Unlike the Veerashaiva movement which preached devotion to the god Shiva with an insistence on a classless society and had its inspiration from the lower classes of society, the haridasa movement started from the higher echelons and preached devotion to the god Vishnu in a more flexible caste-based society, eventually becoming popular among the common people. The beginnings of the haridasa tradition can be traced to the Vaishnava school of Dvaita philosophy pioneered by Madhvacharya. Its influence on Kannada literature in the early 14th century is seen in the earliest known compositions written by Naraharitirtha, a prominent disciple of Madhvacharya.