Sri Gopala Dasa was a prominent 18th century saint

Saint

A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...

, under the Haridasa

Haridasa

The Haridasa devotional movement is considered as one of the turning points in the cultural history of India. Over a span of nearly six centuries, several saints and mystics helped shape the culture, philosophy and art of South India and Karnataka in particular by exerting considerable spiritual...

 tradition. Along with other contemporary Haridasas such as Vijaya Dasa

Vijaya Dasa

Vijaya Dasa or Sri Vijaya Dasa was a prominent saint from the Haridasa tradition of Karnataka, India in the 18th century. Sri VijayaDasaru is an amsha of Sri Brighu Muni; the very same muni, who was the nimmita for the eternal kshetra Tirumala ! Sri Krishna himself in BG 10.25 says "maharsinam...

, Jagannatha Dasa and Venugopala Dasa, Gopala Dasa propagated the Dvaita

Dvaita

Dvaita is a school of Vedanta founded by Shri Madhvacharya....

 philosophy of Sri Madhvacharya

Madhvacharya

Madhvācārya was the chief proponent of Tattvavāda "Philosophy of Reality", popularly known as the Dvaita school of Hindu philosophy. It is one of the three most influential Vedānta philosophies. Madhvācārya was one of the important philosophers during the Bhakti movement. He was a pioneer in...

 throughout South India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 through Devaranamas or "Songs of God" in the Kannada language

Kannada language

Kannada or , is a language spoken in India predominantly in the state of Karnataka. Kannada, whose native speakers are called Kannadigas and number roughly 50 million, is one of the 30 most spoken languages in the world...

.

Early years

Sri Gopala Dasa was born as Bhaganna to Murariraya and Venkamma in Mosarakallu in Raichur

Raichur

Raichur , is a city municipal council in Raichur district in the Indian state of Karnataka. Raichur, on the banks of the Tungabhadra River, is the headquarters of Raichur district. It was in the princely state of Mysore during the rule of Tipu Sultan...

 district of Karnataka

Karnataka

Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...

. From a very young age, Bhaganna was initiated into spirituality and Dvaita philosophy.

Initiation

Bhaganna was initiated into the Haridasa tradition by Sri Vijaya Dasa. His pen-name was "Gopala Vittala".

Works

Sri Gopala Dasa has composed numerous songs in Kannada in praise of Lord Purandhara Vittala.