Akka Mahadevi, a woman who defied a king and walked naked out of her devotion to the Shiva .

Akka Mahadevi (ಅಕ್ಕ ಮಹಾದೇವಿ) or Mahadevi or Mahadeviyakkha, a brilliant medieval Kannada poet, rebel and mystic, was a prominent figure of the Veerashaiva Bhakti movement of the 12th century Karnataka. Her Vachanas in Kannada, a form of didactic poetry are considered her greatest contribution to Kannada Bhakti literature. It is said that she was the first woman to write Vachanas in Kannada literature. In all she wrote about 430 Vachanas which is relatively fewer than that compared to some other saints of her time. Yet the term 'Akka' (elder Sister) which is an honorific given to her by great Veerashaiva saints like Basavanna, Chenna Basavanna, Kinnari Bommayya, Siddharama, Allamaprabhu and Dasimayya speaks volumes of her contribution to the movement that was underway. She is in hindsight seen as a great and inspirational woman for Kannada literature and the history of Karnataka. She is said to have accepted the god Shiva ('Chenna Mallikarjuna') as her husband, traditionally understood as the 'madhura bhava' or 'madhurya' form of devotion (similar to how centuries later Meera, a 16th century saint, considered herself married to Krishna). 

At 16, Mahadevi was the epitome of beauty. While other girls of her age dreamt of prospective bridegrooms, she decided to wed Shiva, more precisely, Chenna Mallikarjuna (the beautiful Lord, pure as Jasmine).

I am in love with the one

Who knows no death, no evil, no form.

I am in love with the one

Who knows no place, no space, 

no beginning, no end.

I am in love with the one

Who knows no fears nor the snares 

of this world,

the Boundless One who knows no bounds.

More and more I am in love

with my husband

known by the name of Chennamallikarjuna.

Take these husbands who die and decay,

and feed them to your kitchen fires!

The daughter of devoted parents, she was initiated into bhakthi at the age of seven; by 16, she was almost a saint. But, when King Koushika’s eyes fell on her, she was forced to marry him. Koushika challenged Mahadevi’s stand that she only belonged to Shiva. When he pointed out that everything she had belonged to him, she discarded everything, including her clothes, and left the palace. The very next minute, long tresses covered her nakedness.

She went to Kalyan, a haven for devotees of Shiva, and joined a group called ‘Veera Saiva’. There, in the ‘Anubhava Mandapa’, a platform for open debate on various issues including philosophy and social reform, Mahadevi spoke fearlessly. Her conviction earned her the honorific title, ‘Akka’, meaning ‘elder sister’. In the company of Basavanna, Chenna Basavanna, Prabhudeva and Madivalayya, her devotion attained maturity.

It is believed that at the age of 25, she found the Kadali vana in the vicinity of the Shrishaila temple and lived the rest of her life in a cave. As she continued to meditate, Akka’s concept of Chenna Mallikarjuna changed from that of the Puranic Shiva to the formless Divine — the one who pervaded her soul. She saw the Absolute in everything. Every tree was the kalpavriksha, every bush was the Sanjeevani, every place was a teertha, every water body contained Amritha and every pebble was the chintamani gem. Her very breath became His fragrance. His form became hers. Having known Him, there was nothing else to know. She became the bee that drank the nectar of Chenna Mallikarjuna, and dissolved into it. What remained was – “ Nothing, none whatsoever”!

Akka Mahadevi’s experiences , both spiritual and domestic, poured out in the form of simple stanzas (vachanas) in Kannada. Set in colloquial language and filled with true-to-life similes, her vachanas penetrate the conscience of the reader with their depth of meaning and lyrical beauty.

Her life was a testimony to the power of courage and faith. She gave up her social position and domestic security for the company of Shiva. She fought to prove that every soul, irrespective of gender, has a right to explore and reach the Divine. She was a revolutionary, a social reformer, an ardent devotee and a great poet. Her similes stun the reader with their simplicity and appropriateness.

She wrote: “Like treasure hidden in the ground, like flavour in the fruit, like gold in the rock and oil in the seed, the Absolute is hidden in the heart.” “Like the peacock that dances on a hill, like the swan that splashes around a lake, like the cuckoo that sings when the mango tree bursts into bloom, like the bee that enjoys only the fragrant flower, I will enjoy only my Lord Chennamallikarjuna.” Her advice to a devotee is simple but intense –“Shoot the arrow so forcefully that while penetrating the target, even the feathers go in. Hug the body of the Lord so tightly that the bones crumble…”

Akka Mahadevi 's brief but deeply intense verses sparkle with the magic and music of words, conveying the core spiritual philosopy in a poignant tone of one intoxicated with divine love:

I look at the road for His coming.

If He isn’t coming, I pine and waste away.

