T R Venkatarama Shastri (

T R Venkatarama Shastri (Part 1)

[[T R Venkatarama Shastri (Part 1) Source: prekshaa]]

T R Venkatarama Shastri can be called a disciple of Shivaswami Iyer. Sir S Varadachari, who retired after serving as a Federal Court judge and Venkatarama Shastri both practiced law in Shivaswami Iyer’s office and were assistants to him.

It is worth sharing how Venkatarama Shastri was appointed as an intern under Shivaswami Iyer.

Eligibility Test

By the time Shastri passed his BL, Shivaswami Iyer’s fame had spread far and wide. He was also renowned for his erudition. Shastri was particular about starting his career under such scholar and hence took a letter of recommendation from Sitarama Iyer, a relative of Shivaswami Iyer. Though Shastri and Iyer were both drāviḍa brāhmaṇas, they belonged to different sects. In the old days, there would be no marital relationships between these sects. Shivaswami Iyer belonged to one among the five or six sub-sects of the Bṛhaccharaṇa sect. Venkatarama Shastri was from the Coḻa-deśa Vaḍama sect.

Shivaswami Iyer wasn’t too happy when Venkatarama Shastri handed over Sitarama Iyer’s recommendation letter and said, “Why did Sitarama write this letter? Doesn’t he know that I don’t value recommendation letters at all!” Saying so, he read the letter and said, “Let it be. Come here on Thursday, sharp at eight in the morning.” Accordingly, when Venkatarama Shastri went there on Thursday morning, Shivaswami Iyer held a book before him and said, “Read this.”

Shastri read it out aloud: “Sesame and Lilies.”

Iyer asked, “The first word, does it have three syllables or two?”

Shastri replied, “In the dictionary it is given as three.”

“Ah! Fine. You have the habit of referring to a dictionary. That’s good!” Turning towards his clerk Subrahmanya Iyer, he said, “He (pointing to Shastri) will come to my office from tomorrow morning. Arrange for a chair, table, etc. for him.”

This was the way of Shivaswami Iyer. He would independently test the eligibility and only that was considered genuine.

Lexicophiles

Venkatarama Shastri too inherited this quality. He was also a lexicophile, a dictionary enthusiast. One day he came to Bangalore from Madras and immediately drove down in a car to my place. Even before I could enquire after his well-being, he said, “Bring your English dictionary here.”

I asked, “Why this hurry?”

“The moment I got down from train and reached my hotel, I opened my suitcase. It is a usual practice to keep the dictionary at the top. The person who arranged my things yesterday has forgotten the dictionary. But it should always be with me. Whether there arises a situation for me to use it or not, I must always have it,” he said.

Charm in Word-usage

This illustration throws light on the usual practice of the scholars of those days. Whatever was uttered – it had to be authentic, succinct, and unblemished. They were not ones to speak in whatever manner they wanted. For them the speech was something that should not extend an inch this side and not a foot that side.

Their policy was ‘Satyāya mita bhāṣiṇām’ (Truth and brevity in speech).

Venkatarama Shastri was extremely careful in the usage of language. I was a witness to a couple of incidents where his intimate friends teased him upon seeing his achievements as an advocate.

#1. “Dear Shastri, if anyone feels that you won the case because of your argument in court, it is a delusion. You won because of your personality. Your tall physique, protruding upper row of teeth, modesty in submitting your views, charm in the pronunciation of words – the judges fall prey to all these things and end up giving the judgment in your favour.”

Expertise in Argument

#2. “Dear Shastri, your argument was extraordinary. The most appealing part was the elegance of English sentences. Won’t the judges be astounded upon listening to such well-composed English and its pronunciation? Who listens to your law points?”

In both these cases, the sole purpose was to make fun of Shastri. It was humour in the form of praise. Actually Venkatarama Shastri was thoroughly proficient in legal science. He used to consider a complex question and then would methodically untie the difficult knots and finally expose the most important problem existing in the question. Usually in a case, upon hearing the arguments of both the parties, a judge should decide on some single point of importance. The advocate on one side may present ten points before the judge whereas the one on the other side may present fifteen. But to judge the case, it is not required to consider all those twenty-five points. Among those, one or two facts will be vital. If those two points are decided then the other twenty odd points need not be considered at all. It was Venkatarama Shastri’s prowess to choose and present those two or three points in a clear, resolute manner.

