Sarvajña (Sanskrit
for "all-knowing",)was a Kannada poet, pragmatist and philosopher. He
is famous for his pithy three-lined poems which are called tripadis, "with
three padas[disambiguation needed], three-liners", a form of Vachanas. He
is also referred as Sarvagna in modern translation.
Childhood Life
The period of Sarvajña's life has not been determined
accurately, and very little is known about his personal life. Based on studies
of his literary style and the references of later writers, historians estimate
that he may have lived during the first half of the 16th century. Some
references in his works indicate that his real name was Pushpadatta - Sarvajña
appears to have been his pseudonym. His father was a Shaivaite Brahmin and his
mother was a Shudra widow named Mali. His father met his mother at a place in
present day Dharwar district in Karnataka on his way to Benares on a
pilgrimage.He always upheld the wisdom of pastoral life in rural areas and
tried to persuade villagers to give up superstition, meaningless customs and
traditions.
Tripadis
Sarvagna grew up as a wandering monk creating the
Tripadis,the famous three liners. In all, about 2000 three-liners are
attributed to Sarvajna. Popular because of their alliterative structure and
simplicity, they deal mainly with social, ethical and religious issues. A
number of riddles are also attributed to Sarvajna.
Channappa Uttangi was awarded the Kannada Sahitya Sammelana
prize in 1949 for his groundbreaking work on Sarvajna.
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