Udupi: Senior scholar and Padma Shri awardee Bannanje Govindacharya passed away on Sunday morning, at Ambalapady of Udupi district.
The 84-year-old scholar died of age-related issues said sources. He had become a household name due to his immense knowledge on Madhwa Tattva.
He had lost his son couple of days ago.
Born in 1936, Govindacharya is an authority on Kannada and Sanskrit languages. He had written several books in both the languages. In 2009 he was honoured with Padma Shri.
He has not only written several commetaries on religious texts, but has written several books and translated several ancient sanskrit texts to Kannada.
He has written Bhashyas/ commentaries on Veda Suktas, Upanishads, ShataRudriya, BrahmaSutra Bhashya, Gita Bhashya and was an orator.
He was one of the greatest exponents of Bhaagavata chintana and has commented on the philosophical meaning of Bhagavata and other Puranas.
Even though by birth he was the follower of Madhavacharya, he had studied Mayavada and other philosophies and then read Madhavacharya’s Tattvavaada.
Bana Bhatta’s book, Kalidasa’s ‘Shakuntala’, ‘Shudraka’s Mrichakatika’ were translated by him in 2001. This earned him Sahitya Akademi’s award.
He also wrote dialogues for three Kannada movies on Madhwacharya, Shankaracharya and Ramanujacharya.
Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa had condoled the death of Govindacharya.