Dad showed me a new five rupee coin and asked me what it said on the reverse.
I saw portrait of a person with a crown and jewels. Along the periphery it says "MAHATMA BASAVESHWARA" and something like "Bhakti-Kayak-Daasoh-Samnaa" in Hindi.
I did some googling.
First I land at this glowing speech by the PM that begins,
"I feel privileged to associate myself with the issuing of a coin in honour of the great mystic and social reformer, Mahatma Basaveshwara. In our history of social reform, Mahatma Basaveshwara stands out as an extraordinary personality. He wielded temporal power and, at the same time, had a spiritual bent of mind. He fought against ritualism and social rigidities and for a more humane social order. He was a crusader against untouchability and worked to establish a classless and casteless society. It is a token of our admiration and deep regard for him that we are all gathered here today."
And I'm all intrigued. But the speech doesn't give me too many facts.
And the next link tells me that a statue of his was unveiled in parliment premises in 2003.
And then I find the vicky page that I was looking for!
Basava (also known as Basaveshwara) was a 12th century philosopher and a social reformer.
That vicky page is long and waxes eloquently about his achievements. He was a rebel and a revolutionary. He tried to get rid of untouchability, created Virashaivism which questioned the supremacy of Brahmins, and was one of the big boys of the Bhakti Movement.
Girish Karnad wrote a play in 1989, Taledanda, set in 12th century which takes inspiration from Basava's story.
Alright, so where was this 12th century dude all this while? Why so much lowe for him suddenly?
I mean, how come I've not heard of him before? Did he even figure in my school history textbooks?
I don't remember.
You tell me.
You also tell me what this whole thing actually means.
I'm at a loss for words.
Vazhkkai, Vaetkai
12 years ago
7 comments:
Hmm I don't remember him in history books either.
The whole thing means that people are nuts. But then that shouldn't bother you--you never liked them anyway right? ;)
Vicky vicky kashta padaadha. Drink some water or hold your breath. Usually works :P
Bledy this is all unnecessary I tell you. It's not like we are bored of good old Gandhi thatha! In fact, I strongly believe noone else deserves to have his moonji on the currency.
And thanks for the nakkal - vikkal tips.
well... i think its a good break from gandhi... i mean... i'm happy someone else gets to hog the limelight this time... even if its someone we don't know...
I don't like him yaaa!
He looks sidey in the coin.
I remember something from the std VI matriculation text book for history (the same year they decided to devote a section for civics, which i managed to flunk). After devoting a good 3-4 pages to the likes of kabir, meera bai, tulsi das and others of the ilk, basavanna gets a single line mention as a prominent member of the lingayat movement. It is on the left hand side of the book and the page also features on the top right corner a bad imprint of chaithanya with that long reedy instrument of his.
His poems though are a different matter altogether.
The sacrificial lamb brought for the festival
ate up the green leaf brought for the decorations.
Not knowing a thing about the kill,
it wants only to fill its belly:
born that day, to die that day.
But tell me:
did the killers survive,
O lord of the meeting rivers?
------------------
I added day by day
a digit of light
like the moon.
The python-world,
omnivourous Rahu,
devoured me.
Today my body
is in eclipse.
When is the release,
O lord of the meeting rivers?
-----------------
Like a cow fallen into a quagmire
I make mouths at this corner and that,
no one to look for me
or find me
till my lord sees this beast
and lifts him out by the horns.
------------------------
Does it matter how long
a rock soaks in the water:
will it ever grow soft?
Does it matter how long
I've spent in worship
when the heart is fickle?
Futile as a ghost
I stand guard over hidden gold,
O Lord of the meeting rivers.
------------------
The crookedness of the serpent
is straight enough for the snake-hole.
The crookedness of the river
is straight enough for the sea.
And the crookedness of our Lord's men
is straight enough for our Lord!
----------------
Feet will dance,
eyes will see,
tongue will sing,
and not find content.
What else, what else
shall I do?
I worship with my hands,
the heart is not content.
What else shall I do?
Listen my lord,
It isn't enough.
I have it in me
to cleave thy belly
and enter thee
O lord of the meeting rivers!
-------------------
He'll file till your colour shows.
He'll grind till you're fine and small.
If your grain grows ine
in the grinding
if you show colour
in the filing,
then our lord of the meeting rivers
will love you
and look after you.
----------------
Sir, isn't the mind witness enough,
for the taste of the tongue?
Do buds wait for the garland maker's word
to break into flower?
Is it right, sir, to bring out the texts
for everything?
And sir, is it really right to bring into the open
the mark on our vitals
left by our lord's love-play?
----------------
I'd stick my neck out for him and say he probably deserves it. Especially considering the competition. The other new five-rupee mints feature the logos of ONGC and SBI.
"Is it right, sir, to bring out the texts
for everything?"
Hmmm... Looks like you have a saarp memory. This man writes good poetry. He is good.
Thank you though. Glad you hunted his poems down, for my sake and for your own. Maybe, i should not be too critical about a fello with crown and jewels on my five buck coin, no?
Random rant.
"Is it right, sir, to bring out the texts
for everything?"
Quite the Epimenidesian paradox.
And no. Wasn't much of a deal ferreting out the poems. Had them written down from when I last read them.
'Crown and jewels' ke ivlo feel ana eppidi. For all we know, next in line could be the face of the 'frown and the jowls' that stares out from the green ring. One Dhirubhai Ambani.
And yes. Basavanna is good. Mahadeviyakka is better. Being the ascetic-poet that she was, her flowing tresses were all that protected her modesty. Wonder if the powers-that-be would assent to have her on the face of the coin :)
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