Purandara Dasa (1484-1564)

Purandara Dasa (1484-1564) was born in Purandaragada, near Hampi.  His parents were Varadappanayaka and Kamalamba.  He was originally named Seenappa, Tirumalarayappa and Thimmappa.  He was a Madhwa Brahmin and scholar in music, Sanskrit and Kannada languages.

Annamaacharya (1408-1507 A.D.)

Annamaacharya (1408-1507 A.D.) was born in Taallapaaka (Andhra Pradesh) and later moved to Tirupati.  He was born in ‘Nandaka khada amsa’ of Sri Venkatachalapati of Tirumala.  His guru was Satagopa Yati.  During his time Muslim influence was gaining ground and Hinduism was losing its influence.  Annamacharya’s guru wanted him to uphold and propagate Bhakti maarga through Vaishnavism and Venkatachalapati’s praasastyam.

Jayadeva (1090-1159)

Jayadeva (1090-1159) was born in Bindubilva (Orissa) and later lived in Vangadesha (Bengal) in King Laxmana Sena’s court.  His wife was Padmaavati. They were a  loving couple.  While he was writing and singing Raadha-Krishna’s pranayaleelas in his ‘Geeta Govindam’.  Padmaavati used to interpret them in dance.  Geeta Govindam has twenty-four Ashtapadis.  When he was writing the 19th Ashtapadi, one line disturbed him much, ‘Smaragarala Khandanam mama sirasi mandalam, dehi padapallava mudaaram’.  Here he felt it was not right to write words which imply pushing of Krishna’s head by Satyabhama’s foot.  How can she insult God?  So he struck off the line. But when he went to the river for a bath, Lord Krishna came in his form, re-wrote the same line,  the food served by Padmaavati and disappeared. Hence this 19th Ashtapadi was called Darshana Ashtapadi.

Prassnnothara Ratna Malika

Jagadguru Adi Sankara’s “Prassnnothara Ratna Malika”
Translation by Prof. N. RamachandranJagadguru Adi Sankaracharya has discussed very issues of vital importance to mankind, in a very simple, lucid question and answer style, in his work “Prassnnothara Ratna Malika”.  These thought-provoking explanations are highly useful to mankind for leading a righteous life.

Presented below are his question and answers for many of life’s problems.

Mahabhashyam by Patanjali

People, pure at heart, tend to flare up spontaneously. But then, they cool down as quickly as they flare up. Sage Patanjali was one such person, good at heart and innocent but highly short tempered. He always took keen interest in the welfare of mankind in general.

After authoring the great Grantham (tome) Mahabhashyam (a complete treatise on grammar), he wanted to propagate its contents for the benefit of posterity. So he began to hold special classes every day for his thousand disciples just to teach them the Mahabhashyam.

Ratnavali

"Ratnavali-Charitra” written by Murlidhar Chaturvedi

Women obviously stand behind the success of men with devotion, dedication, sacrifice, self surrender. 

Ratnavali, Vidhuttamma and Kasturba Gandhi’s  iron wills had impacted the lives of Tulsidas, Kalidasa and Mahatma Gandhi.  Only a few know about “Ratnavali-Charitra” written by Murlidhar Chaturvedi.  It throws light on Ratnavali, incorporating some of the couplets (dohas) composed by her. 

Bharthruhari

Bharthruhari was an invincible grammarian and a genius, ranking among the greatest scholars India has ever seen.  He was not a yogi, but a master of the highest spiritual attainments.

There are two versions about his poorvashraman (the first half of one’s life, before taking to asceticism).  One says that he was a Brahmachari (unmarried man) throughout his life.  Another version says he had a wife, but became a detached man in the prime of his youth and took to sanyas.  The circumstances that led him into spirituality are believed to be as follows.

Kalidasa

Kalidasa Charitram

To anybody born in this country, to whichever region he may belongs, Kalidasa immediately strikes a vibrant emotional chord. Since the last 16 centuries, Kalidasa the incomparable poet, has been a household name among people who had even the least interest for poetry. His works have been translated into most major languages of India. He was acclaimed as one of the “nine gems” – Navarathnas in the court of Chandra Gupta Vikramaditya, during the heydays of Gupta dynasty, considered by historians as the most splendid chapter in ancient India.

Kalidasa Ramayana

Devotion to Sri Rama is Valmiki’s gift to humanity.  Sanskrit poets like Bhasa, Bhavabuthi, Kalidasa, Murrari, Dinnaga Bhoja were all inspired by the ancient bard.  Among those the “Raguvamsa” of Kalidasa is unparallelled.

Of its 19 sargas, those from the tenth to the fifteenth are a matchless epitome of Valmiki.  The exploits of the ancestors of Rama from Dilipa to Dasaratha, are the theme of the first nine sargas.  This may be taken as a preface to Kalidasa’s “Ramayana”.

Panini –World’s Greatest Grammarian

Panini’s grammar,  popularly known as the ‘Ashtadhyayi’, is acclaimed by linguists all over the world as the most perfect model of a grammar. Well-known Western scholar, L.Bloomfield described Panini’s grammar as ‘one of the greatest monuments of human intelligence’. Panini commands the same respect even today in the history of any language and its grammar.

Poet Banabhatta’s Harshacharitha

Strange Circumstances of its CompositionIn the history of classical Sanskrit literature, which is at least 2000 years old, poet Banabhatta stands like a Himalayan peak in giving a new literary dimension to Sanskrit prose. His spectacular success could be gauged by the numerous imitations of his style that were followed by successive poets. Bana’s magnum opus “Kadambari” is not only the most celebrated prose romance in Sanskrit, but it is the best and its appeal has been universal for the past 14 centuries.

Similarly, Bana’s other composition “Harshacharitha” is the only and the very first of its kind in what could be called as ‘Historiography’ which is a biography of his patron king Harshavardhana belonging to the 7th century A.D. These two works of Bana have been considered sufficient by critics to look upon him as an embodiment of goddess Saraswathi.