The legend of Helavanakatte Giriyamma

Illustration : Smt. Brundha Aravind, Bengaluru

India has seen many mystics and witnessed miracles from several of them. Some of them are revered to this day and their miracles are recounted as an affirmation for instilling devotion. Helavanakatte Giriyamma is a bright icon of the Haridasa movement. She was a great woman mystic who is very well-known to this day amongst the Vaishnava community, particularly in the region of Karnataka. She was born in 1752 at Rannebennur of Haveri district in Karnataka.

The background of her birth itself is testimony to her innate qualities and extraordinary personality. She was born by the grace of Lord Venkateshwara of Tirupati to Bhimmappa Jois and Tungamma after her parents’ performed great austerities to the Lord at Tirupati. To beget a Vaishnava child of tall order does require austerities and it is only possible through the grace of Sri Hari. Giriyamma nurtured deep devotion towards Lord Ranganatha Swamy, the temple deity of Helavanakatte, from a very tender age. Giriyamma lost her parents at young age and was raised by her uncle. As per the custom of those days, she was married at a tender age of 12 to Timmapparasa from Malebennur. However, she was no ordinary woman. She had no interest in worldly affairs or familial attachment that an institution such as a marriage is bound to instil. She politely requested her in-laws to arrange a second marriage for her husband and with everyone’s consent respectfully bowed out of her married life to embrace a solitary life dedicated to her deepest passion, her devotion to Lord Ranganatha Swamy. During her lifetime she is believed to have composed around 3000 Hari kirtanas with the ankita nama of Helavanakatte Ranga. She is believed to have exhibited many miracles during her lifetime.

Here is a brief account of one such miracle. Once the king of Punganur lost his vision and he offered sincere prayers to Lord Venkateshwara at Tirupati. Pleased by his devotion, the Lord appeared in his dreams and prompted him that He would grant him vision of one eye and the vision of the other one would be restored by His devotee Helavankatte Giriyamma. Heeding to the Lord’s command and wish, the king sought Giriyamma’s help. Giriyamma made collyrium (anjana in Sanskrit/kadige in Kannada) for his eyes out of the lamp she had been lighting in front of her deity upon a leaf of the ashvatta tree. The king applied the collyrium to his eye and he regained his vision.

There are several other accounts of her miracles. For instance, all the children she cuddled and played with are believed to have grown up strong, healthy and lived long. People would flock her for her healing abilities. However, she was ostracized by the community, especially by some temple authorities for being childless and single. Once during Sri Sumateendra Teertha the then pontiff of Mantralaya Matha visited to Helavanakatte. Giriyamma went to have his darshana and stretched her hands to take Mantrakshate. Despite objections from the members of the institute, Sri Sumateendra Teertha Swamiji gracefully offered her Mantrakshate and while doing so took a look at her palm and exclaimed that she was a ‘chakrapani’. She had signs of the divine Sudarshana chakra on her palm. He addressed her as Yashoda and asked her to show him Ranga. Giriyamma drew up a rangoli and placed the idol of Venugopala which was gifted to her by Sri Gopaladasa. As she started singing a melodious hymn in praise of the Lord, the Lord started dancing to the tune of the song and manifested out of the idol. Giriyamma took the little child in her waist and placed Him before Sri Sumateendra Teertha Swamiji. He was overwhelmed with joy and teared up seeing the Lord before him.

Giriyamma’s story is also a clear example of Sanatana Dharma’s tolerant and broad view of society. In utter contradiction to the popular argument made by staunch opponents of Sanatana Dharma that it encourages misogyny, this story proves the special reverence given to the women in society. It proves that Sanatana Dharma accepts the view that God’s love and moksha sadhana is not reserved to men alone. This is why India has seen so many women mystics like Giriyamma, Meera Bhai, Alvar, etc.

In a similar manner, the story also disproves another popular belief held by the Sanatana Dharma opponents that it is an oppressive regime designed to take advantage of the minority and unprivileged members of the society. Sanatana Dharma gives recognition to all members of society. Giriyamma is a clear example of a visible minority and disadvantaged person in so many respects. She was an orphaned single woman who came from a humble background with no notable social status to speak of. Furthermore, she was ostracized by the society for being childless which was a social stigma in those days. And yet, she received benediction from prominent seers of Madhwa institutes including Sri Sumateendra Teertha and Sri Satyabodha Teertha. She even received an idol of Venugopala from Sri Gopaladasa as a gift. Need we say more?

