‘SANGEETHA SAHITYA SARVABHOUMA’ ‘LAYA BRAHMA’

‘PANCHAMUKHI PARAMESWARA’ ‘HARIKATHA PITAMAHA’

PANDIT SRIMADAJJADA ADIBHATLA NARAYANA DAS

INTRODUCTION

Sir Cattamanchi Ramalinga Reddy, eminent litterateur, educationist and founder Vice Chancellor of Andhra University described Adibhatla Narayana Das as a ‘university’. Sir CR was not exaggerating for Narayana Das was a linguist with proficiency in as many as eight languages including such alien languages as Arabic and Persian, poet, philosopher, writer, composer, dancer, actor and the creator of the unique art form, Hari Katha.

It is well nigh impossible to find a parallel for him in the history of Indian literature. Narayana Das was the only scholar who had mastery over four classical languages (Sanskrit, Telugu, Arabic and Persian) 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 Saint Thyagaraja.

In the words of R. M. Challa, the well-known literary critic and columnist, Narayana Das was “the one and only Andhra to whom that indiscriminately employed and hackneyed phrase ‘Versatile genius’ can be justifiably applied”. According to him Narayana Das was "… the only scholar who translated Sanskrit poems into Telugu without using a Sanskrit word, the only musician who wrote treatises on Rig Veda and Advaita Vedanta, the only minstrel who sang with equal grace classical Hindustani as well as Karnataka music … the only poet who wrote with equal ease in both Sanskrit and Telugu.”

Enraptured by his rendering of Hindusthani Bhairavi raga, Rabindranath Tagore sought to introduce in Visva-Bharati University the curriculum followed by Narayana Das in his music college. The Maharajah of Mysore advised his court musicians to learn Hindusthani Bhairavi from Narayana Das.

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 Prabndhas), Harikathas, prose works, musical works, dramas, translations, treatises in philosophy and Vedic studies and children’s literature.

Narayana Das was the first principal of Sri Vijayarama Gana Pathasala, the Music College the Maharajah of Vizianagaram established in 1919. In

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fact, the Maharajah established the Music College, which was the first in South India, to honour the Pandit 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. Dwaram succeeded Pandit Narayana Das as principal after the latter relinquished office in 1936.

His literary and musical accomplishments left him peerless in his time. The literary and musical elite of his time joined to honour him with the title of “SANGITHA SAHITYA SARVABHAUMA”. The musical maestros of his time honoured him with titles like “LAYA BRAHMA” and “PANCHAMUKHI PARAMESWARA” for his ability to sing to five talas, beat with two arms, two feet and head. Five musicians used to keep time with him when he performed “PANCHAMUKHI”.

Over time a number of biographies, of Pandit Narayana Das were published. They are, in chronological order, NAA ERUKA his unfinished autobiography, LIFE OF NARAYANA DAS (1956) by Vasanta Rao Bramhaji Rao, SRIMADAJJADA ADIBHATTA NARAYANA DASA JEEVITA CHARITRAMU (1959) by Maruvada Venkata Chayanulu, SRI NARAYANA DASA JEEVITACHARITRAMU (1967) a biography in the form of a  Yakshaganamu  by Peddinti Suryanarayana Deekshita Das, PURNAPURUSHUDU (1979) by Yamijala Padmanabhaswamy, MONARCH OF RHYTHM (1980) by G. Srirama Murthy and NARAYANA DARSANAMU (1983) a Ph. D. thesis by Gundavarapu Lakshmi Narayana.

In addition to the biographies, the following deserve mention as they contain a wealth of information about the life and work of Pandit Narayana Das:

HARIKATHAPITAMAHA SRIMADAJJADA ADIBHATLA NARAYANA DASA SATAJAYANTUTSAVA SANCHIKA (1967), a souvenir published by the Samskruthi Samithi, Chirala to commemorate the great man’s birth centenary. This is a compilation of articles on Narayana Das by his contemporaries, disciples and other literary and musical luminaries.

