Brahmasri telkapalli Rama Chandra sastri 

A Homage of Appreciation 

-W.Visweswaraiah 

Brahmasri telkapalli Rama Chandra sastri is well known for his great erudition on Sanskrit and for his fluent and sweet poetry .I felt honoured when I was allowed to write this humble homage,though it is only an attempt to show the resplendent Sun to the world with a little torch .

This great savant was born at the dawn of the present century in Rajapuram of Kollapur taluk.He learnt Kavyas under Sri Vellala Sankara Sastri at Kurnool.Sri Sastri went to konaseema and studied Bharavi and Ramayana campu in Sri Sarada Peetham there .In Sri Kalahasti,he studied Siddhantha Kaumudi under the able Pandit Sri varanasi Rama Brahma Sastri.When he was in Akiripalle he studied Alankara works,Candraloka,Kuvalayananda ,Sahityadarpana and Prataparudriya under Sri Yatiraja Sampat Kumara carya.Even before he began Kavyas he had learnt priest hood in the fifteen samskaras under Sri Pallayajna Narayana Sarma of Wanaparthi.Thus Sri Shastri became a full -fledged pundit with knowledge of Kavyas,Alankara,Grammar,religious rites,and allied lore.

Sri Sastri wrote Bharati-taramala even when he was a student at the age of 18.This small work contains as its name suggests twenty seven verses each having the strain नमामि मे जननीम् Namamai me jananeem ."I bow to my mother".This early devotional starry row of Sanskrit stanzas deserves to be memorized by present day students for daily prayer .

" Viswakavi Ravindra Tapahphalam" विश्व कवी रविंद्र तपःफलं  is Khanda Kavya of 40 bhujnga prayata stanzas written in praise of Rabindranath Tagore of world renown.The fourth pada of every verse is "ravindra tvaya kintaphastapta maadyam"

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