VISWANATHA A Literary Legend

Edited and Compiled by Dr. Kondal Rao Velchala

Sister Nivedita Foundations VISWANATHA SAHITYA PEETAM 11-4-654/3, Red Hills, Lakadi-ka-pul, Hyderabad - 500 004. Ph: 040-23396358 VISWANATHA A Literary Legend

(A Birds Eye View of Viswanatha Satyanarayana and His works)

Edited and Compiled by Dr. Kondal Rao Velchala

Published : June, 2012 Price: 400/- Bound Copy: 500/-

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Sister Nivedita Foundations VISWANATHA SAHITYA PEETAM 11-4-654/3, Red Hills, Lakadi-ka-pul, Hyderabad - 500 004. Ph: 040-23396358

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All Leading Booksellers in Andhra Pradesh and Viswanadha Sahitya Peetam

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Sri Uday Printers Vittalwadi, Narayanaguda, Hyderabad. DEDICATED t o The Dearest Devotee of Viswanatha Sri Juvvadi Gowtham Rao of Karimnagar

 A sensitive critic in fact is rarely born in the world  There may perhaps be one in  ten thousand  His face lights up when he  meets a work of art.  One such is Gowtham Rao of Juvvadi family   A poet gets a friend like him  For he has been his friend through previous births. 

 -Viswanatha Sathyanarayana INDEX

1. A word about the need of this Book (Dr. Kondal Rao Velchala 9

2. Introduction - Dr. Kondal Rao Velchala, Prof. C. Subbarao 11

1. Viswanatha - The Man and the Genius

3. The living legend in Indian literature - Seshendra Sharma 21

4. Genius of a rare breed - Bh. Krishnamurti 24

5. Viswanatha - Velcheru Narayana Rao 28

6. Dr. Viswanatha's literary eminence - Dr. Diwakarla Venkatavadhani 31

7. The man is greater than his works - Prof. I.V.Chalapati Rao 34

8. 'Kavisamrat' Viswanatha - Dr. B. Rama Raju 36

9. 'Kavisamrat' - Viswanatha as I know him - Justice P. Kodanda Ramayya 43

10. An epic personality - Dr. I. Panduranga Rao 51

11. A great poet - philosopher - Amarendra Dasari 57

12. 'Kavisamrat' - Sri Viswanatha - S. Janakirama Sastry 60

13. Jnanpith awardee - P. Ramachandraiah 62 14. Viswanatha's works do not age - Dr. Tripuraneni Hanuman Chowdary 67 15. Viswanatha - multifaceted genius - S. Laxmana Murthy 70

16. The Kavisamrat - Kapila Kasipati 72

17. Viswanatha's contribution to literature - C. Subba Rao 78

18. Viswanatha's retrograde policy - V.R. Narla 81

19. Charting a new course - V. Mandeswara Rao 84

20. A literary colossus - News Item 88

21. Obituary - News Item 91

2. Viswanatha - The Poet

22. Poetic Identity and the crisis of vocation - Prof. C. Subba Rao 95

23. A poet's voyage through poverty - Kotha Venkateswara Rao 99

24. Inherent beauty of his poetry - Sarabheswara Sarma 101 25. English versions of some Viswanatha's poem s - Velcheru Narayana Rao 107