[Narayana Das used to prefix his name with “Ajjada”, a tiny village in the present Vizianagaram district of Andhra Pradesh, as he wished to share his name and fame with his birthplace.]

ADIBHATLA NARAYANA DASA SARASWATA NEERAJANAMU (1975) published by the Rachayithala Sahakara Sangham, Guntur. Edited by S. V. Joga Rao, Professor and Head of the Department of Telugu, Andhra University, it is a compendium of articles critiquing the various aspects of Narayana Das’ literary and musical works.

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A characteristic trait we notice in a number of instances in the life of Narayana Das is a compulsive urge to excel in everything he did. The conception and renunciation of ‘Naa Eruka’, his autobiography is an example that provides a fascinating insight into his complex personality. He began writing what would have been the first autobiography in Telugu and sent the initial chapters, narrating his life story from birth to the age of about thirty, to the printers. There was a delay at the printers due to pressure of work and in the meantime another famous writer’s autobiography came out. Narayana Das called off the project because of his obsessive desire to be ‘second to none’. Thus was lost to the public not only an opportunity to read the great man’s life story told in his own words with remarkable candour, but also his perspective of his literary output and the literary and cultural zeitgeist of his time.In the parlance of modern behavioural sciences the phrase ‘self-actualisation’ is defined as a ‘fundamental tendency to maximum realisation and fulfillment of one’s potential’. In the case of an artiste this means he tends to write, compose or perform to satisfy an inner urge oblivious to the environment. He competes only with himself. He sets his own standards of performance and after achieving them keeps raising them to a higher level. It is a continual upward spiral.

Self-actualisation was the leitmotif of Narayana Das’ life in all the fields he worked in, be it literature, music or other performing arts such as Avadahanam, and Hari Katha. He brushed aside fame and fortune. For example it was said that he did not approve of a move to nominate him for the Nobel literary prize. The philosopher in him made him decline offers to be made court musician by the Maharajah of Mysore and later by the Maharajah of Vizianagaram, instead preferring an independent life lead in the service of God.

Even when he consented to head ‘Sri Vijayarama Gana Pathasala’, the music college the Maharajah of Vizianagaram founded for the express purpose of honouring him, he insisted that it be treated as a temple for Sri Rama and him as His servant. The only vanity he permitted himself was that he wanted to be second to none!

Condensing the oeuvre of a multifaceted genius and complex personality like Narayana Das into the limited space that this book affords is therefore a daunting task.

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EARLY LIFE AND THE EVOLUTION OF SELF-TAUGHT GENIUS

Narayana Das was born on August 31, 1864 into a Dravida Brahmin family at Ajjada, a small village on the banks of river Suvarnamukhi near Bobbili in the present Vizianagaram district of Andhra Pradesh. His father Venkata Chayani was a Vedic Pandit and a poet in Sanskrit; his mother Narasamma was a Purana exponent, also known as “Puranala Narasamma” and “Chaduvula-avva”. They had nine children, five sons and four daughters seven of them senior to Narayana Das. The eldest of the siblings, Jaggavadhani studied ‘Krama’ (the equivalent of a bachelor’s degree in Vedic studies); the second, Seetharamaiah after initial studies in the Vedas, law; the third, Agnihotravadhani an advanced degree in drama and stagecraft. Narayana Das’ immediate elder brother, Peranna also a musician, shadowed him - as a vocal and tambura accompanist - in his artistic odyssey throughout his life.

Narayana Das was originally named Suryanarayana. Venkata Chayani had an attack of tuberculosis which he believed was cured after he performed ‘Suryopasana’. His pregnant wife Narasamma too made a pilgrimage to the Surya temple at Arasavalli seeking the Sun god’s blessings and vowing to name her son in the womb after Him if her husband was rid of the dreaded disease. Venkata Chayani was relieved of the disease and the son was named Suryanarayana. Suryanarayana later changed his name to Narayana Das when he sought to devote his life to Bhagavan Narayana as His servant and hence the ‘Das’. But the Sun worship continued in the family and Narayana Das’ grandson - for whose life he sacrificed his - was named Suryanarayana.

