Profiles

Subrahmanya Shastry seemed to have had quite a long relationship with the Skānda-mahā-purāṇa. This was probably the earliest of the works he had taken up. He had started working on a prose rendition of the Skānda-mahāpurāṇa running to twelve volumes back in 1928. In the edition thus published, the original text was not given and only the translation was given in the form of running prose. He has dedicated the work to his father, Moṭagānahaḻḻi Śaṅkara-śāstri.[1]

Music Practice

On 29^th August 1959, Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan visited Mysore to inaugurate the All India Conference on Philosophy. Subrahmanya Shastry wrote the following verses to welcome him –

yasmin jñāte janeṣu prasarati vimalo bhrātṛ-bhāvaḥ suhṛt-tvaṃ

puṣṭis-tuṣṭis-samṛddhir-nirupama-vibhavaḥ saṃskṛter-dīptimat-tvam|

mānuṣyaṃ yena samyag jagati vijayate dharmam-ujjīvya satyaṃ

pāyād-vaḥ śāśvataṃ tat prarucira-sudhiyāṃ darśanaṃ bodha-pūrṇam||

Perception

Childhood and Education

Subrahmanya Shastry lost his father when he was just about seven or eight years old (c. 1913).

He received his early lessons in the Sanskrit language from Kāśinātha-śāstri and then joined the Cāmarajendra Saṃskṛta Mahāpāṭhaśālā in Bangalore. He studied kāvya, nāṭaka, and other genres of literature. He must have been sixteen or seventeen years of age.

Richness of Emotion

Rangaswamy Iyengar

A. Rangaswamy Iyengar started his Government service during the time of Rangacharya. He was revenue commissioner for a long time and later a high court judge. He was a well read man. He had all legal information readily accessible at his fingertips. He was a man of courage and also was an adept horse-rider.

Reminiscences of Olden Days

Sarma’s narration of the life and actions of the yesteryear scholars was fascinating. This was one such incident he shared from his memory.

A renowned grammarian from North India once visited the court of H. H. Krishnaraja Wodeyar III. His challenge to the court was that he would be able to defeat anyone in debate.

Introduction