Duggale (ದುಗ್ಗಳೆ)

If a devotee, be like Basavanna;
if ajangama, be like Prabhudeva;
if a yogi, be like Siddaramayya;
if a bhogi, be like Chennabasavanna;
if an aikya, be like Ajaganna.
Receiving their kindly grace
I would be quiet as if I’m dead,
why talk of mighty philosophy,
Daasayyapriya Raamanatha? [Vachana No.1314] ^[1]

Duggale is the devoted wife of Jedara Dasimayya, who is supposed to be the premier Vachana writer, whose devotion to the Kāyaka of weaving is well-known. There is a popular story which occurs in Bhairavéswara kāvyada Kathâsutra Ratnākāra associated with the couple, and it goes like this:

Dàsimayya, travelling far and wide in search of a suitable bride for him, at last came to Duggale's place. In order to test her skill in culinary art, he gave her a handful of rice mixed with sand and a piece of sugarcane and asked her to prepare food without using any extra material either for fuel or for water within the shortest time, i.e., before he would be back after taking a dip in the nearby pond. Duggale passed the acid test put to her and Dásimayya accepted her as worthy of being his life-partner. Duggale with her cleverness and her devotion for the Kāyaka of weaving won her husband's admiration. Duggale's genial nature and right conduct are praised by Dāsimayya who feels fortunate in having got duggale as his wife:

She uses whatever comes to her knowing its utility.
She gladdens herself with whatever comes to her
She makes me forget my kith and kin.
By bringing in Duggale as my bride,
I saved myself mark o Râmanātha!

These words of Däsimayya show what significant role she played as a congenial intellectual companion in making Dâsimayya a glorious devotee.

Dâsimayya made no discrimination between man and woman on the basis of gender. And Duggale, being the better half of such a liberal minded and liberated devotee, naturally enjoyed equal status at home and abroad. She is rightly acclaimed the backbone of Dâsimayya. According to the statement made by Dâsimayya that the devotion done by the couple who are united in heart and soul is dear to Lord Siva, the worship done by Duggale and Dāsimayya together through their Kāyaka of weaving cloth gladdened Lord Śiva immensely. Under the influence of her husband, Duggale also wrote some Vachanas, bearing the signature ‘Dasayyapriya Rāmanātha'. That she was a contemporary of Basavanna and other Shararanas is proved by her reference to Basava, Allama, Chennabasava, Marulasankar, Siddharāma and others in her Vachanas. Indeed, Duggale was a worthy and congenial intellectual companion to Dâsimayya.