The surname Adibhatla is a derivative of Adibhattu (literally, first poet in pure or Atcha-Telugu). Legend has it that Rajah Krishna Chandra Dev of Jeypore, Orissa besought Adibhattu a Vedic Pandit of Perur known for his powers of tapas to reside in his kingdom. The Rajah who was childless hoped that Adibhattu by virtue of his spiritual powers would be able to make the gods bless him with progeny - and even offered half his kingdom for such a blessing. Adibhattu retired to a nearby forest for penance and a year later the king was blessed with a son. True to his word the king made Adibhattu In the ninth / tenth centuries a group of Vedic scholars emigrated from Saurastra in Gujarat to escape the rigours of Mohammedan invasions. Travelling along the west coast they entered the fertile Tanjavur delta in Tamil Nadu and settled there. The peripatetic Vedic scholars were on the move again five hundred years later, this time forced by a famine. They moved up north split up and settled in the districts of Nellore (Pudur), Kadapa (Thummgunta) and East Godavari (Perur) in Andhra Pradesh. Their ‘sojourn’ in Tamil Nadu gave these Brahmins the denominative prefix, ‘Dravida’.

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ruler for half his realm. Hayagriva, the son who succeeded Adibhattu, after ruling it for a while, felt that statecraft was not for Brahmins and returned it to Ramachandra Dev the son of Krishna Chandra Dev.

When he was five years old, just after he had had his ‘upanayanam’ Suryanarayana accompanied his mother Narasamma, to visit the Siva shrine at Gumpa, situated at the confluence of Nagavali and Jhanjhavati, on a Mahasivaratri day. On their way back, at Parvatipuram, Narasamma sought to buy a copy of Potana’s Bhagavatam. The book stall owner Rangayya dismissed her, as in those days although women were well-versed in the scriptures, only a few were literate. Narasamma proposed that the boy would read the book and she would explain the meaning. To the surprise of everyone who gathered by then, the boy recited some famous passages from the book in a melodious voice and Narasamma explained their meaning in an enchanting voice. Pleased with the performance, Rangaiah gifted the book after having it leather-bound. This was the first trophy of a multitude that Suryanarayana collected in his life as an artiste, one which he preserved as a cherishing memorabile.

Suryanarayana had his initial Sanskrit education from his father and Vedic studies from Peraiah an elderly, irascible tutor. In those days, the teaching of Vedas was as per the gurukula system in which the pupils had to do a lot of errands around the ashram. This gave young Suryanarayana an opportunity to roam the hills singing like a lark, swim in the streams and wander in the woods that abound in the area; soak in the beauties of nature and frame them in the mind’s eye of a future artiste.

However small pox intervened to put an end to his stay in the gurukula – and in effect his formal education in Sanskrit and Vedic studies - at the age of nine.

In the meantime his melodious voice and the minstrel that was taking shape within him were noticed not only by his parents but also by Vasa Kamaiah a noted veena vidwan from Bobbili who offered to take him under his wing as a disciple and teach him classical music. However, for the boy this meant relocating to Bobbili which his poor family could not afford. Kamaiah offered to put him up at his own home and offer free food one day a week. He was to look for six other households that would offer a ‘varabhojanam’. Under the varabhojanam practice prevalent at the time, a household offers free food to a poor scholar one day a week (varam), so that if the scholar could find seven households he could pursue his studies without hindrance.

One day he was passing by the fort crooning a tag oblivious to his surroundings and two people following him. One of them, Tumarada Venkaiah a music vidwan in his own right stopped him to enquire of his antecedents and asked him whether he knew what raga he was singing. On

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being replied that he did not, Venkaiah complimented him on his melodious rendering of ‘subhapanthavarali’ and prophesied that the boy would grow into a great musician. The boy nonchalantly replied that the vidwan’s praise was ‘all right’, but could he arrange a varabhojanam? The vidwan happily agreed to offer a varam. In spite of such munificence, try as he might, the boy could not find the necessary seven households in Bobbili and after a month of privations he returned home.

