Introduction

Sangeeta Kalanidhi

Dr Rallapalli Anantha Krishna Sharma

( Based on the article, 'Rallapalli Anantha Krishna Sharma' , By R A Phani Shayi from the book' Kalachetana',

pages 58 - 64, published by Karnataka Sangeeta Nritya Academy, 2004. )

Dr.Rallapalli Anantha Krishna Sharma was a true genius, held in high esteem in the States of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. He is unique because of his mastery of two distinct fields namely Literature ( Sanskrit, Telugu, Prakrit and Kannada ) and Carnatic Classical Music. Probably no other man of his times can claim this unique distinction.

He is one of the scintillating gems that emerged from the Rayala seema or 'Ratnala Seema' as it is called, in its long and eventful history. He was a distinguished scholar in literature as well as carnatic music. These are the words of his contemporary poets :

Early childhood :

He was born on 23rd January 1893 in Rallapalli village to Sri Karnamadakala Krishnamacharya and Smt Alamelu Mangamma. Rallapalli in a small village in Kambadur Taluk, Ananthapur District of Andhra Pradesh.

He was initiated into Telugu and Sanskrit literature by his father Sri Karnamadakala Krishnamacharya. Being a quick learner he soon mastered the classics of Valmiki, Kalidasa and the three great poets of Telugu, by his thirteenth year. Krisnamacharya also taught his other children, both sons and daughters in a similar fashion. He encouraged all his children to appreciate and compose literary works.

Dr. Rallapalli Sharma was initiated into music by none other than his mother, Alemelamma. In spite of residing in a small village she new and could sing, about a hundred songs in Sanskrit, Telugu, Kannada, Tamil and Marathi. She taught all these songs to her children, mainly to Sharma and his elder sister Yadugiramma. In fact both brother and sister used to sing in the Hanuman Temple situated in the fort, at Rallapalli village, on Saturdays. Sharma and Yadugiramma were known for their melodious singing.

Higher studies at Mysore :

In 1905, Sri Sharma left Rallapalli village and went to Mysore for higher studies. There he stayed in the Brahmatantra Parakala Mutt. The then pontiff of the Mutt, H.H. Krishnabrahmatantra Swamy, enrolled Sharma as an inmate of the Mutt, being impressed by his humble nature, intellect, grasping power and in depth knowledge of literature. In his own words Sri Sharma has described his stay at the Mutt and the education he had there as " My second guru is none other than Krishnabrahmatantra Swamy, the pontiff of Parakala Mutt and Rajaguru to the Mysore royal family. He had composed many literary works. By virtue of his complete mastery of literature and his poetic abilities, he had won appreciation and felicitations from the maharajahs of Gadwal, Vanaparti etc. He was a scholar in many fields (shastras ) and had immense interest in literature. Under him I did not learn by just reading books. As a daily routine he used to compose literary works ( Granthas ). He was then composing the gigantic literary work by name, 'Alankara Manihara', a original treatise on 'Alankara Shastra'. Due to his advanced age and diminishing eye sight, he would ask me to read relevant portions from the texts and reference works; he used to write what I read. When scholars visited the Mutt, he used to ask me to read from his works and treatises. I was privileged to partake in such activities for several years".

Pandit Ramashasty, a Sanskrit scholar of Chamarajanagar, Mysore was the third guru of Sri Sharma. In his own words, Sri Sharma describes - " In the field of literature my third Guru is Sri Ramashastry of Chamaraja nagar. Due to his advanced age he had lost most of his teeth. I have never seen a person who could render Sanskrit poetry and prose works immaculately with such clarity, without haste. This in spite of the limitations of his age. He had a unique style in translating and explaining the meaning of such poetry and prose works. Just listening to him was in itself an experience, which I cherish in my thoughts".

