M.M. T. Ganapati Shastri, who brought Bhasa to lime light.

 T. GANAPATI SASTRI

 Bhasa, the great Sanskrit playwright was known only by name till  Dr. Mahamahopadhyaya T. Ganapati Sastri (1860–1926), a renowned Sanskrit scholar, discovered the manuscripts of his 13 Sanskrit plays, in a remote village in Kerala.  Dr Shastri had very humble beginnings in Tharuvai, ( Taruvagraharam) in Tirunelveli District of Tamil Nadu.  He belonged to the celebrated family of Appayya Deekshitar, a reknowned scholar of 16^th Century.

Ganapati Shastri,  son of Ramasubba Iyer  left the native town for further education and livelihood, to nearby city of Maharajas,Trivandrum (now Thiruvananthapuram) in his 16th year.  

Birth Place

Located on the banks of Tamraparani river, about 10kms from Palayamkottai, Taruvai village has its own  interesting history.

According to an  Inscription on the walls of the Shiva  temple, scripted in Tamil and Grantham, the village temple was given as a grant by king Sundara Pandyan(1216-1239) about AD 350 acres of land. The temple was built by the said King with Vaazha Vallabha Pandeeswarar as the main deity (Shiva) and his consorts Akhilandeswari(Devi).

The Inscription also indicates this village was known as Koopaka Raya Nallur. It is understood from the Inscription that the village was granted to the king's cheftain Koopakarayan.

The inscription also indicates that rice and milk were supplied from his temple to the Gangaikondan village temple in Tirunelveli District of Tamil Nadu.

 Early Career As A Scholar

In 1903, His Highness Sri Moolam Thirunal appointed Dr. T. Ganapathy Sastri, on looking at his mastery over the Sanskrit language. He was  then Principal of Sanskrit College. He was provided with a   Scribe to  help him to publish the manuscripts under the royal collection.

Next year the first of the Trivandrum series, "Daivam" with Purushakara commentary was published. Though "Bhaktimanjari", the book of hymns composed by His Highness Swati Thirunal, eulogizing the family  deity, Lord  Sri Padmanabha, was printed first, the King wanted the book to be combined along with, "Syanandurapuravarnana prabandha", a realistic portrayal of the capital city, Thiruvananthapuram.

  In the year 1908, the Sanskrit  department came into Independent existence with Dr.T.Ganapathi Sastri as the Head at Lakshmi Vilasam Bungalow,  with an aim to publish not only the royal collections, but also with the view of bringing into light those manuscripts  in the private libraries of ancient  scholarly families.

The department was proud in celebrating its centenary. It is really noteworthy here that Mahamahopadhyaya Dr.T.Ganapathy Sastri, was awarded the degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Tubingen University, Germany for his edition of Bhasa plays for the first time.

Ganapati Sastri was the Principal of the Sanskrit College at Trivandrum, as well as the first Head of the Manuscripts Library of the University of Kerala. He contributed extensively to research and writings in Sanskrit, and is best known for his discovery of the lost plays of Bhasa in 1912, in a small village written in Malayalam Script.  He later edited and published these plays, for which he was awarded a Doctorate in Sanskrit from the University of Tubingen. 

In January 1922, the then Prince of Wales, Edward presented a gold medal to Ganapati Sastri for “literary eminence in Sanskrit”. For all these achievements and more, he was given the title of Mahamahopadhyaya by the Government of India.  

Discovery of Bhasa Plays

While touring Kerala State, searching for Sanskrit manuscripts, Dr Ganapati Shastri came across a palm-leaf codex in Malayalam in a village near Trivandrum.

 Although they carried no name of the author,  he deduced based on internal evidence  like that of Rajasekhara of 9^th century who quotes Bhasa’s Svapna Natakam, that they were all written  by the same author, and concluded that they were the lost plays of Bhasa. This produced a sensation in the scholarly world, and Ganapati Sastri's work was widely applauded. This has been considered "the most important event in the twentieth century Sanskrit literary scholarship".

Last Days

He was involved in bringing to light several other Sanskrit works as well. He discovered and edited the Trivandrum edition of the Arthaśāstra , much before than the Mysore ORI Edition. in 1924–25, with a Sanskrit commentary by himself.

He pointed out that the name of the author was more likely Kauṭalya, which has since been supported by other scholars.

He also wrote Bharatanuvarnanam, a history of India.

 Dr M. M.  T. Ganapati Shastri passed away peacefully at his daughter’s house in the year 1926, in Chennai. His descendents are spread over the globe now. I am indebted to his great grandson & Great grand daughter for most of the above information on this great scholar.