Author:sandeep
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]
DVG Ārādhaka (A Worshipper of DVG)
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.
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)
The next morning Satyavrata saw him and said, “Sir! I have thought of a plan for you to accomplish your desired objective. It is as follows: There is an island called Ratnakūṭa in the middle of that ocean. The ocean-king has performed a pratiṣṭāpana of Viṣṇu there. On the day of Āṣāḍha-śuddha-dvādaśī, they celebrate a grand festival of the local deity and several tourists from various islands gather there. From one of them you should be able to get some information about Kanakapurī. So let’s go there!
Commitment
Pondering about his work in the press reminds me of a sad incident. Around 1902 or 1903 he lost his son. His daughter and son-in-law Dakshinamurthy too expired (may be due to plague). During one of these troubled times before the body would be taken to the crematorium Venkarakrishnaiah said to someone “Oh dear! today’s article isn’t ready yet? Go get paper and pen.” thus he made sure it was ready. This was his commitment to work.
