K. RAMAKOTISWARA RAU

The Chinese Peril

Fifteen years after the achievement of freedom from foreign rule, India is obliged to defend her frontiers against aggression. The menace came from a neighbouring land with which we maintained friendly relations. The attack was a deliberate step with intent to humiliate us and to impede the work of national reconstruction in which we were engaged. Communist China’s ambition is to ‘liberate’ Asian countries and spread the Marxist-Leninist gospel according to her own interpretation of it. Russia and her satellites were retrogressive and no longer represented the orthodox view. China was, therefore, to be the stronghold of genuine Communism, as well as the spearhead of opposition to the imperialists of the West, with whom Russia might come to an understanding, in the interests of world peace. The new imperialism of China is the most significant development in contemporary history. India, under Nehru, is now called upon to fight this menace and safeguard the democratic tradition.

Therefore, the fight with China is not a minor struggle for the rectification of frontiers, nor can such rectification be the prelude to a lasting peace. The material and moral resources of India have to be employed in full measure and her military strength must be adequate to repel unprovoked aggression. Within the last few months India has witnessed a notable upheaval. The nation has become united and alert as never before, and the spontaneous and purposive enthusiasm of a great people is asserting itself in a great cause. This is but the beginning of a noble endeavour to ensure orderly progress.

The artists and litterateurs of India are realising that all cultural activities are conditioned by the prevalence of a state of emergency. They, like other citizens of India, have to play a vital role in educating the nation and making it conscious of the danger confronting it. Building up of the nation’s strength through an accession of moral fervour, rather than the spreading of bitterness and hatred against the enemy, must be their prime concern. While we fight the present rulers of China, we cannot cease to respect the cultural achievement of an ancient country with which we were closely, associated. Our hearts must be clean in a fight for righteousness.

The Vivekananda Centenary

Among the prophets of modern India, Swami Vivekananda occupies an exalted position. Born at a time when the country was completely under the sway of an alien culture and her basic ideals were being challenged, the Swami strove from early youth to meet that challenge. Earlier than Sri Aurobindo and Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore and Dr Radhakrishnan, he made India aware of her spiritual heritage and enabled her to regain confidence in herself and her destiny as the upholder of eternal values. His Master, Sri Ramakrishna, had achieved in his inmost consciousness a synthesis of the many modes of the quest for the Divine and presented the final phase of that quest as the identity of the individual soul with the Supreme. The message of the Vedanta was for all humanity, irrespective of country or creed, and Vivekananda made it his life’s mission to convey that message on behalf of his Master. He was devoted to Hinduism and the Hindu way of life, but his Hinduism was no narrow creed but a faith alive and vibrant, a flame that could purify and ennoble humanity.

The Swami was moved by the sight of the poverty-stricken masses of India, hungry and ill-clad. But they were gods in the making and he felt his kinship with them. The humanitarian work of the Ramakrishna Mission in its early stages was the outcome of the Swami’s longing to bring succour to the distressed and the down-trodden. In his view this work was as important as the spreading of the Master’s gospel of the divinasation of man through individual effort aided by the loving guidance of the seniors who had learnt earlier to tread the path of holiness. The material prosperity of the Motherland was, however, to be achieved without detriment to her spiritual elevation. America, Japan and other countries were prosperous, but he was not anxious to make India a mere copy of them. There was to be perfect accord between body, mind and spirit; and any sign of weakness in any one of these would be fatal to the harmonious development of the individual and the race. Health of body, alertness of mind and utter purity of spirit were necessary, and the hope for humanity lay in the emergence of disciplined individuals devoted to unselfish service and the fearless pursuit of the higher life.

The Ramakrishna Mission is today a world-wide organisation with branches in every important city. They are centres radiating light and attracting men and women with an idealistic bent. The literature published by the Mission in many languages is a treasure of wisdom. In education and in social service, particularly in times of famine and flood, the Mission has set an example. In every sphere of the Mission’s work, there is co-ordination between the Sanyasis who lead and the householders who help.