26. English versions of some Viswanatha's poems - B.V.L. Narayana Rao 116

27. English versions of Viswanatha's poems - Dr. V. Kondal Rao & others 119

3. Viswanatha - The Lircist

28. The lyrical phase of 'Kavisamrat' - Dr. C. Narasimha Sastri 125

29. Lyrical poems of Viswanatha - Prof. K. Malayavasini 128

30. Kinnera's melodies - B.V.L. Narayanarao 135

31. Viswanatha's Kinnera - Prof. J.V. Raghavendra Rao 143

32. A poet who never pandered to popular taste - Velcheru Narayana Rao 150

33. 'Atmiyata' in Viswanatha's poetry - Bommakanti Srinivasacharyulu 154

4. Viswanatha's Epic Ramayana Kalpavruksha

34. Valmiki -Viswanatha - Dr. D. Venkata Avadhani 163

35. The beautiful and the bountiful in Viswanatha's ramayana- R.M. Challa 170

36. Viswanatha's srimad ramayana kalpavriksham - Prof. K. Viswanatham 173

37. Viswanatha kavita vaibhavam - J. Gowthama Rao 180

38. The transformatory touch of Viswanatha - Dr. Prema Nanda Kumar 204

39. The domestic felicity of Sita and Rama - Dr. Prema Nanda Kumar 213 (English Version of J. Venkateswara Rao's Book)

40. Kamba Ramayanam & Viswanatha Ramayanam - Prof. C.R. Sarma 307

41. Viswanatha's Ramayana-Kuvempu's Ramayana - Prof. T.V. Subba Rao 313

42. Anasuya's Wrath (Yuddhakanda Upasamharana) - Prof. K. Viswanatham 316

5. Viswanatha - The Novelist

43. Sri Viswanatha Satyanarayana - Sri. P.V. Narasimha Rao 321

44. Valladu the hero - Translated by Velcheru Narayan Rao 328

45. What Viswanatha's Veyipadagaru Means to me - Dr. Kondal Rao Velchala 366

46. Ekaveera - a story of love or friendship? - Dr. Kondal Rao Velchala 374

47. Ekaveera - a story of spontaneous or duty bound love - Dr. B. Narender 378 48. Viswanatha: the novelist - T. Ramalingeswara Rao 381

49. Women characters in his novels - Dr. P. Kusuma Kumari 385

50. In search of democracy in the novel Veyipadagalu - Jwala Mukhi 394

51. HA HA HU HU 'Critic' from the journal - Lekhane Kaveri 399

52. Vishnu Sarma's English Education - G. Ramanujacharya 403

53. The Novels of Viswanatha-their uniqueness - J.Gowtham Rao 407

6. Viswanatha - Tha Playwright

54. Dramas of Viswanatha - a bird's eye view - Chatla Sree Ramulu 425

55. Plays of Viswanatha - Dr. Gandra Laxmana Rao 432

56. Viswanatha's Playlets: A Delightful Treat to the Readers - C.S. Rao 441

7. Viswanatha - The Story Teller

57. Poignant vignetter of cultural matrix - Dr. S.S. Prabhakar Rao 449

58. Sri Viswanatha - a short-story writer - C. Subba Rao 453

59. What connection (english version) - K. Viswanatham 462

60. Three beggars (english version) - Dr. C.Vijaya Sree 468

61. Execution (uri) (english version) - Dr.Vaidehi Sesidhar 485

62. I am quits with you (english version) - L.S.R. Krishna Sastry 488

63. Kapardhi (english version) - Ms. Yoga Mulukutla 497

8. How Critics look at Viswanatha the Critic

64. Viswanatha Satyanarayana - A critic par excellence - Dr. K. Aruna Vyas 505

65. 'The narrator' in Viswanatha's novels - Dr. C. Mrunalini 511

66. Search for the roots - Prof. K. Suprasannacharya 517

67. Guiding star of telugu letters - Prof. Mudigonnda Veera Bhadraiah 522

68. Viswanatha's prose style - Dr. Anumandla Bhoomaiah 526

69. Which is poetry? - Prof. Mudigonda Veerabhadraiah 529 (english version by U. Atreya Sarma)

70. Viswanatha Satyanarayana: An estimate- Salva Krishnamurthi 537 71. Dr. Viswanatha - A critical appreciation - Andavalli Satyanarayana 543

72. Concept of 'Jeevuni Vedana' - Prof. Kovela Sampath Kumaracharya 547

73. "High scientific modernism, ramdom reflections- Prof. M. Sivarama Krishna 551 9. Viswanatha - The Good Humoured

