Vemana

October 16, 1972

A commemorative postage stamp on 300^th Birth Anniversary of Yogi Vemana, an Indian Telugu philosopher and poet [a part of ‘Centenary Series‘] :

Issued by India

Issued on Oct 16, 1972

Issued for : From this year, the P & T Department has introduced a new ‘Centenary Series‘ of postage stamps to commemorate the centenaries of personalities which fall during the year. The P & T Department feels honoured to bring out in this series the special postage stamps this year for the following personalities on the October 16, 1972.

1. Vemana : 3^rd Centenary
2. Bertrand Russell : Birth Centenary
3. T. Prakasam : Birth Centenary
4. Bhai Vir Singh : Birth Centenary

Type : Stamp, Mint condition

Colour : Black and White

Denomination : 20 Paise

Overall size : 3.34 x 2.88 cms.

Printing size : 2.987 x 2.524 cms.

Perforation : 13½ x 14

Watermark : Printed on water–marked Adhesive Stamp paper “All over Asoka Pillar”

Number Printed : Three million

Number per issue sheet : 42

Printing Process : Photogravure

Designed and printed at : India Security Press

Name : Gona Vema Buddha Reddy

Born on Rayalaseema, Andhra Pradesh, India

Died on 1730 at Kadiri, Anantapur district, Andhra Pradesh, India

About :

A poet of the people, a philosopher of equality and a fighting saint, Vemana was unique in many ways. His teachings have much contemporary relevance for he was a dreamer of one world and of the universal brotherhood of man.
There is no agreement among the scholars regarding the year of the birth of the great poet. No definite dates are, therefore, available regarding his birth or death. However, Vemana is believed to have lived in the later half of the seventeenth century and the first decades of the eighteenth century. He had spent the best part of his life in the Cuddapah and Kurnool Districts of Andhra Pradesh.
A farmer by profession, Vemana was not destined to lead an easy life. He had more than an ordinary man’s share of trials and tribulations, and they at once toughened and refined him into a remarkable man.
His original insight and varied experiences enabled him to propound three trends in philosophy, a social philosophy, an ethical philosophy and a religious philosophy.
Vemana was an advocate of human equality. He believed that there can be no equality as long as caste and class barriers are not done away with and so he attacked these evils tooth and nail.
Vemana‘s language is chaste and crisp; his diction is limpid and smooth, his analogies fresh and bold. His poetry is a spring, pure and spontaneous and original in thought and style. The metre chosen by Vemana for his poetry is ataveladi. Its literal meaning is “A dancing damsel”, and Vemana made it dance exquisitely.
In his thought, Vemana is akin to Tiruvalluvar, Kabir and Sarvajna. He is bard of universal man. His conception of oneness of man is indeed so grand, so all inclusive that he urges –
Serve food to all
all the people of the world
in one plate;
make them dine together
forgetting all their differences;
and with uplifted hand
bless them live like one.