Rajarathnam gave ample opportunities to his students to showcase their talents through publications like Namma Bendre, Namma Nammavaru, and Bāla-sarasvati.
Understanding and responding to the tender minds of children needs a kind of dissolution of Self. It needs an assessment of our self from a perspective outside of us. This came to Rajarathnam somewhat by nature. (After his graduation he worked in śiśu-vihāra—kindergarten—among children for some time). The following extract from his work Hattu-varuṣa that is presently relevant, which can be considered as a part of his autobiography, has remained in the minds of many people –
Janab Muhammad Buḍan Khān was the inspector of Urdu schools. He would come to inspect the Anglo-Hindustani school in our town[1] once or twice a year.
Bhāmaha writes the following in his Kāvyālaṅkāra
“upeyuṣāmapi divaṃ sannibandhavidhāyinām|
āsta eva nirātaṅkaṃ kāntaṃ kāvyamayaṃ vapuḥ ||”
“Many people who wrote excellent poems have gone to the svarga. However, their beautiful, poetic body will remain here for ever.”
The above statement is quite popular in scholarly circles.
Reminiscent of this statement, Prof. S.K. Ramachandra Rao’s yaśaḥ kāya –body of fame has remained with us through his immortal works.
There are several institutions, which received Sharma’s ‘dohada’ (instigation for healthy growth) – Rashtrotthana Parishat, Kannada Sahitya Parishat, Samskrita Bharati, Sura-sarasvatī-sabhā, and many more. Many maṭhas that belong to different traditions have also received Sharma’s immense contribution.
It has been thirty years since Venkannayya left for his heavenly abode. Even so, that sorrow is still fresh in my heart. The sadness of bereavement is not unfamiliar to me. But I feel that the wound caused by Venkannayya’s demise will never heal. What could be the reason for this unusual depression?
Satkāvya and Adhyātma