Arudra (born Bhagavatula Sadasiva Sankara Sastry; 31 August 1925 – 4 June 1998) was an Indian author, poet, lyricist, translator, publisher, dramatist, playwright, and an expert on Telugu literature. He is also known for his works in

Telugu cinema Telugu cinema, also known as Tollywood, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Telugu language, widely spoken in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Telugu cinema is based in Film Nagar, ...

as a lyricist, dialogue writer, and story writer. He received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1987.

Early life

Aarudra was born in

Yelamanchili Elamanchili is a town in Anakapalli district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a municipality and also the mandal headquarters of Elamanchili mandal. The town is spread over an area of , which is under the jurisdiction of Visakhapat ...

Visakhapatnam , image_alt = , image_caption = From top, left to right: Visakhapatnam aerial view, Vizag seaport, Simhachalam Temple, Aerial view of Rushikonda Beach, Beach road, Novotel Visakhapatnam, INS Kursura submarine museu ...

, Andhra Pradesh, India on 31 August 1925. Aarudra is the nephew of Telugu poet Sri Sri. After primary education, he shifted to Vizianagaram in 1942 for his college education. He was attracted to

communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society ...

after coming into contact with people like ''Ronanki Appalaswami'' and

Chaganti Somayajulu Chaganti Somayajulu (17 January 1915 – 2 January 1994), popularly known as CHASO, was a short-story writer in 20th century Telugu literature. His nickname, "CHASO," is a portmanteau of the syllables from his name ('CHA' from Chaganti and 'SO' fr ...

. He joined the

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its complement of personnel and aircraft assets ranks third amongst the air forces of the world. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial w ...

as a Band Boy in 1943 and served it till 1947. He shifted to

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Tamil Nadu, the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and territories of India, Indian state. The largest city ...

and worked as editor of '' Anandavani'' magazine for two years. Joining the film industry in 1949, he wrote lyrics and dialogues for many films. He married noted writer K. Rama Lakshmi (a columnist and a writer-critic in her own right) in 1954.

Literary works

''Tvamevaham'' (You are none other than me) and ''Samagra Andhra Sahityam'' (An Encyclopedia of Telugu Literature) are his landmark works. He wrote poetry such as ''Koonalamma Padaalu'', reminiscences of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

.Aarudra, 'Samagra Andhra Sahityam' (1968). Reprinted in 1989Aarudra, 'Samagra Aaandhra Saahityam' (2005): Revised and Reprinted, Published by Telugu Akademi, Hyderabad. He translated the Tamil treatise

Tirukkural The ''Tirukkuṟaḷ'' ( ta, திருக்குறள், lit=sacred verses), or shortly the ''Kural'' ( ta, குறள்), is a classic Tamil language text consisting of 1,330 short couplets, or kurals, of seven words each. The tex ...

into Telugu. He belonged to the school of progressive writers such as ''Abhyudaya Rachayitala Sangham''.

Tvamevaham

''Tvamevaaham'' written in 1948 was based on the contemporary violence and lawlessness during the Razakar movement in the princely state of Hyderabad. The Razakar attrocoties were sponsored by the

Nizam The Nizams were the rulers of Hyderabad from the 18th through the 20th century. Nizam of Hyderabad (Niẓām ul-Mulk, also known as Asaf Jah) was the title of the monarch of the Hyderabad State ( divided between the state of Telangana, Mar ...

against his own people who wanted to overthrow him in favor of democracy and join the Indian Union. In this kaavyam, death spoke to a human being and says, "you and I are the same (Tvamevaaham)".

The Samagra Andhra Sahityam

AHumpy first published the SAS in 12 parts between 1965 and 1968. It spans the Telugu literature from the 9th century CE to modern times. He chronicled the history of Telugu Literature in 12 volumes: # Early and Chalukya Era (From 8 – 9c CE to end of 12c CE) #

Kakatiya dynasty The Kakatiya dynasty ( IAST: Kākatīya) was an Indian dynasty that ruled most of eastern Deccan region comprising present day Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, and parts of eastern Karnataka and southern Odisha between 12th and 14th centuries. T ...