In Mysore, Sri Sharma could not find suitable persons to continue his study of Telugu literature and he had almost lost sheen in it. The one person responsible for rekindling Sharma's interest in Telugu literature was Sri Kattimanchi Ramalinga Reddy. Sharma has expressed his gratitude to Sri Reddy and considered him as his fourth Guru. Dr. Sharma came in contact with Sri. Reddy who was a Lecturer at the Mysore Maharajah's College, in 1910; he was teaching history, logic, philosophy and English literature. He was also an established personality in Telugu literature. Dr Sharma has described the benefits of his association with Reddy as follows : " I had no association whatsoever with college education. For a person immersed in old values and systems, his association opened the doors of modern thinking and ideas. The value of this association has probably been more meaningful to me than many of his own students. To read Telugu poetry, notably those composed by the Telugu poet trio, explain many features, specialties about them, make me to read, etc were the main activities with him. Only on his request I agreed to compose prose works in Telugu. My literary compositions in Telugu, namely Taradevi and Meerabai, which are Khanda - kavya's, were well appreciated by him. I can say that Sri Reddy was the main support for my achievements in Telugu literature.

Studies in classical music and his teachers ( guru's )

Dr Sharma as first learn music from his mother Alemelamma; his passion and dedication for music continued in Mysore, where many scholars lived. These eminent scholars were encouraged and supported by the then Maharaja of Mysore. Mysore was also famous for music concerts which were held in various temples, bhajan halls and in the houses of rich connoisseurs. Whenever he had an opportunity Dr. Sharma used to attend to such concerts and enjoy the musical performances. The performances of stalwarts like Veena Seshanna, Subanna, Karigiriraya, Vasudevacharya, Bidaram Krishnappa, Chikka Ramaraya, and many others only increased his urge to learn classical music. But who would teach music to a young novice like him ? It appears that he approached many musicians and asked them to teach him music. But none responded favourably to his request. This lead to intense disappointment and frustration in Dr. Sharma. Finally one day in 1909, during the celebrations of Krishna Raja Wodeyar, he heard the great musician Bidaram Krishnappa perform at the royal palace. That day he heard the stalwart musician sing raga Dhanyasi followed by the famous Tyagaraja kriti, ' Dyaname Varamaina Ganga Snanamu'.. The effect of this concert was so profound that Sri Sharma decided to learn music and asked Bidaram Krishnappa himself. Krishnappa wholeheartedly welcomed him as his disciple and taught him classical music for 4 -5 years. Dr Sharma has described his teacher's method of practice, style of teaching, etc as follows : " The 'tapas' that he had had to perform to attain purity and infallibility in the two basic attributes of the musical art, namely, 'nada' and 'kala', was truly extraordinary. As a consequence of this penance, he had acquired such stability and profoundity to traverse in all the three sthayi's, without or running, that was without parallel in my opinion. Add to this, his precise pronunciation of the words, and understanding of the meaning of the song he was rendering, his perfect understanding and control over raga & tala were the hallmarks of his musical genius. His unflinching Ramabhakti and the conviction that Lord Rama was expressing himself through his music, made Bidaram Krishnappa's music distinct and unique."

Rallapalli Sharma's contributions to literature :

His achievements in Literature have run in three languages, namely, Telugu, Sanskrit and Kannada, much like the three tributaries of river Ganga. He has contributed in the fields of poetry, translation and editorial work in these languages. Considering the immense knowledge and facility in writing that he possessed, what he actually wrote was very little. There were several topics about which he could and should have written. But he did not make up his mind to write. His despair was, " After studying in detail the literary works of poets like Valmiki, Kalidasa and the poet trio Nanniah, Tikkanna , Eranna & Potana, etc , what else can ordinary people like me write". Therefore he chose to write only when he felt that he was expressing a new idea, thought or opinion or contribution. More importantly he never wrote when he felt there was nothing new to convey.

Khanda-kavyas : He composed two khanda-kavyas namely, 'Taradevi ( 1911)' and 'Meerabai (1912)' in his young age when overwhelmed by enthusiasm. He was only 18-19 years old, when he composed the above two works. His work 'Taradevi' was published by the monthly magazine ' saraswati'; 'Meerabai' was published in the monthly magazine 'Manavaseva'. These were never published in book form. In the year 1926 he published a collection of poems titled "Bhargavi Panchavimshati".

