akkamahadevi

quote

akkamahadevi yavara pravachanagalu 
People,
male and female,
blush when a cloth covering their shame
comes loose
When the lord of lives
lives drowned without a face
in the world, how can you be modest?
When all the world is the eye of the lord,
onlooking everywhere, what can you
cover and conceal?
Her poetry exhibits her love for Chenna Mallikarjuna and harmony with nature and simple living.
She Sang:
For hunger, there is the village rice in the begging bowl,
For thirst, there are tanks and streams and wells
For sleep temple ruins do well
For the company of the soul I have you, Chenna Mallikarjuna
akkamahadevi
She is a prominent figure in the field of female emancipation and a person of mystical vision. A household name in Karnataka, she had said that she was a woman only in name and that her mind, body and soul belonged to Lord Shiva. During a time of strife and political uncertainty in the 12th. century, she launched a movement that made her an inspiration for woman empowerment and enlightenmen**** is commonly known that she took part in many gatherings of learned at the Anubhavamantapa in Kudala sangama to debate ****ut philosophy and attainment of enlightenment (or Moksha, termed by her as "arivu"). In search for her eternal soul mate, she made the animals, flowers and birds her friends and companions, rejecting family life and worldly attachment. The time was marked as height of foolishness of varnashrama dharma which only supported the three upper castes of Hindu society in India and suppressed the shudras and women.
Akka was a revelation here in that she not only rose for emancipation but also has sung vachanas which are so simple but of highest order.
It is said that Mahadevi was married by arrangement to Kausika but later did not as the king disrespected some conditions set by her. There were immediate tensions, however, as Kausika was a Jain, a group that tended to be wealthy and was, as a result, much resented by the rest of the population. Much of Akka's poetry explores the themes of rejecting mortal love in favor of the everlasting, "illicit" love of God, and this seems to be the path she chose as well.
She rejected her life of luxury to live as a wandering poet-saint, traveling throughout the region and singing praises to her Lord Shiva.
She travelled widely in search of emancipation and finally became a Sanyasini (woman saint) before settling down in Basavakalyana, Bidar district. Her non-conformist ways caused a lot of consternation i****nservative society and even her eventual guru Allama Prabhu had to initially face difficulties in enlisting her in the gatherings at Anubhavamantapa. A true ascetic, Mahadevi is said to have re****sed to wear any clothing—a common practice among male ascetics, but shocking for a woman.
Legend has it that due to her true love and devotion with God --her whole body was protected by hair.
repeat   --her whole body was protected by hair.
All the sharnas of Anubhavamantapa, especially Basavanna, Chenna Basavanna, Kinnari Bommayya, Siddharama, Allamaprabhu and Dasimayya greet her with a word “Akka”. In fac**** is here onwards that she becomes Akka, an elderly sister. Allama shows her the ****rther way of attaining the transcendent bliss o****ltimate union with Lord Chenna Mallikarjuna. Akka leaves Kalyana with this fallowing vachana:
“Having vanquished the six passions and become The trinity of body, thought and speech; Having ended the trinity and become twain - I and the Absolute Having ended the duality and become a unity Is because of the grace of you all. I salute Basavanna and all assembled here Blessed was I by Allama my ****less me all that I may join my Chenna Mallikarjuna Good-bye! Good-bye!”
This dramatic situation of Kalyana Parva in Akka Mahadevi’s life is an indication of the beginning of the third phase of her life. In the first phase she had renounced the worldly objects and attractions and in the second, discards the entire object based rules and regulations and in the third phase she starts her journey towards Srishila, where her eternal lover Chenna Mallikarjuna’s temple locates. Also it is the holy place of the Shiva cult since before the 12th century. Akka’s journey of spiritual movement and social empowerment of womanhood ends especially at Kadali the nearby thick forest area of Shrisaila (Srisailam).

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