For the spiritual seekers and ardent followers of Acharya Madhwa, this story teaches us a number of important lessons. That to see the Lord we need to develop a special pair of eyes; we need divine vision. Our physical eye can be very deceiving. We tend to look for God in the most pristine locations, we expect to see Him in His divine form with four hands. We tend to expect the devotees to bear certain appearances familiar to us. Most often than not it is in the form of a brahmana man with very visible Vaishnava marks. But through this process we fail to see the Divine and His acts which are right under our nose many times. Who would have imagined that a beautiful flower such as Lotus so dear to the Lord can grow and blossom in a marshy place which is full of mud? Who would have imagined by looking at a thorn-studded jackfruit that the pulp inside is so sweet? We focus too much on the wrapper of things and fail to recognize the kernel inside. But the wise with withdrawn senses do not fall prey to the deception of the eyes. They are able to see the truth through their special vision. Sumateendra Teertharu and Satyabodharu thus were able to “See”.

As Sri Krishna says in Sri Bhagavad Gita,

उत्क्रामन्तं स्थितं वापि भुञ्जानं वा गुणान्वितम् |
विमूढा नानुपश्यन्ति पश्यन्ति ज्ञानचक्षुष: ॥10॥

utkrāmantaṁ sthitaṁ vāpi bhuñjānaṁ vā guṇānvitam |
vimūḍhā nānupaśhyanti paśhyanti jñāna-chakṣhuṣhaḥ
~ Purushottama Yoga, Panchadashodhyaya

So should the diligent seekers abandon the rules and etiquettes provided in the scriptures? Absolutely not! But those are preparatory procedures, often requiring many lifetimes to train our senses for the final examination. The final examination being ardent love for God, detachment from worldly objects that our senses long for and perfect knowledge of the Divine! The final exam can be a surprise test for a jeeva. It can come at anytime, anywhere and often in seemingly unlikely conditions. And it did for very many devotees like Purandaradasa, Valmiki, etc. Who would have thought an atheist could turn into the great mystic Purandaradasa? Who would have thought that a dacoit could become Valmiki? Prarabdha can make even an exalted personality like Akasha Raja slip up in his brahmanical life in his previous birth.

Does it mean that all dacoits are to be adored or that all thorny fruits have sweet flesh inside? No. But the possibility of a Valmiki emerging out of group of dacoits remains. There is a possibility of a devotee like Prahalada emerging out of an asura clan. There is a possibility of a Meera Bai emerging out of a woman. There is a potential of a Kanakadasa in a shepherd.
This demonstrates the universality of God’s love. It is available to all those who seek it. It is available even to those ostracized by society.

And what is interesting is the common elements shared by the devotees. Whether it is Giriyamma or Kanakadasa from the Dasakoota or Sri Sripadarajaru, Sri Raghavendra Teertha, Sri Satyabodha Teertha, from the Vyasakoota, they shared three things in common regardless of their journey. They all demonstrated unstinting devotion to Lord Sri Hari, they were situated in the knowledge of the Divine and His acts and they all remained unattached to worldly things. It would seem like these three things are fruits of one’s sadhana or the real fruits of a jeeva’s sartakatva. Everything else were just means to this end it would seem.

As Acharya Madhwa says in the Dwadasha stotra, “…antya kale visheshataha”.

Indeed, the true worth of a jeeva can only be judged by the wise and that too when it is ripe. For all of us who are yet to develop such vision, the lesson here is that we remain humble, respect one and all, get to know the Divine and His acts and take refuge in Him. If we are sincere, He is sure to appear to us and manifest His glory just like He did for Giriyamma and so many other devotees.
Everyone’s journey is bound to be different. We can observe that we have no freewill in the choice of the journey or the destination. The only freewill we seemingly can exercise is surrender to the will of the Divine knowing that we are eternally dependent on our Lord for our existence; eternally dependent on Him in our journey here and beyond.

Sangeeta Agara