God Is Dead, There Is No God

Language: English
Pages: 300

About the Book

Why another shrine
When theres one in the body?
No one asked for two,
My Lord.
Goggeshvara,
What am I,
When youre a stone?

Twelfth-century saint-poet Allama Prabhu, along with Basavanna
and Akka Mahadevi, was a founder of the Virashaiva or Lingayat movement in
Karnataka. During a period of intense religious ferment, these Sharanasproteges
of Shivaaimed to dismantle religious hierarchy and bigotry. They rebelled
against exploitation based on class, caste and gender. And the form of expression
they chose was the vachanapoetic compositions in everyday Kannada, which
shook rath-century Karnataka out of slumber. Today, with their focus on devotion
towards Shiva through love, labour and dedication, they form an integral part
of the Bhakti tradition as well as Indias spiritual heritage.

The vachanas of Allama Prabhu symbolize his journey of freeing himself from
worldly attachments and bondages. From gazing at Shiva from a distance, to
uniting with Him, to declaring He doesnt exist and to finally realizing that He
should be understood as a dynamic void: Allama covers a wide arc in his quest
for spiritual enlightenment. Rooted firmly in the idea of experiential reality, his
vachanas are passionate and filled with yearning; critical and brazen. Translated
with great skill and fluidity by Manu Devadevan, God Is Dead, There Is No God
is a treat for modern-day seekers as well as poetry lovers.








About the Author



Manu V. Devadevan is Assistant Professor of History at the
Indian Institute of Technology Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, and
author of A Prehistor