BANGALORE: Not much is known about the life of saint-poet Sarvajna, but it is intriguing and thought-provoking that his being an illegitimate child proved to be the turning point of his life as a teenager, and resulted in the gift of his ‘vachanas’ to the world.
Perhaps there is no other poet or literary figure in the world who openly, and without bitterness, acknowledged the background of his birth with such equanimity, and talked about it without inhibition, turning the painful experience into an insightful experience of life to pen his homilies. Sarvajna mentions about his illegitimacy in some of the earliest verses he wrote, pointing to an openness of mind, stoic acceptance of reality, and a conviction far beyond his years. His parents threw him out of the house when he asked about his parentage - his father was a Brahmin and his mother, a married woman of a lower caste. Ever since, Sarvajna became a wandering monk. His pithy three-lined poems or “tripadis” are crisp and succinct directions to the art of a practical way of life without complications.
The tripadis are as beautiful in construction as they are in meaning. Nearly 2,000 tripadis are attributed to this great poet.
Historians believe that Sarvajna lived in the 16th century, yet the ancient Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar and Sarvajna have much in common.
The content of their work is similar. Both dealt with social and ethical issues, and they were not shackled by religious, caste and class differences.
Dharma or righteous behaviour, as distinct from the religious connotation, was central their work and persona.
This magnanimity and inclusiveness visible in their entire body work.