A Tribute to Rayaprolu Subba Rao, who inspired Andhras in Patriotism

A Tribute to Rayaprolu on the occasion of his Jayanti on 13th March.
‘What ever be the nation
You visit
Whatever be the land
You set your foot upon
Whatever seat of honour
You grace
Hail your motherland Bharathi
Hold aloft and in full
The self-respect
Of
Your nation’—thus sang Rayaprolu Subba Rao whose spirit-stirring lines have inspired Andhras to the heights of noble patriotism. A pure romanticist and idealist, he proclaimed that ‘one’s motherland is verily one’s own paradise and its language is fecund enough to express all subtle nuances of human thought and feeling. A genuine aesthete, he conceived of an ideal platonic love unstained by the touch of sensual passions and cravings. To him, human life is an ideal, an aspiration and a fulfillment. He looked upon romantic love as a spiritual companionship , regarded love as an expression of an all-embracing divine compassion , felt that beauty is something inward and spiritual and equated it with ‘Ananda’(beatitude).

Rayaprolu was a multi-faceted genius and versatile scholar of encyclopedic range. He delved deep into Sanskrit literature and imbibed the vedantic wisdom embedded in the classics. Prominent English romantic poets like Keats, Shelley and Wordsworth profoundly influenced his mental makeup and poetic development and he carved out a niche for himself as a worthy precursor of the later day romantic poets like Devulapalli, Nanduri Subba Rao etal.The mystical world of Tagore enthralled him,while eminent scholars like Nandalal Bose,Andrew pearson and V Bhattacharya whetted his intellectual powers. His unique concept’’Amalina Sringara’ emanated from his in depth study of Vaishnava literature and he elevated it as one ‘pure, self-effacing and spiritual in word, deed and thought.

Infact, Rayaprolu and Gurajada Appa Rao represented two major facets of Telugu literature.While Gurajada made a multi-pronged attack on cussed customs, religious obscurantism,snobbish intellectuality and hypocrisy, Rayaprolu ,the peerless romanticist focused on the inner world of the individual,pleaded for harmony,love and understanding and called for the efflorescence of ethical values in society..An ardent admirer of the glorious traditions, he upheld the rich heritage of our ancient land in his literary classics. In brief, Gurajada was a revolutionary while Rayaprolu was a reformist and an idealist. Like all romanticists of yore, he imbued his poems with brilliance of fancy,
portrayal of splendorous nature, sensitive depiction of the buoyancy of youth and its longings and aspirations.He always characterized his heroes as votaries of beauty an love while his heroines are benevolent preceptors, friends and philosophers. To Rayaprolu,man is a love-lorn aesthete,while woman is an enlightened teacher preaching the abiding values of life. For instance, Lalitha In ‘Lalitha’is the very picture of unshakable love.Anumathi expatiates on the ardour of love.The heroine in’kastakamala’ expound ‘amalina sringara. ‘Rupa Navaneetham ‘ advocates an all-embracing spiritual love while ‘’Swapna kumaram’ counsels man to look upon woman as the divine mother.Rayaprolu makes ‘’Swapna Sundari’ instruct the passion-bound lover in the concepts of pure love and makes the lover in ‘’Thruna kankanam’ discover the primacy of a pure platonic relationship. At the same time, Rayaprolu did not vegetate in the ivory towers of romanticism. He was conscious of the still sad voice of humanity and castigated such social evils as dowry in ‘’Snehalatha.’

Rayaprolu’s khandakavyas and translations are hailed as masterpieces.His ‘ Jadakuchhulu’ ‘ Tenugu Thota,’Vana maala,Misra Manjari,and ‘Kanne patalu’ testify to his multi-faceted poetic fecundity. The theme of mortals thirsting for evanescent pleasures and the utter futility of human vanities in their fragile life thrilled him into translating Fitzgerald’s ‘Rubayat of Omar khayyam’ into ‘Madhu Kalasam which the critics have hailed as a tour-de-force. The mighty philosophical composition ‘Saundarya Lahari’ of Sri Adi Sankaracharya touched his spiritual self deeply and he translated it Telugu with matchless devotional fervour. Viswa Kavi Tagore’s impact on his poetic progress was no less profound. His ‘Abhyardhana’ ‘Urvasi’ and ‘Vasantam’ show the spell of Tagore on him. He pored over the great works of Vaalmiki,Kalidasa and Bhavabhuti and assimilated their thought and brilliance of their poetic imagery.The universality of outlook of Iqbal,profundity of Rizal and devotional intensity in Meera’s bhajans and the appealing folk songs of Bengalis made an indelible impression on him.He recreated the marvelous grandeur of ‘Megha sandesa’in Telugu and universalized the longings of Yaksha for his beloved. He represented a happy blend of Eastern and western influences. ‘His Lalitha’ is a Telugu adaptation of Goldsmith’s ‘Hermit’ while ‘Anumathi’ owes its origin to Lord Tennyson’s ‘ Dora’. Rayaprolu, in short ,is the Abhinava Nannayya of Telugus.

By SM Kompella

The author is a retired professor from Kakinada