Versatile litterateur

WITH the death of Pandit Ogeti Parikshit Sarma on the February 1, 2001, India has lost one of its greatest contemporary Sanskrit writers. His was a many-splendoured achievement. His "Yashodhara Mahakavyam" is an epic on the life of Yadhodhara - the wife of Gautama - in 20 cantos which got him the prestigious Kalidas Sanman from Madhya Pradesh in 1976. His second epic is even more remarkable. "Srimat Prataparanayanam" is on the life of Rana Pratap in 80 cantos, containing a total number of 4233 verses It is also a technical tour de force, as he has used 33 metres here. This is the second largest epic of the 20th Century in Sanskrit and it deservedly won the Central Academy Award in 1990. This great epic-poet proved that he was no less a dramatist when he wrote his "Parishinataka Chakram" - a unit of 27 plays based on "Bhasa Nataka Chakram". Fourteen of these plays are based on the stories from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.

Not content being a classical poet, his concern for popular literature and folk songs was revealed when he wrote "Janapada Nritya Gita Manjari", a collection of 64 folk songs divided into six sections. The delightful abandon of fishermen, the charming notes of the rustic farmers' songs, the game of hide and seek among the village boys show the concern of the poet for the common man.

His Soundarya Mimamsa is a unique work in aesthetics reminding one of the rich tradition of Sanskrit aesthetics. The writer declared, "It has all along been my ardent desire to compose a work on aesthetics in Sanskrit". As if to dispel the popular misconception that Sanskrit creative writers get lost in antiquity in India's glorious past and nothing else, Dr. Sarma wrote his play "Kargil Vijayam", which celebrates the valour and patriotism of the Indian soldiers at Kargil. Not content with writing these varied works in the field of epic, drama, folk literature, aesthetics and dealing with contemporary issues, as if by a premonition, he wrote his Autobiography Kalaya Tasmai Nahama which is the only autobiography in Sanskrit in recent years. He served as a minister of Hindu religion in a Hindu temple for eight years in Ottawa, Canada. In addition to Sanskrit, it may be mentioned that he has written in Telugu, his mother tongue, as well as in English. His prolific writing and its range is too vast to be encompassed in a humble tribute like this.

S. RANGANATH

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