Vivekananda, under the Master’s inspiration, lit a lamp which illumined the ends of the earth. Many lands are participating in the Centenary Celebrations. The people of Bengal will mark the event by starting a university bearing his name, and an all-India committee proposes to erect a colossal statue in bronze at Cape Comorin on the identical rock, standing on which he perceived in a vision the future of the Motherland.

Prophet of New India and inspirer of noble thoughts and noble deeds, Vivekananda will continue to inspire generations yet unborn through his message of Fearlessness (Abhaya). That message is needed at the present moment when India is striving to organise herself to meet a great peril.

The Passing of a Poet

When one is sad and forlorn on account of the loss of a dear friend, the knowledge that the sorrow is shared by a wide circle of kindred spirits brings some consolation. Since the 25th of December when Katuri Venkateswara Rao, the famous Telugu poet and scholar, passed away at the age of 67, the Radio and the Press have conveyed the poignant utterances of his literary comrades like Rayaprolu, Pingali, Krishna Sastri and Viswanatha, and of many others who loved him for his innate nobility and tenderness, and admired him for the excellence of his poetry. Venkateswara Rao was singularly free from any trace of personal ambition. He never sought recognition, but was happy when recognition came to him. He was serene and detached, yet full of the joy of life. He was fond of company and spread sunshine in all assemblies, but he could be alone with his thoughts and his favourite cigar.

Of the young students who sat at the feet of the Poet Venkata Sastri at Masulipatam, Venkateswara Rao and Pingali Lakshmikantam were drawn to each other, and they became ‘twin-poets’ like Venkata Sastri and Tirupati Sastri of the earlier generation. Early in their literary career, they published a collection of poems, Tholakari (early showers), to which Sri C. Ramalinga Reddy contributed an appreciative foreword. The poems brought fame to the young poets, and the personal affection of lovers of literature. The verse was of high quality, chaste and limpid, and the themes related to the rural life of Andhra–the fields and pastures, and the festive scenes at the season of Sankranti when the harvest is gathered. In 1933, when Lakshmikantam was Head of the Telugu Department at the Andhra University and Venkateswara Rao was a lecturer in a national institution, the Andhra Jateeya Kalasala of Masulipatam, they published the Soundaranandam and dedicated it to their Guru, Venkata Sastri. This kavya is not a translation of Asvaghosha’s work, but an independent one adopting the same theme. Nanda and his wife Sundari are the ideal lovers and aesthetes, content to dwell in a world of their own, where eternal Spring reigns and the flowers do not fade and the leaves do not fall. But the Buddha’s influence finally transmutes their love for each other into compassion for all beings. Its rich emotion and the exquisite phrasing and narrative skill won for this kavya a place among the classics of Telugu literature.

Venkateswara Rao’s life at the Kalasala was intimately associated with mine and Adivi Bapiraju’s. Here was comradeship, the memory of which is precious. Life seemed immensely worth living and the future with its roseate hues beckoned to us. Triveni which I edited was an additional bond between us. Yet another was our common allegiance to Sri Mutnuri Krishna Rao, philosopher and savant, and Editor of the ‘Krishna Patrika’. Artists and poets, men of learning and men of affairs, gathered round Sri Krishna Rao and profited by his discourses on Art and Philosophy. The ‘Patrika’ office was verily like a ‘Durbar’ in the evenings, and Venkateswara Rao was the Master of Cermonies. He sprayed ‘rose-water’ in the shape of poems and literary essays enlivened by gentle raillery and humour. Next to his Guru, Venkata Sastri, Sri Krishna Rao influenced Venkateswara Rao’s outlook on life and its problems. His poetry, in later years, was mellowed by philosophy. By a strange chance, Venkateswara Rao was Editor of the ‘Patrika’ after Sri Krishna Rae passed away in 1946, and I was Co-Editor with him for a year.