74. Viswanatha, a man of subtle humour - Prof. Veludanda Nityananda Rao 555

(english version by Dr. Elanaga) 10. Some reminiscences and anecdotes

75. My reminiscences of Viswanatha - Dr. C. Narayana Reddy 563

76. My father - Viswanatha Achyuta Devarayalu 565

77. The humane character of my father - Viswanatha Pavani Sastry 569

78. Viswanatha : my grand father - Viswanatha Satyanarayana 573

79. Reminiscences of Gandham Nageswararao - C. Subba Rao 578

80. Reminiscences of Suprasannacharya - Prof. S. Laxmana Murthy 589

81. More than the brothers though not the brothers - Nayani Krishna Kumari 591

82. The sitter, the portraitor - A. Koteswara Rao 597 10. Viswanatha - The Translator 83. Viswanatha's translation of Vivekananda's SONG OF SANYASIN 603 11. Viswanatha - In his own English

84. Myself my work, an interview conducted -by A.S.Raman 613 85. Speech of Dr. Viswanatha Satyanarayana, recipient of Jnanpeet award 631 86. What is Ramayana to me 637 87. X-Rays into truth 718 88. Horizon - ends 724 89. Preface to arya vignan 727 90. A profile of Sachi Raut Roy 731 91. Poems of Viswanatha composed for Nayani Subbarao's Marriage and the painting of Adavi Bapiraju 741 92. Viswanatha Handwriting 743 12. Literature and Culture 93. Traditional Values - 747 94. Culture Revealed Through Literature - 752

8 Kavisamraat Viswanatha A WORD ABOUT THE NEED OF THIS BOOK It is almost a decade since we started Sri Viswanatha Sahithya Peetham and the literary and cultural bilingual journal ‘Jayanthi’. We have had the good fortune of having a band of very learned writers ardently interested in Sri Viswanatha and his literature like Late Kovela Sampathkumaracharyas, Kovela Suprasanna Charya, Tummapudi Koteswara Rao, C. Subba Rao, Cheekolu Sundaraiah and many others assisting me in every possible way. We have sincerely worked since the inception of the Sahithya Peetham to publish perceptive articles on Viswanatha's writings and popularize them. We have tried our best to dispel some of the misconceptions about Sri Viswanatha and his writings, for this purpose. We have published some articles and extracts from his writings and also some interesting anecdotes from his personal life under the series ‘Muddu Vaddanalu’ ‘Sahitya Dhara’ and the like. Though we have started the organization as Viswanatha Sahithi Peetham. I should say in this connection that our efforts are not exclusively directed to Viswanatha and his literature alone. We have tried to highlight the literary eminence of many other writers and brought out books and special issues of ‘Jayanthi’ on Viswanatha Satyanarayana, Ismail, Neruda, P.V. Narasimha Rao, Seshendra Sarma, Boyi Bheemanna, J.Goutham Rao, Pattabhi, Sampathkumaracharya, Sadasiva . We have very great pleasure in bringing out this monumental volume on Viswanatha in English covering all the aspects of his genius for the benefit of readers whose mother tongue is not Telugu and also for the benefit of those whose mother tongue is Telugu but who are not so much in touch with it. We have worked tirelessly for this volume for more than a year to secure articles from eminent men of letters, critics and profound scholars. Some of the articles in the volume are also obtained from different sources wherever they were published earlier. Besides these, we have a few of the great man’s own writings in English, and also translations of his works done by others. As far as I know, on no other writer of Andhra Pradesh such a comprehensive and thought provoking volume has ever been so far published in English. I thank every writer and translator who has co-operated with me to bring out this volume in the manner in which it has been brought out. It gives me great pleasure to acknowledge the whole-hearted cooperation extended to me by Sri C.Subba Rao and to my colleagues in making this book acquire this character and charm. They have been of constant support for me in bringing out this book to the best of my satisfaction. - Dr. V. Kondal Rao, Hon. Chairman, Viswanatha Sahitya Peetam

Kavisamraat Viswanatha 9               .                        .         .   

