Achyutadasar

Achyutadasar (1850-1902) was a saint who composed Tamil keerthanas with a spiritual essence. His Advaita Keerthanananda Lahari is 300+ compositions in tamil based on Advaita philosophy.

Birth, Education

Achyutadasar was born to Subbaraya Bhupathi and Kamakshi Ammal in 1850 at Polur in Tiruvannamalai district, Tamil Nadu. His real name was Abbai Naidu.

Achyutadasar's mother tongue was Telugu. However, he was well versed in all Telugu, Tamil and Sanskrit literatures. He was also a musical scholar and had the ability to write keerthanas in all the three languages.

Personal Life

Achyutadasar worked as a school teacher in Polur. He was an ardent devotee of Lord Rama. He set up a mutt and performed bhajans with his Tamil compositions. Noticing his ardent devotion to Lord Vishnu, Venkatakrishna Dasa, a Vaishnavite from Kaspa, Vellore, rechristened him as Achyutadasar.

Achyutadasar married Thayammai. But his's inner spiritual desire did not allow him continuing his married life. He began to search for his guru. In the beginning of his spiritual quest, Achyutadasar learnt yoga from Venkammai of Potharai in Tiruvannamalai district. Later, he gave up his yoga practice due to health problems.

In search of a guru to learn Advaita philosophy, Achyutadasar found Sri Nijananda in Kailasagiri, Kadambur. After joining Sri Nijananda, he renounced his married life completely and became a saint. Achyutadasar sang pathigams in praise of Sri Nijananda. He learned samadhi state of meditation from Sri Nijananda. He traveled extensively on foot to various places preaching advaita through his keerthanas.

Vallam Vaidyalingam Pillai who was chief disciple of Achyutadasar, published his compositions in 1956.

Compositions

Achyutadasar composed keerthanas in three languages - Tamil, Telugu and Sanskrit. Many of Achyutadasar's keerthanas such as Arivaahi Nindraal Theriyum (If you are knowledgeable, you will know) and Sarvam Brahmamayam Thaan are influenced by the Advaita vision he experienced. Over 300 compositions written by Achyutadasar were compiled under the title Advaita Keerthanananda Lahari. Sadananda Thandavam composed in Bahudari raga is an important one.

He also created intermediate plays such as Prahlada Charitram and Dhruva Charitram.