Prose works : Rallapalli Sharma is the greatest amoung Telugu prose writers. It is well accepted by all that there is none equal to him in Telugu prose writing. In the area of prose he has published three main works namely, 'Vemana', 'Natakopanyasamulu' and 'Saraswatalokamu'.

Vemana : Rallapalli Sharma carried out extensive research on Vemana; he has written seven essays on Vemana, his talents in various fields of literature and made a critical review of his works. In the year 1928 at the seven day conference organized by the Govt. College of Art, Ananthapur, he read his essays one on each day. The credit of entrusting this literary work to Rallapalli, convincing him to accept and write, and later publishing all seven essays, goes to the Andhra Viswakala Parishad. After completion of this conference, seeing the creative genius of Rallapalli, Dr.Chilukuri Narayanarao, discussed the essays and appreciated Rallapalli by composing and publishing a string of poems " keertaniya charita krishna sharma". After 1928, several persons have published books on Vemana. But as has been unanimously agreed by all scholars none of these are better than Rallapalli Sharma's work on Vemana.

Natakopanyasamulu : In the year 1935, he published the work, 'Natakopanyasamulu'. This is also a collection of essays. These essays were delivered by Shri Rallapalli in Bellary, during the memorial function of famous playwright, Dharmavaram krishnasharma and Kolachelam Srinivasarao. In these essays he has discussed several issues and problems pertaining to dramatic art or plays, like singing in plays, men taking female roles, Eastern & Western dramatic techniques, depiction of tragedy in drama, moral issues in plays etc.

Saraswatalokamu : This literary work is a compilation of critical essays on the various topics pertaining to Telugu literature. It contains critical essays on topics such as, role of Nigamasharma's sister in Tenaliramakrishna's 'Panduranga Mahathmya', appreciation of beauty & excellence during Krishnadevaraya's period, the question of authorship of Ranganatha Ramayana, Sita's m89,role in Tikkanna's 'Uttararamacharitam', etc. The book 'Saraswatalokamu' was a prescribed textbook for the students pursuing Masters degree in many Andhra Universities, for several years. Also the essays from this book form a part of curriculum in schools and colleges for students of all levels right from middle school. Therefore there are very few who have not heard about Rallapalli's literary works.

Translation of works in Sanskrit & Prakrit : It appears that Rallapalli Sharma, Sanskrit kavyas and dramas like Raghuvamsa of Kalidasa , Swapnavasavadatta of Bhasa, etc, into Telugu, when he was still young. However since he felt that he could not bring about the special features of these originals in his translations, he allowed these to be destroyed by termites. Fortunately a few of such translations which he did not destroy, still exist. Among his translations into Telugu, the work ' Shalivahana Gatha Sapta Shati Saramu' is considered as the best. The original book 'Shalivahana Gatha Sapta Shati' is in Prakrit and in Arya meter ( prosody ). Out of the several thousands Gathas (prakrit verses ) , this book contains 700. Out of these Rallapalli Sharma has translated 395 into Telugu and named it ' Shalivahana Gatha Sapta Shati Saramu' and it was published in 1931. Subsequently after many years, in 1964, a German Prakrit scholar by name, Weber, saw the translation of Rallapalli and added some more translated Gatha's and brought out a revised version of the book. This has been published by Andhra Saraswata Parishad.

The other works translated by Rallapalli Sharma into Telugu are, 'Arya' of Sundara Pandya, 'Nritta Ratnavali' of Jayapa Sena and 'Abhitistava' of Vedanta Deshika.

Editing of literary and musical works : The main books which were edited by Rallapalli Sharma are, 'Panduranga Mahatmyamu' of Tenali Ramakrishna ( co-editor is Sri Gauripedda Ramasubba sharma ), Bammera Potana's Bhagavatham & 'Brahmasri' Subbarama Dikshitar's 'Sangeeta Sampradaya Pradarshini' and Tallapaka Annamacharya's 'Adhyatmaka & Shringara' musical compositions.

