December 2022

Once a brāhmaṇa came to him. His hair stood on their ends. The king asked him, ‘Why such hair?’ The brāhmaṇa then started narrating his story– The Story of Devasvāmī Deva! In Pāṭalīputra, there lived a brāhmaṇa named Agnisvāmī who was also an agnihotrī. I’m his son Devasvāmī. I married a girl from some distant land. Since she was not mature, she stayed in her father’s place. Once she became attained puberty, I went with my attendant and a horse...
He had a reasonable awareness of astrology; he had belief too in it; so he examined his horoscope and used to say that the time was a cruel phase for him. But nobody believed it was this cruel. He was never fully fit and healthy; even when I first saw him (1904), he had the appearance of being weak due to suffering from constipation and skin ailment. However, by the time he arrived in Bangalore (1916), he gradually improved and was quite healthy...
The State of Īśvara From the perspective of the visible world, the invisible and divisionless part of the universe, Supreme Brahman is known as Īśvara or Parameśvara. When the pure, formless, and actionless Brahman assumes the position of the universal controller, it is known as Parameśvara. There are no differences such as the ruler and ruled in the transcendental state of Brahman. When that consciousness exists as part of the world and is seen...
ಊನಗಣ-ಅಂತ್ಯಪ್ರಾಸ ಅಂತ್ಯಪ್ರಾಸ ಕೂಡ ತಾಳಬದ್ಧವಾದ ರಚನೆಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಹೆಚ್ಚಾಗಿ ಶೋಭಿಸುತ್ತದೆ. ಇದಕ್ಕೆ ಕಾರಣ ತಾಳಾವರ್ತಗಳ ಕಡೆಗೆ ಬರುವ ಪ್ರಾಸವು ಗತಿಯ ನಿಲುಗಡೆಯನ್ನು ತುಂಬ ಚೆನ್ನಾಗಿ ಬಿಂಬಿಸುವುದೇ ಆಗಿದೆ. ಯಾವುದೇ ತಾಳಬದ್ಧ ಗೇಯದ ಸಾಲೊಂದು ತನ್ನ ಮುಗಿತಾಯದ ಮೂಲಕ ಎದ್ದುಕಾಣುವಂತೆ ಆಗಬೇಕಾದರೆ ಅಲ್ಲಿ ಊನಗಣ ಅಪೇಕ್ಷಿತ. ಹೀಗಲ್ಲವಾದರೆ ಅಖಂಡವಾದ ಆವರ್ತಗಳು ಎದ್ದುತೋರಿ ನಿಲುಗಡೆಯೇ ಇಲ್ಲದೆ ತೊರೆಯೋಟದಿಂದ ಸಾಗುತ್ತಲೇ ಇರುತ್ತವೆ. ಆದುದರಿಂದ ಪಾದಾಂತ್ಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಊನಗಣಗಳು ಇದ್ದಾಗಲೇ ಅಂತ್ಯಪ್ರಾಸವು ಅತಿಶಯವಾಗಿ ತೋರುತ್ತದೆ. ಒಂದು ಪಕ್ಷ ಊನಗಣ...
The novel ‘Mandra’ by S. L. Bhyrappa which appeared in 2002 is unique in several respects. It is woven around music and musicians. It is not only a tour de force as novel-writing goes; it is in a class by itself because of the high degree of its sensitivity, multi-layered structure, richness of insight and extra-ordinary narrative skill. The work is a great deal more than mere story-telling; its portrayal of characters and its thematic intensity...
Varanasi
The Story of Candrasvāmī I am a brāhmaṇa named Candrasvāmī and belong to an agrahāra called Brahmasthala; I have a beautiful wife. Once, when I was away, a kāpālika who had come to my house seeking alms spotted my wife. As soon as the kāpālika saw her, my wife developed fever and passed away that evening. Our relatives gathered and cremated her. Upon my return, I came to know of her passing away and rushed to the crematorium. I noticed the...
Yakshagaana
Let us examine the qualities that the extempore delivery of dialogues on the stage should ideally possess. Adherence to śruti, though important, is not the only aspect that needs to be cared for. Pronunciation of every syllable should be accurate. Depending on the situation, appropriate words, syllables, and punctuations must be appropriately emphasized. Artistes should modulate their voice as per the emotion that needs to be expressed. In...
