April 2021
The story of Vikramasimha and two brāhmaṇas
There lived a king by the name Vikramasimha in Ujjayinī. He had no equal on the battlefield and he was aching for showing his prowess. His minister Amaragupta who discovered this longing, casually mentioned, ‘O king! This is the curse of being an invincible warrior. Even Bāṇa, who possessed thousand arms, had to please Śiva to find himself a worthy enemy. He ended up battling the all-powerful Viṣṇu who...
ಮೆಯ್ ದೃಢ, ಮನಸ್ಸು ದೃಢ,
ದುಡಿವೆನೆಂಬ ನಿಶ್ಚಯ ಇವಕೆ ಸಮನಾಗಿ
ದೃಢವಾಗಿರುತ ನಮ್ಮ ರಾಜಣ್ಣ
ಬರೆದಿರುವ ಪುಸ್ತಕ ಅವೆಷ್ಟೊ!
ಅವುಗಳ ಜಾತಿ ಇನ್ನೆಷ್ಟೊ!
[Firm body, firm mind,
Firm resolve to work hard,
Being firm, our Rajanna
Written by him
are books – how many!
Genre spanned –
how many!]
...ಕಾವ್ಯವನು ರಚಿಸುವುದು ಎಂತಂತೆ
ಅದರರಿವ ಹರಡುವುದು ಇದೆ ರೀತಿ ಪುಣ್ಯಕರ
ರಾಜಣ್ಣ ಈ ಪುಣ್ಯವನು ಪೂರ್ಣ ಗಳಿಸಿಹರು.
[…just like composing poetry,
spreading their significance...
A Humorous Episode
Once, Venkannayya had fallen ill. It was a disease that troubled him on and off – something stomach-related. When I heard the news, I wrote the following quatrain on a postcard and sent it to his college address in Mysore:
vaṃkāyòkkaṭè kaḍupulò।
saṃkaṭamunu galugujeyunayyā nūnan॥
iṃkanu virupanu jeritè।
vèṃkaṇṇā! grudda cinugi brovakagalade॥
[There’s a suffering in my tummy
the oil has caused grief therein
if more...
ಬಾಣಭಟ್ಟ
ಮಹಾಕವಿ ಭಟ್ಟಬಾಣನ ಕೃತಿಗಳ ಪೈಕಿ “ಹರ್ಷಚರಿತ” ಒಂದರಲ್ಲಿಯೇ ಕಾವ್ಯಮೀಮಾಂಸೆಯ ಚಿಂತನಶಕಲಗಳು ಕಂಡುಬರುತ್ತವೆ. “ಕಾದಂಬರಿ”ಯ ಉಪಕ್ರಮಶ್ಲೋಕಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಕಾವ್ಯಕಲೆಯನ್ನು ಕುರಿತ ಒಂದೆರಡು ಮಾತುಗಳಿದ್ದರೂ ಅವು ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯತತ್ತ್ವಕ್ಕೆ ನೇರವಾಗಿ ಸಂಬಂಧಿಸಿಲ್ಲ; ಮೌಲಿಕವೂ ಎನಿಸಿಲ್ಲ. ಹೀಗಾಗಿ ಹರ್ಷಚರಿತವೊಂದೇ ನಮಗಿರುವ ಆಲಂಬನ. ಇಲ್ಲಿಯ ಕೆಲವೊಂದು ಮಾತುಗಳು ನಿಜಕ್ಕೂ ಸತ್ತ್ವಪೂರ್ಣವಾಗಿವೆ. ಆರಂಭದಲ್ಲಿಯೇ ಕೃತಿಚೋರರನ್ನು ಕುರಿತು ಹೀಗೆ ಹೇಳುತ್ತಾನೆ:
ಅನ್ಯವರ್ಣಪರಾವೃತ್ತ್ಯಾ ಬಂಧಚಿಹ್ನನಿಗೂಹನೈಃ |
ಅನಾಖ್ಯಾತಃ ಸತಾಂ ಮಧ್ಯೇ ಕವಿಶ್ಚೌರೋ ವಿಭಾವ್ಯತೇ...
तर्जयन्निव विघ्नौघान्नमितोन्नमितेन यः |
मुहुर्विभाति शिरसा स पायाद्वो गजाननः ||
[May that elephant-faced deity, who by repeatedly raising and bowing his head, appears to continually threaten the multitude of obstacles, protect you all]
नमःकामाय यद्बाणपातैरिव निरन्तरम्|
भाति कण्टकितं शम्भोरप्युमालिङ्गितं वपुः||
[We salute Kāma, the deity of love, whose shower of arrows cause even the body of Śiva to appear horripilated while being embraced...
DVG Ārādhaka (A Worshipper of DVG)
The respect that Sharma had developed for DVG and the love and affection the latter displayed towards him are über-worldly. We can only term it as a ṛṇānubandha- a relationship beyond times. It was a bonding hitherto unseen. Starting from the time DVG got introduced to Sharma in the mid-1950s, he made it a point to get all his writings proofread and examined by him. It became a norm to see each other often. For...
It is claimed often that ours is an Age of Science, an era of intellectual superiority. On the one hand, the intellect is mighty but on the other hand, the mind is fragile. Our times despise difficulties. Let nothing be difficult, may everything be easy – a piece of cake – this is today’s mindset.
This starts in our schools. Indian languages have the letters cha, bha, kṣa, hra – who needs these letters? They weary the children.
Let us not...
ಸುಬಂಧು
ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತಸಾಹಿತ್ಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಸುಬಂಧುವಿನ ಸ್ಥಾನ ಹೆಮ್ಮೆ ಪಡುವಂಥದ್ದೇನೂ ಅಲ್ಲ. ಬಾಣನ ಪೂರ್ವಸೂರಿಯಾಗಿ ಕೆಲಮಟ್ಟಿಗೆ ಮಾರ್ಗದರ್ಶಿಯಾಗಿದ್ದಾನೆಂದರೆ ಸಾಕಾದೀತು. ಶ್ಲೇಷವನ್ನು ಅಳವು ಮೀರಿ ಬೆಳೆಸುವಲ್ಲಿ ಇವನು ಸಾಧಿಸಿರುವ ಅನೌಚಿತ್ಯ ಮುಂದಿನ ಎಷ್ಟೋ ಮಂದಿಗೆ ಮಾದರಿಯಾದದ್ದೊಂದು ವಿಪರ್ಯಾಸ. ಈತನ ಏಕೈಕ ಉಪಲಬ್ಧಕೃತಿ “ವಾಸವದತ್ತಾ.” ಇದರ ಉಪಕ್ರಮದಲ್ಲಿ ಕಾವ್ಯಮೀಮಾಂಸೆಗೆ ಸಲ್ಲಬಲ್ಲ ಒಂದೆರಡು ಒಳ್ಳೆಯ ಮಾತುಗಳನ್ನಾಡಿದ್ದಾನೆ:
ಅವಿದಿತಗುಣಾಪಿ ಸತ್ಕವಿಭಣಿತಿಃ ಕರ್ಣೇಷು ವಮತಿ ಮಧುಧಾರಾಮ್ |
ಅನಧಿಗತಪರಿಮಲಾಪಿ ಹಿ ಹರತಿ ದೃಶಂ ಮಾಲತೀಮಾಲಾ || (೧೧)...