Arudra (born Bhagavatula Sadasiva Sankara Sastry; 31 August 1925 – 4 June 1998) was an Indian author, poet, lyricist, translator, publisher, dramatist, playwright, and an expert on

Telugu literature Telugu literature includes poetry, short stories, novels, plays, and other works composed in Telugu. There is some indication that Telugu literature dates at least to the middle of the first millennium. The earliest extant works are from the ...

. He is also known for his works in

Telugu cinema Telugu cinema, also known as Tollywood, is the segment of Cinema of India, Indian cinema dedicated to the production of Film, motion pictures in the Telugu language, widely spoken in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Based in Film N ...

as a lyricist, dialogue writer, and story writer. He received the

Sahitya Akademi Award The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 22 languages of the ...

in 1987.

Early life

Aarudra was born in Yelamanchili,

Anakapalli district Anakapalli district is a district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It was formed on 4 April 2022 from Anakapalli and Narsipatnam revenue divisions of the old Visakhapatnam district. The administrative headquarters are at Anakapalli. San ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

, India on 31 August 1925. Aarudra is the nephew of Telugu poet Sri Sri. After primary education, he shifted to

Vizianagaram Vizianagaram, also known as Vijayanagaram, is a city and the headquarters of the Vizianagaram district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is located in the Eastern Ghats, about west of the Bay of Bengal and north-northeast of Visakhapa ...

in 1942 for his college education. He was attracted to

communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...

after coming into contact with people like ''Ronanki Appalaswami'' and Chaganti Somayajulu. He joined the

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the air force, air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during armed conflicts. It was officially established on 8 Octob ...

as a Band Boy in 1943 and served it till 1947. He shifted to

Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

and worked as editor of '' Anandavani'' magazine for two years. Joining the film industry in 1949, he wrote lyrics and dialogues for many films. He married noted writer K. Rama Lakshmi (a columnist and a writer-critic in her own right) in 1954.

Literary works

''Tvamevaham'' (You are none other than me) and ''Samagra Andhra Sahityam'' (An Encyclopedia of Telugu Literature) are his landmark works. He wrote poetry such as ''Koonalamma Padaalu'', reminiscences of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

.Aarudra, 'Samagra Andhra Sahityam' (1968). Reprinted in 1989Aarudra, 'Samagra Aaandhra Saahityam' (2005): Revised and Reprinted, Published by Telugu Akademi, Hyderabad. He translated the

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

treatise

Tirukkural The ''Tirukkuṟaḷ'' (), or shortly the ''Kural'' (), is a classic Tamil language text on commoner's morality consisting of 1,330 short couplets, or Kural (poetic form), kurals, of seven words each. The text is divided into three books wit ...

into Telugu. He belonged to the school of progressive writers such as ''Abhyudaya Rachayitala Sangham''.

Tvamevaham

''Tvamevaaham'' written in 1948 was based on the contemporary violence and lawlessness during the Razakar movement in the princely state of Hyderabad. The Razakar attrocoties were sponsored by the

Nizam Nizam of Hyderabad was the title of the ruler of Hyderabad State ( part of the Indian state of Telangana, and the Kalyana-Karnataka region of Karnataka). ''Nizam'' is a shortened form of (; ), and was the title bestowed upon Asaf Jah I ...

against his own people who wanted to overthrow him in favor of democracy and join the Indian Union. In this kaavyam, death spoke to a human being and says, "you and I are the same (Tvamevaaham)".

The Samagra Andhra Sahityam

Arudra first published the SAS in 12 parts between 1965 and 1968. It spans the Telugu literature from the 9th century CE to modern times. He chronicled the history of Telugu Literature in 12 volumes: # Early and Chalukya Era (From 8 – 9c CE to end of 12c CE) #

Kakatiya dynasty The Kakatiya dynasty (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: Kākatīya) was a Andhras, Telugu dynasty that ruled most of eastern Deccan Plateau, Deccan region in present-day India between 12th and 14th centuries. Their ter ...

