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Rudrapatna Shamasastry
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If there ever was a scholar, writer, translator, litterateur, epigraphist, polyglot, linguist par excellence and teacher rolled into one – it would have to be Mysore’s very own – Rudrapatna Shamasastry. He was born into a traditional Sanketi Brahmin family on 12, January 1868, to parents Venkataramaiah and Puttamma. He came to Mysore at the age of thirteen and had his early Sanskrit education from Kallikote Sastry. He then joined Maharaja Sanskrit Patashala and secured his Vidwanship at the age of 23 years in Sanskrit literature (1891). Dewan K. Seshadri Iyer accommodated R. Shamasastry at his residence for a while and helped him study at Central College, Bangalore where he had chosen as his subjects – English, Sanskrit and Physics. By 1899, Sastry had a B. A. from Madras University.
Upon Dewan Seshadri Iyer’s recommendation, R. Shamasastry was recruited as a Librarian at Oriental Library, Mysore. Here, along with A. Mahadeva Sastry and Panditaratnam Kasturi Rangacharya he set about editing the Institute’s Publication Series. Here, Sastry authored an article on ‘Devanagari Alphabet’ in 1905 (published in the Indian Antiquary) and a booklet about the Vedic Era titled ‘Gavam Ayama’ in 1908. During this period, Sastry was requested to compile a catalogue of all the Sanskrit texts housed at the Oriental Library, Mysore. Sifting through this colossal collection, Sastry stumbled across a rare manuscript of Kautilya’s Arthashastra with a commentary by Bhatta Swamy – presented sometime back by a Tanjore scholar. He copied and later published it through “Mysore Oriental Library Book Series” in the year 1909. His translation of this monumental work into English would later be serialised in “Indian Antiquary” and “Mysore Review”. The Complete Translation would however see the light of day only in 1915 with an introduction by the renowned Indologist Dr Fleet. His introduction heralded to the world the discovery and translation of such a magnificent piece of work (presumed lost hitherto) and credited entirely R. Shamasastry for having accomplished such a grand endeavour. Though there are numerous translations of the Arthashastra since, it is R. Shamasastry who deserves mention for bringing it to the fore to begin with.
The author of Arthashastra known as Kautilya or Vishnugupta or Chanukya was a Takshashila Brahmin who presided as a Chief Minister in the court of Chandragupta Maurya. While lacking consensus, the date of the work is agreed broadly to be between 2nd Century B. C. and 2nd Century A. D. There are mainly fifteen sections within the Arthashastra and deal with such enterprises as ‘Grooming of Princes’, ‘Vigilance Squads’, ‘Implementation of Law’, ‘Punishment’, ‘Tax Regimens’, ‘Natural Calamities’, ‘War’, ‘Espionage’, ‘Nobility and Virtues of a King’ and the like.
R. Shamasastry had a brief encounter with Mahatma Gandhi at Nandi Hills, Bangalore. Here, Shastry presented Gandhi with a copy of “Arthashastra” and is believed to have remarked “Self Sacrifice was a dictum for ancient Hindus. Now, also if cultured centres like ancient viharas come up, everything will be alright. Ashoka had Upagupta, Pushyamitra had Patanjali, Kumarapala had Hemachandra and Kings of Vijayanagar had Vidyaranya. Now, we too want an army of highly cultured, selfless, educated men to proclaim the ideal of self-sacrifice wherever we go. We too will then acquire lasting peace and happiness through it” to which Gandhi quipped back “But, who is to bell the cat, Mr. Shastry?”
Teacher and an Academician
In 1906, he co-edited “Taittariya Pratisakhya” along with Sri Kasturi Rangacharya. In 1909, he edited and translated “Kautilya’s Arthashastra”, nineteen other Sanskrit works and nine ancient Kannada works. These endeavours were greatly aided by contemporary scholars like A. R. Krishnasastri, T. N. Subbarayasastry and V. Shyamacharya. R. Shamasastry held the post of Principal of Chamaraja Sanskrit College at Bangalore from 1912 to 1918. He was a member of many executive committees of “Patashala”, “Sanskrit Vidwan Examination Board” and “Editorial Committee of Sanskrit Magazine Quarterly”. He served as curator of Oriental Library, Mysore from 1918. Succeeding Rao Bahadur R. Narasimhacharya in 1922, R. Shamasastry presided as Director of Mysore Archaeology Department for a period of seven years eventually retiring at the age of sixty in 1929. As Director, he filed close to seven Official Reports chronicling repairs of temples at Halebidu and Belur, hundreds of newly found inscriptions, coins discovered, foundation of archaeology museum apart from initiating the practice of printing in Kannada scripts – the texts of Epigraphs as opposed to printing in English Transliteration as was the norm till 1925.
