It is well nigh impossible to find a parallel for him in the history of Indian
literature. Pandit Srimadajjada Adibhatla Narayana Das (1864-1945) was the only
scholar who had mastery over four classical languages—Sanskrit, Telugu, Persian
and Arabic—and translated
from Persian and English into Sanskrit and Telugu;
the only litterateur who wrote a comparative treatise on the works of Kalidas
and Shakespeare; the only writer-composer who translated
into Telugu and set to music Rig Vedic hymns and the only
writer-composer who composed a geeta-malika comprising
90 Carnatic ragas. As a writer-composer who composed music in all the
72 Carnatic ragas he was next only to Thyagaraja.
Pandit
Narayana Das was a writer, poet, asta-avadhani, musician,
dancer, linguist and philosopher. He was a rare litterateur to whom, ‘the
indiscriminately employed and hackneyed phrase ‘versatile genius’ may be
justifiably applied’. The Hindu (June 30, 1894) referred to him as a
‘versatile genius’ in a review of his Harikatha:
“[…] an exquisite poet,
a versatile genius conversant with English, a profound scholar in
Telugu and Sanskrit and an accomplished musician of the most enchanting type.
While this pride of Vizianagaram was unfolding the story with his inimitable
skill, the audience was beside itself with joy. Not only was he applauded time
and again, but at the close, there was a spontaneous outburst from every one
present exclaiming that it was a rare and excellent treat. Of the gifted
expounder, it may well be and truly said that he is entitled to be spoken of in
glowing terms by the best of Pundits, by the most skilful songsters, by the
most ardent lovers of music and by the most reputed of elocutionists. The
rhythmic cadences of his harmonious voice, the melodious intonations of his
musical flight and the snatches of vivid and picturesque representations of
nature, conjured up his lively and constructive faculty of imagination and his
powerful command of language appealed to the listeners’ spiritual sensibilities
[…]”
His
literary output was voluminous. He wrote original Kavyas and Prabandhas that reflect a
rare creative genius, erudition and great felicity of expression. He wrote over
fifty books in Telugu, Sanskrit and Atcha-Telugu (Desyandhramu or Telugu
unmixed of Sanskrit). His works included original story-poems (Kavyas and Prabandhas), Harikathas,
prose works, musical works, dramas, translations, treatises on philosophy
and Vedic studies and children’s literature. Here is a brief list of
his works:
LITERARY
WORKS
In Navarasa Tarangini, he compared and
contrasted the treatment of the nine rasas or moods in the plays of
Kalidas and Shakespeare. His magnum opus Jagajjyothi is a treatise
on various streams of Hindu philosophy.
In Rubaiyat
of Omar Khaiyam, he translated the original Persian quatrains and
Edward Fitzgerald’s English translation into Sanskrit and Atcha-Telugu, to prove that
Fitzgerald’s translation did not do justice to the Persian poet. Dr. Sarvepalli
Radhakrishnan (former President of India) had this to say of the work:
“[…] was greatly struck by his varied
talents, remarkable linguistic equipment, and technical power of versification.
[…] The Telugu verses are written in what is called Atcha Telugu or
pure Telugu, which is rather difficult. […] I am tempted to congratulate
him on a performance which, taking all things into account, is certainly
astounding.”
In
a review published as an editorial entitled ‘A Monument of Scholarship’, The
Hyderabad Bulletin (16-1-1937) had this to say of the
work:
“[…] We are certainly unaware of any
recent instance in India where so much learning has been brought to bear on
what is no less certainly a labour of love, for it is evident that there are
few persons familiar with the Sanskrit language who are anxious to have a
rendering of the Persian original.
“Pandit Narayandas’s erudition is
enhanced by the fact that even in using his own mother tongue, he has selected
what is called Atchha-Telugu, a language that only a handful can understand.
The work therefore is not intended for the masses, and the learned author
expects no profits out of his scholarship. […]”
Sahitya
Akademi has recently brought out a new edition of Rubaiyat of Omar
Khaiyam originally published
in 1932.
His Samskrit works
include Tarakam (an original
Kavyam that reflects his rare command over Sanskrit idiom and
grammar); Harikathamrutam (the story of Sri Krishna in
three Harikathas); Ramachandra Satakam and Kasi Satakam.
His Atcha-Telugu works include Talli Vinki (exposition of Sri
Lalitha Sahasranamams, each in a verse); Vennuni Veyi Perla Vinakari (exposition of Sri
Vishnu Sahasranamams, each in a verse) Ruksangraham (also known as Mokkubadi, a translation
and musical composition for 304 selected Ruks) and Manki Mink" (an introduction to
Ayurveda).
CREATION
OF HARIKATHA
Traditional
religious discourses in the form of Harikatha as a medium to
inculcate Bhakti and entertain were in vogue in several states
including Maharastra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra. Each had a different
format and they all had more than one performer, for story telling, rendering
music etc. Narayana Das opined the art form of Harikatha dated back
to Vedic times. There were references to Harikatha in Rig
Veda. These Harikathas involved the performance of several artistes
during performance of Yaznas. The objective of
these Harikathas was to keep the Yaznik awake during the
course of the Yazna and entertain the audience. In
the Harikatha Narayana Das created, he fused several art forms into
one. These include kathaprvachanam (story
narration), aasukavitwam (composing poetry extempore),
rendering classical music, dancing and acting. The musical
part has the usual instrumental accompaniments like mridangam and violin but
the Haridas has to perform all the five components. Narayana
Das stated that the objective of his Harikatha was to
inculcate Bhakti and Jnana and seeking Moksha through
virtuous behaviour. Having invented the vehicle, he wrote twenty
one Harikathas, seventeen in Telugu, three in Samskrit and
one in Atcha Telugu. The creation Harikatha earned him the title
of Harikathapitamaha. The literary
and musical elite of his time awarded him the title of Sangeetha Sahitya
Sarvabhouma.
