Akka Mahadevi ( ) was a prominent figure of the Veerashaiva Bhakti movement of the 12th century Karnataka.
[1] HerVachanas in Kannada, a form of didactic poetry, are considered her most notable contribution to Kannada Bhakti literature.
[2] In all she wrote about 430 Vachanas which is relatively fewer than that compared to some other saints of her time. Yet the term 'Akka' (elder Sister), which is an honorific given to her by great Veerashaiva saints
She is said to have accepted the god Shiva ('Chenna Mallikarjuna') as her husband, traditionally understood as the 'madhura bhava' or 'madhurya' form of devotion.
she had said that she was a woman only in name and that her mind, body and soul belonged to Lord Shiva.
She rejected her life of luxury to live as a wandering poet-saint, traveling throughout the region and singing praises to her Lord Shiva.
She went in search of fellow seekers or sharanas because the company of the saintly or sajjana sanga is believed to hasten learning. She found the company of such sharanas in Basavakalyana, Bidar district
Mahadevi is said to have refused to wear any clothing"a common practice among male ascetics, but shocking for a woman. Legend has it that due to her true love and devotion with God her whole body was protected by hair.
. In the first phase she had renounced the worldly objects and attractions and in the second, discards the entire object based rules and regulations and in the third phase she starts her journey towards Srishila, where her eternal lover Chenna Mallikarjuna's temple locates.
Akka's spiritual journey ends at Kadali the nearby thick forest area of Shrisaila (Srisailam) where she is supposed to have experienced union (aikya) with Chennamallikarjuna
some of her famous vachanas
One of her famous vachana translates as
People,
male and female,
blush when a cloth covering their shame
comes loose
When the lord of lives
lives drowned without a face
in the world, how can you be modest?
When all the world is the eye of the lord,
onlooking everywhere, what can you
cover and conceal?
hasivaadoDe bhikshaannagaLunTu tr.sheyaadoDe kerebhaavigaLunTu shayanake haaLudaegulagaLunTu chennamallikaarjuna deva aatma sangaathake neenenagunTu
In translation:
If hungry, there's food in the town to beg for.
If thirsty, there are lakes, wells and streams.
To sleep, temple ruins are there.
Oh Lord White as Jasmine,
For company for the soul, I have You.
"The arrow that is shot should penetrate so deeply
that even the feathers do not show.
Hug the body of the Lord so tightly
that the bones must be crushed to crumble.
Weld to the divine until the very welding disappears. "
- Mahadevi
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