February 2021
A Judgement
One more instance to exemplify Shastri’s verbal prowess.
In a village near Bangalore, K— had taken some money as a loan from R— saying that he would return the money the very next day. But even after months he did not return it. Later once somewhere in the Gandhinagar locality of Bangalore they met each other by accident and the topic of money came up immediately and resulted in heated exchange of words.
Shastri meanwhile happened to...
Piṅgalikā’s Story
“Lady! In the kingdom of Mālava lived a brahmana named Agnidatta. He had two sons named Śaṅkaradatta and Śāntikara. At a very young age Śāntikara left home in his quest of learning. Nobody knew where he went. Śaṅkaradatta married me.
My father-in-law died later. My mother-in-law followed him doing Sahagamana. Since I was pregnant, my husband left me there and traveled and unable to overcome the loss of his parents, committed...
Meeting with Arcot Ramaswamy Mudaliar
We have already seen how Shastri was instrumental in the establishment of a responsible government and during the agitation how caustic his writings were. One day he was called upon for a meeting in the dewan’s house which was at the Carlton Bhavan. Shastri went early in the day. He was already blind by then and he was received by the dewan himself. Mudaliar held his hand, helped him climb the stairs and...
Puruṣārtha
Man is a bag of desires. His life is a river of ceaseless likes and dislikes. Whatever he desires and whatever goals he attempts to attain have all together been termed by our ancestors as puruṣārthas.
There are four puruṣārthas –
1. Dharma (good works, virtue, sustenance, global ethic)
2. Artha (wealth, means to fulfill desires)
3. Kāma (desire, enjoyment)
4. Mokṣa (liberation).
Kāma and Artha are first desired by all. Both of these...
ಶೂದ್ರಕನು ನಾಯಕ-ನಾಯಿಕೆಯರನ್ನು ನಿರ್ದೇಶಿಸಿದ ಬಳಿಕ ತನ್ನ ರೂಪಕದ ವಸ್ತುವನ್ನು ಅದರ ಎಲ್ಲ ಸಂಕೀರ್ಣತೆಯೊಡನೆ ಸೂಚಿಸಿರುವುದು ಅನ್ಯಾದೃಶ. ಮೃಚ್ಛಕಟಿಕವೊಂದು ಪ್ರಕರಣವಾದ ಕಾರಣ ಇಲ್ಲಿ ವೀರರಸಕ್ಕೆ ಹೆಚ್ಚಿನ ಅವಕಾಶವಿಲ್ಲ. ಅದೇನಿದ್ದರೂ ನಾಟಕದ ದೈವ-ಮಾನುಷಭೂಮಿಕೆಗಳಿಗೆ ಸಹಜವೆನಿಸಬಲ್ಲ ರಸ. ಸಾಮಾನ್ಯರ ಬದುಕಿನಲ್ಲಿ ವೀರಾದ್ಭುತಗಳಿಗಿಂತ ಶೃಂಗಾರ-ಕರುಣ-ಹಾಸ್ಯಗಳೇ ಸಹಜ, ಸಮೃದ್ಧ. ಅದನ್ನೇ “ಸುರತೋತ್ಸವಾಶ್ರಯ” ಎಂಬ ಪದದ ಮೂಲಕ ಶೂದ್ರಕ ಅಭಿವ್ಯಂಜಿಸಿದ್ದಾನೆ. ಸಂಭೋಗಶೃಂಗಾರಕ್ಕೆ ಹಾಸ್ಯವು ಅಂಗವಾದರೆ ವಿಪ್ರಲಂಭಶೃಂಗಾರಕ್ಕೆ ಕರುಣವು ಅಂಗ. ಹೀಗೆ ಈ ಮೂರು ರಸಗಳ...
karṇa-tāla-balāghāta-
sīmantita-kulācalaḥ|
panthānam-iva siddhīnāṃ
diśaṃ jayati vighnajit||
(Kathā-sarit-sāgara 4.1.1)
Victory to that vanquisher of obstacles (i.e., Ganeśa), who has parted the mountains with the forceful flapping of his ears resulting in lines that seem like the paths of attainment!
1. And thus, while Vatsarāja was peacefully spending his days in food, drink, song and dance, hunting, and other activities, one day...
Mahāmahopādhyāya Vidvān N. Ranganatha Sharma (1916-2014), who lived amongst us until recently was known for his thoroughness in traditional knowledge and clarity in understanding of śāstras. He made tremendous contribution in passing on knowledge and awakening of values in the society. Our country has only had a handful of men who paid back the ṛṣi-ṛṇa [1]that was upon them – they paid back in large quantities and great quality – and among them...
A Request
There is one more episode worth narrating.
During 1938–39, he wrote a letter to me. It read as follows – “I have attached a letter of a person with this letter. It appears that he is facing great difficulties. Meet Dewan Mirza Ismail tomorrow and request him to help this person on behalf of both of us; obtain Mirza’s assurance and send me a written reply.”
And now it is time to speak about the enclosed letter. I cannot mention the name...