Vachana sahitya

Vachana sahitya (Kannada:ವಚನ ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯ) is a form of writing in Kannada (also see, Kannada poetry), which evolved in the 12th Century C.E., as a part of the Veerashaiva 'movement'. Vachanas, literally mean "(that which is) said". They are easily intelligible prose, which are easy to understand.

Madara Chennaiah, a 11th century, cobbler-saint, who lived in the reign of Western Chalukyas, is first poet of this tradition, who was considered by later poets like, Basavanna (1160), who was also the prime minister of southern Kalachuri King Bijjala II as his literary father [Western Chalukya literature#Bhakti literature] .

Vachanas and Lingayatism

This form of writing, in the 20th century, has come to be closely linked with, what is called, the social revolution of that period in Karnataka led by the vachana writers, such as Basaveshvara, Allama Prabhu and Akka Mahadevi. This fact has been attributed to the popularity of the movement. More than 200 Vacahana writers ("Vachanakaras") have been recorded, more than 30 of who were women.Sastri (1955), p361] Other well known Vachana writers were Chennabasava, Prabhudeva, Siddharama, Kondaguli Kesiraja etc. (Narasimhacharya 1988, p20)]

tyle

Vachanas are brief paragraphs, and they end with one or the other local names, under which Lord Shiva is invoked or offered pooja. In Style, they are epigrammatical, parallelistic and allusive. They dwell on the vanity of riches, the valuelessness of mere rites or book learning, the uncertainty of life and the spiritual previlages of Shiva Bhakta (worshiper of lord Shiva).Edward Rice, "A History of Kannada Literature", 1921, Asian Educational Services, (Reprinted 1982), pp 56] The Vachanas call the men to give up the desire for worldly wealth and ease, to live lives of sobriety and detachment form the world and to turn to Siva for refuge.

Authors of a particular Vachana can be identified by the style of invocation of god (Basveshvara invokes "Kudala Sangama Deva", while Allama Prabhu invokes "Guheshwara", Akkamadevi invokes "Channa Mallikarjuna") in the vachana. The existing readings of the vachanas are mostly set by the European understanding of the Indian traditions.

About 20,000 vachanas have been published. The government of Karnataka has published Samagra Vachana Samputa in 15 volumes. Karnataka University Dharwad has published collections of individual vachana poets. Devara (Jedara) Dasimaiah is called the 'Adya Vachanakara' (The First Vachanakara)

Notes

References

*cite book |last=Narasimhacharya |first= R|title= History of Kannada Literature|origyear=1988|year= 1988|publisher= Penguin Books|location= New Delhi|isbn= 81-206-0303-6
*cite book |last= Sastri|first= Nilakanta K.A.|title= A history of South India from prehistoric times to the fall of Vijayanagar|origyear=1955|year=2002|publisher= Indian Branch, Oxford University Press|location= New Delhi|isbn= 0-19-560686-8
*cite book | last= Rice|first=Edward P| title= A History of Kannada literature|origyear=1921|year=1982|publisher=Asian Educational Services,Oxford university press|location=New Delhi

ee also

* Basavanna, a "vachanakaara" or a vachana writer: Lord Basava
* Kannada literature
* Southern Kalachuri Kingdom

External links

* [http://oswamy.tripod.com/vachanas.htm BSOA]
* [http://www.vachanasahitya.org Vachana Sahitya Web Site Published by Government of Karnataka]
* [http://www.kamat.com/kalranga/kar/literature/history4.htm Veerashaivism and The Vachanas] by Dr. (Mrs) Jyotsna Kamat