Ittige Mele Ninta Namma Vittala Tanu- Purandaradasaru

ಇಟ್ಟಿಗೆ ಮೇಲೆ ನಿಂತ ನಮ್ಮ ವಿಟ್ಟಲ ತಾನು
ಪುಟ್ಟ ಪಾದ ಊರಿ ನಿಂತ ದಿಟ್ಟ ತಾನು

iTTige mele niMta namma viTTala tAnu
puTTa pAda oori niMta diTTa tAnu

The great Lord Krishna who was pleased with his devotee punDalika , appeared before him when his parents where asleep with their head on his lap. As he did not want to disturb them, he took hold of a brick which was near at hand and offered it to the Lord as an Asana/seat. The Lord stood on it and became the Lord Panduranga viTTala, the beloved Lord of Pundalika and many great Haridasas. The Lord is Nitya trupta. He does not need anything from his devotees. Yet it is the duty of His devotees to remember Him with love always for ALL existence is dependent on Him. He is the only independent entity. The Lord stands on the brick and proves that He is sure to accept whatever is offered with devotion irrespective of its worldly value. The fact that He gave his darshan to Pundalika while he was engaged in serving his parents shows that He can be realised by one who performs the duty in that lifetime ,without any expectations and with the sole intention to please the Lord.

The message of the Gita has been proved by the Lord. Dasaru says, He pressed His tiny feet on the brick and stood firmly , even though He is the huge, almighty, omnipresent Lord, who encompasses the world and is so huge that he could measure the entire Brahmanda in two steps. This ambiguity of the Lord is reffered to as anoraniyan mahatomahiyan . The Lord resides in the heart of all jeevas as said in the Gita Chapter 15. If we fix our mind on the feet of the Lord we can see Him standing in all His glory. toMkada mele kaiya kaTTi bhakutaru baruvadu noDuvanamma He stands with his hands on His hips which is the ideal position for observation. There he stands and observes His bhaktas who come to pay thier obeisance to Him.Dasaru is referring to yet another attribute of the Lord- Sakshi. VSN. He is the Sakshi or witness to all the deeds of all jeevas and none can escape His notice.



ಪಂಡರ ಪುರದಲಿ ಇರುವನಂತೆ ಪಾಂಡುರಂಗ ಎಂಬುವನಂತೆ
ಚಂದ್ರಭಾಗ ಪಿತ ಇವನಂತೆ ಅ೦ಗನೆ ರುಕ್ಮಿನಿ ಅರಸನಂತೆ

paMDara puradali iruvanaMte pAMduraMga eMbuvanaMte
chaMdra bAga pita ivanaMte angane rukmini arasanaMte

viTTala is standing in Pandarpur and is known as pAnDuranga.He is the father of the river chandrabaga and is the husband of the queen Rukmini Devi. Ganges is the water that springs from His feet during his incarnation as Vamana/Trivikrama and He is the father of Ganga. Since this river Bhima is at the feet of Panduranga viTTala , He is the father of this river which is known chandra bAga in Pandarpur as it takes the shape of a half moon . Lord Krishna is the same as viTTala and viTTala is the same as Lord Krishna. This is re-asserted by Dasaru by saying that Panduranga's consort is Rukmini.



ಕನಕದಾಸೆ ಇವಗಿಲ್ಲ೦ತೆ ಹಣದ ಆಸೆ ಬೀಕಿಲ್ಲ೦ತೆ
ನಾದಬ್ರಹ್ಮ ನೆ೦ಬೊನ೦ತೆ ಭಕುತರ ಕರೆಗೆ ವದಗೊನ೦ತೆ

kanakadAse ivagillaMte haNada Ase bekillaMte
nAdabrahma eMbuvanamma bhakutara karege vadagonaMte

The Lord is not pleased by gifts of gold or money. He is called as nAda braHma . He is pleased by the devotional songs and recitations of His devotees. In another devuru nama Prasanna theertharu says nAda swarada sogasAda dwanigalalli nAda brahma ta kaadu noDutiha The Lord resides in sound and is the cause for speech .He is waiting for the words of His devotees. One who is aware of this whenever he speaks, such a devotee's words are the words which He will prove true.



ಕರಿಯ ಕಂಬಲಿ ಹೊದ್ಯಾನ೦ತೆ ಹಣೆಯಲಿ ನಾಮ ಹಚ್ಯಾನ೦ತೆ
ತುಲಸಿಮಾಲೆ ಹಾಕ್ಯಾನ೦ತೆ ಪುರಂದರ ವಿಠಲನೆ೦ಬೋನ೦ತೆ

kariya kaMbali hoddiyanaMte haNeyali nAma hacchyanaMte
tulasimAle hAkyAnaMte puraMdara viTTalanembonaMte

The Lord covers Himself with a black shawl. He wears a nama on his forehead.He wears a tulasi mala and is everready to bestow His devotees with mukthi when they are eligible for it. The jeeva is bound by two sheaths of ignorance. One is the paramAchadika and the other is jeevAchadika. The first one prevents the jeeva from seeing the Lord and the second one obscures the jeeva from seeing his own self. The jeeva can realize his self only by opening his inner eye which is located in the middle of the forehead- aGYachakra. When we see the Lord adorned with the black shawl we have to jerk ourselves out of being complacent with our existence and strive to discover the purpose of life.When we look at the Lord and see His forehead decorated with the nAma we have to assert ourselves in the path which will allow the inner eye which is in the center of the forehead to open. The tulasi mAla signifies japa and dyAna. When we see the tulasi mala around his neck we must understand that doing DhyAna of the Lord is the path to endear ourselves to Him and realize the true purpose of life. In another devuru nama Purandara Dasaru says: kaNNinoLage nOdo hariya oLa kaNNinndali nOdo mUjagada Dhoreya See Lord Hari through the inner eye. See the Lord of the three worlds through the inner eye through DhyAna.