If He is late, I grow lean.

O mother, if He is away for a night,

I’m like the lovebird with

nothing in her embrace.

A Damsel Spurns Royal Marriage

Through Mahadevi’s vachanas we can trace the contours of her life on her journey towards moksha, ultimate liberation. We gather that she was a stunning young beauty. King Kaushika, the ruler of the land, fell passionately in love with her the moment he saw her. But she spurned his request for marrage, “But for my Chennamallikarjuna, all men are mere dolls!” she chided the king:

Fie on this body! 

Why do you damn yourself

in love for it— 

this pot of excrement,

this vessel of urine, 

this frame of bones, 

this stench of purulence!

Think of the Lord, Chennamallikarjuna!

A persistent Kaushika threatened her family with grave consequences until she relented and agreed to marry him on the condition that he would not force himself on her without her consent. When he later failed to keep his promise, Mahadevi walked out on him. As she departed the palace, a wrathful Kaushika demanded the return of all the jewels and extravagant clothes he had presented his wife. Defiant, Mahadevi stripped herself bare and stepped out onto the streets as a digambara—a naked saint.

The last thread of clothing 

can be stripped away, 

But who can peel off Emptiness, 

that nakedness covering all?

Fools—while I dress in the Jasmine Lord’s morning light, 

I cannot be shamed; 

what would you have me hide under, silk

 and the glitter of jewels?

Joining the Assembly of Devotees

She walked on foot to Anubhava Mantapa or “Abode of Experience,” a center for philosophical/spiritual discussions in Kalyani presided over by Allama Prabhu where Virasaivas like Basavanna and Chennabasavanna congregated. When Mahadevi, wandering naked, arrived at Anubhava Mantapa, she was greeted with much skepticism. Allama Prabhu, uncertain of her spiritual competence, challenged, “Why come you hither, O woman in the budding blossom of youth? If you can tell your husband’s identity, come, sit. Else, pray, be gone!” Mahadevi answered,

All of mankind are my parents. It is they

who made this matchless match of mine

with Chenna Mallikarjuna.

While all the stars and planets looked on

,

my guru gave my hand into His;

the Linga became the groom,

And I the bride.

Therefore is Chenna Mallikarjuna

my husband

And I have no truck with 

any other of this world.

Allama Prabhu interrogated her for a long time, and at the end of it, all the Virasaivas recognized Mahadevi’s worth. Allama Prabhu acknowledged: “Your body is female in appearance, but your mind is merged with God!” Thus, Mahadevi came to be accepted in their inner circles, and out of respect and affection, she came to be called Akka or elder sister.

Akka Mahadevi continued her tapas in Kalyani under the guidance of Allama Prabhu, and the vachanas composed at this stage reflect her progress.

The leaves on the apple tree,

in shapes as countless as their number,

show many shades of green,

none quite like the other.

On the rose bush next to it,

leaves and petals do just the same

and so do blades of grass,

lobelias and daisies,

each shade of color unique.

Akka Mahadevi longed 

to find your face

and found it everywhere,

O Chenna Mallikarjuna!

After a few years of sadha­na, Akka Mahadevi went to the famous Siva temple at Sri Sailam in Andhra Pradesh. It is said that she spent the last months of her life in various caves, completing her process of enlightenment, and attained Mahasamadhi, divine union with her Lord. Unverifiable historical records indicate that she died in her mid-twenties. Legend tells us that she was consumed in a flash of light, leaving only her poems behind as a chronicle of a spiritual journey that still evokes awe and respect in the hearts of all.

Here is a sampling of Akka Mahadevi’s poems, excerpted from the book Speaking of Siva, translated by A. K. Ramanujan, available from Penguin Classics.

Locks of shining red hair, a crown of diamonds, small beautiful teeth and eyes in a laughing face that light up fourteen worlds—I saw His glory, and seeing, I quell today the famine in my eyes.

I saw the haughty Master for whom men, all men, are but women, wives. I saw the Great One who plays at love with Shakti, original to the world. I saw His stance and began to live.

The bee that was engaged all along in drinking the nectar from the White Jasmine is consumed totally in that very process. Not even the Symbol remains!

You are the forest; You are all the great trees in the forest; You are bird and beast playing in and out of the trees. O Lord White as Jasmine filling and filled by all, why don’t You show me Your face?

When I didn’t know myself, where were You? Like the color in the gold, You were in me. I saw in You, Lord White as Jasmine, the paradox of Your being in me without showing a limb.

People, male and female, blush when a cloth covering their shame comes loose. When the Lord of lives drowned without a face in the world, how can you be modest? When all the world is the eye of the Lord, onlooking everywhere, what can you cover and conceal?

