447th Aradhana of Sri Purandara Dasa!! - A Tribute to Sri Purandara Dasa !!

Jai Sriman Narayana !!

Krishnaya Vasudevaya Haraye Paramathmaney

Pranathaklesha Nasaya Gonvindaya Namo Nama:

Purandara Dasa was born in  the year 1484,  Bellari –  Panduranga Ghat in Hampi, the capital of Vijayanagara Kingdom.   His father, Varadappa Naikkar and mother Kalamabal had no offsprings for long time.  They prayed to  Lord Srinivasa of Tirupathi to have a child of all the virtues.  With the blessings of Lord Srinivasa, a beautiful child was born.  They named the child Chennappa naikkar, as the child was born  with the blessings of Lord Srinivasa.   Years passes by as  Cheenappa Naikkar  grew with good knowledge in Music, Sanskrit, Sastra, Kannada and Marathi.  He  married to Lakshmi Bai a naive and highly religious girl at a young age.   In due course of time, they had Children .    Cheenappa Naikkar’s  Parents passed away at a young age.  His father was a great ‘Gem’ businessman.  Eventually, after the demise of his father he had to take up the responsibility of looking after his family and business.    Chennappa Naikkar spent day and night  for the progress  in his business and expansion of the same.   He has nothing else to think of .   He was too materialistic with no belief in righteousness.  People of the village called him ‘ Navakoti Narayanan’ -  He had 9 crores of wealth  and abundance of fame.  Still he was not happy with it.  His mind was wandering and thinking of how to double the wealth and how to become more successful.  As a mark of showing off his wealth,  nine kalasams (pitcher) were installed  on  the roof of his house.  The more he had the  urge for money  the more  he was unhappy and restless.  He was well known as a miser.   He did not even give a penny for charity or to  a beggar.  He did not follow any  righteousness, took bath only whenever he felt but was a very good eater.  He was leading a dull and materialistic life .  Later,  the turn of events in his life changed him and he was known as ‘Purandara Dasa' -  The ‘ Sangeetha Pitamaha’ of Carnatic Music. 

Purandara Dasa assures that, as  much as we praise  Lord and His Glory with  Nama Sankeerthana, the Peace and Prosperity prevails.   In this  Yuga, Is it possible for us to  do tapasya, dhyanam,  karma yoga, jyana joya ?  All these are great ways  to worship Lord.   Unfortunately, we don’t have the capacity to perform any of the above said.  Due to lack of concentration (not even for a second), faith, devotion and the  Mind is wavering and wandering all the time.    Purandara Dasa  worries  about how to surrender to Lord in this yuga .    Is it possible to do Karma Yoga?  Lord Krishna advises in  Bhagavad Gita :

" Karmanye vadhika raste, Ma phaleshu kadachana;
Ma karma phala he tur bhuh, Ma te sangvasta karmani "

Perform all your duties without expecting the result.  Lord Rama and Lord Krishna both  followed the same.   Lord Rama  fought against Vali, killed him and gave back the Kingdom to Sugriva.   Lord Rama killed  Ravana and gave back the Kingdom to Vibhishana.    Lord Krishna worked for the peace among the Pandavas and the Kauravas.  Krishna spent a lot of time with them. Finally, the Kingdom of Hastinapur  had safely vested in the hands of the Pandavas with  the help of Krishna as the Charioteer in the Kurukshetra War.   So, Karma yoga is not possible as the nature of  human beings  can’t perform anything without expectation,  unknowing the fact that the expectation can only bring continuous fear and selfishness.

Jai Sriman Narayana !!