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Draft:P. K. Narayana Pillai (born 1910)

  • Comment: The title of this draft either has been disambiguated or will require disambiguation if accepted.
    If this draft is accepted, a hatnote will need to be added to the primary page to refer to this page. If there is already a hatnote on the primary page, please review whether a disambiguation page is in order instead.
    The primary page is P. K. Narayana Pillai. Robert McClenon (talk) 05:35, 18 April 2024 (UTC)
  • Comment: There is confusion between P. K. Narayana Pillai who lived 1879-1936 and this draft for P.K. Narayana Pillai who lived 1910-1990, especially as the listed Bibliography for the older person includes publications well after that person's death. David notMD (talk) 19:00, 11 April 2024 (UTC)
  • Comment: Most of the references are self-published, such as "The Universal Light" (ref) where you have changed the author name from this individual to Nair, yet the cited chapter is "About Author". Please do not try to deceive. References with "my esteemed friend" are not independent. Further, you have put claims out of the blue like principal of such college, without any reference. Most of the references are not available to be cross- checked. The website you have cited [1] has no mention of Pillai.
    Lastly, someone by the same name, similar achievements, same domain, and even listed the same book in his works (The Universal Light) exists at: P. K. Narayana Pillai.
    You have a COI with the subject. Despite being a PhD, you are not able to demonstrate competence. Please understand. Thanks, Please feel free to ping/mention -- User4edits (T) 14:43, 18 March 2024 (UTC)
  • Comment: Please cite proper sources, not indexes in WorldCat. Thanks, Please feel free to ping/mention -- User4edits (T) 09:14, 17 March 2024 (UTC)
This page is about the critic born in 1910. For the critic born in 1879, see P. K. Narayana Pillai.

P.K.[expand initialism] Narayana Pillai was a literary critic and poet of Sanskrit and Malayalam literature,[1][2] As a poet, he was notable for writing mahākāvya, a genre of Indian epic poetry in Sanskrit, and translated important literary works by poets including Kerala Varma Valiya Koil Thampuran.

Youth and education edit

Pillai was born in Thiruvalla, Kerala, on 25 December 1910, to Sri T. Goda Varma of Paliyakkara Palace and Smt. Lakshmi Amma.[3]

He received his M.A. in Sanskrit in 1935 and his M.A. in Malayalam in 1936 from University of Madras, and his Ph.D. in Sanskrit in 1944 from the University of Mumbai.[4] Sanskrit scholars V.M. Apte and Vishnu Sitaram Sukthankar were his teachers.[5] His thesis focused on mantras in marriage ceremonies not in the Rigveda tradition.[6]

Career edit

He was curator of the Oriental Research Institute and Manuscripts Library[7][failed verification] (then the Manuscripts Library of Thiruvananthapuram); it is one of the largest manuscripts collections and leading centers of Indology in India and holds substantial collections of palm-leaf manuscripts of ancient Sanskrit and Malayalam literature.[citation needed] He was appointed Professor and Head of the Department of Sanskrit in the University College, Thiruvananthapuram, in 1952.[citation needed] In 1956 he contributed in the establishment of the Ulloor Memorial Library,[8] in honor of the Malayalam poet Ulloor S. Parameswara Iyer, in Jagathy, Thiruvananthapuram.[9]

In 1957, he was appointed Principal of the Government Sanskrit College.[citation needed] In 1963, he was appointed Professor and Head of the newly created Malayalam Department of the University of Kerala, and was Dean of the Faculty of Oriental Studies.[10] In the final decades of his life, he sought to establish a Sanskrit university in Kerala, serving as the One-Man Commission for Sanskrit University from 1971-72, and then as Special Officer for the Sanskrit University at Kalady, Kerala, from 1985-87.[11] Due in large part to his efforts, the Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit in Kalady was established in 1993.[12]

Personal life edit

In 1940, he was married to Smt. J. Kamalamma, daughter of the Dewan Peshkar, Sri N.S. Raman Pillai and Smt. Janaki Amma. They had three daughters.[13] Pillai passed away on March 20, 1990; he was preceded in death by his wife in September 1989.[14]

Literary works and scholarship edit

Poetry and translation edit

Pillai is the author of the Sanskrit mahakavya Vishvabhānu,[15] which won the 1982 Sanskrit Sahitya Akademi award, and the translator of Kerala Varma Valiya Koil Thampuran's Mayuraduta.[16]

Pillai's Vishvabhānu ("Universal Light") was praised by critic K. Kunjunni Raja, in a 1980 article in Indian Literature. In an overview of contemporary Sanskrit literature, Raja wrote that the epic history of Swami Vivekananda's life was "ambitious" and "interesting". He noted that the work had "550 verses divided into 21 cantos, and uses simple metres like Upajati and Anustubh". He also commented that, in contrast to some of the mandates of mahakavya, "narration is given more importance than description and decorative embellishments". Finally, Raja appreciated the language as "lucid and correct".[15][relevant?]

Pillai wrote Dharmasāgara, a Sanskrit poem on the life of Ramakrishna.[17]

Scholarship edit

Pillai also authored scholarly monographs, including on the Malayalam devotional poet, Ezhuttachan and the classical Sanskrit poet, Kālidāsa.[18] Kairaleedhvani, a book of literary criticism, was called a "rich contribution" in the field of "Indian critical theories and their application to modern works, in a 1980 article in Indian Literature by critic M. Leelavathy.[19] His Kairalee Dhwany as a study of Dhwany siddhantas, in Malayalam literature.[20]

J. Gonda discusses the significance of Pillai's non-Rgvedic mantras in marriage ceremonies (in the context of V.S. Apte's "Rigveda mantras in their ritual setting in the grhyasutras"[21][relevant?]) in the Indo-Iranian Journal.[22][not verified in body]

List of Works edit

Pillai, P.K. Narayana, Dharmasagarah: or The Spritual Sea : A Poem on Sri Ramakrsna Paramahamsa with an English Translation. 2022. Thiruvananthapuram: Sri Ramakrishna Ashrama.

Narayana Pillai, P. K. Kerala Varma. New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi, 1988.

Pillai, P.K. Narayana. Kēralavarmma. Mayūradūtam or the Peacock Messenger: With an English Translation. Trivandrum: P.K. Narayana Pillai, 1984.

Narayana Pillai, P. K. Viśvabhānuḥ; or The Universal Light : A Poem on Swami Vivekananda with an English Translation. Trivandrum: Narayana Pillai, 1980.

P. K Narayana Pillai. 1977. Kairaḷīdhvani. 1st ed. Kōṭṭayaṃ: Vidyārtthimitr̲aṃ Bukkuḍippō.

Narayana Pillai P. K. 1970. Pratibhānam; a Collection of Research Papers Presented to Dr. P.k. Narayana Pillai Professor of Malayalam and Dean Faculty of Oriental Studies University of Kerala ... on His Sixtieth Birthday 23rd December 1970. Trivandrum: Dr. P.K. Shashtipoorthi Committee; copies can be had from: Kerala University Co-operative Stores.

P. K Narayana Pillai and El̲uttaccan El̲uttaccan. 1984. Harināmakīrttanaṃ. Kōl̲ikkōṭ: Mātr̥b

P. K Narayana Pillai and El E Ravivarmma. A Descriptive Catalogue of Sanskrit Manuscripts in the Curator’s Office Library Trivandrum. Trivandrum: Printed at the V.V. Press Branch.

Narayana Pillai P. K. 1974. Kālidāsa : An Assessment by Ānandavardhana. Hoshiarpur: Vishveshvaranand Vedic Research Institute.

Narayana Pillai P. K. 1971. Pr̲ācīnamalayāḷa Gadyamātrkakaḷ Ranṭạ̄mpatipp ed. Tiruvanantapuraṃ: pr̲asiddhīkaranạvakuppȧ Kēraḷasarvvakalāśāla.

Narayana Pillai P. K. 1970. Pr̲abhātasāhiti.

Narayana Pillai P. K. 1969. Saṃskārakautukaṃ. S. l. Kōṭṭayaṃ: Nārāyaṇapiḷḷa : vitaraṇaṃ Nāṣanal Bukkst̲t̲āḷ.

Narayana Pillai P. K. 1968. Āśānr̲e Hr̥dayaṃ. Trichur: Bharathiya Sahitya Samithi.