Trait of Conciseness in Speech

Once, one of my friends handed over a big case to Venkatarama Shastri in Bangalore. Shastri scrutinized the documents related to the case and spoke just a couple of sentences.

“Look, your case is completely dependent on a single document. If no questions are raised about that document either by the judge or by the opponent, you will definitely win the case, or if you present that document when it is asked for, your case will stand. If you cannot present that document when they ask for it, you can never win the case no matter which court you go to.”

This is the way of Venkatarama Shastri. One or two sentences, that’s all. He would never take a cartload of books to the court. He would neither shout in a loud voice nor would he slam the table. If he argued for a long time, that would last for no more than half an hour.

I was present during one of his arguments at the Bangalore High Court. The case was related to L S Raju. Shastri was there in the court as amicus curiae ¹. Then Venkatarama Shastri expressed the sorrow he felt owing to that case; he then indicated the nature of mutual understanding that should exist between the legislature and judiciary of a state and elaborately spoke for fifteen to twenty minutes about the liberty of the citizens. We were crestfallen that we neither recorded the speech using a tape-recorder nor wrote down the speech in shorthand. His speech—so concise, so powerful, and containing in its core several fundamental questions—would be of great use to the citizens. “What a great person!” we said to ourselves, feeling happy and proud.

Professional Ethics

I remember an episode regarding the ethics that Venkatarama Shastri used to follow in his profession. His usual fee was Rs. 1,500. Along with his fee, he used to bill the travelling expenses and the hotel costs for himself, and his staff. This was quite expensive for that time. Therefore Shastri would not easily accept clients that came to him. He would say, “Why do you spend so much money? You can get this work done from a lawyer in your town itself.” He rarely accepted cases from outside.

Venkatarama Shastri had once come to Bangalore representing a client in a case belonging to the Shimoga region. The case that began in the High Court that day was not settled by evening. It was adjourned for the next day. Had Venkatarama Shastri been there the next day as well, he could have earned more fees. But he was unable to stay in Bangalore the following day. So he went to the house of his client’s Bangalore advocate, handed over the money he got as fees for the first day retaining only the travel expenses.

I asked him why he did so. He replied, “Tomorrow there is a meeting of the ML (Master of Law) Examination Board. I’m the Chairman of the Board. The meeting notice has already been given to the other members of the Board. If I stay here in Bangalore to earn more money, what would happen to the meeting? What would the others think? If I had completed the work here, I would be entitled to the fees I received. When I wasn’t able to complete the work that I had accepted, the fee doesn’t belong to me. That’s why I returned the amount.”

This is the first part of a three-part English translation of the third chapter of D V Gundappa’s Jnapakachitrashaale – Vol. 6 – Halavu Sarvajanikaru. Reviewed by Vaishnavi Naik and Paresh Nadig. Edited by Hari Ravikumar.

T R Venkatarama Shastri (Part 2)

[[T R Venkatarama Shastri (Part 2) Source: prekshaa]]

Enthusiasm in Public Service

I have already mentioned that Venkatarama Shastri belonged to the tradition of Shivaswami Iyer. Both of them followed the same path in politics. It was a gentle path—the path of negotiation and persuasion—and neither revolutionary nor extreme. Both of them had a resolve to express their own views regarding any questions that arose in public matters. But the severity of that resolve was more pronounced in Venkatarama Shastri.

During one such episode, Venkatarama Shastri thought of publishing a statement. He immediately prepared a copy of the statement. Holding that in his hands, he set out to Shivaswami Iyer’s house. It was noontime, on a hot day, and the sun was scorching his head. Shastri had worn just a muṇḍu ². He did not have even a towel on his shoulders as he walked. One of his friends, who was driving down from the opposite direction stopped the car and asked, “What is this Shastri? Why are you walking like this? You are hardly wearing any clothes! The sunshine is intense.”

