Achyutadasar
Achyutadasar (1850-1902) was a saint who composed Tamil keerthanas with 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. His birth name was Abbai Naidu.
Achyutadasar's mother tongue was Telugu. However, he was well versed in Telugu, Tamil and Sanskrit literatures. He was also a musical scholar with ability to write keerthanas in these three languages.
Personal Life
Achyutadasar worked as a school teacher in Polur. He was an ardent devotee of Lord Rama. Achyutadasar established a mutt and performed bhajans with his Tamil compositions. Noticing Achyutadasar's ardent devotion to Lord Vishnu, Venkatakrishna Dasa, a Vaishnavite from Kaspa, Vellore, rechristened him as Achyutadasar.
Achyutadasar married to Thayammai. But his's inner spiritual desire did not allow him continuing 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 his 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. 300+ compositions of 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.
Works
Novels
- Dhyanaanubhuti (183 sections including Thiruneerthiyal, Panchakravya, Manolayam, Guruvarutpanmai and Shivanubhava Phaaya)
- Advaita Rasamanjari
- Sanmarka Tharpanam
Musical Plays
- Prahlada Charitram
- Sakku Bai Charitram
- Dhruva Charitram
Keerthanas
- Advaita Keerthanananda Lahari
Death
In 1902, Achyutadasar attained samadhi at the age of 52 in Vallam.