Summary Whatever is essential and uniquely great in this world is to be understood as a salient mark of Brahma’s power. Whatever quality endows a thing with usefulness and value belongs to the power of Brahma. In addition to sattva, the guṇas of rajas and tamas are also necessary for the functioning of the world. The agitation amongst these three guṇas is vital for the constantly dynamic behaviour of the universe and therefore for its existence...
ಅಂತ್ಯಪ್ರಾಸ ಅಂತ್ಯಪ್ರಾಸದ ಇತಿಹಾಸವು ಸಾಕಷ್ಟು ಪ್ರಾಚೀನ. ವಿಶೇಷತಃ ರಗಳೆಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಎರಡು-ಎರಡು ಸಾಲುಗಳು ಯುಗ್ಮಕಗಳೆಂಬಂತೆ ಅಂತ್ಯಪ್ರಾಸದೊಡನೆ ಸೇರಿ ಬರುತ್ತವೆ. ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಆದಿಪ್ರಾಸವಿದ್ದರೂ ಇಲ್ಲದಿದ್ದರೂ ಅಂತ್ಯಪ್ರಾಸ ನಿಯತವಾಗಿ ಬರುವುದು ಗಮನಾರ್ಹ. ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತ ಮತ್ತು ಪ್ರಾಕೃತ-ಅಪಭ್ರಂಶಗಳ ಗೀತಸಾಹಿತ್ಯದಲ್ಲಿಯೂ ಅಂತ್ಯಪ್ರಾಸವನ್ನು ಗುರುತಿಸಬಹುದು.[1] ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಆದಿಪ್ರಾಸವಿರುವುದಿಲ್ಲ. ಇದರ ಮುಂದುವರಿಕೆಯನ್ನು ಹಿಂದೀ ಮೊದಲಾದ ಉತ್ತರಭಾರತದ ಭಾಷೆಗಳ ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಕಾಣಬಹುದು. ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಅಂತ್ಯಪ್ರಾಸವು ರಗಳೆಗಳ ಮೂಲಕ ತೋರಿಕೊಳ್ಳುವ ಕ್ರಮವನ್ನು ಈ...
ಅಪೌರುಷೇಯವೆನಿಸಿದ ವೇದವಾಙ್ಮಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಪ್ರಾಸಬದ್ಧವಾದ ಅನೇಕ ಪಂಕ್ತಿಗಳಿವೆ. ಆದಿಕವಿ ವಾಲ್ಮೀಕಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಪ್ರಾಸಾನುಪ್ರಾಸಗಳ ಸಮೃದ್ಧಿಯನ್ನು ಕಾಣಬಹುದು. ಅಷ್ಟೇಕೆ, ಭಾರತೀಯ ಭಾಷೆಗಳೆಲ್ಲ ಸಹಜವಾಗಿ ಪ್ರಾಸಾನುಪ್ರಾಸಗಳಿಗೆ ಒಗ್ಗಿಬಂದಿವೆ. ನಮ್ಮ ಅನುದಿನದ ಸಂಭಾಷಣೆಗಳಲ್ಲಿ, ಗಾದೆಮಾತುಗಳಲ್ಲಿ, ಜಾನಪದರ ಗೇಯಗಳಲ್ಲಿ, ನಾಟಕ-ಸಿನೆಮಾಗಳ ಹಾಡುಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಪ್ರಾಸಾನುಪ್ರಾಸಗಳದೇ ಸಾಮ್ರಾಜ್ಯ. ಪ್ರಾಸದ ಮೂಲಕ ಎಂಥ ಗಹನ ವಿಚಾರವನ್ನೂ ಮನಸ್ಸಿಗೆ ಹತ್ತಿರ ಮಾಡಬಹುದು. ರವೀಂದ್ರನಾಥ ಠಾಕೂರರು ಹೇಳುವಂತೆ ಉಪಮೆಯು ಕಣ್ಣಿಗೊಂದು ಚಿತ್ರವನ್ನು ಕಟ್ಟಿಕೊಟ್ಟರೆ ಪ್ರಾಸವು ಕಿವಿಗೊಂದು...