A. R. Krishnashastry

A. R. Krishnashastry Biography

A. R. Krishnashastry was a prominent writer and scholar associated with Kannada language who was active in the first half of the 20^th century. He lived during the period 1890–1968. He excelled as a researcher and translator too. Vachana Bharata is his magnum opus for which he is extremely popular even now, decades after his death. It is his narration of epic Mahabharata in his mother tongue, Kannada. He was a recipient of Sahitya Academy award and Mysore University honoured him with an honorary doctorate. He was a polyglot, who knew English, Pali, Sanskrit, Bengali, German and Hindi languages too. He was a great orator also.

His full name is Ambale Ramakrishna Krishnashastry and he was born in the year 1890. He was born in Ambale of Chikkamagalur district. His father Ramakrishna Shastry was a distinguished grammarian and principal of Sanskrit school in Mysore. His mother Shankaramma died of plague when Krishashastry was only 10 years old. His younger days were spent in poverty. He wanted to pursue a career as a scientist. Yet his financial situation prompted him to earn a degree only. When he was 16, he married 10-year old Venkatalakshamma.

After studies, he worked as a clerk, followed by a tutor and a researcher at Oriental Library. He completed his Master’s from Mysore University and later worked as a professor for many years. H. M. Nayak called him "Kannada Senani". Kuvempu, T. N. Srikantaiah and M. V. Seetharamiah were among his successful disciples. As a writer he contributed in the form of translations, novels, biography works, short stories, plays and many more. His works also included a few translations. A doyen among scholars he passed away on February 1, 1968 in Bangalore, Karnataka.

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Updated: June 19, 2016