TREND-SETTER IN MODREN TELUGU POETRY:
KRISHNA SASTY
Prof. B. V. L. Narayana Rao
Padmabhushana Devulapalli Venkata Krishna
Sastri (1897-1980) is a poet who held in his firm grip every other contemporary
Telugu poet. The poet Sri Sri, later to
become a trendsetter himself in the Telugu poetry confessed that he was so
carried away by Krishna Sastri’s poetry that he found it impossible for nearly
10 years not to imitate of Krishna Sastri’s style. Only when he stopped imitating it, Sri Sri could find his own
voice.
The hallmarks
of Krishna Sastri’s poems are anguish, lyricism, sweetness, harmony and
elegance. G. V. Chalam, a very
distinguished writer, once remarked that Krishna Sastri’s pain is the world’s
pain; and that the world’s pain is Sri Sri’s pain. It is a sharp observation, no doubt. While one poet transmits his personal pain to the reader, the
other poets makes the suffering in the world his own, and transmits it to the
reader. However, this over
generalization is fair neither to Krishna Sastri not to Sri Sri.
Krishna
Sastri was a many splendoured personality.
He taught in a college, was a social and religious reformer, wrote
Telugu prose with distinction and was a highly esteemed critic of Telugu
literature. Whether he recited his own
poems or lectured on some topic, he kept his listeners spellbound with his
powerful oratory. Whether he produced plays
for the All India Radio or wrote songs for the movies, whether he translated,
or adapted the classics from Indian literature, the artist in Krishna Sastri
was very much visible. So was the
influence of Wordsworth, Shelley, Keats, Byron, Valmiki, Kalidasa and
Bhavabhuti and of course, Rabindranath Tagore.
Krishna
Sastri led a very enviable life, a life to be envied by any poet, anywhere with
the possible exception of Tagore. No
literary gathering was complete without him.
He was the star attraction at any meeting. People flattered him imitating his style in life and literature.
When he burst
on the literary scene with his Krishna Pakshamu, traditional scholars
ridiculed it. Ramalingaswami wrote a
parody entitled Sukla Pakshamu, Umakantam argued that it was not poetry
at all. But the general public received
Krishna Pakshamu with enthusiasm.
Krishna Sastri took poetry to the people.
He was an
effective teacher abored by his students.
He tried his hands at several forms of literature and distinguished
himself in every one on of them.
He was
considered a major writer, whether he revived the traditional Yakshagana
literary form-or reviewed the contribution of the other writers.
He wrote very
moving songs on India and its heritage.
The patriotic fervour comes out clearly in songs such as Jaya Jaya Priya
Bharatha Janayitri. His love of Telugu he celebrated in his Paadama Telugu
pata. His depiction of every-day life as he knew it in the Telugu land – had
memorable sketches – in lyrics and cinema songs, whatever the medium. He loved the land his heritage and its
people. His love of nature, of freedom,
of anguish and of the human quest – he celebrated them all in his poems.
That he was a
perceptive writer becomes obvious as one notices in his writing a gradual
change in diction and style, accepting contemporary Telugu usage, a change from
the neo-classical to the modern.
He was not a
poet living aloof but involved himself in several social and religious reform
movements.
His poems
about the Supreme in its form-full and form-less aspects reveal his knowledge
of our scriptures and epics and his pursuit of Truth.
Research scholars
studied his writings and produced dissertations in Universities. His
translation of Tiruppavai makes the Tamil classic in Telugu, too.
Krishna
Sastri held Tagore in very esteem. He
says:
There
comes your immortal voice
wafted on
a lovely breeze
my songs
shed
all its
jewels
and bowed
its head
at your
feet.
As in
Tagore’s composition, the thought, the text and the tune are all important
constituents in Krishna Sastri’s composition.
He had an untrained and yet an unerring ear for melody.