This in effect put an end to his formal education in music - lasting all of a month in his entire life!

His parents sent Narayana Das to his elder brother Seetharamaiah at Vizianagaram in 1878, to be initiated into ‘English’ education that would enable him to obtain a job. At fourteen he was older than the other boys in the class but his phenomenal memory and innate intelligence helped him skim through curricula often obtaining double promotions till he passed matriculation. During these years his musical talent stood him in good stead as it impressed many patrons to offer him scholarships. Chandrasekhara Sastry, the principal of Maharajah’s College was one of his early patrons.

The Vizianagarm 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 is unusual or even rare 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 (the first music college in South India) it became part of the curriculum, which was sought by Rabindranath Tagore to be introduced in Visva-Bharati University.

It was while Narayana Das was studying for matriculation examination that the seeds for the creation of Hari Katha were sown in his prolific imagination. He happened to see Kuppuswami Naidu, a bhagavatar from Madras

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performing a Hari Katha. It was in the Tamil tradition in which the bhagavatar narrated the story and there was a ‘second-fiddle’ to render devotional music during interludes.

Narayana Das described his creation as a ‘yakshagana prabandhamu’ in his introduction to several Hari Kathas and in his magazine/newspaper articles. He elaborated the definition of Hari Katha as a ‘performing art that comprises dance, music and acting (of the various characters in the story) by a single artiste’. If he did not add physical beauty (or handsomeness) as a necessary attribute it was only because it was generally considered a given for stage artistes. Improvised poetry (asukavitvam) was a necessary component of a Hari Kadha exponent’s repertoire.

Narayana Das explained that there were references to a form of Hari Katha in the Vedas. The Vedic Hari Katha was a performing art involving narration of a story with music, singing accompanied by veena and dance by two artistes. The performer of a Yajna was enjoined by the rules of the ritual to keep awake throughout its course. Hari Katha was performed to facilitate this and entertain the other participants.

The acting part is as germane to the performance of Hari Katha as defined by Narayana Das as are singing, dancing and pleasing narration. How then does an actor whose manliness is all too apparent, impersonate female roles in his narration? This is what Sthanam Narasimha Rao, the veteran stage actor who specialised in portraying female roles - in more than 1500 stage performances – had to say of Narayana Das:

“All of us stage actors make an attempt to internalise the physical and mental attributes of the roles that we portray; the script, makeup, props, dress, hairdo and change of voice etc play no mean role, and especially while playing female roles…Yet at times during a performance, if one is not up to it, the actor’s real personality (such as masculinity) peaks out. It is not so with Narayana Das. He enlivens each character that he narrates…he sings, dances and ‘talks’ them and carries his audience along with him. Remember, in his case he did not use makeup or any props. The audiences physically saw the well-built, six-foot, moustachioed figure in male garb but were so transported by his acting that they saw in him a shy Rukmini, a demure Sita, an angry Viswamitra, a villainous Ravana or a heroic Rama. And that is the acme of acting!”

A consummate actor exhibits as much skill in evoking similar emotional responses from the audience to the rasas (emotions or moods) he enacts as much in enlivening the various characters he portrays. Narayana Das’ enactment of the karuna-rasa during a performance of

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Harischandropakhyanam so moved Maharani Appalakondayamba (Rewah) to tears that as soon as the performance was over she begged him to present in future only those Hari Kathas which would not make her cry.

The ‘Hari Katha’ Narayana Das practised during his lifetime was not only a performing art for entertainment. His stated objectives for ‘Hari Katha’ were deliverance of Bhakti, Jnana and Moksha – or the paths to attain them.

For Narayana Das, the creation of Hari Katha was both a boon and bane at the same time. He elevated the erstwhile folk art form to a higher pedestal on par with classical music and literary colloquia. There were many instances when his Hari Kathas went beyond the musical and narrative kernel of a performing art to provide a platform for discourses on scripture, literature, literary criticism, dance, music and musicology - depending upon the composition and tastes of his audience.