(1200–1290 CE) # Padmanayaka Era (1337–1399 CE) # Reddiraju Era (1400–1450 CE) # Early Rayala ( Vijayanagara) (1450–1500 CE) # Later Rayala (Vijayanagara) (1500–1550 CE) #

Nawab Nawab (Balochi: نواب; ar, نواب; bn, নবাব/নওয়াব; hi, नवाब; Punjabi : ਨਵਾਬ; Persian, Punjabi , Sindhi, Urdu: ), also spelled Nawaab, Navaab, Navab, Nowab, Nabob, Nawaabshah, Nawabshah or Nobab, ...

s (1550–1600 CE) # Nayaka Kings (1600–1670 CE) # Later Nayaka Kings (1670–1750 CE) #

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Sout ...

(1750–1850 CE) #

Zamindar A zamindar (Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as ...

i (1850–1900 CE) # Modern (1900 CE onwards)

How is Sita related to Rama?

''Ramudiki Sita Yemautundi?'' or ''How is Sita related to Rama?'', put before the public the riddle of

Mandodari Mandodari ( sa, मंदोदरी, , lit. "soft-bellied";) was the queen consort of Ravana, the king of Lanka, according to the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. The ''Ramayana'' describes Mandodari as beautiful, pious, and righteous. She is extol ...

Sita Sita (; ) also called as Janaki and Vaidehi is a Hindu goddess and the female protagonist of the Hindu epic, '' Ramayana''. She is the consort of Rama, the avatar of the god Vishnu, and is regarded as a form of Vishnu's consort, Lakshmi ...

and

Hanuman Hanuman (; sa, हनुमान, ), also called Anjaneya (), is a Hindu god and a divine '' vanara'' companion of the god Rama. Hanuman is one of the central characters of the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. He is an ardent devotee of Rama and ...

and their origins in a lucid and scholarly way. It was a bold attempt at cracking the

Valmiki Valmiki (; Sanskrit: वाल्मीकि, ) is celebrated as the harbinger-poet in Sanskrit literature. The epic ''Ramayana'', dated variously from the 5th century BCE to first century BCE, is attributed to him, based on the attributi ...

Ramayana The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th to 4th centuries BCE, and later stages e ...

code and in the process de-mystified the story of Rama to the middle-class, literate, modern day Telugu reader. Aarudra, 'Ramudiki Seetemautundi? 'Vishalandra Publishing House, Hyderabad, 1978. The book explores the

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

and

Jain Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle being ...

sources of the story of

Rama Rama (; ), Ram, Raman or Ramar, also known as Ramachandra (; , ), is a major deity in Hinduism. He is the seventh and one of the most popular ''avatars'' of Vishnu. In Rama-centric traditions of Hinduism, he is considered the Supreme Being ...

. It also surveys the Khotan Siam ( Thai), Laos, and Malaysian versions of the story of Rama. Here is a sampling from the 'Dasaratha Jataka ', a Buddhist Tale:

Buddha narrates the 'Dasaratha Jataka' tale to a householder who was grieving the death of his son....Long long ago.. Dasaratha was the king of Varanasi. He had sixteen thousand wives.The Queen had two sons and a daughter.The eldest son was called Ramapundit and the younger one was called Laxmanpundit. The daughter was called Sitadevi. The Queen dies after sometime. Dasaratha marries again, and comes to like her the most. She begets a son named Bharata...When Ramapundit returns from the forest, he marries Sita and rules for 16000 years...Bodhisatta concludes the story stating that Dasaratha was none other than Shuddhodana (Father of Buddha) in an earlier reincarnation. Similarly, Sita was none other than Rahulmata (Mother of Rahul or Wife of Buddha) and Ramapundit was none other than Buddha himself.

Aarudra's questions like "How is Sita related to Rama?" or "Were they just Husband and wife?" may sound naive or sacrilegious but a serious study of genealogies, as revealed from different sources, logically leads to them. To deny the existence of such stories, per Arudra, would amounted to intellectual dishonesty.

