Two Harikathākāras (

Two Harikathākāras (Part 1)

[[Two Harikathākāras (Part 1) Source: prekshaa]]

Among the harikathākāras ¹ of Mulbagal, the famous ones were: Śāmadāsa and Accappadāsa.

Śāmadāsa

Śāmadāsa was the son of Krishnappa, an Āgama vidvān. Āgamika Krishnappa was a good friend of the literary scholar Natti Venkatarama Shastri ². Śāmadāsa became a disciple of Venkatarama Shastri and learnt Telugu literature from him. As Venkatarama Shastri’s son Venkateshayya was learning the violin, it appears that Śāmadāsa learnt music along with him. Śāmadāsa typically conducted his harikathās ³ in Telugu. Venkatarama Shastri used to refine and edit the sāhitya ⁴ of the harikathās. Thus the rendition would be attractive.

Along with this beautiful sāhitya, there was also melodious music. Madhavayya and Ramachandracharya would both accompany on the violin. Sitaramayya would play the mṛdaṅga. At times, they were joined by Gattannagari Muniswamy on tabla. This ensemble made the concert successful. People would listen with great interest.

Apparently, Śāmadāsa once had a dream. In a place called Kadaripura, there was a Narasimhaswami vigraha that was deserted, without any daily rituals performed there; the person who would revive the rituals would gain puṇya – so said a Haridāsa in the dream. Śāmadāsa initiated the process the very next day.

There was some open space in front of Śāmadāsa’s house. At the southeast corner of the open space, the land was at a higher level. There was a rock in that location. The people of the town called it a ‘jāruva-baṇḍe.’ ⁵ It appears that my father used to slide down on that rock, as if it were a play-slide. Śāmadāsa obtained this open space from the government, levelled it, and constructed a temple with three aṅkaṇas ⁶. The deity was installed in the temple. The vigraha of Narasimhaswami was brought from Kadaripura and amidst great celebration it was installed in the temple. I distinctly recollect the event. After that, every evening bhajans would be sung and every Saturday there would be harikathās. I’m unsure what happened to that custom a few years later.

Acyuta-dāsa

Acyuta-dāsa was fondly called as Accappa by the townsfolk. He belonged to the Baḍaganāḍu bhāgavata sampradaya ⁷ but there was not the slightest hint of the madness that comes from excessive orthodoxy.

Their family occupation was that of śānubhogas (village accountants). He was the accountant of the Kannasandra village. I’m unaware of who he learnt music from. But that is nothing surprising. In those days, perhaps, there would be a great musician in every town. It was unlikely that there was a village that didn’t have two or three connoisseurs of music and literature. In this manner, Accappa must have picked up music from the environment around him.

His primary occupation was that of a ‘Singing Master’ ⁸ at a girls’ high school. Although he taught music with great enthusiasm, every now and then, there a tiff would erupt between Accappa and the Headmaster of the school in matters of sticking to the time-table. Accappa often travelled out of town for his harikathā concerts. When he was out of town, how to manage the class?

Once, the headmaster informed the [school] inspector about this ongoing quarrel. The inspector summoned Accappa and said, “If you fail to adhere to the time-table, we will have to punish you.”

Accappa said, “Sir, if you suspend this poor Kadari-dāsa ⁹, which newspaper or gazette would publish it? At least if you dismiss senior officials, that will become news!”

The inspector replied, “What’s this? Your words suggest that you’re not interested in the work!”

“Sir, my life runs because of the sore-buruḍe. ¹⁰ Should I throw away my sore-buruḍe for the immense wealth you’re bestowing on me?”

By then, the headmaster himself regained composure and spoke a few consolatory words. That helped cool down the situation.

Accappa neither respected nor cared about authority and ostentation. He finally resigned the government job to take up harikathā rendition as a full-time profession.

Accappa’s conducted harikathā in Kannada. His mother tongue was Kannada. Along with that, he had studied the Harikathāmṛtasāra, Kumāra-vyāsa-bhārata, Jaimini-bhārata, from which he gathered several verses that he felt were good. He had compiled a great treasure-trove of the devaranāma compositions of various Haridāsas.

Accappa’s style of narration could capture the hearts of the listeners. The expressions on his face and the movement of his eyes were appropriate to the situation of the story that he narrated. His mellifluous voice had created a niche for itself. Because he was serene to look at and he appeared to be of a benign nature, people from far off places were attracted to the harikathā venue.