On an occasion while performing a Hari Katha at the residence of Somina Kameswara Rao in Rajahmundry he observed the famous poet Chellapilli Venkata Sastry and other litterateurs among the audience. While narrating a scene in which Sita propitiated Durga he ‘enacted’ the puja explaining the process in lucid in Sanskrit, exhibiting his erudition of the language, its complex grammar and rich idiom.

Narayana Das had a rich voice, which in those days when there were no microphones reached the farthest of an audience of ten thousand. An interesting anecdote illustrates the richness of his megaphone voice. When he was performing a Hari Katha near a railway station no one except the signalman noticed the passing of a train, the thunderous rumble of its wheels or the Doppler effect of the engine’s shrill whistle failing to register on the consciousness of the audience which was captured by the artiste on the dais.

Hari Katha helped Narayana Das lead an independent life by providing a means of livelihood. It entertained and educated millions of his countrymen from Calcutta to Kanyakumari and earned him the title “Hari-Katha-Pitamaha”. But Hari Katha, which was only a small part of his work, obscured his other major achievements in literature and music.

Narayana Das wrote Dhruvacharitra, his first Hari Katha in 1883 when he was just nineteen. In it he included not only his own compositions but some verses from Bammera Pothana’s Bhagavatam and fables from the Panchatantra. Blessed by his elder brother Seetharamaiah who tied strings of bells (ghungroos or gajjelu in Telugu) across his ankles and accompanied by another elder brother Peranna on Tambura he debuted with a performance of Dhruvacharitra at the Venugopalaswami temple in Vizianagaram.

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The debut performance did two things: firstly, it won him encomiums from the elite audience who prophesied that young Suryanarayana was on his way to eternal fame and secondly it well and truly launched - Narayana Das - on his artistic odyssey! He acted, danced and sang his way into the hearts of his audiences in thousands of Hari Katha performances for the next six decades.

Narayana Das wrote twenty-one Hari Kathas - seventeen in Telugu, three in Sanskrit and one in Atcha-Telugu but it was only in his first Hari Katha that he incorporated verses from other writers. The rest were all his own hand-crafted master pieces; literary, characterised by a richness of creativity, idiom, imagery, language and figure of speech and musical in their use of melodies and rare and innovative ragas.

Apart from Hari Katha there is one other performing literary craft that won Narayana Das many accolades and at least in the initial stages of his life helped him earn ‘varshikams’ (literally annual scholarships). And that is ashta-vadhanam, which we shall briefly see in the next section before picking up threads from where we left.

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PANDIT NARAYANA DAS & AVADHANAMS

Narayana Das performed ashta-avadhanams to exacting standards and stipulations. Ashta-vadhanam is the literary equivalent of psychometrics that puts to test the creativity, intelligence and phenomenal memory of the Avadhani (performer). A panel of eight members (pruchchakulu) puts the Avadhani through the paces to perform eight different tasks in a given sequence relying only on his memory without any external aid. According to his biographers the Ashta-avadhanams Narayana Das performed varied in content depending on the occasion.

For example, an Ashta-avadhanam he performed during his student days while studying for his F.A. examination at Vishakhapatnam (1887-88) comprised the following: 1. Unravelling and arranging in proper sequence a jumbled fifty-word Greek passage. 2. Reciting a specified puranik passage and composing music for it. 3. Reading from a book that is being spun at speed. 4. Solving an algebra problem. 5. Keeping a count of flowers thrown at him. 6. Conversing with a panellist in a way that the output results in a poem of a given prosody. 6. Composing poetry extempore on a given topic in Sanskrit and Telugu. 8. Composing poetry excluding a specified letter. (Gundavarapu, 1983. Footnote 12, p 14.)