WE THANK We profusely thank Sri Sadguru Kandukuri Sivananda Murthy garu for his blessings & support in bringing out this book. We thank Sri C. Ananda Rao garu for his good gesture in supporting our effort in bringing out this book. We thank Sri K. Sagar Rao garu for his good gesture in supporting our effort in bringing out this book. We thank Dr. J. Raghunatha Rao garu for his good gesture in supporting our effort in bringing out this book. We thank Dr. P. Sudhakar Rao garu for his good gesture in supporting our effort in bringing out this book.

10 Kavisamraat Viswanatha INTRODUCTION

Dr. V. Kondal Rao C. Subba Rao Former Director, Telugu Academy Former Head, Dept. of English Hon. Chairman Viswanatha Sahitya Peetham SVRM College, Nagaram. Literature is one of the greatest creations of mankind. It shows not merely the individual talent of the authors from whose works it results but also reflects the racial and national psyche, the collective conscious of the cultural group of a particular geographical segment besides what Carl Jung, the famous psychologist, calls “the collective unconscious” of the whole of mankind. If this is the background against which characters in literary works are drawn, the characters themselves, when they happen to be those created by great masters, are as much types as individuals, and consequently they have distinct personality of their own besides having a universal connectivity or common human quality. So to understand the people of a country one should read their literature as it surely reveals their cultural proclivities, their literary sensibilities, their patterns of responses to external circumstances and their value systems. If the nature of literature is creative, its primary function is to afford its readers aesthetic pleasure “Kavyarasananda”. In the hands of a great writer this aesthetic pleasure carries in a most imperceptibly artistic manner a system of values by which the readers are influenced in spite of themselves and without being consciously aware of the process. That’s great literature unlike the one with blatant propagandism on purpose. Sri Viswanatha is matchless in many respects. We wonder whether we have ever heard of such a literary writer in India or elsewhere who has displayed his outstanding skills in writing in almost all genres of literature. Is there anyone else in world literature of any age who has written so voluminously with such exquisite beauty from lyric to epic poetry, from short story to voluminous novel, from play-let to full length play, from a short perceptive preface to profound, scholarly critical studies? Viswanatha can write with the same felicity and captivating effect a highly abstruse philosophical disquisition as he does a simple narrative paragraph in accordance with the artistic requirements of the work he is writing whether it is in prose or poetry. Have we ever heard of anyone else who has simply

Kavisamraat Viswanatha 11 dictated his massive writings in prose or verse extempore with such felicity, fluency and beauty? We wonder whether there has been anybody else who has swum with such courage and conviction against the current of popular ideas or beliefs, and asserted with an irrefutable argument characterized by a devastating logical force his own points of view of things or practices commonly disapproved and deprecated. Have we ever heard of a literary genius who has touched and enriched every genre of literature and whose writings in total have run to more than thirty thousand pages in print? And all these Sri Viswanatha has done living in utter poverty except during the last two decades of his long life, braving spiteful criticism organized in nature! He is undoubtedly the rarest of multifaceted geniuses the world has ever known. Literature has possessed him as he has possessed genius for it in abundance, and he has written nonstop with deep passion, tremendous talent and tenacity. The meditative involvement which is total and complete in the creative process of his writing is what makes Viswanatha great and unique. It is our privilege to write introduction to this book composed of scholarly articles on Viswanatha’s life and works contributed by brilliant writers of the top order. As it is so truly put by an anonymous writer in his article “A Literary Colossus” published in Deccan Chronicle “in the case of Viswanatha superlatives cease to be superlatives. Even an exaggeration becomes an understatement”. That is because of his vast creative fecundity and exalted intellectual eminence. The article is vibrant with the writer’s boundless admiration for Viswanatha and it resounds with the loud universal acclaim that he has received from people with right sense, fine sensibility, unprejudiced nature and unerring judgment. It seems as if he speaks for multitudes of the mighty man’s admirers fathoming their deep and fervent feelings. Yes, superlatives cease to be superlatives; when Dr. C. Narayana Reddy says not only in the resemblance of his grey hair but even in the brilliance of his poetic erudition he is like Mt. Kailash. Seshendra Sarma in his article “Viswanatha, The Living Legend in Indian Literature” observes , “Perhaps, after Tikkana of the thirteen century and Srinadha of the fifteenth century Viswanatha is the only creative genius in Telugu literature of that outstanding stature, in a certain way, even surpassing them”. Prof. Bh. Krishnamurthy declares “…..that there has been no one individual with such multifaceted creativity and prolific output as Viswanatha”. The article is incisively analytical besides being very informative. Viswanatha is quoted as saying that “My mind and emotion move so fast that I cannot stop to choose the right word to express my