His renditions included hundreds of devaranāmas composed by Purandara-dāsa, Jagannātha-dāsa, Kanaka-dāsa, and Śrīpādarāja – he would sing these beautifully. Every now and then, in the middle of the rendition, he would include a few lines of prose or couplets.

ಅತಿ ಸಂಭ್ರಮದಲಿ ಸುಂದರೀ—

ಭರ್ಜರೀ ॥

(With great excitement, the beautiful damsel—grand)

The above lines were modulated as per the situation like depicting the depature of Subhadrā or the anger of Satyabhāmā or the rage of Draupadī. His tonal variations while singing “bharjari” (grand) to indicate the different situations was ably supported by the loud strokes on the mṛdaṅga; this would amaze everyone.

In his last days, Accappa settled in Bengaluru and earned fame by his harikathā renditions. He led a satisfied life. It was one of purity. He was one who had experienced the joy of devotion to the Supreme.

The sub-stories that Accappa narrated were exquisite. He would enact the roles of the various characters that appeared in the story; by means of facial expressions, eye movements, and voice modulation, he would appropriately imitate the characters. For instance, during the svayaṃvara of Draupadī, mighty kings have failed to hit the target of the matsya-yantra and are sitting with their heads down in shame, or they have fled from the spot. After the turn of the kṣatriyas, among the members of brāhmaṇa community who were present, one of them got up. That was Arjuna disguised as a brāhmaṇa. The other brāhmaṇas who don’t know his true identity, stop Arjuna from participating by saying these words:

ಎದ್ದದ್ದೇನುಪಾಧ್ಯರೇ ॥

ತದ್ದಿನದೂಟವೇ ಮೇಲಕ್ಕೆದ್ದಿರಿ ।

ಎದ್ದದ್ದೇನುಪಾಧ್ಯರೇ ॥

ಸಜ್ಜಿಗೆಯಲ್ಲ ಹೋಳಿಗೆಯಲ್ಲ।

ಉದ್ದಿನ ವಡೆ ಕಜ್ಜಾಯಗಳಲ್ಲ ॥

ಮಜ್ಜಿಗೆಪಳಿದ್ಯವು ಮೊದಲೇ ಅಲ್ಲ ।

ಗೊಜ್ಜು ಬಜ್ಜಿಯು ಕೂಡ ಇಲ್ಲ ॥

ಎದ್ದದ್ದೇನುಪಾಧ್ಯರೇ ನೀ—॥

O brāhmaṇa, why did you get up –

is it for the day’s meal?

O brāhmaṇa, why did you get up?

There are no sweets (sajjige, hoḻige)

nor fried dishes (uddina vaḍe, kājjaya);

And as for curd-curry, it’s not there at all!

No sauce (gojju) nor snacks (bajji)

O brāhmaṇa, why did you get up,

O why did you get up?

This is the first part of the two-part English translation of Sixth essay in D V Gundappa’s magnum-opus Jnapakachitrashaale (Volume 2) – Kalopasakaru. Edited by G S Raghavendra and Hari Ravikumar.

Footnotes

Two Harikathākāras (Part 2)

[[Two Harikathākāras (Part 2) Source: prekshaa]]

One day, a dāsa went begging for alms as was his routine; standing before a house, he said, “Haraye namaḥ!” (Salutations to Hari!) There wasn’t any reply. Once again he called out. Even then there were no sign of a reply. Then he stood at the doorstep and shouted, “Dāridramma manyāge!” (literally, “O mother of poverty, are you home?”) A lady emerged from within the house and said in an enraged tone, “O Dāsa! Why did you address me as the mother of poverty?”

The dāsa replied, “O Mother! Can that ever be? How can anyone dare address you that way? I said, ‘Dāriddīramma’ (which means “Is the noble wife at home, O Mother?”). You might have heard it wrong, perhaps being in a hurry. Hasn’t the great Dāsa sung,

ದಾರಿದ್ದರೆ ಛಂದ—ಮನೆಗೆ ಅ

ದಾರಿದ್ದರ ಛಂದ ॥

ಕುದುರೆಗೆ ಕಾಸ್ತಾರಿದ್ದರೆ ಛಂದ ।

ಸೈನ್ಯಕೆ ಸರ್ದಾರಿದ್ದರೆ ಛಂದ ॥

ರಾಯಗೆ ಛೋಪ್ದಾರಿದ್ದರೆ ಛಂದ ।

ಚೆಲುವೆಗೆ ಚೆಲುದಾರಿದ್ದರೆ ಛಂದ ॥

A noble wife makes a home beautiful

It’s nice if there’s a jockey for a horse,

It’s nice if there’s a commander for an army,

It’s nice if there’s an usher for a ruler,

It’s nice if there’s a beautiful wife for a man.

