Guru Purandara Dasare

Guru Purandara Dasare
24 Jan 2020 is Sri Purandara Dasara Aradhane/Punya Dina
Purandara dasa set the highest value on good conduct. The strength and greatness of Sri Hari's name have been beautifully enshrined and sung in this world. People who do not know Sanskrit find it hard to understand the Vedas and Upanishads. But Purandaradasa has explained the whole essence of these scriptures in simple Kannada and show the way that one should live.

He practised in his life what he preached. It is important to note this aspect of his life. He gifted away all his wealth and lived the life of renunciation which he preached to others. Although he took to the life of renunciation and asceticism he did not desert his wife and children. He lived with them.

He made it clear to others by his conduct how it was possible to achieve purity of thought, word and deed regardless of caste, religion or creed. He did not believe that man could understand God by mere external purity unless it was accompanies by purity of mind.

Whatever Purandara dasa says, the way he introduces it and explains it is very pleasant. His similes are very simple and telling. He compares wicked men to the knotted tree of thorns. He warns the non believers that life is being wasted at every stroke of the bell. When he saw a post man he sang "A letter has arrived from Padmanabha. A letter that has been written by Padmanabha himself!".

He preached several moral precepts making use of familiar incidents like the postman delivering letters. It was God's gift that Purandara dasa was able to preach, in simple Kannada, what is difficult even for philosophers to put across in a way which the ordinary people can understand.

Just as Purandara dasa used incidents to preach the value of devotion, he was able to put across difficult principles in the few simple words in Kannada. Here is the verse: "The eyes which cannot see Narahari (Krishna) are no better than the eyes of peacock's feathers". He has criticized the pretense of people who merely shave off their heads without cultivating detachment of mind and pose as saints.

Scholars opine that Purandara dasa lived for about 84 years (from AD 1480 to 1564). On the basis of the verse by Madvapati, his son, it is held that Purandara dasa passed away a year before the fall of Vijayanagar. Taking it as authentic, his death anniversary is celebrated on the New Moon Day, in the second fortnight of Pushya.

It's once own duty to understand Purandara dasa's personality from his compositions and not be content with the stories that have grown around his name. We cannot come across such originality and variety in any other saint of that creed. On the basis of a verse in his name, it is said that he composed 4,75,000 songs. Whatever the number of his songs we can see the greatness from the verses available now.

He made music and song an integral part of the common man's life. About a quarter of his songs deal with his spiritual life and how it grew stage by stage. The remaining songs reveal his abundant experience, devotion, wisdom and his detachment.

Vyasaraya, his teacher himself has called his verses "Purandaropanishat". There is no need for some one else's praise.

"Salutations to you, Purandaraguru, Greatest of the saints and the kindliest"

This post is too small to narrate all accomplishments of Dasaru
Please refer to the citational sources
http://madhwabrahmanas.blogspot.com/…...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puranda...