Malladi Chandrasekhara Sastry (28 August 1925 – 14 January 2022) was an Indian scholar and television personality who specialized in the

Vedas upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''. The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute th ...

and

Puranas Purana (; sa, , '; literally meaning "ancient, old"Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature (1995 Edition), Article on Puranas, , page 915) is a vast genre of Indian literature about a wide range of topics, particularly about legends an ...

texts in the

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode ...

and

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...

languages. His works have included commentaries on

All India Radio All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All ...

during

Bhadrachalam Bhadrachalam is a census town in Bhadradri Kothagudem district in the Indian state of Telangana. It is an important Hindu pilgrimage town with the Bhadrachalam Temple of Lord Rama, situated on the banks of Godavari river. It is located east o ...

's Sitarama Kalyanam and

Brahmotsavam Sri Venkateswara Swami vari Brahmotsavam or Srivari Brahmotsavam is the most significant annual fête celebrated at the Venkateswara Temple in Tirumala-Tirupati, Tirupati district, Andhra Pradesh, India. The feast lasts for one month during t ...

festivals. For

Ugadi Ugadi or Yugadi, also known as Samvatsarādi (), is New Year's Day according to the Hindu calendar and is celebrated in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Karnataka in India. It is festively observed in these regions on the first ...

day, he recited the '' Panchanga Sravanam'' (almanac reading). On television he hosted a show ''Dharma Sandehalu'' and ''Dharma Sukshmalu'' where he answered questions regarding the Purana and various aspects of

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

. The show is telecast on the Sri Venkateswara Bhakti Channel and formerly on the Doordarshan Saptagiri Channel. He was the principal of a college run by the trust named

Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) is an independent trust which manages the temples including the Tirumala Venkateswara Temple in Andhra Pradesh. The trust oversees the operations and finances of the richest and the most visited religious cen ...

where they do

pravachan Pravachan, or Pravacana () is a term for any exposition of a doctrine or treatise, or to the recitation of a scripture or text in Jainism and Hinduism traditions.Monier Monier WilliamsSanskrit English Dictionary with Etymology Oxford University P ...

(lectures) on the Puranas. He received the Raja-Lakshmi Award in 2005, and has also been conferred the title of Purana Vachaspati.

Early life

Sastry was born on 22 August 1925 to Adilakshmamma and Dakshinamurthy in Hassanabada, a village in Krosuru

Tehsil A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administ ...

, in the Guntur district of

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

. He was a native of

Amaravathi village, Guntur district Amaravathi is a village on the banks of the Krishna River, in the Palnadu district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the headquarters of Amaravathi mandal, Andhra Pradesh, Amaravathi mandal, and forms part of the Andhra Pradesh Capit ...

. His grandfather, Sriman Malladi Ramakrishna Chainulu, was not only an authority in Vedic and Sanskrit literature, but also a propagator of the

Advaita Vedanta ''Advaita Vedanta'' (; sa, अद्वैत वेदान्त, ) is a Hindu sādhanā, a path of spiritual discipline and experience, and the oldest extant tradition of the orthodox Hindu school Vedānta. The term ''Advaita'' ( ...

Siddhanta (doctrine) over Andhra Pradesh. Sastry studied in the

fields Fields may refer to: Music * Fields (band), an indie rock band formed in 2006 * Fields (progressive rock band), a progressive rock band formed in 1971 * ''Fields'' (album), an LP by Swedish-based indie rock band Junip (2010) * "Fields", a song b ...

, ''vyakaranam'' (grammar), ''tarkam'' (logic), ''poorva meemamsa'' (extension of the Vedas), and ''vedanta sastram'' (Indian spiritualism). He also studied the

. When he was 19, he delivered Pravachan (lectures) about the ''

Ramayana The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th ...

''. His speaking ability allowed him to give a discourse at an event presided over by scholar Viswanatha Satyanarayana at

Vijayawada Vijayawada, formerly known as Bezawada, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and is a part of the state's Capital Region. It is the administrative headquarters of the NTR district. Its metropolitan region comprises N ...

. Sastry cited the ''Ramayana'', the ''

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the s ...

'', the

Bhagavata Purana The ''Bhagavata Purana'' ( sa, भागवतपुराण; ), also known as the ''Srimad Bhagavatam'', ''Srimad Bhagavata Mahapurana'' or simply ''Bhagavata'', is one of Hinduism's eighteen great Puranas (''Mahapuranas''). Composed in S ...

, and the oratorios of Dattatreya among his favorite works for discourses.

Career

Sastry established himself as an authority in the

and the Astadasha Puranas texts. He provided commentaries on

during

's Sitarama Kalyanam and

festivals. On television, he hosted a show ''Dharma Sandehalu'' and ''Dharma Sukshmalu'' where he answered questions regarding the Purana and various aspects of

. The show is telecast on the Sri Venkateswara Bhakti Channel and formerly on the Doordarshan Saptagiri Channel. On

day, he recited the '' Panchanga Sravanam (almanac reading)''. Writers have noted that he delivered his orations "with a pinch of humour". He was the principal of a college run by the trust named

where they do pravachan (lectures) on the Puranas.

Personal life and death

Sastry was married and had six sons and two daughters. Sastry died at his residence in Hyderabad, on 14 January 2022 at 5:15pm, at the age of 96.

Awards and accolades

* Sastry was given the title "Abhinava Vyasa" for his writings and discourses and for compiling and codifying the Vedas and Puranas texts. * Sastry was conferred the title of Purana Vachaspati. * In 2005, Sastry received an award from the

Sri Raja-Lakshmi Foundation The Sri Raja-Lakshmi Foundation is an Indian charitable trust that promotes arts, sciences, literature, medicine, journalism, humanities and other intellectual pursuits and to honour distinguished persons in these fields. Established in 1979 in C ...

. * Sringeri Sankara Mutt presented him with the title of "Savyasachi". * The Sanathana Dharma Trust presented him with the Eminent Citizens Award.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sastry, Malladi Chandrasekhara 1925 births 2022 deaths 20th-century Hindu philosophers and theologians 20th-century Indian philosophers 20th-century Indian writers Advaitin philosophers Indian Hindu monks Telugu people Ontologists People from Guntur district Indian male writers Writers from Andhra Pradesh