(1200–1290 CE) # Padmanayaka Era (1337–1399 CE) # Reddiraju Era (1400–1450 CE) # Early Rayala (

Vijayanagara Vijayanagara () is a city located in Vijayanagara district of Karnataka state in India.Vijayanagara

) (1450–1500 CE) # Later Rayala (Vijayanagara) (1500–1550 CE) #
Nawab Nawab is a royal title indicating a ruler, often of a South Asian state, in many ways comparable to the Western title of Prince. The relationship of a Nawab to the Emperor of India has been compared to that of the Kingdom of Saxony, Kings of ...
s (1550–1600 CE) # Nayaka Kings (1600–1670 CE) # Later Nayaka Kings (1670–1750 CE) #
East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...
(1750–1850 CE) #
Zamindar A zamindar in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semi-autonomous feudal lord of a ''zamindari'' (feudal estate). The term itself came into use during the Mughal Empire, when Persian was the official language; ''zamindar'' is the ...
i (1850–1900 CE) # Modern (1900 CE onwards)

How is Sita related to Rama?
''Ramudiki Sita Yemautundi?'' or ''How is Sita related to Rama?'', put before the public the riddle of
Mandodari Mandodari (, , lit. "soft-bellied";) was the queen consort of Ravana, the king of Lanka, according to the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. The ''Ramayana'' describes her as beautiful, pious, and righteous. She is extolled as one of the ''Panchakanya'', ...
,
Sita Sita (; ), also known as Siya, Jānaki and Maithili, is a Hindu goddess and the female protagonist of the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. Sita is the consort of Rama, the avatar of god Vishnu, and is regarded as an avatar of goddess Lakshmi. She is t ...
and
Hanuman Hanuman (; , ), also known as Maruti, Bajrangabali, and Anjaneya, is a deity in Hinduism, revered as a divine ''vanara'', and a devoted companion of the deity Rama. Central to the ''Ramayana'', Hanuman is celebrated for his unwavering devotio ...
and their origins in a lucid and scholarly way. It was a bold attempt at cracking the
Valmiki Valmiki (; , ) was a legendary poet who is celebrated as the traditional author of the epic ''Ramayana'', based on the attribution in the text itself. He is revered as ''Ādi Kavi'', the first poet, author of ''Ramayana'', the first epic poe ...
-
Ramayana The ''Ramayana'' (; ), also known as ''Valmiki Ramayana'', as traditionally attributed to Valmiki, is a smriti text (also described as a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic) from ancient India, one of the two important epics ...
code and in the process de-mystified the story of Rama to the middle-class, literate, modern day Telugu reader. Aarudra, 'Ramudiki Seetemautundi? 'Vishalandra Publishing House, Hyderabad, 1978. The book explores the
Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
and Jain sources of the story of
Rama Rama (; , , ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the seventh and one of the most popular avatars of Vishnu. In Rama-centric Hindu traditions, he is considered the Supreme Being. Also considered as the ideal man (''maryāda' ...
. It also surveys the Khotan Siam ( Thai), Laos, and Malaysian versions of the story of Rama. Here is a sampling from the 'Dasaratha Jataka ', a Buddhist Tale:
Buddha narrates the 'Dasaratha Jataka' tale to a householder who was grieving the death of his son....Long long ago.. Dasaratha was the king of Varanasi. He had sixteen thousand wives.The Queen had two sons and a daughter.The eldest son was called Ramapundit and the younger one was called Laxmanpundit. The daughter was called Sitadevi. The Queen dies after sometime. Dasaratha marries again, and comes to like her the most. She begets a son named Bharata...When Ramapundit returns from the forest, he marries Sita and rules for 16000 years...Bodhisatta concludes the story stating that Dasaratha was none other than Shuddhodana (Father of Buddha) in an earlier reincarnation. Similarly, Sita was none other than Rahulmata (Mother of Rahul or Wife of Buddha) and Ramapundit was none other than Buddha himself.
Aarudra's questions like "How is Sita related to Rama?" or "Were they just Husband and wife?" may sound naive or sacrilegious but a serious study of
genealogies Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kins ...
, as revealed from different sources, logically leads to them. To deny the existence of such stories, per Arudra, would have amounted to intellectual dishonesty.

List of his works
*Poems (Kavyas): Tvamevaaham, Sinivaali, koonalamma Padaalu, Intinti Pajyaalu. America Intinti pajyaalu, sitakoka chilukalu (radio play) *Lyrics: Gaayaalu-Geyaalu, Pailaapacceesu, Yencina Padyaalu, Yetikedadi, Kondagaali Tirigindi. *Translations: Veera Telangaana Viplava Geetalu (from English), Vennela-Vesavi (from Tamil), Kabeer Bhaavaalu and Batvaada-Arudra (from Hindi). *Dramas: Udgeedha, Geyanaatika, Raadaari Bangla, Saalabhanjikalu. *Dual Poetry: Rukkuteswara Satakam (with Sri Sri), Meemee (with Sri Sri and Varada) *Research Work: Samagraandhra Saahityam, Arudra Vyaasapeetham, Raamudi ki Seeta Yemavutundi?, *Other works: Arudra kathalu, Mahaneeyulu, Chadarangam, cinema scripts and lyrics.

Filmography
# '' Beedala Patlu'' (1950) (lyrics) # '' Kanna Talli'' (1953) (writer) # '' Pakka Inti Ammayi'' (1953) (adapted screenplay) # '' Veera Kankanam'' (1957) (dialogue) # '' Chenchu Lakshmi'' (1958) (lyrics) # '' Illarikam'' (1959) (dialogue) # '' Jayabheri'' (1959) (lyrics) # '' Aradhana'' (1962) (lyrics) # ''
Bhishma Bhishma (), also known as Pitamaha, Gangaputra, and Devavrata, is a central figure in the Hindu epic Mahabharata. He was a statesman and military commander of the ancient Kuru Kingdom. Renowned for his wisdom, valor, and unwavering principles, ...
'' (1962) (lyrics) # '' Dakshayagnam'' (1962) (writer) # '' Manchi Kutumbam'' (1965) (lyrics) # '' Gudachari 116'' (1966) (story and dialogue) # '' Farz'' (1967) (story) # '' The Train'' (1970) (screenplay)- Hindi # '' Mosagallaku Mosagadu'' (1971) (story and dialogues) # '' Andala Ramudu'' (1973) (lyrics) # '' Muthyala Muggu'' (1975) (lyrics) # '' Yashoda Krishna'' (1975) (writer) # '' Mahakavi Kshetrayya'' (1976) (writer) # '' Daana Veera Soora Karna'' (1977) (lyrics) # '' Mallepoovu'' (1977) (lyrics) # '' Anugraham'' (1978) (dialogue) # '' Kondura'' (The Sage from the Sea) (1978) (writer) # '' Thoorpu Velle Railu'' (1979) (lyrics) # '' Pelli Pusthakam'' (1991) (lyrics) # '' Mr. Pellam'' (1993) (lyrics)

Film songs
His film songs are compiled and published by his wife K. Ramalaxmi in five volumes.Arudra Cine Geethalu (1977–1998) – Vol. 5, Kurise Chirujallulo, Compiled by K. Ramalakshmi, Published by Vishalandhra Publishing House, Hyderabad, 2003.

References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aarudhra Indian lyricists Telugu-language lyricists Telugu poets 1925 births 1998 deaths Telugu-language writers Andhra University alumni 20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights Indian male dramatists and playwrights Telugu-language dramatists and playwrights Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Telugu 20th-century Indian poets 20th-century Indian historians Writers from Visakhapatnam Dramatists and playwrights from Andhra Pradesh Indian Marxist writers Indian atheists