Poet - Madara Chennaiah

Translator: H.S. Shivaprakash

Source: I Keep Vigil of Rudra, Penguin Classics

Performed by M. D. Pallavi and Bruce Lee Mani

For Bhakti Republic with Amit Basole

Radio Azim Premji University, 2023

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After erecting three pillars

The gross, the subtle, and the causal bodies

After beating the buffaloes’ rough hide

After removing the flesh

With the staff of the manifest and the hidden

After tanning the hide with the fire of dualism

After pouring the caustic juice of quintessence

Into the hide-pouch of awareness

The blemishes of soul thus destroyed

I have come to take the sandals to his feet.

Take care,

Not of the ground below,

But of the path your feet and sandals take.

Do not be enslaved

By the hand-awl, blade, or peg

But realise

Ramarama, your own true self, the joy of joys!

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Madara Chennaiah, a renowned vachana poet from the 11th century, earned recognition during the era of the Western Chalukyas in southern India. Despite working as a cobbler and being affiliated with the Madiga caste, he left a legacy through his vachanas, which he signed under the pseudonym ‘Nijaatmaraama Raamana,’ though only ten have endured over time. His poetry delved into the injustice of feeling superior due to one's caste, advocating for equality by highlighting that everyone shares the same origins and physical composition. Chennaiah asserted that an individual's value stems from their ethical conduct rather than their caste, dividing people into two categories based on their actions: those who perform good deeds and those who engage in wrongdoing. Additionally, his poems addressed a significant theological debate regarding the duality or unity of existence. His powerful and meaningful vachanas emerged from the fusion of metaphors drawn from his cobbler trade, interwoven with profound theological concepts.