[3] Vijaya Dasa was born as Dasappa in a poor Kannada Deshastha Madhva Brahmin family of Bharadwaja Gotra[4][5] in Cheekalaparvi in Manvi taluk of Raichur district, Karnataka state.

One night, he had a dream in which the 16th century Carnatic composer and wandering saint Purandara Dasa initiated him into the Haridasa tradition and gave him the ankita nama (pen name) Vijaya Vittala and a Tamboori (Tanpur, musical instrument).

[1] Amongst Sri Vijaya Dasa's host of disciples, three were outstanding that have earned the adage "Bakthiyalli Bhaganna, Yukthiyalli Mohanna matthu Sakthiyalli Timmanna".

[8] His purported miracles include calming the Ganges, entering it without getting wet, preventing a woman from committing suicide, resurrecting his son, and making an uneducated man speak difficult Sanskrit proficiently.

[8] He is among the group credited with starting the practice of singing devotional songs while walking up the Tirumala hills in modern Andhra Pradesh.