The Tirumala Tirupathi
Devasthanam has
undertaken the task of republishing Narayana Das’ Harikathas. Yadhartha
Ramayanamu, a compilation of six Harikathas based on
stories from Ramayana, Ambarisha Charitramu, Prahlada Charitamu, Savitri
Charitramu and Harikathamrutamu (the story
of Sri Krishna in three Harikathas in Sanskrit) were
published so far.
MUSICAL
GENIUS
The
Vijayanagaram of the late nineteenth century was a haven of literary and artistic
talent and was - to borrow a phrase from renaissance literature - in a state
of intellectual ferment. It was the perfect ambience for the muses in the
soul of a burgeoning artiste, fluttering wings to break free and find
expression in his work. It was in the company of virtuosos like Durvasula
Suryanarayana Somayajulu, Kaligotla Kamaraju, Mohabat Khan, Pappu Venkanna and
Veena Venkataramana Dasu that Narayana Das’ innate artistry blossomed
and flourished.
The
cultivation of the Hindustani style added a rare and unique hybrid
timbre to his music not usually found in the rendering
of Carnatic singers and won him many accolades including those from
the Maharajah of Mysore and Rabindranath Tagore. This is because it was unusual
for Carnatic singers to be able to sing Hindustani and vice
versa.
The
hybrid style he developed left an indelible stamp on the progress
of Carnatic music. It was adopted by later musicians including some
of the greats of Carnatic music, marking it as the sui
generis of Vizianagaram music. Eventually when Narayana Das became the
first principal of Sri Vijayarama Gana Pathasala it became part of the
curriculum, which was sought by Rabindranath Tagore to be introduced in
Visva-Bharati University.
Narayana
Das exhibited his musical genius in the asta-avadhanams he performed too, by
introducing several musical elements in them. He called his asta-avadhanams, sangeetha-asta-avadhanam and asadhya-asta-avadhanam. The sangeetha
asta-avadhanam included composing a kriti based on
a specified raga and tala; singing a kriti synchronising
it with three different talas played by three different
panellists. The musical feats in the variations of avadhanam (asadhya
ashta-avadhanam and sangeetha ashta-avadhanam) were Narayana Das’
initial experiments with tala which evolved into panchamuki and shanmukhi in later years.
Narayana
Das was the first principal (1919-1936) of Sri Vijayarama Gana Pathasala, South India’s first
music college founded by the Maharajah of Vizianagaram. In fact, the Maharajah
established the college to honour Pandit Narayana Das and enable enthusiasts to
learn music from him. The college produced many great musicians. Pandit
Narayana Das inducted violin maestro Dwaram Venkata Swamy Naidu as a lecturer
in the college.
A
MONUMENT OF LITERARY & MUSICAL CRAFTSMANSHIP
Dasavidha
Raga Navati Kusuma Manjari is a musical work in which Pandit
Adibhatla Narayana Das exhibited his monumental skill in literary
craftsmanship and musical composition. It is a raga
malika comprising ninety ragas in ten categories and
nine ragas in each category. The ten categories are: (1) Sarva-sampurna
ragas (2) Shadava-oudava ragas (3) Oudava-shadava
ragas (4) Sampurna-oudava ragas (5) Oudava-sampurna
ragas (6) Suddha-shadava ragas (7) Sampurna-shadava
ragas (8) Shadava-sampurna ragas (9) Suddha-oudava
ragas & (10) Vakra ragas. As the ninety ragas are woven
as flowers in a garland, it is named Dasavidha Raga Navati Kusuma Manjari.
The raga malika is a prayer to
goddess Kanyakumari and is in two parts, the first half
in Sanskrit and the second in Telugu. The names of
the ragas are used as a part of the prayer in each line of the first
part. The same ragas are repeated in the inverse order in the second
half. The raga malika can be sung in all talas evolving from
the five jatis of eka tala. An important
feature of this raga malika is this: while a vocalist sings it, and five
musicians keep time each with a different eka-tala, by the time the raga malika is completely
sung all the eka talas could be concluded and not anywhere in
between.
If
a musician can accomplish singing the raga malika to five different talas it
would be a great achievement. Pandit Narayana Das used to perform such a
feat which he called Panchamukhi, after the five facets of Paramasiva. The five talas correspond to the
five facets of Paramasiva known as Sadyojatha, Vamadeva, Eesana, Tatpurusha and Aghora. The
five talas he used to perform were trisragati with the right
hand; chaturasragati with the left
hand; khanda with the right
shoulder; misra with the left shoulder and sankeerna with the head.
He also performed Shanmukhi (singing to six talas) in which, he
performed all the five talas mentioned above while performing a
sixth tala called laghusekharam. The performance
of Panchamukhi and Shanmukhi earned him the
titles of Panchamuki Parameswara and Laya Brahma.
‘Mahamahopadhyaya’,
‘Sangeethasekhara’ Nookala Chinasatyanarayana has this to say of
the Sangeetha Prabandham: “A student of this prabandham who begins
his musical education with the first line becomes a vidwan by the time he
accomplishes singing the 180th line or aavartham. If a music
vidwan practises this Prabandham daily, there would be nothing beyond his
capability with regard to performance of music or tala.”
For
more on the life and work of Pandit Narayana Das and reviews of his
literary works, see:
