Vishwanatha Satyanarayana: His Contribution

VISWANATHA SATYANARAYANA
HIS CONTRIBUTION TO LITERATURE

C. SUBBA RAO

It is difficult to think of another writer of our age in Telugu whose literary work has been characterized by such variety, profundity and immensity as that of Sri Viswanatha Satyanarayana. Viswanatha, as he is endearingly called, is a versatile writer par excellence. There is not a literary genre in Telugu which has not been enriched by his genius. He has written voluminously: his work in all its forms runs literally to thousands of pages. He has written poetry like “Andhra Prasasthi” and “Jhansi Rani” celebrated for their fluency of style and patriotic fervor, “Telugu Rutuvulu” and “Sringaraveedhi” for their beautiful word pictures suffused with delicateness of imagery. “Girikumaruni Prema Gitalu” and “Sasidutam” for their romantic intensity and lyrical beauty, and “Kinnerasani Paatalu” and “Viswanatha Maddhyakkaralu” for their musical quality and prosodic perfection. Of course, there is his magnum opus “Srimad Ramayana Kalpavriksham” for which he has got the Jnanpeeth Award, the result of his poetic and spiritual brooding and meditation for decades.

“The Ramayana” for Viswanatha, is not merely the story of Rama, the Divine Archer, but the story of the Indian psyche, its responses under trying circumstances, the triumph of the spirit over the matter, the supremacy of values over interests and the enthroning of Dharma as much in the hearts of men as in their affairs. It is legacy of values patterned beautifully in the very texture of the story of Rama and Sita. Values like humility, courtesy, love and respect to all, courage, beautifulness, truthfulness, single-minded devotion between spouses, impartiality, respectful devotion to parents and elders, and above all a need for sacrifice and self-abnegation. Viswanatha has followed Valmiki in the narration of the story, but he has made a few beautiful alterations. In Valmiki Ramayana, Parasurama’s encounter with Rama is after Sita Swayamvaram. But in Viswanatha’s “Kalpavriksham” this encounter occurs after Sivadhanurbhangam but before Swayamvaram. Parasurama is also a Vishnu incarnation, and there can’t be two incarnations of Vishnu at the time of Swayamvaram. Rama accepts Parasurama’s challenge, and, while receiving the Vaishnava Dhanussu from Parasurama, draws all the strength and power of the incarnation from him. Now Rama is a complete Avatar and this is beautiful. There are a few more such beautiful things like “Hamsadyutam”. As we start reading the “Kalpavriksham”, we are ushered into the classical Tretayuga by the magic of his diction, description and delineation.

The range and extent of his fiction-writing is breathtaking. He has written in all dozens of novels. He has written more than a dozen novels on a variety of themes like “Veyipadagalu”, “Dharmachakram”, “Ekaveera”, “Mroyutummeda”, “Baddanna Senani”, etc. Not only these; besides these, he has written a series of novels grouped together as “Puranavaira grandhamala”. He says that European historians have distorted our history. He believes that our Puranas are history. So he embarks upon a gigantic task of reconstructing the ancient Indian history in fiction form in a series of novels like “Bhagavantunimeedi paga”, “Vedavati”, “Nando Raja Bhavishyati”, “Naastika Dhumam”, etc., based on our Puranas. Our Puranas may be history or not; but one should bow one’s head in salute to Viswanatha for his genius for literary creation, for painstaking research, for his crusading zeal, and above all, for his pride in our national heritage and culture. Forming part of his prodigious literary output are also there a collection of short stories.

If his magnum opus in poetry is “Srimad Ramayana Kalpavriksham” his magnum opus in prose fiction is “Veyipadagalu”. It is a novel in more than a thousand pages depicting the story of transitional phases that occur over almost a century at a small village, Subbannapeta, now a full-blown municipal town at the end of the story. The atmosphere in which the novel is set is harmoniously composed of three vital entities–the old zamindari system, the temple culture and the village life. The bygone age characterised by perfect social harmony, by love, friendliness and cooperation among various sections of society together with personal contentment and fair dealing and fellow feeling is beautifully contrasted with growing social tensions, cunning, acquisitiveness and utter unconcern for others.

The whole story revolves round Dharmarao, the hero of the novel in whom, it is said, Viswanatha has projected himself. The chapters in which the illness and the death of Dharmarao’s wife are shown are among the most poignant and pathetic parts in literature. “Veyipadagalu” makes such an absorbing reading and claims so totally our attention that even after the book is finished and closed, we continue to be haunted by the pathos and fineness in the lives of its characters. We like to go to the book again and again.

Viswanatha’s mind is inventive and creative; it is also critical, analytical and logical. He is considered one of the best literary critics in Telugu. His critical studies, “Nannayyagari Prasanna Katha Kalitartha yukti”, “Allasanivari Allika Gigibigi and “Saakuntalabhignyata” are fine examples of his critical perception and logical analysis.

He is a scholar whose scholarship stretches over oceanic proportions. He has read with insight all classics in Sanskrit and Telugu; he has read with insight every worthwhile book in English literature, endless in continental literature in English translation. He refers with a telling effect to various such works in his writing.

He is a delightful speaker, but quite often moody and easily irritated. If he is in rapport with his audience, he can speak brilliantly for hours. If he isn’t he can unhesitatingly terminate his speech most abruptly and resume his seat.

He can be very hard if provoked. But beneath his deceptive hardness, there lies a very kind, a very loving and a very tender heart which melts at the sight of distress or suffering. “Nindumanambu navya navaneeta samanamu, palku darunakhandala sastra thulyamu” – these words of Nannaya are so true of Viswanatha.

Viswanatha is a man of remarkable originality and independence of mind. He is a man of vigorous intellect who has the courage of his convictions. He is dubbed a conservative by his opponents, and he has many of them. He is not opposed to everything modern as they allege, but he is a literary crusader upholding certain values enshrined in our ancient tradition. He wants a value-based assessment of an institution or tradition. Anything that promotes peace, progress, friendship and love among people is to be welcomed whether it is modern or ancient. The contemporary social reality vitiated by industrialisation, urbanisation and competitive economic compulsions has deeply disturbed him. Viswanatha is deeply anguished over the moral degeneration of the modern times. This anguish, this agony of his deeply felt experience is transparent in all his works. He calls this anguish, this agony, “JeevuniVedana” arising out of social, moral and spiritual alienation. His contribution to literature is solid and substantial. Poets and writers of passing fashion are for their times, but Viswanatha is for all times.