Kirīṭa-pati Veṅkaṭācārya (18th–19th cen. CE) was a great scholar of several śāstras and was a champion of Viśiṣṭādvaita philosophy. He lived in Sura-pura, a province in Karnataka. It is said that he wore Viśiṣṭādvaita as a crown and was hence called ‘Kirīṭa-pati.’ Dvaita and Advaita were his sandals, it seems! As he walked through the streets, attendants would fan him from either side.
Renowned as a doctor, a compassionate man, and an extremely capable surgeon in the old Mysore area, Rao Bahadur Dr. T V Arumugam Mudaliar was a contemporary of Sir. M Visvesvaraya. When he was the Chief Superintendent of Bangalore’s Victoria Hospital, its fame spread far and wide. The primary reason for this was his medical skill combined with his compassion for people. His sympathy was like medicine. The two together made him valuable to society.
Arumugam Mudaliar came from one of the reputed families of Bangalore. His parents were well-to-do.
Yayāti was the tenth in the line of descendants from Dakṣa-prajāpati; his son was Pūru. Further in his lineage Duṣyanta was born.
Lolla Lakṣmī-dhara (15th–16th cen. CE) was a scholar-poet in the court of Kṛṣṇa-deva-rāya. He is well-known as the author of Lakṣmī-dharā, arguably the best available commentary on Saundarya-laharī. The tenets of Śrī-vidyā are said to be extremely esoteric. They are to be learned through a Guru alone. Lakṣmī-dhara took a bold stand in his work by proclaiming, “I hereby declare myself as the Guru of all honest seekers of present and future!”[1]
I have mentioned above that Ramanna made me read Kannada Rāmāyaṇa, Bhārata and other books regularly. Bhāgavata and Ranganātha-rāmāyaṇa - both these books were very dear to him. He had many poems from Āndhra Rāmāyaṇa committed to memory. He used to quote them at times during many conversations. Once a Vaiśya[1] came to visit him. Ramanna asked (in Telugu) :
“What made you come? It has been a long time since I last saw you.”
Naiṣadhīya-carita is considered the touchstone of scholarly poetry. Śrī-harṣa (12th cen. CE), its author, takes delight in proclaiming that he composed this work to ward off lesser mortals:
ग्रन्थग्रन्थिरिह क्वचित्क्वचिदपि न्यासि प्रयत्नान्मया
प्राज्ञम्मन्यमना हठेन पठिती मास्मिन् खलः खेलतु।
श्रद्धाराद्धगुरुश्लथीकृतदृढग्रन्थिः समास्वादय-