Another Ashta-avadhanam performed in Bandar (1988-89) which included a music component for the first time had thirteen instead of the usual eight panellists and comprised the following: 1. Singing a pallavi while playing two different talas with two feet and two more with two hands, at a beat specified by a panellist. 2. Mentally solving a mathematical problem. 3. Composing poetry extempore in specified prosodies as stipulated by four panellists in Sanskrit and four in Telugu. 4. Unravelling and arranging in proper sequence a jumbled passage. 5. Composing poetry excluding a specified letter. 6. Extempore speech on a specified subject in English. (According to Rallabandi, this element was introduced and performed only by Narayana Das) 7. Keeping a count of flowers thrown at him. 8. Conversing with a panellist in a given prosody. Narayana Das termed this Asadhya-ashta-avadhanam presumably meaning that it was very difficult to perform. (Gundavarapu, 1983. Footnote 14, p 17. and Rallabandi 2006. p.48. & 237.)

Rallabandi mentions Sangeetha-ashta-avadhanam, another variation of Asadhya-Ashta-avadhanam performed by Narayana Das. It includes composing a kriti based on a specified raga and tala; singing a kriti synchronising it with the three different talas played by three different panellists. (Rallabandi, 2006. p.113).

These musical feats in the variations of Avadhanam (Asadhya-ashta-avadhanam and Sangeetha-ashta-avadhanam) were Narayana Das’ initial

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experiments with tala which evolved into panchamuki and shanmukhi in later years.

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THE MARCH OF A ‘JUGGERNAUT’

Those were the days when a performing artiste was tried, tested and stretched in every performance. The aesthete audiences expected nothing less than avant-garde performances. It was an unrelenting ambience with its inexorable demands for excellence. It was also the perfect setting for an artiste who vowed to himself that he would be second to none!

The fields chosen by Narayana Das were such that they required a combination of faculties to be brought in to play far more than in the case of other performing arts.

For instance the audience of a music concert seek in the artiste, melody in voice, the ability to delineate ragas and innovative rendition of the finer points of music. The audience of a dance performance seek in the artiste, radiance of beauty, fluidity of grace, nimbleness of foot and expressiveness of various emotions. The audience of a drama seek in the actors, the ability to express and evoke suitable emotional responses for various moods in them apart from dialogue delivery which includes accent, clarity, intonation, mood and modulation of speech.

An audience of Purana Kalakshepam seek in the exponent, an eloquence of speech, a felicity of expression, an encyclopaedic knowledge of the scriptures and allied literature and the ability to annotate examples from them to illustrate a moral or philosophical point. The performance of an ‘avadhanam’ requires firstly a phenomenal memory, the ability to compose and recite poetry extempore and an encyclopaedic knowledge of literature, scriptures and men and matters.

On the other hand the performance of ‘Hari Katha’ requires almost all of these faculties – story-telling, singing, dancing, acting and an encyclopaedic knowledge of the scriptures - to be employed simultaneously to make it a delectable treat. And Narayana Das used to enliven his performances by customising his performance to suit the tastes and talent of the audience.

THE WANDERING MINSTREL’S MAIDEN VOYAGE

Buoyed by the success of his debut at Vizianagaram Narayana Das set out on a tour of the country, his first stop being the Samsthanam of Urlam,

A Samsthanam is maller than a kingdom, the equivalent of a principality, also sometimes referred to as a Zamindari. The ‘Urlam Examination’ in Sanskrit studies was known for its methodology and rigour and had a standing similar to that of a degree obtained in Kashi.

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which was well known for its patronage of arts, culture and Sanskrit studies. Here he delivered his second Hari Katha performance in the court of Zamindarini Kandukuri Mahalakshmamma. Impressed by his ability of asukavitvam (literally, composing poetry extempore), the courtier-pundits wanted to know whether he could perform Asta-avadhanam, to which he answered in the positive. Delighted as much by Narayana Das’ asta-avadhanam arranged next day as she was by his Hari Katha and asukavitvam earlier, the Zamindarini offered him a ‘varshikam’.

After Urlam, he performed Hari Kathas at Narasannapeta, Ichchapuram, Berhampore, Chatrapuram, Lokanadham, Subbammapeta, Parlakimidi, Srikakulam and Arasavalli. H. R. Bardswell, the sub-collector of Srikakulam district was so impressed by his performance at Narasannapeta that he became his fan and life-long friend. At Berhampore, Kuppuswami Naidu, the inspiration behind his creation of Hari Katha was among the audience. Very much impressed by the performance, he wanted to know who the guru who taught Narayana Das was. Narayana Das informed him that while there was no guru, he himself was the inspiration.