List of his works

*Poems (Kavyas): Tvamevaaham, Sinivaali, koonalamma Padaalu, Intinti Pajyaalu. America Intinti pajyaalu, sitakoka chilukalu (radio play) *Lyrics: Gaayaalu-Geyaalu, Pailaapacceesu, Yencina Padyaalu, Yetikedadi, Kondagaali Tirigindi. *Translations: Veera Telangaana Viplava Geetalu (from English), Vennela-Vesavi (from Tamil), Kabeer Bhaavaalu and Batvaada-Arudra (from Hindi). *Dramas: Udgeedha, Geyanaatika, Raadaari Bangla, Saalabhanjikalu. *Dual Poetry: Rukkuteswara Satakam (with Sri Sri), Meemee (with Sri Sri and Varada) *Research Work: Samagraandhra Saahityam, Arudra Vyaasapeetham, Raamudi ki Seeta Yemavutundi?, *Other works: Arudra kathalu, Mahaneeyulu, Chadarangam, cinema scripts and lyrics.

Filmography

# '' Beedala Patlu'' (1950) (lyrics) # '' Kanna Talli'' (1953) (writer) # '' Pakka Inti Ammayi'' (1953) (adapted screenplay) # '' Veera Kankanam'' (1957) (dialogue) # '' Chenchu Lakshmi'' (1958) (lyrics) # '' Illarikam'' (1959) (dialogue) # '' Jayabheri'' (1959) (lyrics) # '' Aradhana'' (1962) (lyrics) # ''

Bhishma Bhishma (Sanskrit: भीष्‍म, , ), also known as Pitamaha, Gangaputra, and Devavrata, played an integral role in Mahabharata. He was the supreme commander of the Kaurava forces during the Kurukshetra War mentioned in the Hindu epi ...

'' (1962) (lyrics) # '' Dakshayagnam'' (1962) (writer) # '' Manchi Kutumbam'' (1965) (lyrics) # '' Gudachari 116'' (1966) (story and dialogue) # '' Farz'' (1967) (story) # '' The Train'' (1970) (screenplay) # '' Mosagallaku Mosagadu'' (1971) (story and dialogues) # '' Andala Ramudu'' (1973) (lyrics) # '' Muthyala Muggu'' (1975) (lyrics) # '' Yashoda Krishna'' (1975) (writer) # '' Mahakavi Kshetrayya'' (1976) (writer) # '' Daana Veera Soora Karna'' (1977) (lyrics) # ''

Mallepoovu ''Mallepoovu'' or ''Malle Poovu'' is a 1978 Telugu-language drama film directed by V. Madhusudan Rao. It is remake of 1957 Hindi film ''Pyaasa'' produced and directed by Guru Dutt. It is musical film with lyrics penned by Veturi and Arudra and ...

'' (1977) (lyrics) # ''

Anugraham ''Kondura'' / ''Anugraham'' is a 1978 Indian bilingual film directed by Shyam Benegal simultaneously in Hindi and Telugu. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Marathi writer, Chintamani T. Khanolkar, the screen adaptation was m ...

'' (1978) (dialogue) # '' Kondura'' (The Sage from the Sea) (1978) (writer) # '' Thoorpu Velle Railu'' (1979) (lyrics) # '' Pelli Pusthakam'' (1991) (lyrics) # '' Mr. Pellam'' (1993) (lyrics)

Film songs

His film songs are compiled and published by his wife K. Ramalaxmi in five volumes.Arudra Cine Geethalu (1977–1998) – Vol. 5, Kurise Chirujallulo, Compiled by K. Ramalakshmi, Published by Vishalandhra Publishing House, Hyderabad, 2003.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aarudhra Indian lyricists Telugu-language lyricists Telugu people Telugu poets 1925 births 1998 deaths Telugu-language writers Andhra University alumni 20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights Indian male dramatists and playwrights Telugu-language dramatists and playwrights Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Telugu 20th-century Indian poets 20th-century Indian historians Writers from Visakhapatnam Dramatists and playwrights from Andhra Pradesh Indian Marxist writers Indian atheists