Vachanas of Jedara Dasimayya , Kannada saint & poet.
Jedara Dasimayya is considered as the senior among the ‘vachanakaras ‘(saint poets ) of 12the century A.D.He was elder to popular and prominent vachanakaras like Basavanna ,Allama Prabhu and Akkamahadevi.He belonged to weavers community ( Jeda) and believed to be lived in a village Mudanur ,which is at present in the district of Gulbarga in Karnataka. His signature-word (ankita) attributed to his deity was ‘Ramanatha’. Vachanas of Jedara Dasimayya focus more on the concept of sincere work and critical response to superfluous devotion ,deception,discrimination based on gender,the shallowness of religious institutions.
Some of the ‘vachanas’ of Jedara Dasimayya are quoted here in translation from Kannada to English.
Source book : THE SIGN , Vachanas of 12th Century.
Editor: O.L.Nagabhushana Swamy
Translators : O.L.Nagabhushana Swamy, Laxmi Chandrashekhar , Vijaya Guttal.
Centre for Translations – Classical Kannada Texts in Translation Series, Kannada University,Hampi.
Series Coordinator : Tharakeshwar V.B.
Publisher : Prasaranga,Kannada University,Hampi,Vidyaranya -583 276 ,Hospet,Karnataka, India.2007.
http://www.kannadauniversity.org
The following vachanas of Jedara Dasimayya are translated by Prof.Vijaya Guttal.
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He who has a body
feels hungry.
He who has a body
tells a lie.
Do not slight me
as one with a body.
Have a body like me once
and then see
Ramanatha.
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If it is my body,
will it not follow my will?
If it is your body,
will it not follow your will?
Look,
it is neither
my body nor yours
it is the body of the enchanting world
you have created
Ramanatha.
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Fire can only burn
cannot blow.
Wind can only blow
cannot burn.
That fire cannot venture out
unless it joins with wind.
Can mortals know a like pattern
exists of action-knowledge-difference
Ramanatha.
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You have kept fire in tree
in such a way that it does not burn.
You have kept melted butter in foamy milk
in such a way that its fragrance is hidden.
You have kept soul in body
in such a way that it is not seen by any .
Lord
I am amazed at the
way you fuse the differences
Ramanatha.
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I care not for the offer of an elephant
I care not for the offer of wealth
If I am offered wise words of your ‘sharanas ‘
even for a moment
I will offer you in return
Ramanatha.
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Do not trust that
the devotion of a fraud is true.
Look
it is like the cat in a ‘math’ ( monastery )
diving after a rat
Ramanatha.
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Does a wife’s life-breath
have breasts and braid ?
Does master’s life-breath
wear the sacred thread ?
Does the low-born at the last
come holding a caste-staff?
The knots you have entangled
how do the people of the world know
Ramanatha ?
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If breasts and braids grow
they call it female.
If beard and moustache grow
they call it male.
Look
the soul moving in between
is neither male nor female
Ramanatha.
