Purna Krishna Rao was a councillor during the era of Dewan Rangacharlu. He was the very first councillor from Mysuru.
He was born and brought up in Mysuru.
I have heard from respectable people that he was scrupulously honest, sattvik and honourable.
His son was Purna Raghavendra Rao. He was a preceptor to Maharaja Krishna Raja Wodeyar IV. Later, he was a huzur secretary. He was initially an excise commissioner during the time of Sir M. Visvesvaraya and later a councillor.
At the behest of H. H. Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV, there was an āśu-kavitā competition held in 1925 at Mysore in which the participating poets had to compose poetry instantaneously on the topic of the overall development of the modern Mysore State. Sarma stood first in the competition in which over forty scholars participated. His creation—a campū-kāvya—known as ‘Śrī Mahiśūra-rājyābhyudayādarśaḥ,’ became famous in due course.
ಕಾವ್ಯಕಲೆ ಸಕಲಮಾನವರಿಗೆ ಸಂತೋಷಕಾರಿಯೆಂಬ ತಥ್ಯವನ್ನು ತನ್ನದಾದ ನಿರುಪಮರೀತಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಹೀಗೆ ಸಮರ್ಥಿಸುತ್ತಾನೆ:
ಆವರ್ಣಶಕ್ತಿಗ್ರಹಮಾಪವರ್ಗಂ
ದುಃಖೈಕರೂಪಾ ವಿರಚಯ್ಯ ವಿದ್ಯಾಃ |
ವಿಶ್ರಾಂತಿಹೇತೋಃ ಕವಿತಾಂ ಜನಾನಾಂ
ವೇಧಾಃ ಸದಾನಂದಮಯೀಂ ಕಿಮಾಧಾತ್ || (೧.೩೧)
ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯ-ಸಂಗೀತಗಳ ತೌಲನಿಕವ್ಯತ್ಯಾಸವನ್ನು ಕವಿಯು ಬಲ್ಲ:
ಕರ್ಣಂ ಗತಂ ಶುಷ್ಯತಿ ಕರ್ಣ ಏವ
ಸಂಗೀತಕಂ ಸೈಕತವಾರಿರೀತ್ಯಾ |
ಆನಂದಯತ್ಯಂತರನುಪ್ರವಿಶ್ಯ
ಸೂಕ್ತಿಃ ಕವೇರೇವ ಸುಧಾಸಗಂಧಾ || (೧.೧೭)
ಕಿವಿಯನ್ನು ಹೊಕ್ಕ ಹಾಡು ಮರಳಿಗೆ ಬಿದ್ದ ನೀರಿನಂತೆ ಅಲ್ಲಿಯೇ ಬತ್ತುತ್ತದೆ. ಆದರೆ ಅಮೃತಸಮಾನವಾದ ಕವಿಸೂಕ್ತಿ ಅಂತರಂಗವನ್ನು ಹೊಕ್ಕು ಆನಂದವನ್ನೀಯುತ್ತದೆ.
One day, the king was having his meal. Guṇaśarmā, who sat in his proximity refused to eat a certain dish which was brought to him by the cook. When asked the reason for his act, he said – ‘Even as I saw it, I came to know that it is filled with poison! You can test it by having it fed to someone else; I will then relieve him of poison and cure him!; When the king asked the cook to eat the particular dish, he fell unconscious upon eating. Guṇaśarmā used a mantra to review him. The cook then confessed – ‘Deva! Your enemy Vikramaśakti instigated me to feed you with poison!’
Masti’s life was extremely organized; his work was meticulous, immaculate, and accurate; he kept a track of all his activities and an account of all his expenses. Once I happened to meet him in the bank and we got talking. He told me, “You know what, in the last forty years, I have spent —lakh and —thousand rupees for printing books. Until now, I have received —lakh and —thousand rupees from sales. I am left with books worth —lakhs.” Even his intake of food was temperate.
The teaching must have affected Arjuna a wee bit. He asks, “You mentioned about the state of being in samādhi and talked about a sthitaprajña (one of steady wisdom). What are his characteristics? How does he speak?” Bhagavān enumerates the marks of a knower which forms the education of a seeker. The nineteen ślokas from the 54th to 72nd were apparently Mahatma Gandhi’s favourites. These ślokas are useful for contemplation and practice.
ನಾವಿನ್ನು “ಶಿವಲೀಲಾರ್ಣವ”ದತ್ತ ತಿರುಗಬಹುದು. ಇದರಲ್ಲಿ ನೀಲಕಂಠದೀಕ್ಷಿತನ ವ್ಯಾಪಕವಾದ ಕಾವ್ಯಚಿಂತನೆ ಕಂಡುಬರುತ್ತದೆ. ಮೊದಲಿಗೇ ಕವಿಯು ಧ್ವನಿಯ ಮಹತ್ತ್ವವನ್ನು ಸಾರುತ್ತಾನೆ:
ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯವಿದ್ಯಾಜಯಘಂಟಯೈವ
ಸಂವೇದಯಂತೇ ಕವಯೋ ಯಶಾಂಸಿ |
ಯಥಾ ಯಥಾಸ್ಯಾಂ ಧ್ವನಿರುಜ್ಜಿಹೀತೇ
ತಥಾ ತಥಾ ಸಾರ್ಹತಿ ಮೂಲ್ಯಭೇದಾನ್ || (೧.೮)