Recognition for Rudrapatna Shamasastry
HH Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV conferred the title of “Arthashastra Visharada” in 1926. Viceroy and Governor General of India conferred the title of “Mahamopadhyaya” in 1930. Bharatha Dharma Mahamandali (Varanasi) conferred the titles “Vidyalankara” in 1924 and “Panditaraja” in 1935. He received a citation from ‘Jaina Association of Mysore’ in 1930. In all, Sastry authored about seven books and contributed about 100 articles in various national and international journals. Some of his popular books include “Gavam Ayama” (1908), “Vedangajyotisya” (1936), “Drapsa: Vedic Cycle of Eclipses” (1938) and “Evolution of Indian Polity” (1919) among many others. His research articles (100) have been published in journals like “Indian Antiquary”, “Journal of Cama Oriental Research Institute”, “Quarterly Journal of Mythic Society”, “Prabhuddha Karnataka” and “Journal of Royal Asiatic Society (London)” among many others. His felicitation volume had contributions from the eminent likes of R. K. Mookerjee, Kuppuswamy Sastry, M. Winternitz, P. V. Kane, Jha, Ashutosh Mukherjee, D. R. Bhandarkar and C. R. Reddy. His correspondences with his network of contacts included the likes of Rabindranath Tagore, B. N. Seal, A. Venkatasubbiah, B. A. Saletore and S. M. Godrej at home and L. D. Barnett, Stein Konow, A. B. Keith and Sir Richard Temple abroad.
An often narrated anecdote about the fame and popularity of R. Shamasastry’s Discovery of Kautilya’s Arthashastra goes something like this:
During the reign of HH Sri Krishna Raja Wodeyar (1895 – 1940), on one of his state visits abroad, the King happened to come across a Professor in a German University to whom the King and his entourage introduced themselves as hailing from the Princely State of Mysore. To such an introduction, the German Professor, retorted back asking whether it was same as Dr Shamasastry’s Mysore – a question that is believed to have put the King on the spot! Once back in Mysore, curiosity got the better of the King leading him to beckon R. Shamasastry to his court to comment in jest thus: “Mr. Shamasastry, you are our subject in our Kingdom, but we are your subject in a foreign country”!
R. Shamasastry received numerous citations from International Universities like Oriental University of Washington (PhD Citation 1919), from Universities of Hawaii, North Carolina, Buffalo, Columbia, Chicago among others, Royal Asiatic Society Membership (1921) and the Campbell Memorial Gold Medal from the Royal Asiatic Society – Mumbai Chapter. Upon invitation from the then Vice Chancellor of Calcutta University – Sir Asutosh Mookerjee – R. Shamasastry delivered in 1919 ten written lectures on the “Evolution of the Indian Polity”. These were later brought forth by Calcutta University as a collection (book) in 1920. In that same year, Calcutta University bestowed upon R. Shamasastry an honorary doctorate degree.
Dr R. Shamasastry had named his house in Mysore as “Ashutosh” and spent his later years here in poor health. He lived till the age of 77 years and breathed his last on 23rd January 1944. With his passing, a glorious and remarkable chapter in the history of scholars of Mysorean yore came to a close. A flood of letters of condolence made their way to “Ashutosh” from eminent personalities across the world.
It is sincerely hoped that Rudrapatna Mahamahopadyaya Arthashastra-Visharada Vidyalankara Panditaraja Shamasastry’s erudition, devout scholarship, command over subject and most importantly his humility in face of such intellectual brilliance serve as guiding lights for present day budding scholars to emulate and embrace.
References:
With sincere thanks to Dr T. V. Venkatachala Sastry
“Vibrant India” (Collected Works of R. Shamasastry) by Dr B. S. Pranatharthiharan
Dr R. Shamaprasad (Grandson of Dr R. Shamasastry) for affording the opportunity for procuring the invaluable photographs enclosed here.
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