For thirty years after Soundaranandam Venkateswara Rao wrote poems and essays, satires and playlets, and translated important books from English and Sanskrit. His prose is as beautiful as his verse, and his speeches as illuminating as his writings. Of his recent poems, Gudigantalu (Temple Bells) and Poulastya Hridayam (The Heart of Ravana) are the most admired. The latter presents Ravana as a fervent devotee of Rama, longing to meet death at his hand and thus be restored to his original status as door-keeper of Vishnu in Vaikunta. His Muvva Gopala is a radio-play relating to the life of the composer Kshetragna. The Poet’s portrayal of Kshetragna as the embodiment of ‘Madhura Bhakti’ is of abiding value.

I met him for the last time a month before he passed away, and spent two days by his sick-bed. What memories crowded on us, and how we dwelt on the many occasions when we were together! In 1954 he was present at the Silver Jubilee of Triveni in Bangalore and blessed me and my Journal. The leading writers in Kannada honoured him at a special function. Whenever the 25th of December came round, he would remember it was the birthday of Triveni and invite me to spend the day with him and a select group of friends. It is disheartening to think that it was also the day in 1962 when he was snatched away by death. His affection for me was unbounded. He watched over me and guided me through the intricate mazes of life. Without him, life is bereft of all charm. But there is a Power which heals all wounds and assuages all sorrow. This faith sustains me.

Somasekhara Sarma

Within a fortnight after that fateful 25th of December came the distressing news that Somasekhara Sarma, the distinguished research scholar and historian, was no more. During the last few years, he was in the Andhra University, guiding students in his favourite subjects–South Indian History, archaeology, epigraphy and numismatics. Sarma, who never went to any College, attained a position in the world of historical research which men with Doctorates might envy. Trained in the ways of research by the late K. V. Lakshmana Rao and working with him on the Telugu Encyclopaedia, Sarma gave himself wholly and devotedly to the cause of research. Inscriptions on stone or on copper-plates, and coins and manuscripts, yielded to him their treasures of meaning, and, with their help, he illumined many dark corners of the history of South India. And he loved literature too. The classics in Telugu and Sanskrit appealed to him, and he laid them under contribution to supplement the information gleaned from inscriptions. The younger writers and scholars looked up to him for a word of commendation, and it was always given with that wealth of affection which he showered on those who had the privilege of his friendship.

Writing an essay or addressing an audience was to him what the drawing of a picture is to a painter or the chiseling of a stone into beautiful shape is to a sculptor. There was perfection and grace in all that he accomplished. It was the outward expression of the inner harmony which pervaded his being. In addition to hundreds of inscriptions which he edited and published, he wrote valuable books on Andhra art and history, biographical sketches and radio-plays. He was the chief compiler of the Encyclopaedia published by the Telugu Bhasha Samiti. The volume on Andhra History and Culture is a monument of his skill in editing the vast material on band, and he personally contributed many important articles. His magnum opus was the History of the Reddy Kingdoms covering the history of Andhra after the Kakatiyas and before Vijayanagara. This was written in English, and dealt with all aspects of the life of the people, literary, artistic, and commercial. A Forgotten Chapter of Andhra History sums up the achievement of Kapaya Nayaka, a local chieftain of coastal Andhra who beat back the Muslim invaders after the fall of Warangal and established the independence of the region for a period.

Between him and me there was the closest friendship. We met forty years ago, when Bhavaraju Krishna Rao brought us together. We fell in love at first sight; it was like the meeting of friends known through the ages. Later, I founded Triveni and he edited Bharati. In 1927 and 1928 we lived in the same house in Madras, and on the 25th of December 1927 when Triveni was inaugurated in the presence of an informal gathering of friends, Vlswanatha Satyanarayana dedicated his book of poems, Andhra Prasasti, to Sarma. That was a memorable scene.

Our mutual affection was never eclipsed and when I visited him at Waltair last September, we seemed to draw closer than ever. A warm-hearted comrade, an excellent host, a wise counsellor, and the friend of all and enemy of none, Sarma summed up in himself the qualities of Vidura of the Mahabharata, as Dr S. V. Joga Rao suggested. Life is like a banquet from which the guests are rapidly departing. There are empty places which can never be filled.

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