Akkamahadevi
Sharana · 12th century · Kannada · 8 translations
Akkamahadevi was a wandering mystic-saint of the twelfth-century Kannada Sharana movement, who left palace life to walk as a renunciant. She addressed her vachanas to Chenna Mallikarjuna, the god she called her only husband. Her verse is plain-spoken, radical, and still sung across Karnataka.
Translations
Hear me, You are my father; then,
from the Kannada original
O’ Sister listen, I saw a dream
from the Kannada original
One husband for now? One for the
from the Kannada original
I dress up for my Linga, I
from the Kannada original
The body, invoking the Linga, became One
from the Kannada original
The form became formless, when One with
from the Kannada original
O’ honey bees, O’ mango tree, O’
from the Kannada original
Keep your meals small, O’brother, keep it
from the Kannada original