मदघूर्णितवक्त्रोत्थैः सिन्दूरैश्छुरयन्महीम्।
हेरम्बः पातु वो विघ्नान् स्वतेजोभिर्दहन्निव॥
(Kathā-sarit-sāgara 5.1.1)
Gaṇeśa’s intoxicated nodding of head is making sindhūra applied on his face fall off, whose sprinkling on the ground is colouring the earth – it appears as though, his tejas is sprinkling forth to remove obstacles
In 1902 my sister got widowed. Then she was about 10 years old. This matter somehow reached Sri Venkatakrishnaiah and he wrote to me and conveyed his condolences.
“Please bring that child to my place. I will take care of her at my house; I will arrange for her education. She should not be discouraged. She should be in a lively environment. You get her here in person”. But my parents were traditionalists. They adhered to old customs. Sri Venkatakrishnaiah’s suggestion was not accepted, but this shows the magnanimity of Sri Venkatakrishnaiah.
ಆರನೆಯ ಅಂಕದಲ್ಲಿ ದುಷ್ಯಂತ ಶಕುಂತಲೆಯ ಭಾವಚಿತ್ರವನ್ನು ಚಿತ್ರಿಸುತ್ತಿರುತ್ತಾನೆ. ಅದನ್ನು ಕಂಡ ವಿದೂಷಕ ತನ್ನ ಮೆಚ್ಚುಗೆಯನ್ನು ವ್ಯಕ್ತಪಡಿಸುತ್ತ ಮಧುರಾವಸ್ಥಾನದರ್ಶನೀಯೋ ಭಾವಾನುಪ್ರವೇಶಃ ಎಂದು ಉದ್ಗರಿಸುತ್ತಾನೆ. ಇದಂತೂ ಕಲಾನಿರ್ಮಾಣದೃಷ್ಟಿಯಿಂದ ಅತ್ಯದ್ಭುತವಾದ ಒಳನೋಟ. ಈ ಮಾತಿನ ಸರಳತಾತ್ಪರ್ಯವಿಷ್ಟು: ಶಕುಂತಲೆಯನ್ನು ಚಿತ್ರಿಸುವಾಗ ಅವಳಲ್ಲಿ ದುಷ್ಯಂತನಿಗಿರುವ ಉತ್ಕಟವಾದ ಪ್ರೀತಿಭಾವವು ಆ ಚಿತ್ರದಲ್ಲಿ ಕೂಡ ಸೇರಿಹೋಗಿರುವ ಕಾರಣ ಅದು ಪ್ರತಿಯೊಂದು ಅಂಶದಿಂದಲೂ ಅಂದವಾಗಿದೆ, ಆಕರ್ಷಕವಾಗಿದೆ. ಕಲಾವಿದನು ಕಲಾನಿರ್ಮಾಣಕಾಲದಲ್ಲಿ ತನ್ನ ಇಷ್ಟಾನಿಷ್ಟಗಳನ್ನು ಮೀರಿ ವರ್ಣ್ಯವಸ್ತುವಿನ ಎಲ್ಲ ಅಂಶಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಪ್ರೀತಿಯನ್ನು ಹೊಂದಿ ತನ್ನನ್ನೇ ಅದಕ್ಕೆ ತೆತ್ತುಕೊಳ್ಳದಿದ್ದರೆ ಆ ಕಲಾಕೃತಿಗೆ ಸೌಂದರ್ಯ ಸಿದ್ಧಿಸುವುದಿಲ್ಲ.
Most of the time, Ranganatha Sharma’s mind was engaged in unknotting tough problems posed by the śāstras. But a sense of humour is something that came naturally to him. Whenever the occasion arose, he would laugh and make others around him laugh. I recollect a couple of such instances.
By then, Śaṅkhacūḍa spotted them from a distance and shouted – ‘O Garuḍa! Don’t, don’t! He is not a nāga, it is me! Why are you suddenly under an illusion?’ Hearing this, Garuḍa was confused and panicked. Jīmūtavāhana was distressed because the task he had taken up did not find completion. From his conversations with Śaṅkhacūḍa, Garuḍa understood that the person he ate was a vidyādhara and was immensely pained.
Sharma never sought publicity. He became totally dispassionate about the job he had taken up once it was complete. He authored a couple of columns in a few magazines under a different name[1]. Even his family members did not know for several years that he was the author of those articles.
