'The Votary of Truth' - Transcript of Interview with Dr S. Srikanta Sastri by Prof S. Ananthanarayan (1973)

A Personal Note:

L - R: Prof S. Ananthanarayan, Dr. S. Srikanta Sastri

In Sanskrit there is the word (Sanskrit: Ekasandigrahi) which denotes a learner who takes in everything at the very first hearing and reading. Such people, though rare, have been always there. Dr. S. Srikantha Sastry belongs to this category of people blessed with a mind that grasps everything worthwhile even at first sight. He has a phenomenal memory which enables him to remember and quote passages after passages without a single mistake or moment’s hesitation. “My memory feeds me and sustains me in my life’s work” is what he said to me once. Genius is said to consist of very hard work. Dr. Sastry works very hard and has an emotional and imaginative understanding of what he works on. Added to his unique memory and capacity to take in all material at the first glance, it has given him a vast range of achievement. The wide sweep of knowledge reaped by him is astounding. Knowing more than 15 languages in and out, contributing more than 400 research papers on a wide and varied range of subjects and the writing of a score of scholarly books on History, Archaeology, Music, Literature and such other subjects is really monumental. Dr. Sastry’s work is the greatest monument to Dr. Sastry’s own life.

I have been twice blessed that I have known Dr. Srikantha Sastry ever since 1941 and he has showered his affection on me all these sears. In those days when we lived in the same street in Mysore, near the college, I had just joined the Maharaja’s College as a student. I used to see him—with a graphite grey coat, check trousers, whitish round face slightly pock-marked and short hair parted in the middle. He always wore brown canvas shoes and it appeared as if he dragged his left foot as he walked rather fast even for us.

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Dr S. Srikanta Sastri's interview (AIR) by Prof Ananthanarayan

This Interview was conducted at the All India Radio Office at Yadavgiri, Mysore in 1972. The interview at Mysore Akashavani was conducted by Prof Ananthanarayan of Mysore University. Dr S.Srikanta Sastri discusses his ancestry, yearning for true scholarship, zeal for learning the truth and expressing these as objectively as a historian ought to. 

Sondekoppa Srikanta Sastri was born to poor brahmin parents of Mulukanadu origins in  the small town of Nanjanagud near Mysore. The  family were immigrants from Andhra Pradesh in the 16th Century and settled in  the Nelamangala region of Karnataka. An  ancestor on the paternal side - Yagnapathi  Bhatta was a famous court poet in the court of Immadi Kempegowda. The family stayed in the  few acres of land given by Kempegowda for nearly a century. S.Srikanta Sastri's maternal  lineage were descendants of the Vellala Motaganahalli clan. An ancestor on the  maternal side by name Umamahesvara Sastri was a court poet in the court of King Devaraya of Vijayanagara empire. Umamahesvara Sastri's famous work "Bhagavata Champu" earned him the title of Abhinava Kalidasa. His maternal uncles Motaganahalli Mahadeva Sastri, Vidwan Ramshesha Sastri and Vidwan Sankara Sastri were eminent court poets in the Mysore Palace. Vidwan Ramshesha Sastri was the first person to translate "Bhagavata" to Kannada from Sanskrit. His other works include "Mudra Rakshaka" and "Mukundananada Bhana", "Balika Gitavali", "Karnataka Hitopadesham" and a script for Gubbi Veeranna titled "Pandava Vijaya". Vidwan Sankara Sastri taught at "Rao Bahadur Arcot Narayanswami Mudaliar patashala" and is credited with the composition of "Vedanta Panchadarshi" later quoted by D.V.Gundappa. His son Asthan Vidwan Motaganahalli Subramanya Sastri, editor of "Ranga Bhoomi" is credited with "Karnata Malavikagnimitra" and "JayachamarajendraGranthamalige".

The second child (among seven children) of parents Ramaswamy Sastri (father) and Seshamma (Mother), S.Srikanta Sastri had his childhood spread out across the districts of Kolar, Nanjanagud and Chickaballapur inKarnataka owing to his father's (a civil servant) frequent transfers. S.Srikanta Sastri passed his matriculation exam in 1915 and gained admission to a course in Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) at Maharaja's College, Mysore. After securing a Bachelor's degree in Arts, he embarked on a Master's Course in History (M.A) under the tutelage of J.C.Rollo, B.M.Srikantaiah (Kannada faculty), Prof V.L.D'Souza (English faculty), S.V.Krishnaswamy Aiyangar (Political Science), S.Krishna Rao (Greek History), N.Subba Rao (Economics), Prof S.V.Venkateswara (History), R.Shamashastri and M.H.Krishna (Ancient History). After completing his Master's Degree in History, he appeared for the Civil Services Exam and passed it. Unfortunately, owing to poor health, he was deemed unfit.