ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the two poets, Shripadaraya and Atukuri Molla, vividly illustrate Ranade's point. Vyasaraya headed the haridasa movement, which included the singer-saints Purandaradasa and Kanakadasa, and is recognized as one of the most important spiritual leaders of the late fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. It was with Shripadaraya that music increasingly came to be used as a powerful vehicle to communicate religious, philosophical and social ideas, though Narahi Tirtha, the successor and disciple of Madhvacharya had already made a start in that direction. This chapter looks at how Shripadaraya, erudite religious leader from a priestly caste and humble economic background, expressed his piety in common man's language and won admiration. Similarly, legends say that the lower-caste woman, Molla, who may have lived in sixteenth century or earlier, exalted herself through her literary flair to win love and respect of many Telugu-speaking bhaktas. Molla, according to tradition, was born after her parents prayed to Shri Kantha Malleshvara for a child.
