Resurrecting a polymath
DASU KESAVA RAO
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He wrote poems, taught dance, practiced law, did medical research and broke social taboos.
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Multi-tasking is a cliché.More than a century before this piece of jargon was coined, there lived a poet in the land wedged between the Krishna and the Godavari who wrote scholarly works on music and dance, practised astrology, learnt Persian, dabbled in medical research, was an arbiter of social customs and habits, attended literary sessions even while practising law.
A maverick, he scoffed at suppression of women and condemned tonsuring of widowed women, like contemporary and great social reformer, Kandukuri Veersalingam Panthulu.
That was Mahakavi Dasu Sriramulu, the versatile genius and author of Telugu translation of Devi Bhagavatham, his magnum opus. This work involving 6000 poems was completed in only six months.
The only son in an affluent Brahmin family in Korada in Krishna district on April 8, 1846, Sriramulu cultivated a thirst for acquisition of knowledge early in life.
He wrote Somalingeswara satakam when he was only 12 years old and Satrajiti Vilasam, a yakshaganam, at 14, a year after he married Janakamma. A restless soul, Sriramulu disappeared from home in Alluru to learn Sanskrit and avadhanam at Akiripalli, a seat of traditional learning.
The Nuzvid zamindar granted him a monthly stipend of Rs. 15. His poetic genius flowered while at Machilipatnam where learnt basics of English. But for the early education under teachers, he was a self-taught scholar, having acquired proficiency in different disciplines. Learning the language by himself, he passed ‘first grade English pleader’ to be a successful lawyer in Eluru.
Srirama kavi, as he was also known, was an outstanding vaggeyakara (composer) who wrote javalilu, kruthulu and padaalu which are popular with top singers and dancers to this day. Abhinaya darpanam a treatise on dance, was another major work. He set the compositions to raga and tala. Established dancers of the day like Chadalavada Pichai, Chadalavada Madhuram, Pinapaka Bhavani learnt music and dance from him.
It did not matter to Sriramulu that they were devadasis. Sriramulu started a music school in Eluru, headed by Nallanchakravarthula Tiruvengadacharya and honoured several musicians and men of letters.
He taught music to his only daughter, Saradamba, – a taboo those days. He used to take Janakamma to literary gatherings, breaking another taboo.
Most of works of Sriramulu, who died on May 16, 1908, are lost. In this centenary year, an effort is being made, including by this writer, a great-grandson of the poet, to restore his legacy.
Mahakavi Dasu Sriramulu smaraka samithi is undertaking the mission to resurrect this forgotten genius who was hailed by scholars as ‘second Srinadha’ and restore him to the pedestal that he richly deserves.
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