Vijaya Dasa

2021-06-01T07:21:32Z

2409:4071:2186:373C:6143:8311:7ADD:85B6: /* Early years */

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2020}}
{{Infobox Hindu leader
|name = Vijaya Dasa
|religion=[[Hinduism]]
|image = Vijaya Dasaru Katte with Mohan Dasaru.jpg
|caption = Shrine in honor of Vijaya Dasa
|image_size =
|birth_name =
|birth_date = 1682 CE
|birth_place = [[Cheekalaparvi]] (Present day [[Manvi]] taluk, [[Raichur district]], [[Karnataka]])
|death_date = 1755 CE
|death_place = Present day [[Karnataka]], India
|guru =
|origin =
|occupation = Saint, Poet, philosopher, composer
|father =
|mother =
|spouse =
|years_active =
}}

{{DvaitaInfobox}}
'''Vijaya Dasa''' ({{lang-kn|ವಿಜಯದಾಸ}}) (c. 1682– c. 1755) was a prominent saint from the [[Haridasa]] tradition of [[Karnataka]], [[India]] in the 18th century, and a scholar of the [[Dvaita]] philosophical tradition. Along with contemporary haridasa saints such as [[Gopala Dasa]], Helevankatte Giriamma, [[Jagannatha Dasa]] and Prasanna Venkata Dasa, he propagated the virtues of the philosophy of [[Madhwacharya]] across South India through devotional songs called ''devaranama'' written in the [[Kannada language]].<ref name="song">{{cite web|title=Sri Vijaya DasaRu|url=http://www.dvaita.org/haridasa/dasas/vijaya.html|author=Rao, Madhusudan C.R.|publisher=www.Dvaita.org|work=Haridasas of Karnataka|access-date=2007-06-14}}, p1</ref> An integral part of Kannada [[Vaishnava]] devotional literature, these compositions in praise of the Hindu god [[Vishnu]] are called ''dasara padagalu'' (compositions of the ''dasas'').<ref name="das">Narasimhacharya (1988), p25</ref> These compositions can be more specifically categorized as ''keertanas'', ''suladis'',''ugabhogas'', and simply ''padas''. They were easy to sing to the accompaniment of a musical instrument and dealt with ''[[bhakti]]'' (devotion) and the virtues of a pious life.<ref name="dev">{{cite web|title=Jaina, Veerashaiva and Brahmanical Epics|url=http://www.dvaita.org/haridasa/dasas/vijaya.html|author=Kamat, Jyotsna|publisher=Kamat's Potpourri|work=History of Kannada literature|access-date=2007-06-14}}</ref>

==Early years==
Vijaya Dasa (Dasappa) was born in a poor [[Kannada people|Kannada]] [[Deshastha Brahmin]] family<ref>{{cite book|title=Religions and Communities of India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HAtuAAAAMAAJ|author=Pran Nath Chopra|publisher=East-West Publications|year=1982|page=54|isbn = 9780856920813}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|title=The Illustrated Weekly of India - Volume 95, Part 4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4Wc6AQAAIAAJ|page=30|year=1974|publisher=Bennett, Coleman & Company}}</ref> in [[Cheekalaparvi]] in [[Manvi]] taluk of [[Raichur district]], Karnataka state. His parents were Srinivasappa and Kusamma. He left home at a young age due to poverty. Later he came back with some saints from north India to Cheekalaparvi and some how tried to manage his family but failed to overcome poverty. He went back to Varanasi where he became a scholar. One night, he had a dream in which the 16th century [[Carnatic music|Carnatic]] composer and wandering saint [[Purandara Dasa]] initiated him into the Haridasa tradition and gave him the ''ankita nama''([[nom de plume]]) ''Vijaya Vittala'' and a Tamboori (Tanpur, musical instrument). From that day he was called Vijaya Dasa (''dasa'' ''lit'', slave to God), and dedicated his life to spreading [[Dvaita]] teachings.<ref name="song"/>

==Compositions and ministry==
His 25,000 extant compositions earned him the title ''Dasa Shrestha'' (noble among the ''dasas''). His compositions which use many Sanskrit words come under the category of ''Kalasha'' and ''Urasu'' creations and are considered an important component of [[Kannada literature]] (Kannada ''Sahitya'').<ref name="song1">{{cite web|title=Sri Vijaya Dasa|url=http://www.dvaita.org/haridasa/dasas/vijaya.html|author=Rao, Madhusudan C.R.|publisher=www.Dvaita.org|work=Haridasas of Karnataka|access-date=2007-06-14}}, p2</ref> His purported miracles include calming the Ganges, entering it without getting wet, preventing a woman from committing suicide, resurrecting his son, and making an uneducated man speak difficult Sanskrit proficiently.<ref name="song1"/> He is among the group credited with starting the practice of singing devotional songs while walking up the [[Tirumala]] hills in modern [[Andhra Pradesh]]. These hills are the location of the [[Tirumala Venkateswara Temple]], an important pilgrim locations for Vaishnava [[Hindu]]s.<ref name="song2">{{cite news|title=Metlotsavam' begins today|url=http://www.hindu.com/2005/01/24/stories/2005012408150300.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050302190436/http://www.hindu.com/2005/01/24/stories/2005012408150300.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=2005-03-02|author=Staff correspondent|access-date=2007-06-14|location=Chennai, India|work=[[The Hindu]]|date=2005-01-24}}, p2</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

===Bibliography===
* {{cite web |author=Sri Vijayadasara Seva Trust|url=http://www.vijayadasaru.in|title=Sri Vijaya Dasara Seva Trust|access-date=2014-04-14 |work=Official Chippagiri Sri Vijayadasara Seva Trust}}
* {{cite web |author=Rao, Madhusudana|url=http://www.dvaita.org/haridasa/dasas/vijaya.html|title=Sri Vijaya Dasaru|access-date=2007-06-14 |work=Haridasas of Karnataka}}
* R. Narasimhacharya, History of Kannada Literature, 1988, Asian Educational Services, New Delhi, Madras,1988 {{ISBN|81-206-0303-6}}.
* {{cite web |author=Hrishikesh|url=http://srinivasa-kalyana.blogspot.com/2010/11/sri-vijayadasaru.html|title=Sri Vijaya Dasaru|access-date=2011-03-07 |work=Vijaya Dasaru Life}}

{{Madhva Religious Figures}}

{{Karnataka topics}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dasa, Vijaya}}
[[Category:18th-century Indian philosophers]]
[[Category:Indian male philosophers]]
[[Category:Madhva religious leaders]]
[[Category:Dvaita Vedanta]]
[[Category:Carnatic musicians]]
[[Category:Scholars from Karnataka]]
[[Category:Haridasa]]
[[Category:1682 births]]
[[Category:1755 deaths]]
[[Category:Dvaitin philosophers]]
[[Category:Bhakti movement]]
[[Category:People from Raichur district]]
[[Category:Musicians from Karnataka]]
[[Category:18th-century Indian musicians]]

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Vijaya Dasa