Rallapalli Sharma's contribution to Kannada literature : There are two main works published in Kannada, namely, 'Ganakale' and 'Sahitya Mattu Jeevana Kale'; Both these books comprise mainly essays on Sangeeta & Sahitya , i.e music and literature, in Kannada and translation of his essays written in Telugu into Kannada. While 'Ganakale' contains essays related to music, 'Sahitya Mattu Jeevana Kale' consists of essays related literature. In his book 'Ganakale' we can see essays on the sangeeta vidwans of Mysore like 'Vainika Shikamani' Seshanna, 'Ganavisharada' Bidaram Krishnappa, etc, their musical genius, achievements. It has detailed essays on Tyagaraja the greatest of composers, Shyama Shastry, Muttuswamy Dikshitar, Swati Tirunal's creative genius, the importance of 'dhatu' and 'matu', bhakti , etc. There are also critical essays on the Hindustani, Western and Carnatic styles of music.

In his other work, 'Sahitya Mattu Jeevana Kale', Rallapalli Sharma has out fourth his own theory of art forms. This theory is not restricted to music, but can be applied to all art forms.

The All India Radio stations in Mysore and Bangalore have broadcast several talks of Shri Rallapalli Sharma ; only a few of them have been published.

Even though Rallapalli Sharma was known all over the country for his extensive contributions to Telugu literature, he had more love towards Sanskrit than Telugu. All the songs he composed in his young days were all in Sanskrit. In fact he was only 13 - 14 years old, when he composed his first song in Sanskrit' 'Jalarashi Bale Lole' on Goddess Lakshmi, to be sung during prayers. Excepting one or two, all the songs (kritis) he composed in his young, middle and old age, were all in Sanskrit only. The style of his works in Sanskrit is simple, beautiful, pure, musical and in line with the Shastra's. His aim was not to demonstrate his scholarship .

Excluding his musical compositions, his writings in Sanskrit are very few in number. These have been published by Surabharati Publishers, in the form of a small booklet titled 'Anantha Bharati'. This book contains a champu kavya by name 'Sri Mahishuru Rajyabhyudaya Darshaha', a critical work named ' Sri Gita Govinde Patha Parikshanam', an essay ' Valmikehe Geya parispandaha' and a stotra ' Nyasa kalanidhistava'.

In Mysore, there was a poetry competition on the topic 'Progress achieved in Mysore during the rule of Maharajas'. Nearly 40 poets took part in this competition. The first prize was awarded to Rallapalli Ananthakrishna Sharma for his champu kavya 'Sri Mahishura Rajyabhyudaya Darshaha'. This work containing 83 poems, four portions written in prose was published in Devangari script on 29-04-1925.

Shri Rallapalli Sharma wrote the stotra, 'Nyasakalanidhustava' on the request of Sri Bukkapatanam Annamacharya, a contemporary scholar in Sanskrit and teacher in Penukonda higher primary school. In this stotra Shri Rallapalli says with all humility " swayam swapreetaye sreeman emum nyasakalanidhistavam sadayosananathakrishnasya vadanadudadeedharat " meaning Sriman Narayana Himself for His own happiness has made ananthakrishna to utter the Nyasakalanidhistava ". In this stotra one can see his immense devotion to God, his special feelings for prayer and .

Carnatic Music : Shri Rallapalli Sharma's contribution to Carnatic music can be categorized into three parts, namely singing (performing), research and composing of kritis.

Rallapalli Sharma who was considered in Andhra as a giant in Telugu literature, is more known to the Kannada people as a scholar in Carnatic music. In reality it is a fact that he accomplished extraordinary feats in both literature and music. Among the scholars in music a few are reputed for their command over the sangeeta shastra ( theory ). Such scholars have not performed much on stage and hence have not made name for their performances. A few more scholars are efficient performers. They have performed on stage and won appreciation from the audience. In many cases such scholars have limited knowledge on the theoretical aspects of music ( sangeeta shastra ). Music being a performing art, these scholars gain more public respect and appreciation because of their ability to sing or play music on stage. There are very few scholars who are good at both performing and knowledge of sangeeta shastra.