Shastri said, “Shivaswami Iyer’s house is quite close by, isn’t it?”

His friend said with a laugh, “Come let’s go in my car.”

“No, no. Why use the car for this short distance?”

Saying so Shastri walked ahead. What happened there is far more interesting.

Shivaswami Iyer was sitting in the veranda of his house. Venkatarama Shastri approached him hastily, walking briskly on the lawn. As he came closer, Shivaswami Iyer asked, “Shastri, didn’t you see the notice board over there?”

(The ‘notice board’ was written in big, bold, and coloured letters – “Walking on the lawn is prohibited.”)

Venkatarama Shastri made a face akin to that of a student getting scolded by the teacher in class and said, “I came in a hurry.”

“What is that? Have you written a statement?” asked Iyer.

“Yes, it is an important matter. I’m here to show this to you.”

“You should always be doing something, right? Otherwise your hands and legs may lose their warmth, isn’t it? Your clothes would get cold, right?” said Shivaswami Iyer.

“Once you review this, I will show it to Srinivasa Shastri.”

“So be it. And isn’t it Srinivasa Shastri who should correct the spelling and grammatical mistakes in this if there are any!”

Conversation between Teacher and Student

The above instance is just a sample. Such episodes would take place frequently.

Shivaswami Iyer had complete faith in Venkatarama Shastri’s motives and writings – and was also impressed by his work. But it was his practice to make fun of Shastri in the form of small objections. Shastri would humbly accept Iyer’s mischievous objections and give a slight smile.

Shivaswami Iyer was a connoisseur of music. He spent some time and effort learning the violin. He did not have much time to learn in the traditional way, refining his skills day after day. So he had to drop the idea of learning violin. But he had the desire to listen to good music. As an impediment to this, he had difficulty in hearing. Yet he would carefully listen to melodious music.

Once an accomplished musician was singing and Shivaswami Iyer was delighted listening to it. He whispered in the ears of Venkatarama Shastri who was sitting next to him, “I have listened to this; I have listened to it many a times. I know this well.”

Shastri replied, “Yes, yes. It is familiar to you. It’s always with you at home!”

That was Rāga Kalyāṇī. Shivaswami Iyer’s wife’s name was Kalyani. Listening to Shastri’s words Shivaswami Iyer laughed. Thus the guru-dakṣiṇā was paid.

This is how the teacher and student conversed.

Study of the Vedas

Like Shivaswami Iyer, Venkatarama Shastri too was a Sanskrit scholar. Those who listened to his convocation speech in Mysore University may remember that he quoted excerpts from the Taittirīyopaniṣad and had also structured his speech in a similar fashion.

One Saturday he was at Bangalore. I requested him for his august presence at a ceremony that was to be held at my place the following day. He replied, “It is my duty to be there at your place during an auspicious ceremony. And a pleasant duty at that! But now there is an obstacle for it. Tomorrow is Sunday. Along with my friend Bhaskara Iyer, I decided to resume the studies that we would undertake during our childhood. Bhaskara Iyer adorned the Chief Engineer’s post until the day before yesterday and he couldn’t spare time for studies but now he is retired. We want to study together as we did before. That is a vaidika-kārya (Vedic ritual). That which is going to happen at your place tomorrow is also a vaidika-kārya. Let us assume that our recitation of the Vedas in Madras tomorrow is a part of the vaidika-karma that you are undertaking!”

This is how he convinced me.

Venkatarama Shastri was born in a family of vaidikas. One of the branches of his family tree ran to the great and well-known scholar Appayya-dīkṣita.

His father was an āhitāgni ³. Somehow he came to know that his death was imminent. He informed his wife about this bitter fact, offer her words of solace asking her not to wail or lament, and summoned some brāhmaṇas. After their arrival he performed some rituals like ātma-samāropaṇā as mentioned in śāstras and slept on a darbhāsana. When they completed chanting the Karṇa-mantras and were reciting the Upaniṣad-vākyas, he appears to have left his body. Probably Venkatarama Shastri was seven or eight years old at that time.