P. K Narayana Pillai and Ezuthachan. 1967. Cintāratnaṃ. Trivandrum: P.K. Narayana Pillai.

Narayana Pillai P. K. 1958. Non-Rgvedic Mantras in the Marriage Ceremonies.

P. K Narayana Pillai. 1951. Seṣasamuccaya : With Vimarśini of Sankara. Trivandrum: University of Travancore.

P. K. Narayana Pillai. 1949. Introduction to Jānāśrayī Chandoviciti. Trivandrum: University MSS. Library.

Sastri, Anantakrishma, P.K. Narayana Pillai. Aitereya Brahmana: with the vrtii Sukhaprada of Sagurusisya. Trivandrum: University of Travancore, 1942-55.

Nārāyaṇa Piḷḷai P. K, L. A Ravi Varmā, K Sāmbaśiva Śāstrī, and K Śāstrī. Veda Śrauta Smṛti and Puraṇa. Trivandrum: V.V. Press Branch, 1937.

References edit

  1. ^ Subramonia Iyer, S. Sanskrit Dramas. India: Sundeep Prakashan, 1984.
  2. ^ Nampoothiri, Easwaran. Sanskrit Literature of Kerala. Trivandrum: Nindi Punj, 1972.
  3. ^ Nair, Ramachandran (2022). "About the Author". The Universal Light [The Universal Light]. Thiruvananthapuram: Sri Ramakrishna Ashrama. p. 19.
  4. ^ Nair, p. 19.
  5. ^ Nair, p. 20.
  6. ^ Raghavan, V. (1959). "Sanskrit Literature". Indian Literature. 3 (1): 95–99. JSTOR 23333648. In the field of critical research studies and monographs on Sanskrit subjects as well as editions of Sanskrit texts, individual scholars produced some works which should be mentioned: P.K. Narayana Pillai, Trivandrum, published a thesis on Non-Rgvedic Mantras in Marriage Ceremonies.
  7. ^ "ORIMSS – Oriental Research Institute and Manuscripts Library". 2023-01-17. Retrieved 2024-03-17.
  8. ^ Nair, R. Raman (February 2007). "Ulloor Digital Archives: Project Report, version 2.5" (PDF). Center for South Indian Studies. p. 9.
  9. ^ Handbook on Cultural Institutions in Kerala. ed. Babu John. India, Department of Culture, Government of Kerala, 2009. p. 46
  10. ^ Nair, p. 21.
  11. ^ Nair, p. 23.
  12. ^ Nair, p. 23.
  13. ^ Nair, p. 19.
  14. ^ Nair, p. 22.
  15. ^ a b Raja, K. Kunjunni (1980). "Sanskrit: Continuing Inspiration". Indian Literature. 23 (6): 130–34. JSTOR 23330267.
  16. ^ Kunjunni, Raja K. (1985). "The Sanskrit Scene: A Broad Spectrum". Indian Literature. 28 (6): 138–43. JSTOR 24158216.
  17. ^ Tapsyananda, Swami (1990). "Introduction". Dharmasāgarah: The Spiritual Sea: A Poem on Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa in Sanskrit with English Translation. Trivandrum: St. Joseph's Press.
  18. ^ Chunder, P.C. "Foreword." The Universal Light. Trivandrum: V.V. Research Institute Press, 1990. p. 11-12; Nair, Ramachandran. "About the Author." P.K. Narayana Pillai. The Universal Light. Sri Ramakrishna Ashrama, 2022. p. 18.
  19. ^ Leelavathy, M. (1980). "Malayalam: Literature v. Counterfeits". Indian Literature. 23 (6): 16–23. JSTOR 23330255.
  20. ^ Tharakan, K. M. (1979). "Malayalam: New Sensibility and the Great Tradition". Indian Literature. 22 (6): 125–44. JSTOR 23333579.
  21. ^ Apte, V. M. (1939). "The Ṛg-veda Mantras in their Ritual Setting in the Grhya Sutras". Bulletin of the Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute. 1 (1): 14–44. JSTOR 42929227.
  22. ^ Gonda, J. (1972). "Some Notes on the Use of Vedic Mantras in the Ritual Texts of the Vaikhānasas". Indo-Iranian Journal. 14 (1/2): 1–31. doi:10.1163/000000072790078686. JSTOR 24651348.
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