Dusshera : Echoes of Devotion - Our Timeless Heritage

At the outset, I start with pranams to Sringeri Jagadguru  Sannidhanams His Holiness Jagadguru Sankaracharya  Sri Sri Sri Bharathi Theertha Mahaswamigal and Jagadguru Sankaracharya His holiness Sri Sri Sri Vidhu Shekhara Bharathi swamigal  of Sringeri Saradha Peetham for everyone’s welfare & continued prosperity.

The below article is contributed by Mrs Usha Hari, a themed Navarathi Golu by her @ her residence.

Invite: Navarathri Golu by Mrs Usha Hari

In reverence: This year’s theme is Bhakti, inspired by our study of Bhakti Yoga under the Chinmaya Mission’s initiative to spread the Gita’s message. It is a tribute to the detailed explanations of our guru, Ms. Usha Sundaresan. Thank you, Guruji.

In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna teaches: “Think of Me, be devoted to Me, worship Me and bow to Me”(18.65). Even a leaf, a flower, a fruit or water becomes a precious offering when given with love (9.26). The Bhagavata Purana describes nine forms of bhakti. These six traditional stories illustrate some of them and bring the Gita’s teachings to life.

 Dasyam (devotion through humble service) - Kanakadasa at Udupi

Kanakadasa, the saint-poet of Karnataka, longed for darshan of Sri Krishna at Udupi. Barred from entering because of the social divisions of his time, he stood outside the western wall and sang, “Baagilanu teredu seveyanu kodo Hariye”: “O Hari, open the door and grant me the opportunity to serve You.” According to temple tradition, Krishna turned westward and the wall opened, allowing His devotee to see Him. The opening is remembered as Kanakana Kindi. Kanakadasa approached the Lord as His humble servant, and his story reminds us that devotion cannot be measured by caste or social position.

Gita connection (9.32): “Whoever takes refuge in Me, whatever their birth, they too attain the highest goal.” The doors that people closed on Kanakadasa could not keep out a devotee the Lord Himself turned to receive. Human walls decide nothing; only bhakti does.

Kirtanam (singing the Lord’s glory) - Sree Thyagaraja at Thiruvaiyaru

For Thyagaraja, who lived at Thiruvaiyaru on the banks of the Kaveri, music was a daily conversation with Sri Rama. He poured his love, longing and prayers into his kritis. In “Nidhi Chala Sukhama”, he asks his mind whether wealth brings happiness or whether serving in Rama’s presence brings greater joy. In the traditional account, his brother, angered by his indifference to wealth, threw the cherished Rama idol into the Kaveri. Thyagaraja grieved and searched for his Lord, and when the idol was recovered, his sorrow turned to joyful song. His music shows how praise itself can become worship.

Gita connection (9.14): “Always singing My glories, striving with firm resolve, bowing to Me with devotion, they worship Me steadfastly.” Thyagaraja’s kritis were not performance. They were the worship the Gita describes song as surrender.

Pada-Sevanam (loving service at the feet) - Pundalika and Panduranga at Pandharpur

Pundalika’s story begins with a change of heart. He had neglected his parents, but after meeting the sage Kukkuta, he learned the value of serving them and returned to care for them devotedly. At Pandharpur, Sri Krishna came to meet him while he was attending to his aged parents. Without interrupting that service, Pundalika threw a brick for the Lord and asked Him to wait. Panduranga stood upon it with His hands on His waist, the beloved form of Vithoba worshipped at Pandharpur. Pundalika’s service at his parents’ feet captures the spirit of pada-sevanam: seeing loving service as an offering to God.

Gita connection (9.27): “Whatever you do, whatever you offer, whatever you give, do it as an offering to Me.” Pundalika did not stop serving his parents even for God, because that service was his worship. And the Lord honoured it: He waited.

Atma-Nivedanam (complete self-offering) - Kannappa Nayanar at Sri Kalahasti

Thinnan, a hunter later known as Kannappa, discovered a Shiva linga at Sri Kalahasti and loved the Lord with an innocent, wholehearted love. Untrained in temple rituals, he offered what he knew: water carried in his mouth, and flowers and food from his hunt. Shiva revealed the depth of that love when blood flowed from one eye of the linga. After his attempts to heal it failed, Thinnan offered his own eye. When the second eye began to bleed, he placed his foot on the linga to mark the spot before offering his remaining eye. Shiva stopped him, named him Kannappa, and blessed him to remain with Him forever.

Gita connection (9.26 and 18.66): “Whoever offers Me even a leaf, a flower, a fruit or water with love, that offering of a pure heart I accept.” The Lord saw no hunter’s leftovers and mouthfuls of water, only love. And when love knows no limit, the Gita’s final call is His answer: “Take refuge in Me alone.” Kannappa’s story symbolises total surrender, not an instruction to harm oneself.

Vandanam (reverent prayer) - Kanakadhara Stotram by Sri Adi Shankara

As a young student seeking alms, Shankara came to the home of a woman who had almost nothing to give. She searched her house and offered the single amla she could find, unwilling to send him away empty-handed. Moved by her generosity in the midst of such poverty, Shankara prayed to Mahalakshmi through the Kanakadhara Stotram, seeking the Goddess’s compassionate glance for the woman. According to tradition, golden amlas then showered upon her home. The woman’s small gift and Shankara’s prayer for someone else’s welfare show devotion expressed through generosity, compassion and praise.

Sree Mahalakshmi

Gita connection (9.22): “To those who think of Me alone and worship Me always, I bring what they lack and protect what they have.” She gave her only amla, and golden amlas rained on her home. This is the Gita’s promise, kept.

Goddess Sri Mahalakshmi bestowing Kanaka (Gold)

Smaranam (constant remembrance of God) -Nammalwar at Alwar Thirunagari

Nammalwar, also called Maran, was born at Thirukurugur, now Alwar Thirunagari, near Tirunelveli. Tradition says that as a baby he neither cried nor took milk. His parents brought him to the Adinathar temple, where the child settled in the hollow of a tamarind tree and remained absorbed in meditation for sixteen years. Madhurakavi, guided southwards by a radiant light, found him there. A question about the soul and the body drew Nammalwar’s first spoken reply, and Madhurakavi became his disciple. Nammalwar’s inward devotion found expression in hymns, including the Tiruvaymoli, filled with longing for Sriman Narayana.

Gita connection (8.14): “I am easy to attain for the one who remembers Me constantly, with an undivided mind.” Sixteen years under the tamarind tree, one unbroken remembrance, and the Lord came to him without being called.

Our heritage is a living bridge built by the faith and devotion of those who came before. The timeless tales of Pundalika’s dutiful service, Kannappa’s total surrender, and the boundless grace shown to Adi Shankara are not mere history. They are spiritual waypoints handed down across generations, whispering the sacred truths of our ancient traditions into our modern lives.

It is our sacred duty to carry forward this luminous legacy, keeping the flame of devotion burning bright within our households and hearts. By sharing these profound stories and values, we anchor our children in a rich culture of love, humility, and selfless offering. We teach them that true worship lives not in rituals alone, but in honoring parents, serving others, and seeing the Divine in every breath. 

May these timeless principles guide our families forward, inspiring the next generation to walk the path of righteousness with steady faith. In embracing this spiritual heritage, we ensure that our ancestral light continues to illuminate the generations yet to come.

Contributed by Mrs Usha Hari