12 Kavisamraat Viswanatha experience”. We very much appreciate the commendable courage and personal honesty in admitting his “alleged deficiency” but we doubt whether he has ever used inappropriate words in expressing an experience. The alleged lack of synchronization between emotion and expression is illusory or exaggerated. It is very refreshing to read Prof.B.V.L.Narayana Row’s “Kinnera Melodies” and prof J. Raghavender Rao, article elucidating the authors objective in writing ‘The only book of that nature’. They have beautifully brought out in charming English the artistically moulded sentiments of pathos of the tragic love story of Kinnera and her husband. In his article “Viswanatha’s Works Do Not Age” Dr.Hanuman Chowdary speaks of his sincere and ardent admiration for Sri Viswanatha’s poetry and he ably transmits his deeply felt pleasure to us. Though the article “Kavi Samrat Sri Viswanatha Satyanarayana as I know him” written by Justice P.Kodandaramayya pleasantly strikes a personal note, it is difficult to understand why Sri Viswanatha has heaped such superlative praise on Sri Sri by calling him “Yugapurusha”. The comment only shows the magnanimity of his soul, and the overflowing generosity of his heart. By saying this, we are not at all casting any aspersion on Sri Viswanatha’s capacity for judging people and their worth. The title “The Man is Greater than His Works” that Prof.I.V.Chalapathi Rao has beautifully chosen for his article which at once brings into our experience the genius of the literary colossus striking at the same time a personal note, subtly suggests in a surprising way that his works are as great as the man ,or even greater. Prof.S.S.Prabhakar Rao skillfully brings out the great contribution made by Viswanatha to Telugu short story by his insightful observation that “his stories succeed in holding mirror to a cultural matrix of the society in Andhra during the early decades of the last century and, added by his abundant skill in presentation, leave memorable vignettes in the minds of readers”. “A Great Poet-Philosopher” by Dr.Amarendra is a captivating pen portrait of the poet’s poet of the 20th century. The beautiful translation of the story “Three Beggars” by Mrs.Vijaya Sree sounds as if it had been originally written by the great master himself. Dr.I.Pandurangarao in his article “An Epic Personality” makes an observation full of adoration for Sri Viswanatha : “It was a feast to hear him reciting his poems in a captivating sonorous voice with an articulation that springs from his heart. But, it was a treat to see him spraying his epic grandeur through his books”. He goes on to say that “The audience could visualize in him the poetic excellence that Telugu language had acquired during the past one thousand years”. And this is not a small praise but a

