HOMAGE OF APPRECIATION-

TELKAPALLY RAMA CHANDRA SHASTRY
               

-W.Visweswaraiah 

Brahmasri telkapally 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,Grammer,religious rites,and allied lore.
Sri Sastri wrote Bharati-taramala even when he was a student at the age of 18.This samll 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" is Khanda Kavya of 40 bhujmga prayata stanzas written in praise of Rabindranath Tagore of world renown.The fourth pada of every verse is "ravindra tvaya kintaphastapta maadyam".रवीन्द्र त्वया किन्तपस्तत्व माद्यम् ." Oh Rabindra what penance was performed by you in the beginning ?".The style of this poem is simple yet elegant and it gives all the aspects of Viswakavi's literary genuine .The pharse "kinthapstaptamadyam"किन्तपस्तत्व माद्यम् .is so attractive that is crept into the appreciative verses of Sri.H.Gunde Rao.
Sri.Gurupitha tattva darshanam is a small prose work in sanskrit prose which examines scientifically authoritatively ,and conclusively the spurious allegations against Adi Sankara's advita made by virasaivas.It is an eye-opener to a vexed question that regard at the turn of this century among the followers of Adviata ,dvaita and virasaiva.This work shows the research attitude of Sri Ramachandra sastri.
His Anjaneya prarthana begins with the verse "
श्रीकर शत्रु भयंकर भक्त वशंकर भवम्बुनिधिसेतो !
शाखा म्रुग सेनाधिप हनुमन् वन्दे र्थ सिद्धये त्वामहम् "
There are fifty stanzas in this prayer and it merits to be a purvaranga for Sundara Kanda Parayana.
"Sri Sarada Stuti Sataka and Srimad Umamaheswara suprabhatam have been published in the Devanagari and telugu scripts respectively .To illustrate the poet's control over vocabulary,the following verse may be cited from the former work.
तोषितकेकि वतंसां
पोषित कैवल्य परम सिद्धंताम् !
शोषित दुष्क्रुतगर्वां
योषितमभिवादये विद्यावाणिम् !!
he has unbounded devotion and his poetry is eminently suited to bring out the same.
            म्रुत्युशकटम्  is a poem containing over a hundred verses describing vividly the train disaster in Mahabubnagar district some three decades ago.A railway bridge was washed away during an unprecedented heavy down pour and almost all the passengers in the rivulet called "Pochamma Kunta".The facile way in which Sri Sastri describes the pathetic scenes and incorporates several english words in his sanskrit verses is to be only read and appreciated.The sympathetic heart of Sri Sastri melts and flows in to his verses only to melt the hearts of the readers.
Sri Telkapally Rama Chandra Sastri wrote on several occasions verses in Sanskrit more in the nature of CHATU s.He has also written the Suprabhatam of Nrusimha Deva of Mamilla Palli .
The literary eminence  and the poetic excellence of Sri Rama Chandra Sastri are beyond verbal cognition.I suggest that his books be read ,prescribed for study for students of Sanskrit and translated in to Telugu and other languages for the benefit of all people.I thank the secretary of the Sanmana Sangham constituted for the 81 st birth day celebrations of this great sanskrit Savant for giving me this opportunity to associate my self with the function and write this humble homage of appreciation.

Kurnool.                                              -W.VISWESWARAIAH
12.02.1980