“O Mother, a beautiful lady should be a wife of a handsome husband. The word ‘dārā’ means ‘wife.’ A house should have no poverty; there should be nothing wanting; it should be prosperous – so says the great Dāsa. Your house is indeed so, O Mother!”

~

Praṇeśācārya used to address his wife as, “He prāṇi!” (“Hey, animal!”) One day, when her relatives were visiting them, Ācārya called his wife and said, “He prāṇi, take this item.” She felt that he had humiliated her and asked, “Why do you call me prāṇi? My name is Padma.”

So Ācārya said, “So does that mean you don’t have prāṇa (life) then?”

She replied, “I have prāṇa and so do you.”

“Ah! Say that! I am Praṇeśa—the lord of life—and you are Praṇeśī—the consort of the lord of life—and out of affection, I call you ‘Prāṇi.’ Fine?”

“In future, please don’t call me by that name.”

“What’re you saying, crazy woman, Praṇeśa is the name of the lord Mukhyaprāṇa (Hanumān).”

“That name suits you well, keep that name!”

He replied, “Do you think you’re lower than I am? You’re my equal!”

~

There was yet another Ācārya who would go for his daily round of seeking alms. He would go to some householder’s house and say, “Haraye namaḥ!” When the lady of the house gave him rice, he would bless her by saying, “Śubhamastu!” (May you have prosperity) and then would ask, “O Mother, what is your name?”

If the lady replied, “Sītābāi,” Ācārya would say, “That’s great, people call me Rāmācārya.”

At another house, when asked her name, if the lady said, “Rādhābāi,” then our Ācārya would say, “People call me Kṛṣṇācārya.”

At the third house, if the lady said her name was Padmāvatībāi,” the Ācārya replied, “People call me Śrīnivāsācārya.”

Once the villagers figured out this habit of Ācārya, he was made to pay for his behaviour.

~

There lived a dāsa in the town of Dvāraka. His routine was to seek alms every day, carrying a cloth bag with him, with a sarangi in hand, which he would play and go from house to house. Standing in front of a house, he would sing thus:

ಸೋಭ್ ನಾರೀ ತಿಗಡೀ ಪಿಗಡೀ ।

ಏಕ್ ನಾರೀ ಪತಿವ್ರತಾ ॥

“All women in the world are this way and that (i.e. unfaithful)

But there’s only one who is a pativratā (chaste)”

Upon listening to that song, if the lady of the house asked with curiosity, “Who is that chaste woman?” the dāsa would promptly respond, “It is you, O Mother. Who else can it be other than you?” She would be delighted and she would give another fistful of rice. Thus he would get rice at every house.

Someone informed this to Lord Śrī-Kṛṣṇa and requested him to teach that conman a lesson. Kṛṣṇa gave a light smile and agreed to look into it.

The next day, the dāsa as usual sang the “ಸೋಭ್ ನಾರೀ,” gathered quite some rice, and returned home. He saw the door closed. He stood in front of the door and peeped into one of the windows only to find the face of a man!

Disheartened, the dāsa sang

ಸೋಭ್ ನಾರೀ ತಿಗಡೀ ಪಿಗಡೀ ।

ಏಕ್ ನಾರೀ ಪತಿವ್ರತಾ ॥

ಉನ್ಹೇಭೀ ತಿಗಡೀ ಪಿಗಡೀ

ಉನ್ಹೇಭೀ ತಿಗಡೀ ಪಿಗಡೀ

“All women in the world are this way and that (i.e. unfaithful)

But there’s only one who is a pativratā (chaste)

Even she has deviated from the path

Even she is now unfaithful!”

At that point, Kṛṣṇa came from within the house and presented himself. The dāsa begged him to forgive his mistake saying, “Kṣantavyo me’parādhaḥ.” Pardoning him, Kṛṣṇa then warned him not to repeat his mistake.

~

Such fascinating stories were abundantly found in Accappa’s stock. Much more than the plot of the story, his style of narration with voice modulation, eye movements and facial expressions, and hand gestures – all these together captivated the hearts of the listeners.

Acyuta-dāsa was a silent devotee, a man of character, and one worthy of respect. It has been years since I saw such a great storyteller. Perhaps, this art of harikathā is fast disappearing.

This is the second part of the two-part English translation of Sixth essay in D V Gundappa’s magnum-opus Jnapakachitrashaale (Volume 2) – Kalopasakaru. Edited by G S Raghavendra and Hari Ravikumar.