Even though Rallapalli Ananthakrishna Sharma learnt vocal music he never made name as a vocalist. There are two main reasons for this. The first reason being the promise he made to his guru Bidaram Krishnappa that he would never use his music knowledge as a means of earning and for making money. Bidaram Krisnappa asked Rallapalli to accept to this condition before agreeing to take him as his student. It appears that Bidaram Krishnappa felt that Rallapalli being a scholar well versed in literature, could easily find other jobs means for earning his livelihood. Therefore he should not enter into the field of music as a competitor to his other students. Rallapalli Sharma without hesitating even for a minute agreed to this condition; further he acted according to his promise throughout his life. Once when he visited Muttiah Bhagavatar at his house, Bhagavatar asked, " Sharma you should sing in the Palace in front of the King. I have already spoken to the Maharaja and he has agreed. When can I arrange for the performance". Sharma replied, " Bhagavatar I am indebted for your love and affection, but I cannot sing please excuse me ". He did not elaborate the reasons for his refusal. He kept the promise he made to his guru a secret. Several years later in Tirupathi he told his elder daughter about the promise made to his guru.

The second reason was that during first world war he came in contact with the deadly disease influenza. He suffered for some years. This affected the melody of his singing. However years later as a result of medication he recovered his voice fully. Still he did not perform as a result of the promise made to his guru.

Several people were aware of his performing ability. Such people came to his house asked him to sing and enjoyed his music. A few among them held high positions in the society, like Vice Chancellor N S Subba rao, T G Ramaiyer, Deputy Commissioner and his wife, etc.

Every Friday, in the evenings, there used to be a 'Bhajan' programme in the house of Rallapalli Sharma. Several musicians from Mysore and other places performed 'kucheri's' on such occasions. Sharma himself used to sing on some days when no other vidwan was available. Many connoisers of music used to come to his house to listen to him. Foremost among them are V. Seetaramiah, B Venkataramiah, R K Pattabhirman and others. These people used to request Sharma to sing songs and ragas of their choice. V. Seetaramiah liked Kshetriah's padas. On the days he came Sharma used to sing Khetriahs padams like Ekkadinestamu, Ekkadinenaru ( saranga raga ), Poyi rammanave ( kedaragowla ), maguva tanakelika mandiramu vedalen (mohana raga ). It is well established fact that there was no one else who could sing Kshetriah's padams with such clarity, melody, and strict adherance to sahitya, as Rallapalli. Similar was his ability to sing Jayadeva's astapadis, and none could sing them as well as he did. A few of Jayadeva's astapadis that he sang were pralayapayodhi jale (saurashtra raga), Nathahare Jagannatha hare (sindhu bhairavi raga ), sanchara dadhara sudha madhra dhwanim ( thodi raga ) etc. The other songs that the audiance requested him to sing include Doreswammiah's Shiva tandava kritis, namely, Dhoorjati Natinchene (Gauri raga ) and Adenamma Harudu (Farz raga ). Among the Haridasa composers he had a special attachment to the kritis of Kanakadasa. He used to enjoy and sing songs such as Bhajisi Badukelo Manava (shankarabharana ) and Maganendu adisuvalu (ananda bhairavi )

He also had a special liking for Purandaradasa's songs like manava janma doddadu (purvi kalyani raga )and Enu dhanyalo lakumi ( thodi raga ).Towards the end of the programme before singing the Mangalam, he used to positively sing Purandaradasa's song Pavana Guna Nisseemana in the raga kuranji.

His study of on the books pertaining to 'Sangeeta Lakshana' : Shri Rallapalli's scholarship in music was extensive, profound and rational. He had an evolutionary perception of the raga lakshanas. In this direction he has published a work titled 'Tallapaka Patalu' in two volumes. In these volumes he has written detailed 'lakshanas' for about 30 ragas. Those who have read his work are left with no doubt about his extraordinary in depth knowledge. His analysis of the characteristics of ragas was all inclusive, brief, easy of comprehension and unambiguous. His knowledge is not dry scholarship. He could sing & demonstrate the raga lakshanas, rare raga usages, about which he had written. Beginning from SamaVeda upto Subbarama Dikshitar's Sangeeta Sampradaya Pradarshini, he had read and completely understood all literature on music.