It was like a stream running into the dry bed of a lake, like rain pouring on plants parched to sticks. It was like this world’s pleasure and the way to the other, both walking towards me. Seeing the feet of the master, O Lord White as Jasmine, I was made worthwhile.

Listen, sister, listen. I had a dream. I saw rice, betel, palm leaf and coconut. I saw an ascetic come to beg, white teeth and small matted curls. I followed on his heels and held his hand, He who goes breaking all bounds and beyond. I saw the Lord, White as Jasmine, and woke wide open.

Sunlight made visible the whole length of a sky, movement of wind, leaf, flower, all six colors on tree, bush and creeper: all this is the day’s worship. The light of moon, star and fire, lightnings and all things that go by the name of light are the night’s worship. Night and day in your worship. I forget myself, O Lord White as Jasmine.

After a few years of sadha­na, Akka Mahadevi went to the famous Siva temple at Sri Sailam in Andhra Pradesh. It is said that she spent the last months of her life in various caves, completing her process of enlightenment, and attained Mahasamadhi, divine union with her Lord. Unverifiable historical records indicate that she died in her mid-twenties. Legend tells us that she was consumed in a flash of light, leaving only her poems behind as a chronicle of a spiritual journey that still evokes awe and respect in the hearts of all.

Here is a sampling of Akka Mahadevi’s poems, excerpted from the book Speaking of Siva, translated by A. K. Ramanujan, available from Penguin Classics.

Locks of shining red hair, a crown of diamonds, small beautiful teeth and eyes in a laughing face that light up fourteen worlds—I saw His glory, and seeing, I quell today the famine in my eyes.

I saw the haughty Master for whom men, all men, are but women, wives. I saw the Great One who plays at love with Shakti, original to the world. I saw His stance and began to live.

The bee that was engaged all along in drinking the nectar from the White Jasmine is consumed totally in that very process. Not even the Symbol remains!

You are the forest; You are all the great trees in the forest; You are bird and beast playing in and out of the trees. O Lord White as Jasmine filling and filled by all, why don’t You show me Your face?

When I didn’t know myself, where were You? Like the color in the gold, You were in me. I saw in You, Lord White as Jasmine, the paradox of Your being in me without showing a limb.

People, male and female, blush when a cloth covering their shame comes loose. When the Lord of lives drowned without a face in the world, how can you be modest? When all the world is the eye of the Lord, onlooking everywhere, what can you cover and conceal?

It was like a stream running into the dry bed of a lake, like rain pouring on plants parched to sticks. It was like this world’s pleasure and the way to the other, both walking towards me. Seeing the feet of the master, O Lord White as Jasmine, I was made worthwhile.

Listen, sister, listen. I had a dream. I saw rice, betel, palm leaf and coconut. I saw an ascetic come to beg, white teeth and small matted curls. I followed on his heels and held his hand, He who goes breaking all bounds and beyond. I saw the Lord, White as Jasmine, and woke wide open.

Sunlight made visible the whole length of a sky, movement of wind, leaf, flower, all six colors on tree, bush and creeper: all this is the day’s worship. The light of moon, star and fire, lightnings and all things that go by the name of light are the night’s worship. Night and day in your worship. I forget myself, O Lord White as Jasmine.

About Rishabh 

Rishabh , an Art and Design Journalist , Editor, Design Consultant, Visual Artist and Author, studied at the renowned INIFD ( International Institute of Fashion Design ) in Delhi having 8 + years of work experience in the areas like Interior Design , Art & Colour Consultancy , Retail Design & Visual Merchandising , Art Appreciation, Product Designing, Writing & Design blogging. Rishabh specializes in stylish make overs & soft grooming of living spaces. Working for Swapnil Saundarya Label and Rishabh Interiors and Arts simultaneously , Rishabh has own acclaims from both critics and common people . He has held several art exhibitions and these have brought excellent response every time . Rishabh has authored three books on Interiors namely Ek Aashiyane ki Oar – A Guide for Residential Interiors , Supreme Home Therapy and Secrets of Visual Merchandising .He works as editor in chief of Swapnil Saundarya ezine ( An online Magazine dedicated to Art , Aesthetics, Culture , heritage and Literature ) and Supreme Home Therapy ( An Interior Design Magazine ). Rishabh  blogs on Art, Interiors, Lifestyle and Society. He is also associated with the causes like ‘ Say No to Domestic Violence’, ‘ Fight Against Child Abuse’ and ‘ Whole Body Donation’ and his association with these social causes , represents in his paintings as well . Rishabh has received the excellence award 2016 in Fine Arts from Uttar Pradesh Art Society and Youth Trailblazer Award in Contemporary Writing  from North Indian Merchants' Association in 2017. Rishabh has also got featured on 'The Elegant Life' as young Indian entrepreneur who successfully started with almost nothing and set a milestone in his 20s.

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