Subrahmanya Shastry lost his father when he was just about seven or eight years old (c. 1913).
He received his early lessons in the Sanskrit language from Kāśinātha-śāstri and then joined the Cāmarajendra Saṃskṛta Mahāpāṭhaśālā in Bangalore. He studied kāvya, nāṭaka, and other genres of literature. He must have been sixteen or seventeen years of age.
A. Rangaswamy Iyengar started his Government service during the time of Rangacharya. He was revenue commissioner for a long time and later a high court judge. He was a well read man. He had all legal information readily accessible at his fingertips. He was a man of courage and also was an adept horse-rider.
Sarma’s narration of the life and actions of the yesteryear scholars was fascinating. This was one such incident he shared from his memory.
A renowned grammarian from North India once visited the court of H. H. Krishnaraja Wodeyar III. His challenge to the court was that he would be able to defeat anyone in debate.
Masti was not particularly affluent. His earnings were not much compared to what government officials earn today. He felt that whatever he had must be spent for society and as a result, he had cultivated living a simple life. He kept aside a large portion of his savings for the sake of public welfare. He led a life along the ideals laid down by Kālidāsa in his Raghuvaṃśa, “त्यागाय सम्भृतार्थानां...” (One who ‘accumulates wealth only so that he might offer it in charity...’)
Purna Krishna Rao was a councillor during the era of Dewan Rangacharlu. He was the very first councillor from Mysuru.
He was born and brought up in Mysuru.
I have heard from respectable people that he was scrupulously honest, sattvik and honourable.
His son was Purna Raghavendra Rao. He was a preceptor to Maharaja Krishna Raja Wodeyar IV. Later, he was a huzur secretary. He was initially an excise commissioner during the time of Sir M. Visvesvaraya and later a councillor.
At the behest of H. H. Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV, there was an āśu-kavitā competition held in 1925 at Mysore in which the participating poets had to compose poetry instantaneously on the topic of the overall development of the modern Mysore State. Sarma stood first in the competition in which over forty scholars participated. His creation—a campū-kāvya—known as ‘Śrī Mahiśūra-rājyābhyudayādarśaḥ,’ became famous in due course.
Masti’s life was extremely organized; his work was meticulous, immaculate, and accurate; he kept a track of all his activities and an account of all his expenses. Once I happened to meet him in the bank and we got talking. He told me, “You know what, in the last forty years, I have spent —lakh and —thousand rupees for printing books. Until now, I have received —lakh and —thousand rupees from sales. I am left with books worth —lakhs.” Even his intake of food was temperate.
Upon completing my first year of high school (Fourth Form) at Mysore, I moved to Kolar for the second year (Fifth Form). After initial hardships in matters of boarding and lodging, I was able to set up boarding arrangement at one Venkataramayya’s residence, which was made possible by Ramadasappa’s munificence.