January 2020

A note about the translation of verses: In translating Sanskrit into English, we had to chart our course through a thoroughly challenging terrain. The reason for this is not hard to seek: the two languages have widely differing modalities of structure and substance. Sanskrit bears a stark resemblance with gold: it is naturally radiant and eminently malleable. And in translating it into English—in trying to fashion ornaments of it—we could not...
ಪಾಂಡವರಲ್ಲಿ ಭೀಮ, ಆಕಾರ ಮತ್ತು ಸ್ವಭಾವ ಎರಡರಲ್ಲಿಯೂ ವಿಶಿಷ್ಟನಾಗಿ ನಿಲ್ಲುತ್ತಾನೆ.  ಕಪಟ, ಕುತಂತ್ರಗಳಾಗಲೀ, ಇರದ ನೇರ ನುಡಿ ನೇರ ನಡೆಯವನು.  ಇವನ ಅಸಾಧ್ಯ ಹಸಿವಿನಿಂದಾಗಿ ಇವನಿಗೆ ವೃಕೋದರನೆಂಬ ಹೆಸರೂ ಸಹ ಇದ್ದಿತು.  ತನ್ನ ಮಗನ ಹಸಿವಿನ ಪ್ರಮಾಣ ಅರಿತಿದ್ದ ಕುಂತಿ, ಏಕಚಕ್ರನಗರದಲ್ಲಿ ಐವರು ಮಕ್ಕಳೂ ತಂದ ಭಿಕ್ಷೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಅರ್ಧವನ್ನು ‘ಭೀಮ ಪಾಲು’ ಎಂದು ತೆಗೆದಿಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದಳು.  ಇಂಥ ಭೀಮ ದಿನ ಗಟ್ಟಳೆ ಉಪವಾಸ ಕೂಡ ಇರಬಲ್ಲವನಾಗಿದ್ದ.  ಬಕನಂತಹ ರಾಕ್ಷಸನನ್ನು, ಅದೊಂದು ವಿನೋದದ ಆಟವೆಂಬಂತೆ ತಣ್ಣಗೆ ಕೊಂದು ಬರುವ ಭೀಮ ಮಕ್ಕಳಿಂದ, ದೊಡ್ಡವರತನಕ...
Kuchela
Meeting Venkatakrishnayya Each time Sastri was in Mysore, he first visited M. Venkatakrishnayya at his house. He always informed Venkatakrishnayya well in advance about his visit to the town. I was with Sastri a couple of times when he visited Venkatakrishnayya at his house in Lakshmipuram. Venkatakrishnayya was always very thrilled and had great respect for Srinivasa Sastri. Once, during our visit, he placed a huge plate full of fruits and...
Yudhiṣṭhira – Are there any instances in the past when a king attained siddhi, the ultimate accomplishment, even as he was a householder? And if so, what is the nature of the mokṣa that he attained? Kindly tell me, O grandfather! Bhīṣma – Several years ago, there was a king named Janaka who was hailed as a dharma-dhvaja [in this context, it is possibly used in a positive sense, as ‘uplholder of dharma’ (literally, ‘dharma-banner’) but normally...
Introduction Problems form an inescapable passage in every person’s life. However much one tries to avoid them, the truth is that they remain to be experienced, understood and at times, overcome. Banking on a healthy mixture of curiosity and competence, inspiration and imagination, reasoning and resources, luck and levelheadedness, man solves problems, which span the entire gamut of his existence and appear in various forms such as social,...
The revered Sheshappa and Subba Rao Both Shri. Sheshappa and Shri. Subba Rao are older than me by a good number of years. Subba Rao also taught me during me school days. Both had cleared their Upādhyāya[1] exams and were preparing for Paṇḍita[2] exams. This incident happened during one of the summer holidays, I remember I was either in fourth or fifth standard in Kannada medium. During the summer it was a routine that both Sheshappa and Subba...