Faith in Śāstras

Shastri was brought up in such an environment. He never missed a ritual. I have seen him offering tarpaṇas on every new moon day without fail. Once it was a cold and cloudy day of December in Bangalore. That morning he came out of the room where he was performing āhnika, ⁴ asked me, who sitting in the hall –

“What is this, my man? Do pitṛs ⁵ come to your town wearing coats or shawls?”

I said, “Who?”

“The pitṛ-devatās!” he said.

“You could have started after the onset of some sunshine!”

Shastri said, “How can I ask them to wait because I am feeling cold? The first job on a new moon day is to offer tarpaṇa.”

That was the faith and belief Shastri had in rituals.

Longing for Knowledge

When he was nearing eighty, Shastri retired from his law practice and started learning Greek. He appointed a teacher for that. The study was methodical. In between, there used to be discussions on the similarities and dissimilarities between words and grammatical rules of Sanskrit and Greek. The doubts that arose during such conversations would be discussed further with other friends through letter correspondences. It was a matter of amusement and astonishment for people like me.

If I asked, “What’s with all the study of such things at this age?” he would answer, “There is no particular time for study. One should be a student throughout one’s life!” And to justify his words, he would quote from Vedas – “Yadeva vidyayā karoti &c.” ⁶

Similarly, in his personal correspondences too, ślokas from the Bhāgavata and the Mahābhārata appeared frequently.

Venkatarama Shastri was benevolent. He helped many scholars and writers financially on a large scale but discreetly. His was a large family. It would always be teeming with sons, daughters, sons-in-law, grand-children, great grand-children, and relatives. He had a large house. And it would always be full of people. Along with that there used to be a daily gathering of friends in the house.

To be concluded.

This is the second part of a three-part English translation of the third chapter of D V Gundappa’s Jnapakachitrashaale – Vol. 6 – Halavu Sarvajanikaru. Reviewed by Vaishnavi Naik and Paresh Nadig. Edited by Hari Ravikumar.

Footnotes

T R Venkatarama Shastri (Part 3)

[[T R Venkatarama Shastri (Part 3) Source: prekshaa]]

A Request

There is one more episode worth narrating.

During 1938–39, he wrote a letter to me. It read as follows – “I have attached a letter of a person with this letter. It appears that he is facing great difficulties. Meet Dewan Mirza Ismail tomorrow and request him to help this person on behalf of both of us; obtain Mirza’s assurance and send me a written reply.”

And now it is time to speak about the enclosed letter. I cannot mention the name of the person who wrote that letter. He wrote it from Thiruvannamalai. The letter ran as follows – “I have passed BA and BL. I am a clerk in one of the sub-courts of the Mysore Government. But my salary is very less and mine is a large family. I am sunk in debt. I am seeking your help through this letter. You need not help me financially ex gratia. You should get me a loan of Rs. 20,000 as it happens during the setting up of a business. I will return the principal amount fully. I don’t want anything as charity. This is how I shall clear the loan: You should recommend my name to Dewan Mirza Ismail and ask him to transfer me to his Secretariat on promotion. If things go well, I will settle the debt by using the surplus amount I get (compared to my present salary) after my promotion. Within a few years my debt will be cleared with this money. You should assure me that you will help me in this. If your letter of assurance does not reach me within five days, on the sixth day I will jump from the summit of Thiruvannamalai and kill myself. Such is my emergency.”

My Reaction

I read the letter completely. Immediately I replied to Shastri – “1. Let the person commit suicide. I would not stop it. One who thinks of suicide is a pure coward. He does not have any right to live. 2. I shall myself reply to his letter. You please don’t take the trouble. 3. I know you are benevolent and kind. But I never imagined that your kindness goes this far. As it is proved now, I am confident about it. Throw that 20,000 rupees at this fakir (beggar). He is in poverty and your money will be spent for a good purpose. 4. I would not go to Mirza saheb regarding this matter; not only for this, I would never ask him for anything.”

Looking at my reply Venkatarama Shastri said, “My good man, you are surely joking. What would happen to his wife and children if he commits suicide?”

“Sir, why are you having this delusion? He will not die so easily. I know him personally. He tries his best to make a fast buck by all possible ways, trying his hand at all kinds of people. Are there any fools who get trapped in this?” I replied.