Also at Berhampore Narayana Das added Jaynthi Kamesam Pantulu, an advocate, educationist and poet to his multiplying horde of fans and life-long friends. Narayana Das was so overwhelmed by the love and affection that Kamesam Pantulu showered on him that he dedicated his autobiography Naa Eruka to him when died.

It was at Chatrapuram that an interesting episode prompted him to compose his second Hari Katha. Till then he was performing his first composition, Dhruvacharitra. His performance was so impressive that a member of the elite audience wondered whether the young man really did write the Hari Katha. When Narayana Das affirmed that it was indeed he that wrote it, he was challenged to write Ambarishopakhyanam in a week and perform it. Narayana Das accepted the challenge but wrote it overnight – not in one week that was given to him – and performed it the next morning.

During the trip, Narayana Das performed at Lokanadham villege Sangeetha-ashta-avadhanam - of which mention has been made earlier - introducing musical elements into ashta-avadhanam.

By the time he returned to Vizianagaram, the transformation of Suryanarayana into Narayana Das was complete. He just turned twenty. As he entered his twenty first year he married Narasamma, the daughter of Vadlamani Annappa.

ADIEU TO COLLEGE EDUCATION

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Narayana Das’ preoccupation with music and Hari Kathas made him lose focus on regular studies. However during the year of marriage he finished matriculation in the company of Peetambaram Hanumantha Rao and Pudipeddi Somanadham. He reluctantly entered collegiate studies as he already mapped his life’s mission as music, literature and Hari Katha. Chandrasekhara Sastry, the principal of Maharajah’s College at Vzianagaram happened to see his Hari Katha at Bonkula Dibba. An aficionado of arts and music Chandrasekhara Sastry was very much impressed by the performance. He encouraged Narayana Das to pursue collegiate education. Penmetsa Jagannadha Raju who was Diwan (Prime Minister) to the Maharajah of Vizianagaram happened to see Narayana Das’ Hari Katha. He too was overwhelmed by the performance and offered a scholarship to enable him to pursue collegiate studies. When elder brother Seetharamaiah too insisted that he continue studies Narayana Das could not refuse and enrolled for the fellow of arts (F.A.) course in the Maharajah’s College, in 1886.

The wryly named Bonkula Dibba, literally meaning a ‘plateau for lies’, was in those days Vizianagaram’s own Ramalila Maidan or Hyde Park though much smaller in size. It was also an important scene of action in Gurazada Apparao’s famous play Kanyasulkam. Over time the Bonkula Dibba of Narayana Das’ time gradually shrunk to become the small square it is today and locates a vegetable market.

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‘IT IS NOT MY HABIT TO HAVE MY WORKS CORRECTED AND RECAST BY OTHERS’

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

ADIBHATLA NARAYANA DASA SARASWATA NEERAJANAMU. 1975. (Ed.) S.V. Joga Rao. Guntur. Rachayithala Sahakara Sangham.

Gundavarapu, Lakshminarayana. 1983. NARAYANA DARSANAMU. Guntur. Padmini Printers.

HARIKATHAPITAMAHA SRIMADAJJADA ADIBHATLA NARAYANA DASA SATAJAYANTUTSAVA SANCHIKA. 1967. Chirala. Samskruthi Samithi.

Maruvada, Venkata Chayanulu. 1959. SRIMADAJJADA ADIBHATTA NARAYANA DASA JEEVITA CHARITRAMU. Rajahmundry. Kondapalli Veeravenkaiah & Sons.

Rallabandi, Kavitaprasad. 2006. AVADHANA VIDYA – ARAMBHA VIKASALU. Warangal. Sahrudaya Sahitya Samskrutika Samstha.

Yamijala, Padmanabhaswamy. 1979. PURNAPURUSHUDU. Guntur. Johnson Publishing House.

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