Kavisamraat Viswanatha 13 very well deserved one. When Congress President Sri D.Sanjeevayya observed in a rapturous note that Sri Viswanatha had excelled Valmiki himself, Sri Viswanatha, with utter humility and honest conviction and with an almost worshipful adoration for Valmiki, didn’t receive the compliment by saying that no one could excel Valmiki. It is a different matter that he had made some alterations while writing his Ramayana deviating from Valmiki. How beautiful it is that Sri Viswanatha “visualizes ‘Rama’ as the word or primordial sound to save the world from verbal destitution”. From Sri Bommakanti Sreenivasacharyulu’s article we learn that his generosity is not tainted even by a trace of jealousy. He pays glowing compliments to the sweetness of his onetime pair-poet Kodali Anjaneyulu’s poetry. Viswanatha has a very compassionate nature, an emotional attachment to people which Sri Bommakanti chooses to call “aatmeeyata’. It is a very endearing quality in him as a man, and it gets expressed in his works quite often. Sri Sarabhesvara Sarma is right when he says in his article “Inherent Beauty of His Writing” that “all the poetic beauty that has spread over Telugu and Sanskrit literature is found harvested in the Ramayana,” and adds, His ‘Jeevuni Vedana’ (Soul’s Agony) has evolved into Jeevarasa in the Ramayana. That Jeevarasa has spread from the roots to the topmost branches of Ramayana Kalpavriksham”. Prof.Kovela Sampatkumaracharya in his brilliant article goes deeper into this concept of ‘Jeevuni Vedana’ (Anguish of Human Soul) and attempts a scholarly analysis by saying that Viswanatha’s outlook of life “emerged from a socio-intellectual and psycho-spiritual background,” and pays handsome compliments to him for having adapted a new approach in literary criticism. He observes that “he made an attempt to lead literary criticism from its formalistic preoccupations to grapple with wider implications making use of insights on non-literary disciplines like history, sociology, psychology and metaphysics”. Such an eminent scholar and critic as Prof..Diwakarla Venkatavadhani, well-known for his critical literary evaluation pays glowing compliments to the multifaceted genius of Sri Viswanatha by observing that “We find in him a rare combination of sound scholarship, poetic excellence and incessant practice. He is a first rate poet, a great novelist, a well known short story writer, a popular lyricist, a famous playwright, a scholarly critic and a fine orator. He can compose poetry in Sanskrit with the same felicity as in Telugu and he can talk with authority on any famous English writer”. In the same tone and tenor Prof.T.Ramachandrayya offers us a very scholarly and comprehensive

14 Kavisamraat Viswanatha estimate of Sri Viswanatha’s personality and achievement. He makes a very significant observation regarding his critical skills when he says that “Like T.S.Eliot, he, too, distrusts historical and romantic approach to criticism. And it is he who, for the first time in Telugu criticism, attempted successfully to examine the structure of a work of art in terms of its imagistic patterns as seen in his studies of Kalidasa’s Sakuntalam”. In “Kavisamrat Sri Viswanatha” S.Janaki Rama Sastry says with an overwhelming joy that “in a way he dominated the entire Telugu literary field during the last three decades and he is still a force and an institution by himself, “and adds that” he became well known to the Telugu people as a poet of the first order”. We have for comic relief a beautifully given summary of the novel “Vishnusarma’s English Education” by Sri Ramanujacharya. Sri Acharya is able to retain the tickling humour contained in the satire on the irregularities of the English language as well as the sectarian and sub-sectarian prejudices of the people, even amongst the learned. As we go through the summary we find Sri Viswanatha with an impish twinkle in his eyes sitting in his armchair relaxed and contented. The comparative study of Sri Viswanatha’s “Ramayana Kalpa Vriksham and the Kamba Ramayanam by Prof.C.R.Sarma,”A Critical Appreciation by Sri Andavilli Satyanarayana and “Lyric poems of Viswanatha” by Prof.Malayavasini are as informative as they are perceptive in their evaluation. Prof. C.Subbarao rightly observes that even though there is surely “a touch of awe and veneration for the old masters, Viswanatha engages them in a long drawn out epic duel in the Ramayana observing the rules of the game”. Referring to the changing modernist trends in Telugu poetry with the advent of Sri Sri he makes a very balanced observation regarding “the problematic relationship between tradition and transition— a self -conscious awareness of the burden of the past leading to the preoccupation with transition”. Prof.M.Sivaramakrishna makes a significant point with his observation that what Viswanatha foresaw in Veyipadagalu “is a reality now”. He is actually referring to the paradoxes and imbalances that our modern civilization has generated for which it is difficult to find satisfactory solutions. It is easy and has become fashionable to dismiss Viswanatha as a conservative or even an obscurantist, but it is surely difficult to answer the questions he raises .We cannot ignore his infallible prophetic vision. Prof.Sivarama Krishna rightly says that Viswanatha “had sage – like power of seeing far into the future”. Sri Kotha Venkateswara Rao’s article “A Poet’s Voyage Through Poverty” strikes a deep compassionate chord in us. It shows the