“What? Did you make me into a fool?” asked Venkatarama Shastri. Later he asked, “Are there any disputes between you and Mirza?”

This is a subject out of context. For the moment it is irrelevant. My objective is to show the mindset of Venkatarama Shastri.

Reform

Venkatarama Shastri was a traditionalist as well as an independent intellectual. His mindset was to find concordance between older tradition and the present liberal behaviour. In the history of the Hindu society, rules and regulations have seen frequent changes. The society today is not a replica of the society that existed during the times of Maharṣi Manu. Conforming with kāla (time), deśa (place), and vartamāna (contmporary circumstances), the society has changed and corrected itself. There were reforms now and then. So the only way of protecting our society is to make changes frequently without disobeying the core principles and fundamental values. He used to always repeat this. Reforms are not bad unto themselves. But it is expected to consider whether a reform is necessary or unwarranted, and care must be taken to ensure that the given reform is complimentary to the principles of social life. Reforms that undergo this thought process will be helpful for social well-being. Such reforms have been embraced by our śāstrakāras since ages. This is seen in the smṛtis of Yājñavalkya, Parāśara, Gautama, et al. Venkatarama Shastri has explicated this idea in his report of the Hindu Law Reform Committee.

Venkatarama Shastri had heartfelt faith in the Vedas and śāstras. During his last days, his mind was a little disturbed owing to the rampant conversions done by Christian missionaries. A young man, on the day he was leaving to the United States, came to meet Shastri and sought his blessings. While blessing the lad, Shastri said, “Dear child, do whatever you want, go wherever you wish. But return as a Hindu. This is my plea. Hindu Dharma is a vast one. Never leave it!” This is the manner in which he implored; his eyes were wet with tears.

Self-respect

Venkatarama Shastri was an Advocate-General just like Shivaswami Iyer. Later, when the post of Law Minister in the Madras Government fell vacant as a result of C P Ramaswamy Iyer’s retirement, Venkatarama Shastri was appointed to the post. An incident took place during that time. During the distribution of the official records pertaining to the various government departments, the Governor decided to hand over the Police Department records—which was previously under the purview of the law ministry—to a European Councillor instead of Venkatarama Shastri. Deeming this to be an act of distrust, Shastri resigned the post immediately. Shastri’s reason for resignation was this: “The Representative of the British Government has averred that it is dangerous to give the official records pertaining to the Police Department to the hands of an Indian. It is impossible for a self-respecting Indian to tolerate the connotation of such an opinion!”

Many people cast aspersions on Shastri’s act. “He should not have been impatient!” “He left a high position in a hurry!” – said many. Shastri listened to those words and laughed. He said, “I need not be in that position for the sake of salary. I accepted the post thinking that I will get an opportunity to do some good for the country and my countrymen. What should I do with a job that does not give me an opportunity to work for the country? Should I accept it only for the sake of salary? Tchey!”

The post of Judge of the High Court was not beyond Shastri’s reach. I know four or five instances when the government offered him the post of the Chief Judge of the High Court. I even know the oppositions he had to face by his own daughters and other relatives for rejecting this offer. Once he asked a lady [a female relative], “Do you want you and your children to travel in a car with a servant sitting at the front, holding a rod made of silver or gold? Or do you want your and your sisters’ children to get educated, have their upanayanams performed, and get married without an ostentatious servant with a stick of gold or silver?”

Venkatarama Shastri served as the President of the executive committees of the Madras Sanskrit College and the Kuppuswami Sastri Research Institute. Similarly he was the leader of many academic and public institutions. He also adorned the position of the President of one of the Sessions of the Liberal Party. Just as he was respected due to his erudition and position, he was beloved because of his friendship, modesty, and popularity. On the whole, his nature was such that it used to evoke overflowing love.

***Concluded.

This is the third part of a three-part English translation of the third chapter of D V Gundappa’s Jnapakachitrashaale – Vol. 6 – Halavu Sarvajanikaru. Reviewed by Vaishnavi Naik and Paresh Nadig. Edited by Hari Ravikumar.***