September 2020
Interesting puranic exposition
Giriyamma came home after a discourse on Purāṇa. Murthy asked:
Murthy: Giri, which story was the topic of the discourse today?
Giri: The story was about lord Hanumān making fun of Rāvaṇa in Laṅkā.
Murthy: What is that story?
Giri: Murthy, don’t you even know this story? Hanumān used his special powers to convert his tail into a throne that was thrice bigger than Rāvaṇa’s throne. Did he not?
Murthy: Oh yes, yes!...
Disobeying the king’s order, Śakaṭālana secretly hid me in his house; he had someone else killed and informed the king that I had been executed. It would not have been possible for them to kill me in any case because I had befriended a rākṣasa. [1]
I had once invoked him, beckoned him to come, and had subsequently shown him to Śakaṭālana too. Similarly, upon a mere thought Gaṅgā would appear before me. I had demonstrated that as well. Śakaṭālana...
One of the most popular personalities among the old Mysore citizens was one V N Narasimha Iyengar. He was also known as mīsè (mustachioed) Narasimha Iyengar. The reason was: Narasimha Iyengar was the one who started the tradition of growing a moustache, which was not prevalent among the Śrīvaiṣṇava brāhmaṇas. He was from the Hebbār Śrīvaiṣṇava community. In the era of British Commissioners, the few who could reach better positions, owing to...
Abode of Snacks
Meeting with friends was among Murthy’s favorite pastimes. He was not the one to chitchat. Others needed to chitchat. He listened to them and laughed. Whenever the friends met up different kinds of snacks, coffee etc were arranged. He never was a person to consume large quantities of any of the snacks. He used to name several tasty snacks enthusiastically. However, he never ate more than a pinch of them. When he was working in...
Amaldar[1] Sitaramayya
Another instance.
Both of us were walking on the 3rd cross road of Basavanagudi. We heard someone singing when we came near a house. We stood there for a second and listened to the song. We do not know whose house it was. As I was looking around to ask someone, Murthy knocked on the door. Someone opened the door and asked
“Aren’t you Srirangapatna Subbarao’s son?”
Murthy then recollected that the person who opened the door...
Vararuci's narration continues...
Once, when I had gone out to watch the Indradhvajotsava, I happened to spot Upavarṣa’s daughter Upakośā. We fell in love with each other. I got married to her, invited my mother and lead my family life with them. I won over Pāṇini in a debate. Parameśvara uttered a ‘huṅkāra’ when this happened and I forgot the Aindra-vyākaraṇa that I had mastered. Pāṇini then won over us in the debate. I made arrangements for...