Purandara dasa and others’ songs meaning

On Varamalakshmi vrata Pooja eve I wanted to share some facts and thoughts on Lakshmi .Lakshmi in Sanskrit is derived from the root word ‘laks ‘or lakshya  meaning goal,aim . In Hinduism Lakshmi is the goddess who leads to one’s goal hence her name Lakshmi. While she is the goddess of fortune its not so much about luck,but about effort and the pursuit of goal. Effort and endeavour and striving in the pursuit of the goal is important to seek the support of the goddess. It was through the churning of the ocean by asuras  and devas who had to put in a lot of effort that Lakshmi appeared, the churn had to be there for Lakshmi  the goddess of fortune to appear. Lakshmi  is not just about material prosperity but abundance in all aspects, so firstly you have to have goals, secondly you can interpret the churning as an effort you need to put in these endeavours to attain Lakshmi. It’s only through emotional introspection and churning that you achieve emotional well-being or ...

Purandara dasa’s transformation from a miser to ascetic was prompted by the manifestation of Vitthala to his wife.So the manifestation of god itself was a message or a letter from him for Purandara dasa to rethink and introspect in his life.He says spend time dwelling on your letter Kalava kaliyiro you need to take time to reflect on the way you are pursuing your life objectives because reflection needs that quality time  spent. He says spend time dwelling on your letter which will prompt you to find deeper meaning and purpose of life..         In hinduism there are four purusharthas. Dharma, Artha,Kama,Moksha. Purusharthas are nothing but objects of human pursuits. So what is the object of human pursuit  The purpose of human endeavour is finding the purpose. Each person has to seek his own purpose in life and sometimes the purpose can be manifested destiny. In the case of Purandara dasa the destiny manifested itself thru the manifestation of the lord to hi...

In this song Purandara dasa says one can relish the sweet payasa called Rama with the Krishna nama sugar and mix it with the ghee called Vitthala and enjoy the taste. Purandara dasa using a simple recipe with a metaphorical meaning; and using the ordinary connects the people with the divine. He says taking the names of different avatars or deities will enhance the flavour of your life. But we can go deeper into it and also interpret in a more metaphorical way. Each avatar embodied certain gunas and certain aspects of life which they excelled in. Which we should also embrace and and we should also learn these aspects from the avatars to enrich and enhance our personalities or personal lives. For example Rama embodied adherence to rules whereas Krishna embodied breaking the rules to enhance the dharma. So upholding the rules to enhance dharma-Rama and breaking the rules to enhance dharma by Krishna.  We can embody both the qualities in our lives. So if we want to model ourselves on o...

Purandara dasa asks akka to take the Bindige and fetch water.here the Bindige represents the human body and the water is consciousness. He asks akka to take the pot to bring water because the essence of Bindige is not the Bindige itself. The Bindige is something which is transient and temporary and we keep discarding it but the essence that is the water remains the same and it is invaluable.          Then Purandara Dasa asks tarakka to bring a pot which has the nama Rama rasa which is the consciousness or the true essence. Then he says I am surrounded by kaminis meaning to say kamanas I.e the desires and to raise above the desires he asks akka to go and bring the pot which has the gunas of Govinda. The aim of Govinda nama smarana is ultimately to reach the divinity or get moksha and to get the same get the water with the Govinda name which has the qualities of amrita.           Purandara dasa next says bring the pot and we will go to the...