DR. VISWANATHA SATYANARAYANA’S

LITERARY EMINENCE

 

DR. D. VENKATAVADHANI, M. A. (Hons.), Ph. D.

Professor and Head of the Dept. of Telugu

Osmania University, Hyderabad

 

            Padmabhooshan, Kalaaprapoorna, Kavisamraat Dr. Viswanatha Satyanarayana, M.A., stands foremost among modern Telugu writers. 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 play-wright, a scholarly critic and a fine orator. There is no literary form in Telugu on which he did not lay his hand in which he did not reach the acme of perfection. His versatility is so astonishing that it cannot be exaggerated.

 

            Dr. Satyanarayana is as great a scholar as he is a poet. Erudite scholarship in Telugu requires sound scholarship in Sanskrit also and surprisingly Dr. Viswanatha possesses both. He can compose poetry in Sanskrit with the same facility as in Telugu. He is a Master of Arts and is thoroughly acquainted with all branches of English literature. He is a voracious reader of English literature, especially of English fiction, and can talk with authority on any famous English writer. He is a disciple of the famous twin poets Tirupati Venkata Kavulu and has himself attracted a number of disciples in the country who love and respect him whole-heartedly.

 

            The first published poem of Dr. Viswanatha is Andhra Prasasti, which is a compilation of eight short poems describing the greatness of the ancient Andhras. Sringaara Veedhi is another poem dealing with the love of Radha and Krishna. Telugu Rituvulu is an unparallelled poem describing the six seasons as seen and experienced in the Telugu countryside. Short as it is, it speaks much of Dr. Viswanatha’s keen observation of nature and original thinking. Sasidootamu (the moon messenger) vies with Kalidasa’s Meghadootam is every respect. Jhansirani deals with a rare poetic skill, the life and valour of the queen of Jhansi, the great lady patriot. Valli Kalyaanam deals with the marriage of Kumaraswami with Valli. Maaswaami is a sataka containing 100 verses of devotion to Viswanatha’s family deity, Visveswara. Viswanatha Madhyaakkaralu is a compilation of ten satakas written about various Hindu Gods in the Madhyaakkara Metre and displays the devotion and philosophic outlook of Sri Viswanatha. It was awarded the Central Sahitya Akademi’s Prize of Rs. 5,000, ten years back. Pradyumnaabhyudayamu is his latest poem which excels even the great Telugu Prabandhas in poetic beauty and original descriptions. The magnum opus of Dr. Viswanatha is his Sreemad Raamaayana Kalpavrikshamu, the story of Ramayana in six kandas. It is neither a translation nor an adapta­tion of the great Sanskrit epic, though the skeleton of the story is taken from it. It is a repository of every poetic excellence and is a concrete example of Sri Viswanatha’s poetic genius. It excels in the delineation of sentiments, suggestivity–the soul of poetry, characterisation, original descriptions, figures of speech and polished, sweet and meaningful use of words. It constitutes a priceless ornament to the Goddess of Telugu poetry. In addition to the poems mentioned above Dr. Viswanatha published several hundreds of Khandakaavyas in the dailies as well as weekly and monthly magazines in Telugu and some of them like Andhra Bhikshuvu, Rendu Nakshatraalu, the Divine chariot and Kondaveeti Pogamabbulu are unparallelled in poetic diction, imagination and originality.­

 

            Dr. Viswanatha is a lyricist of no mean magnitude and his Kinnerasaani Paatalu and Kokilamma Pelli are beautiful lyrics known to and liked by every Andhra. Dr. Viswanatha earned great fame as a play-wright also and Nartanasaala, Vena Raaju, Anaarkali and Trisoolam, are his best full-length plays. Veda and Kaavya Harishchandras, ten dramas depicting the main phases of Telugu literature and several others broadcast from All India Radio are his Sravya Naatikas which attracted universal approbation.

 

            Dr. Viswanatha is the greatest Telugu novelist of the modern age. He has published more than sixty novels all of which are very popular in the country. Yekaveera is his first novel and is considered by some as his best novel also. It has been recently cinematized. Cheliyalikatta, Jebu Dongalu, Baanaavati, Dharma Chakramu, Baddanna Senaani, Maa Babu, Mihirakuludu, Aaru Nadulu are some of his best novels. He has recently published 16 novels under the series “Puraana Vaira Grandhamaala” and all of them attained such popularity that he is not able to meet the demand of the readers. Haa haa Hoo Hoo, Pariksha, Kadimi Chettu are his small but great novels.

 

            Veyi Padagalu is the greatest of his novels both from the point of view of quality and quantity and it has been recently translated into Hindi under the title Sahasra Phan. It covers more than a thousand pages and can be called an Encyclopaedia of Andhra culture. It was written for a competition held by the Andhra University and could win the prize. There is nobody in the Telugu country–nay, in the whole of India–who has produced so many popular novels with such variety and eminence. His novels depict the social, political and religious conditions of the Telugu country, describe various aspects of human psychology, display originality in creating beautiful and natural situations and; exhibit different styles of Telugu prose in rich and vivid descriptions and pleasant and beautiful narration. The Telugu readers are very fond of his novels and even in his 76th year he is able to produce a new novel every two or three months. Sri Viswanatha published some good short stories also of which “Maaklee Durgamlo Kukka” and others are considered as specimens of best short-stories in Telugu.

 

            Dr. Viswanatha occupies a high place as a critic. He studied the Telugu and Sanskrit classics exhaustively and published some criticisms displaying the poetic genius of the great ancient poets. Nannayagaari Prasanna Kathaa Kalitaartha yukti, Allasaanivaari Allika Jigibigi, Abhijnaana Saakuntalamunandali Abhijnata are some of his critical works which speak much of his scholarship and critical acumen. Besides these he published numerous critical essays in the various literary magazines and Encyclopaedias. The Aadiparva edited by him with an exhaustive introduction, Kaavya Pareemalamu bringing out the beauties of Telugu classics, volumes on Telugu Saametalu and Telugu Dhaatuvulu have been published by the Andhra Pradesh Sahitya Akademi.

 

            There are no doubt many writers in the world but many of them do not posses the art of public speaking. Dr. Viswanatha is one of the best speakers in Telugu and his lectures are full of knowledge, wit, subtle humour and decent satire. His method of reading or singing verses is unique, and when he gives a poetic recital the audience forgets itself as by a spell of magic.

 

            Dr. Viswanatha worked as a Telugu Lecturer for about 30 years and as Principal of a First Grade College for about 3 years. He received many honours and titles of which Kavisamraat, Kalaaprapurna, Padmabhushan and D. Litt., deserve special mention. They have indeed become meaningful by his acceptance.

 

            Tradition and modernity have been equally blended in Dr. Viswanatha. He respects the classical as such as he loves the modern writers. His poetic genius is extraordinary, his scholarship profound and his critical ability unlimited. He is a rare literary specimen who is born once in many centuries. The Andhra country is proud of him and any honour done to him can scarcely surpass his literary pre-eminence.

 

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