‘Sharana literature is a guiding light for people to lead a meaningful life’

Vachana literature remains a guiding light for a meaningful life, promoting equality and fraternity in society.

Underlining the relevance of Vachana literature even many centuries after their composition, chairperson of the Sharanabasaveshwar Vidya Vardhaka Sangha Dakshayini Avvaji has held that Vachanas that were written based on the real-life experiences of the Sharanas are still serving as a guiding light for a meaningful life.

“Vachanas composed by the Sharanas (reformers) are expressions of life experiences. The visionary reformers fought for an egalitarian society that is free from exploitation and oppression and based on equality and fraternity. Vachanas continue to serve as a guiding light for people even eight centuries after their composition,” Ms. Dakshayini Avvaji, who is also a member of the Board of Governors of Sharnbasva University, said in her presidential remarks at the first district Sharana Sahitya-Samskritika Sammelan, a literary-cultural conference, at Appa Centenary Hall in Kalaburagi on Sunday.

The event was organised by Sri Subhashchandra Patil Memorial People’s Welfare Trust.

“Sharanas of the 12th Century strongly opposed discrimination among people. Instead, they fought for equality in different communities. They held high the importance and superiority of labour and nurtured the tradition of collective consumption. There were many Sharanas, such as Mahadasohi Sharanabasaveshwara, who continued the tradition. Hundreds of mutts still follow the Sharana tradition of Kayaka and Dasoha,” she said.

With a special reference to gender discrimination and the patriarchal approach that is manifested in modern life, Ms. Dakshayini Avvaji said that the Sharanas treated all human beings equally, irrespective of their gender, caste or other identities.

“We continue to face many problems that our Sharanas faced many centuries ago. The solutions to the problems are manifested in the form of Vachanas. Following the Vachanas can help solve many of today’s problems,” she said, calling upon the people to study the Vachanas and follow them in their life seriously.

Prabhushree Tayi from Akkamahadevi Ashram at Biddapur in Kalaburagi commended the organisers for choosing Ms. Dakshayini Avvaji as the president of the literary-cultural conference organised in a patriarchal society.