Ambale Ramakrishna Krishnashastry (1890–1968) was an Indian writer,

researcher Research is " creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness ...

and

translator Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...

in the

Kannada language Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native sp ...

. Krishnashastry has remained popular four decades after his death through his work ''Vachana Bharata'', and his narration of the

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

epic

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the Kuruk ...

in the Kannada.

Early life

Krishnashastry was born on 12 February 1890, in Ambale,

Kingdom of Mysore The Kingdom of Mysore was a realm in South India, southern India, traditionally believed to have been founded in 1399 in the vicinity of the modern city of Mysore. From 1799 until 1950, it was a princely state, until 1947 in a subsidiary allia ...

(in present-day

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

, India), into a

Smarta The ''Smarta'' tradition ( sa, स्मार्त), also called Smartism, is a movement in Hinduism that developed and expanded with the Puranas genre of literature. It reflects a synthesis of four philosophical strands, namely Mimamsa, A ...

Hoysala Karnataka Brahmin family. His parents were Ramakrishna Shastry, grammarian and principal of Sanskrit school in

Mysore Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...

and Shankaramma, a homemaker; she died of disease when he was ten. Due to poverty, he was compelled to study

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

and

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

for his

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree (1914) though he wanted to pursue a career as a

scientist A scientist is a person who conducts Scientific method, scientific research to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, ...

. His career started as a clerk in the ''

Attara Kacheri Attara Kacheri in Bangalore, India is the seat of the principal bench of the Karnataka High Court, the highest judicial authority in the state of Karnataka. It is a neoclassical red-painted stone and brick building in Cubbon Park, located on ...

'' (secretariat) in Mysore. He worked as a

tutor TUTOR, also known as PLATO Author Language, is a programming language developed for use on the PLATO system at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign beginning in roughly 1965. TUTOR was initially designed by Paul Tenczar for use in co ...

and a

at Oriental Library (later renamed the Oriental Research Institute) at

before enrolling for his

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

degree at the

Madras University The University of Madras (informally known as Madras University) is a public state university in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1857, it is one of the oldest and among the most prestigious universities in India, incorporated by an a ...

. He later served as a professor in Kannada and researcher at the

Mysore University The University of Mysore is a public state university in Mysore, Karnataka, India. The university was founded during the reign of Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV, the Maharaja of Mysore. The university is recognised by the University Grants Commission ...

until his retirement. Krishnashastry married at the age of sixteen to Venkatalakshamma who was only ten at that time. Krishnashastry was called as Kannada Senani by writer and folklorist H. M. Nayak). He was the first to start a Karnataka association at the

Central College, Bangalore Central College Bengaluru (1858) is one of the oldest colleges in India. This college was originally affiliated to University of Mysore in Mysore State. Rev. John Garrett was the first principal of the Central High School, which was afterwards r ...

. Later, similar associations spread throughout Karnataka. Some of Krishnashastry's notable disciples include

Kuvempu Kuppali Venkatappa Puttappa (29 December 1904 – 11 November 1994), popularly known by his pen name Kuvempu, was an Indian poet, playwright, novelist and critic. He is widely regarded as the greatest Kannada poet of the 20th century. He was ...

T. N. Srikantaiah Theerthapura Nanjundaiah Srikantaiah ( kn, ತೀರ್ಥಪುರ ನಂಜುಂಡಯ್ಯ ಶ್ರೀಕಂಠಯ್ಯ) (26 November 1906 – 7 September 1966) commonly known as 'Thee. Nam. Shree. (ತೀ. ನಂ. ಶ್ರೀ.), was a ...

, M. V. Seetharamiah,

S. Srikanta Sastri Sondekoppa Srikanta Sastri (5 November 1904 – 10 May 1974) was an Indian historian, Indologist, and polyglot. He authored around 12 books, over two hundred articles, several monographs and book reviews over four decades in English, Kannada, ...

and G. P. Rajarathnam.

Literary works

Prof KrishnaShastry was a polyglot. Apart from his mother tongue Kannada, he could speak fluently in

and English. He was also proficient in

Pali Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or ''Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of ''Theravāda'' Buddhism ...