Kavisamraat Viswanatha 15 tremendous strength of mind of Sri Viswanatha in being able to continue his writings as a divinely ordained mission in life undeterred by poverty and the innumerable problems that arise from it. It also shows Sri Rao’s tenderness of heart and an all-out preparedness to do his best for bringing out Sri Viswanatha’s book in print. The reciprocative gesture in presenting the first copy of the book with Sri Rao’s name thereon written along with heart-felt best wishes by Sri Viswanatha is really touching. In his article “Search for the Roots” Prof. K. Suprasannaacharya rightly observes that “In his search for peace, Viswanatha has sought harmony between the individual and the self, the individual and the society, the individual and the nature and the individual and the Divine”. We feel it is, indeed, a magnificent search: it is the search for all – comprehensive harmony. The death of Pasirika in “Veyipadagalu” due to ecological imbalance is lamentable. It is symbolic of the destructive effects of the thoughtless urbanization and industrialization leading to alienation of man from nature in its pure form. We have from each contributor an eloquent compliment to one facet of his genius or the other. As they pay compliments, they lose themselves in an ecstatic rapture that has no degrees. We doubt whether any other literary artist has ever been so enthusiastically eulogized in one voice by such eminent men of letters. There may be veterans like Narla who are not quite happy with the value system to which Sri Viswanatha subscribes, but even then they have nothing but very high praise for his creative and critical talents. We don’t mean to suggest that views or value system that the writer presents in his works are not important but they are not to be taken as deciding factors in evaluating the worth of a literary artist. There is a school of literary criticism,”textualist” in nature which insists that it is only the text that matters, and one should not go beyond the text. We are not saying that this is the only valid critical approach to be taken in literary judgment but we don’t hesitate to say that there is considerable truth in this school of criticism. It took some time to collect and include an additional bunch of very valuable articles, and translations of some other poems and short stories and a fragment of his great novel “Veyipadagalu” by such eminent literatteurs as Sri Adivi Bapiraju, Prof. K. Viswanatham, J. Venkateswarlu, Dr. Premananda Kumar, Prof. J. Raghavendra Rao, Dr. Aruna Vyas, Sri M. Veerabhadraiah, Prof. Velcheru Narayana Rao, Dr. Mrinalini Prof. L.S.R.Krishna Satry, Prof. Salva Krishna Murthy, Dr. J.S. Venkateswarlu,

