Profiles

Venkaṭalakṣmāsānī

Although he was sixty years old, he was like a thirty-year-old in mind and body – my dear friend, Srinivasamurthy.[1] Even now, whenever I reminisce about him, my eyes well up with tears. Srinivasamurthy grew up amidst comfort and happiness. His father Ramachandra Rao was an Amaldar.[2] Just like Ramachandra Rao, Srinivasamurthy too was handsome, generous, and belonged to a large family. He grew up with the love and respect of his parents.

There once lived an elderly veśyā who went by the name Sītakka in the Guniguntipalya area of Mulubagilu town. She had a foster daughter. I remember her name to be Ratnāsānī. In those days, the Bharatācārya[1] who lived in our town was a vaidika (a Vedic scholar/someone who follows and practices the Vedic lifestyle), Panasakayala Venkatasubbabhatta. I must have been around seven-eight years of age when I saw him.

DVG’s Sri Ramaparikshanam has attempted to examine and analyse the various strands of difficult questions related to Dharma by creating imaginary conversations that Sri Rama has between Ahalya, Sita, Lakshmana and other important characters. Although Sri Rama is a Puranic person, he is placed in the human world and his various accomplishments and sorrows are brought out in this work.

A Request

Honours and Felicitations

For years on end, DVG kept refusing the requests from the public and government for honouring and felicitating him. Without waiting for even a moment, DVG rejected the pension that the government voluntarily offered him.

Tenderness Towards Students

Lakṣmīnarasiṃha Śāstri was immensely fond of his students. Addressing those who were with him for a long time, he used to say: “Having students such as you all, I can happily teach Gauḍādi-gauḍānta Vedānta.”

Reiteration

Though Srinivasa Sastri often claimed it as an excuse, he did not lack knowledge about the Rāmāyaṇa at all. He went through the original Rāmāyaṇa in Sanskrit again and again and perhaps he did so all through the day. As he went through the original version of the Epic composed by Vālmīki, he grew curious to see how the other poets had described the same episodes. He would immediately call out for his wife.

“Lakshmi! Read out what Kamban has written in the context of this incident. Let me hear it out”