, Bengali (self taught), Hindi, and German. He had a good working knowledge of

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

and this helped him to work and translate some of the great works from those languages to

. Krishnashastry brought out many of nuances of great

plays of

Kālidāsa Kālidāsa (''fl.'' 4th–5th century CE) was a Classical Sanskrit author who is often considered ancient India's greatest poet and playwright. His plays and poetry are primarily based on the Vedas, the Rāmāyaṇa, the Mahābhārata and t ...

Bhavabhuti Bhavabhūti (Devanagari: भवभूति) was an 8th-century scholar of India noted for his plays and poetry, written in Sanskrit. His plays are considered the equal of the works of Kalidasa. Bhavabhuti was born in Padmapura, Vidarbha, in Gond ...

and Bhasa during his translations to Kannada. Krishnashastry's biography of Bankim Chandra Chattarjee, a noted

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

earned him a Central

Sahitya Academy award The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 22 languages of the ...

. Krishnashastri wrote numerous other

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...

and novels including ''Vachana bharata'', ''Nirmalabharati'' and ''Kathaamruta''. ''Vachanabharata'' and ''Nirmalabharati'' are an abridged versions of the Hindu epic

. ''Kathaamruta'' is a collection of stories from

Kathasaritsagara The ''Kathāsaritsāgara'' ("Ocean of the Streams of Stories") (Devanagari: कथासरित्सागर) is a famous 11th-century collection of Indian legends, fairy tales and folk tales as retold in Sanskrit by the Shaivite Somadeva. ' ...

, huge anthology of hundreds of fables, parables and other stories in

. ''Kathaamruta'' has a well written introduction to

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

and

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

cultural traditions. In 1918, Krishnashastry started ''Prabuddha Karnataka'', a Kannada language newspaper and worked as its

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...

Awards and honors

* D. Lit of

Writings

Novels

* ''Vachana bharata'' * ''Nirmalabharati''

Biographies

* ''Sri

Ramakrishna Paramahamsa Ramakrishna Paramahansa ( bn, রামকৃষ্ণ পরমহংস, Ramôkṛṣṇo Pôromohôṅso; , 18 February 1836 – 16 August 1886),——— — also spelled Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, born Gadadhar Chattopadhyaya,, was an In ...

charitre'' * '' Bannkim Chandra''

Short story collections

* ''Shreepatiya Kategalu'' * ''Kathaamrutha - Kannada translation of

Plays

* ''Samskruta Nataka'' * ''Harischandrakavya Sangraha''

Other

* ''Alankara ( kannada handbook on Alankara shastra - 1927, Mysore university)''
Alaṅkāra-śāstra
* ''Bhasa Kavi ( A critique on Sanskrit playwright Bhasa - Central college Karnataka Sangha - 1922)'' * ''Sarvajnana Kavi'' * ''Bhashanagalu Mattu Lekhanagalu ( Speeches and Writings )'' * ''Nagamahashaya (Author:

Sarat Chandra Chakravarty Sarat Chandra Chakravarty ( bn, শরৎ চন্দ্র চক্রবর্ত্তি) was a direct householder disciple of Swami Vivekananda and was the chronicler of "Diary of a Disciple" ( bn, স্বামী শিষ্য স� ...

) translated from Bengali to Kannada - 1937''

References

External links

A. R. Krishnashastry - A Biography

Complete works of Prof. A R Krishnasastri
* A.R.KrishnaShastry, Kathaamrita (1952) (Kannada: ಕಥಾಮೃತ), Geetha Book House, K.R. Circle, Mysore 570 001, India * A.R. Krishna Shastri - A monograph in Kannada by T.V. Venkatachala Sastry, Sahitya Akademi, Year 2000,
Alaṅkāra-śāstra
{{DEFAULTSORT:Krishnashastry, A. R 1890 births 1968 deaths People from Chikkamagaluru district Kannada-language writers Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Kannada 20th-century Indian translators 20th-century Indian novelists Writers from Karnataka 20th-century Indian biographers