16 Kavisamraat Viswanatha Dr. Sankara Sri Ramarao, Sri M. Visweshwara Rao, Sri. M. Prabhakara Rao and Dr. Vaidehi Sashidar. Also included in this book are a few poems of his, translated beautifully with the native feeling and fervour preserved with a high degree of expertise by Dr.V.Kondala Rao (Telugu Language) and Prof.B.V.L.Narayana Row (First Verses from the Ramayana and Other Poems). A good translation is one which does not read like a translation at all. Translations by them sound as if they were originally written in crisp evocative English idiom. We have a few writings of Sri Viswanatha himself in this book. “WHAT IS RAMAYANA TO ME” by him stands out with its at-once- striking paramountcy. There are a few generous but brilliant prefaces written for the books of some outstanding literary men by the Master, and speeches delivered by him on receiving awards, and also excerpts from an interview he gave to Sri A.S.Raman,Editor, ‘Illustrated Weekly’, on such occasions. In his preface to Hareendranath Chattopadhyaa’s book “Horizon-Ends” written in chaste and fluent English we find Sri Viswanatha’s bountiful magnanimity as well as his analytical ability. They may write in different languages. But, Viswanatha says, “We are children of the same soil, inheritors of the same culture and tradition and philosophy. Hence in our mental and spiritual make-up, even in our thought processes, there is bound to be more of identity than otherwise”. How beautiful is this preface, how perceptive in analysis, how balanced in its structure and shape, how scholarly in content, how fluent in style, how chaste in language, how generous in appreciation, how harmonious in its organization, how fresh in its appeal, how terse in expression, how totally it absorbs our attention, how sincere, how honest and how truthful it sounds in tone! The greatest thing about the preface is that it effortlessly conceals his (Sri Viswanatha’s) greatness behind not so transparent a veil revealing only the poet’s eminence brightly focused. How gentlemanly it is! If Viswanatha is gone, if gone at all, when comes another like him? In the preface he has written to Sri Kota Venkatachalam’s research book on Indian History, we find Sri Viswanatha’s pleasure, pride and patriotic fervor when he tells us of how Sri Venkatachalam “has ransacked the indigenous literature dealing with our history as also the great bulk of the eastern and western books ….and has refuted the illogical arguments of the western historians and established the truth of the correctness of the historical data detailed in our puranas”. In his speech delivered at Central Sahitya Academy, New Delhi, Sri Viswanatha says brilliantly that

Kavisamraat Viswanatha 17 “Metaphor is a basic unit of the poem”. We are reminded of what Middleton Murry says of it: “It is the very mode of apprehension”. Viswanatha proudly declares that dialectics of poetry flourished even very long long back in India. He says, “Literature and art are never rooted in religion or philosophy. Their main import is to the artistic minds”. How brilliant in perception of the nature of the art and how modern and secular! But when it comes to speak of himself he speaks without false humility or irritating arrogance. He says of his poetry:”I am a master of a style which is even by moderns acclaimed to be individualistic. There are not more than six or seven old authors who are known for this distinction. I am a conscious artist. My book, if read with no prejudice and a deep insight into things reveals the modernism, the high scientific modernism. At least two or three decades must pass after I pass away to estimate my poetry”. In the speech he made when Jnanapith Award was conferred on him, Sri Viswanatha says, “Not to utter false hood is Tapas, to part with money to the poor and the needy is Tapas, mastery over the internal passions is Tapas”. He continues, “If you read between the lines of my writings, you can see that I want the type of government which now people are having in Russia, but at the same time, too, I don’t want to do away with our metaphysics, our mysticism, our spiritualism, our music, our culture, our fine arts, our philosophy of life and so on which are time tested”. In an interview with A.S.Raman with the caption “My self-My Work” Sri Viswanatha says “I may defend lost causes. I don’t want them revived”. How can we call this gentleman who holds on to these liberal views a conservative or an obscurantist? The book is quite fittingly rounded off with the last two articles which are scintilatingly brilliant both in point of content as well as style by Sri A.S. Raman, Former Editor of Illustrated Weekly and another whose name is unfortunately not mentioned to give a lead to understand and appreciated literature in general and modern literature in particular. The book is a humble but a fervent attempt to present the multifaceted splendour of the genius of Sri Viswanatha who has already elevated himself to the level of the greatest master writers of India. One can say without fearing any controversy that his literary genius is such that we cannot find the like of which in anybody else in point of its quality, quantity and diversity. It takes ages to have such a genius once again. Perhaps one appears, as we have said elsewhere while writing about him, “after we are tired and tired of waiting for him”!

18 Kavisamraat Viswanatha  Viswanatha - The Man and the Genius

Viswanatha's First Wife and Children

Kavisamraat Viswanatha 19

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