devaranamas occupy an honored place in the devotional music of south India.

[edit] Philosophy

Purity of heart, devotion to God, and compassion towards all living beings formed the core of Purandaradasa's philosophy. A householder's life was no impediment to spiritual progress, as his own life was an example.

According to him, mere accumulation of knowledge, repetition of formulas and observance of rituals are worthless if the heart is not pure. Equally useless is the wrangling over the "nature" of God. Trust in God is far superior to beliefs in astrology and horoscopes.

[edit] References

  1. ^ A concise history of Karnataka from pre-historic times to the present (1980) by Suryanath Kamath, Published by Jupiter books Bangalore
  2. ^ A musical tribute was paid to Sri Purandaradasa, http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/2005/02/10/stories/2005021004860300.htm
  3. ^ The Music of India (1996) By Reginald Massey,and Jamila Massey foreword by Ravi Shankar, Abhinav Publications ISBN:8170173329, Page 57
  4. ^ Official website by Government of Karnataka http://www.dasasahitya.org
  5. ^ http://www.dvaita.org/haridasa/dasas/purandara/p_dasa1.html
  6. ^ Lyrics of songs by Purandara Dasa http://www.cs.toronto.edu/~kulki/kannada/dasa.html
  7. ^ Purandara Daasa Haadugalu (1996) by KavyaPremi, Samaja Publishers, Shivaji Road, Dhardwad
  8. ^ Songs of Three Great South Indian Saints by William J. Jackson (2002), Oxford India Paper, ISBN 0-19-566051-X
  9. ^ T.V.Subba Rao, eminent musicologist http://www.hindu.com/fr/2006/10/20/stories/2006102000060300.htm
  10. ^ History of the Dvaita School of Vedanta and Its Literature (2000) By B.N.K. Sharma, Motilal Banarsidass Publisher , ISBN:8120815750 page 598
  11. ^ Purandara Daasa (1964) by Srinivasa (Masti Venkatesha Iyengar http://ellakavi.wordpress.com/2007/07/28/masti-venkatesha-iyengara-story/), Published by Bangalore Press, Bangalore
  12. ^ http://www.hindu.com/fr/2006/10/20/stories/2006102000060300.htm
  13. ^ Karnataka Sangeetha Sastra (2006) by Panchapakesa Iyer , publisher Zion Printers, Chennai p93
  14. ^ http://www.hinduonnet.com/2000/12/02/stories/0902070b.htm
  15. ^ http://www.sruti.com/June06/bbook.htm
  16. ^ Sangeetha Kalaravinda (1956) , by Sheshadri Gavai, Aravinda Publications, Bangalore


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