July 2019
Ask a random student of Sanskrit to recite a poem—chances are you will hear a verse from Bhartṛhari’s Nīti-śatakam. Go to an Acharya seeking wise counsel—chances are you will hear a verse from Bhartṛhari’s Vairāgya-śatakam. Suppose you are interested in love as it is depicted in Sanskrit literature and consult a book—chances are you will come across a verse from Bhartṛhari’s Śṛṅgāra-śatakam. Such is our poet’s popularity.
Despite this,...
Beginning of Bhārata-vācana
This group of literary and musical connoisseurs made it a routine to take turns and meet in one of the houses every day after work, once they freshened up. H Nagesh Rao was a tenant at Mirmira Rama Rao’s house on Arcot Srinivasacharya Road. I’ve been a part of this group meeting many times. Venkatakrishnappa would usually sing something. Someone else would chant a Śloka. Bindu Rao would recite the Bhārata. I still...
Editing Texts
Bellave Venkatanaranappa was overly enthusiastic about impossible tasks. One such task that he always thought of undertaking was ironing out the printing mistakes in Kannada books. Bellave Somanathayya, one of his relatives had written a work called Rājaśekhara-carita. Somanathayya was an honest scholar and had a strong analytical mind. He authored several other works in Kannada including Śankaracarita-kāla-vicāra. His work...
Introduction
In the corpus of Dr. S.L. Bhyrappa’s twenty-three novels, seven stand out as Himalayan peaks in the order of their publication: Vamsha Vruksha, Daatu, Parva, Sakshi, Tantu, Sartha and Mandra. Of these, two share a basic and apparent similarity in the sense that they are the fine artistic and literary specimens of Dr. Bhyrappa’s profound meditations over nearly half a lifetime. These are Sakshi (1986) and Mandra (2002).
It is...
The culture of Greater India has its roots in śruti, smṛti, itihāsa, and purāṇa. Śruti means ‘Vedas.’ The Upaniṣads, which form a part of the Vedas, are the basis of Vedānta and other darśanas. Smṛti refers to dharma-śāstras. Rāmāyaṇa and Mahābhārata are together called ‘itihāsa.’ Matysa-purāṇa, Kūrma-purāṇa, Brahmāṇḍa-purāṇa, and other such literary works fall under the category of ‘purāṇa.’ The Purāṇas primarily deal with the importance and...
After Sir K Seshadri Iyer, Rayalu Arokiaswamy Thumboo Chetty of Tiruchirapalli (Trichinopoly) became the Diwan of Mysore. His tenure as Diwan was for a mere seven-month-period.
Rājadharmapravīṇa[1] T R A Thumboo Chetty was a Christian of the Roman Catholic denomination. He was a person well-known for his integrity and non-deceitful nature. I have heard many people praise his benevolence and upright character.
Starting his career from an ordinary...
Yudhiṣṭhira made his way into the enemy ranks and walked straight to Bhīṣma. He bowed down to the grandsire, touched his feet, and said with great humility, “Grandfather, I am going to fight against you in this war; please give me permission. I seek your blessings.”
Bhīṣma replied, “If you had not come here now, you would have been cursed by me and would have lost this war. I’m overjoyed that you came; I grant you permission to fight me; may you...
Does the ancient Hindu religion have the life-essence to survive, giving answers to the questions posed by the new world?
Does that hallowed and sacred culture have the spine and bones to stand upright, head held high, in the face of Western knowledge and astounding feats [of modern science]?
Does Veda-Vedānta possess that elevated spirit of inherent goodness to remain afloat in the torrent of scientific powers, striking with belligerence, wave...
One day, at about three in the afternoon, Bindu Rao visited my house. I asked him, “When did you arrive?”
He said, “I left Chitradurga this morning and came here at around eleven, freshened up and had lunch at my younger brother’s place, then I came to see you. I’m now ninety-two years old. I felt like sharing that with you!”
Me: “How did you come here? In a vehicle[1]?”
BR: (pointing towards his legs) “What’s the need for a vehicle when I...
Subbarayappa
I would like to make a special mention of two of members of our (English-Kannada Dictionary) Committee – D C Subbarayappa and B Puttayya. These two gentlemen helped us with all sincerity in compiling the dictionary. They were never arrogant or egoistic. Their dedication and hard work were exemplary. The two men examined in detail the draft copies sent by Venkatanaranappa to their residences. After contemplating upon the propriety of...