Basavappa Shastri is a 19th century writer in Kannada and Sanskrit who was also a translator of classics from Sanskrit to Kannada. Basavappa Shastri (1843 – 1891 CE) has contributed significantly to devotional literature both in Sanskrit and Kannada. The rulers of Mysore, the only surviving Kannada dynasty after the fall of the Vijayangara Empire, were great patrons of art and literature and provided the leadership for the renaissance in Kannada literature in southern Karnataka. Krishnaraja Wodeyar III or Wadiar III (1799 – 1868 CE), himself a gifted poet and Chamaraja Wodeyar (1868 – 1898 Ce) patronized a galaxy of eminent musicians and writers including Vina Vekatasubbaiah, Kunigal Ramashastri, Sosale Garlapuri Shastri, Kempunarayana and Basavappa Shastri. As part of the movement, translation of Sanskrit classics which included the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and Bhagavata, several Sanskrit plays and devotional literature was undertaken on a large scale under the supervision of Diwan Rangacarlu.
Basavappa Shastri came from a family of Virashaiva scholars
belonging to Narasandra, a village near Bengaluru. His father, Mahadeva
Shastri, served Krishnaraja Wodeyar III as his purohit (priest). Basavappa
Shastri lost his father when he was only six, but the king, who realized his potential,
entrusted his education to Aliya Lingarajau and Garalapurishastri. He won recognition
at the early stage of eighteen when he composed Krishnarajabhyudaya, a
panegyric in Sanskrit. He had equal master over Sanskrit and Kannada and taught
these languages at the Royal School. As Asthana Vidvana he wrote 28 works,
consisting of eleven translations from Sanskrit and seventeen independent compositions
in Sanskrit and Kannada, before his life was tragically cut short in a road
accident.
Basavappa Shastri’s most significant achievement was his
translation of Sanskrit classics into Kannada. These include Kalidasa’s Abhijnana
Shakuntalam and Vikramorashiyam, Bhavabhuti’s Uttararamacharitam and Malatimadhava,
Harsha’s Ratnavali, Aryakshemendra’s Chandakaushika and Bhartrhari’s
Satakatrayi. He was closely associated with the Sri Chamaraja Karnataka Nataka
Sabha (founded in 1897) to encourage native talent in theater. His Karnataka
Shakuntala Natakavu, was commissioned by the Court for the Sabha.
Basavappa Shastri’s contribution to devotional literature
both in Sanskrit and Kannada is extensive. He composed 12 stotras (hymns) in
Sanskrit of which the following are extant – Shivashataka, Shivabhakti
Sudhatarangini, Ambaparvati, Aryashataka, Trisasti and Saradadandaka. As the
titles of these poems indicate, most of them are in praise of Shiva and Goddess
Parvati. Trisashti is a tribute to the 63 puratanas (ancient devotees of Shiva)
whose lives were celebrated by earlier Virashaiva poets. Renuka and
Shankarastotra represent his contribution to devotional literature in Kannada.
Basavappa Shastri’s other works in Kannada include
Savitricaritre, a poem consisting of 198 verses in bhaminisatpadi (six foot
stanza), Nitasarasangraha, and Damayanti-svayamvaram.
Sanskrit drama has contributed materially to the development
of modern Kannada theater and much of the credit should go to scholar-poets
like Basavappa Shastri.