Akka Mahadevi
Twelfth-century Kannada poet-saint of the Lingayat (Veerashaiva) tradition, one of the most radical female voices in medieval Indian devotional literature. Born in Karnataka around 1130, she was, by tradition, married against her will to a king but renounced her marriage and her clothing alike, walking through the world covered only by her hair, addressing all her vachanas (free-verse devotional poems) to her chosen lord, the formless Shiva called Chenna Mallikarjuna ("the beautiful jasmine-white lord"). Her work — direct, unornamented, defiant — has become a touchstone for both modern Kannada literature and contemporary feminist spiritual writing.
105
quotes in library
Quotes by Akka Mahadevi
105 quotes“In the school of devotion, even the silent are speaking.”
speakingVachanas
“Whoever has the Lord in his sight does not need any other vision.”
visionVachanas
“My beloved is more present than my own body.”
presenceVachanas
“O Lord, I am the wave. You are the ocean. The salt of love joins us.”
unityVachanas
“Whoever has touched the foot of the Lord has wealth without measure.”
footVachanas
“My anklets ring with his name. My voice sings his praise.”
musicVachanas
“In the field of the heart, the Lord is the harvest.”
harvestVachanas
“O Lord, you are the only law I obey. You are the only king I serve.”
lawVachanas
“Whoever wears the cloak of the Lord's name does not feel the cold of the world.”
protectionVachanas
“In the ocean of his love, my body is a lotus. The petals open and never close.”
lotusVachanas
“Without him, the world is empty. With him, the world is full.”
presenceVachanas
“O Lord of jasmine, you are the air I breathe. You are the wind that lifts me.”
airVachanas
“Whoever has known the formless cannot return to the form.”
formlessVachanas
“In the dance of jasmine, every flower is the Lord. Every petal is the Lord.”
flowerVachanas
“My beloved is the secret of every secret. My beloved is the open of every open.”
paradoxVachanas
“What is the path? The Lord. What is the destination? The Lord. What is the walking? The Lord.”
unityVachanas
“O Lord, you are sweeter than honey, more nourishing than bread, more refreshing than water.”
sweetnessVachanas
“Whoever has bowed to the Lord cannot rise as he was. He rises new.”
transformationVachanas
“In the silence of the Lord, my heart finds its rest.”
restVachanas
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