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Midnight Sun

R.A.Sastry

Family Tree


 Life Story of R. Ananthakrishna Sastry:   Introduction




Introduction

Boyhood

Adyar Library

Mysore

 

Baroda

Manuscripts

 

 

Santiniketan

Europe

Libraries

 

Social Reform

 

Conclusion

 

 


On June 24, 1950, The Hindu observed: "The death of Mr. R. Anantakrishna Sastri, popularly known as Pandit R. A. Sastri, at Nagerkoil in June 15th at the ago of 84, removes from our midst an erudite scholar. He devoted his long life to the study and propagation of our ancient learning. Though he came of a poor family in Aryanayakipuram near Tirunelveli, he had at a very early age gone out far and wide in search of knowledge. One of his patrons was the late V. P. Madhava Rao, then the Dewan of Mysore and another was the late Gaikwar of Baroda. His learning and zeal made him useful to several libraries and institutions in India which acquired, through his help and influence, valuable Sanskrit manuscripts on various branches of knowledge. Many and varied were his literary contributions during the last 50 years. His English translations of Lalita Sahasranam and Vishnu Sahasranama are well-known.

He was a great traveller, and went as far so the Arctic regions to see the midnight sun on which he wrote a brochure. He later toured in Europe and in Rome saw the Pope. In Paris he gave, at the request of Prof. Sylvain Levi, two gramophone recordings of Vedic recitals. Simple and austere in habits, ever active and vigorous, he kept perfect health in body and mind to the last and gave all his time and energy to the study and teach of Hindu philosophy and religion, In December 1949 he held Upanishad classes in Rishikesh near Hardwar.

Pandit Sastri had heard from his teachers and knew from allusions in the works he studied of the existence of rare and precious commentaries, the prized possession and heir looms of an unbroken line of Pandits and Scholars, neglected alas, by their scions lured by the glamour of the imperial tongue and its opportunities for ambition. He felt that the day would soon dawn when there will be a revival of interest in those palm leaf manuscripts enshrining the glorious culture of India and he threw himself to the task of collecting and preserving them for posterity in a spirit of dedication with the zeal of a missionary.

For this purpose he was never tired of travelling into the most Interior of villages, many of which were inaccessible except by foot. If it were the marshy places in Bengal he rode over elephants and if it were the plains, covered 30 to 40 miles on bicycle which is not attempted by everybody. The following write-up attempts to detail his life and if it should excite our young men to emulate the zeal with which he pursued the one aim in his life, this brief lite-sketch would not have been written in vain.

 

Introduction

Boyhood

Adyar Library

Mysore

 

Baroda

Manuscripts

 

 

Santiniketan

Europe

Libraries

 

Social Reform

 

Conclusion

 

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