Book Review

Saints of South India: Part I – Karnataka
By: Dr. N. Subrahmanyam, P. Aravinda Rao, K.G. Ramaprakash
Publisher: Delhi, India: Radha Soami Satsang Beas, 2024.
ISBN 978-81-19078-73-8

This book discusses the lives and teachings of three saints from Karnataka state in southern India: Sant Purandaradasa, Sant Kanakadasa, and Shishunala Sharif Sahib. These saints were part of the Bhakti Movement in India, which originated in Tamil Nadu in the seventh century CE and spread across India by the sixteenth century. The characteristic features of this movement included seeking oneness with God through deep devotion, rejecting ritual worship, and promoting equality for all people disregarding caste. Many famous saints were part of the Bhakti Movement – among them Namadeva, Kabir, Guru Nanak, Mirabai, Eknath, and Tulsi Das.

Sant Purandaradasa (1484-1564), named Srinivasa by his parents, grew up to follow his father’s trade as a pawnbroker and jeweller and was very miserly. One day an old Brahmin came to his shop seeking money for his grandson’s ceremony, but Srinivasa refused. The Brahmin kept coming for six months, and in the end Srinivasa opened a pouch of counterfeit coins and asked him to pick one. The Brahmin left without taking anything, but went to Srinivasa’s wife, who was charitable and gave him her diamond-studded nose ring.

The Brahmin then returned to Srinivasa to exchange the ring for money. Recognizing the ring, Srinivasa replied that it would take time to determine its value, and locked it in his safe. Enraged, he then went to confront his wife, demanding that she produce the ring. Terrified, she went to the kitchen intending to consume poison, but she suddenly heard the clink of a nose ring falling into her bowl. Thanking God, she brought the ring to her husband.

Srinivasa rushed back to the shop, but the Brahmin had vanished. Srinivasa realized that the Lord Himself must have come to his door. That very day, he renounced his home, belongings, and wealth, distributed everything to the needy, and set out with his wife and children in search of God. In his later compositions, he credited his wife for turning him toward the love of God. After twelve years of wandering, he finally found his Guru, Sri Vyasarayam, who was also the Royal Guru (spiritual advisor) of the kingdom of the Vijayanagar empire.

Srinivasa refers to God as Purandara Vitthala. He signed his poems Purandara Vitthala to express his own total surrender to Vitthala (a name for Krishna/Vishnu). In his many stories, poems, and passages, Sant Purandaradasa emphasizes remembering the name of the Lord:

Human birth is precious, ceaselessly chant the Lord’s Name,
Live not like the foolish one, do not fritter it away.
Eyes, hands, ears, tongue, feet were all given by God….
Why is it that you live in forgetfulness of the Lord?
Will wealth and possessions, kith and kin, protect?
Focus forthwith, meditate upon the Lord,
For salvation, worship the Name of Shri Purandara Vitthala.

Only by taking shelter with the guru, relying on his mercy, is salvation possible:

Difficult it is to attain Guru’s grace,
Futile it is to observe customary rituals,
Without the mercy of the Guru, is there any shelter?
Family, friends, and wife all related to this body,
Never can they help attain salvation.
With a pure mind, if you worship the feet of the Guru,
With wisdom contemplating upon him, all your sins are destroyed, O Brother,
Verily, O Brother, is Purandara Vitthala our sustainer.

He speaks out boldly against the caste system:

Cows may be of varied colours,
Will their milk of many colours be?
Stop engaging in inferior deeds to realize the essence.
Go not by caste, O man, caste there is none for learned men,
Being absorbed in the feet of Purandara Vitthala one gets liberation.

The second saint discussed in this book, Sant Kanakadasa (1508-1606), was a contemporary of Purandaradasa. He was highly intelligent and began writing poetry from an early age. His many compositions made great contributions to Kannada-language literature and music. He was called Thimmappa at birth but was renamed Kanaka Nayaka (meaning Lord of Gold) after he discovered buried treasure which he used for the welfare of the people and to construct a temple.

Kanakadasa served as the chieftain to King Krishnadevaraya of the Vijayanagar empire. He got wounded on the battlefield and, as he lay among the corpses, he had a vision of God (Lord Adikeshava), who gently caressed him, asking him, “Are you ready to serve me?” He had visions of his previous lifetimes, as well as a vision of his guru who would release him from the cycle of birth and death. This was Vyasaraya (Purandaradasa’s guru). After recovering from his injuries, he renounced the world and set out to meet his guru.

Vyasaraya took a bold step by initiating him since Kanakadasa was born into the shepherd caste. Vyasaraya endured years of criticism for allowing a shepherd to mingle with his high-caste disciples. Kanakadasa also had to face humiliating treatment by his fellow disciples.

Kanakadasa’s poems are filled with vivid imagery. In a poem encouraging trust in the protection of the Lord, he writes:

Be it bird or an animal that inhabits the forest,
Who is the one who feeds them all on time?…
Who has painted the peacock in brilliant colours?
Who has coloured the fans of coral red?
Who has painted green the sweet-tongued parrot?
He is the protector of all, no doubt about it remains.

He stresses the practice of remembrance: “O Mind! If you truly want to be happy, keep chanting the Name Divine!” Again and again he encourages us to turn the attention inward:

To see the Lord within, close external eyes,
Your inner eyes will then open,
Behold the vision of the supreme Lord….
Ears are the gateway for all karmic actions,
Through ears, listen to the gist of liberation,
These ears too are the axe that slays all karmas,
Listen through inner ears the roots of inner sound,
It becomes the means of salvation.

The third of the saints described in the book, Shishunala Sharif Sahib (1819-1889), was born into a Muslim family. Shishunala was married, but when his daughter passed away at a young age, and then his wife also died from grief, he left the householder’s life and sought his guru. His guru’s name was Guru Govind Bhatt, a Hindu Shakta Brahmin who faced ridicule and anger from his community for initiating a Muslim..

Shishunala was called the Kabir of Karnataka since, as the authors explain, he, like Kabir, “rejected allegiance to any particular religion or ritualistic practice. Till today Muslims revere him as a Sufi saint and Hindus bow down to him as Sharif Bhagwan.” Shishunala’s poems celebrate the unity of saints’ teachings, far transcending any divisions among religions:

Teaching of the guru is the same,
The celestial sound is the same.
The discipline to follow the path is the same,
The Primal Word is the same.
The centre (between the eyes) is the same,
The blissful truth the seeker experiences is the same,
The father, Satguru Govinda, is the same….
Flaws of the mind are the same,
Flawlessness of the Lord is the same,
Language of Shishunaladheesha is the same,
Cessation of rebirths is the same.