rAmasvamI (रामस्वामी) was a great teacher. He had a large circle of loving disciples who adored him not only for his profound learning, but also for the vAtsalya (वात्सल्य) he had for them. Many of them were poets and scholars of no mean order; and preeminent among them stands kerala-varmA (केरलवर्मा) , consort of the king’s sister, rAnI laxmI bAi. He is one of the great poets of kerala (केरल) and the father of modern malayAlam (मलयालम्) literature. In his vishAkhavijaya (विशाखविजयः) , a mahAkAvya (महाकाव्यम्) in twenty cantos describing the life and work of mahArAja vishAkham tirunAl (महाराज विशाखं तिरुनाल्) he tells us that rAmasvAmI shAstrI (रामस्वामी शास्त्री) was his brahmavidyopadeShTA (ब्रह्मविद्योपदेष्टा) and sAhityadeshika (साहित्यदेशिकः).
अगाधधीरथाहूय श्रीरामस्वामिशास्त्रिणम् ।
अहिनक्षत्रजः क्ष्माभृदहिनोत्केरलान्तिकम् ॥
ब्रह्मविद्योपदेष्टारं स्वस्य साहित्यदेशिकम् ।
केरलः प्रतिजग्राह बहुमानपुरस्सरम् ॥
}
sundararAja kavi (सुन्दरराजः कविः) , also a native of ilattUr (इलत्तूर) , had his early saMskR^ita (संस्कृतम्) education under shAstriar (शास्त्री). He was a poet and scholar and has to his credit a number of valuable works in saMskR^ita (संस्कृतम्) literature.
sha~Nkara pillai (शङ्कर पिल्लै) , son of a chief judge of Travancore, was another disciple. He studied vyAkaraNa (व्याकरणम्) and mantrashAstra (मन्त्रशास्त्रम्) under shAstriar (शास्त्री) and became a bhAShA-kavi (भाषाकविः). In the introduction to his devI-bhAgavata (देवीभागवतम्) in malayAlam (मलयालम्) , he refers to his preceptor by the eulogistic term “ilattUr-brahma-jyotis” (इलत्तूरब्रह्मज्योतिः) and pays homage to his many-sided attainments. Once the king asked the poet if his son was studying saMskR^ita (संस्कृतम्) , the latter replied that he had got not one but two sons, meaning his students, ayyappan Potti (अय्यप्पन् पोत्ती / पोट्टी ?) and sha~Nkara pillai (शङ्कर पिल्लै), and that they were studying saMskR^ita (संस्कृतम्) very well. (The late mahAkavi ullUr parameshvara aiyar says that his father was a student of ayyappan potti.)
अगाधधीरथाहूय श्रीरामस्वामिशास्त्रिणम् ।
अहिनक्षत्रजः क्ष्माभृदहिनोत्केरलान्तिकम् ॥
ब्रह्मविद्योपदेष्टारं स्वस्य साहित्यदेशिकम् ।
केरलः प्रतिजग्राह बहुमानपुरस्सरम् ॥
}
sundararAja kavi (सुन्दरराजः कविः) , also a native of ilattUr (इलत्तूर) , had his early saMskR^ita (संस्कृतम्) education under shAstriar (शास्त्री). He was a poet and scholar and has to his credit a number of valuable works in saMskR^ita (संस्कृतम्) literature.
sha~Nkara pillai (शङ्कर पिल्लै) , son of a chief judge of Travancore, was another disciple. He studied vyAkaraNa (व्याकरणम्) and mantrashAstra (मन्त्रशास्त्रम्) under shAstriar (शास्त्री) and became a bhAShA-kavi (भाषाकविः). In the introduction to his devI-bhAgavata (देवीभागवतम्) in malayAlam (मलयालम्) , he refers to his preceptor by the eulogistic term “ilattUr-brahma-jyotis” (इलत्तूरब्रह्मज्योतिः) and pays homage to his many-sided attainments. Once the king asked the poet if his son was studying saMskR^ita (संस्कृतम्) , the latter replied that he had got not one but two sons, meaning his students, ayyappan Potti (अय्यप्पन् पोत्ती / पोट्टी ?) and sha~Nkara pillai (शङ्कर पिल्लै), and that they were studying saMskR^ita (संस्कृतम्) very well. (The late mahAkavi ullUr parameshvara aiyar says that his father was a student of ayyappan potti.)
