Biographical Sketches of Dekkan Poets/Tatachari
TATACHARI.
Tatachari was a poet of the Vystnava seet, he was a native of Kanchi, and so celebrated on account of his virtues and talents, that (according to tradition) he was believed to have been born from the spirit of the god, Vishnu: he flourished in the sixteenth century of Salivahana, and obtained the surname of Kanyadanum, on account of the numerous marriage ceremonies which was performed at the expense of his benevolence. Tatachari wrote a work on philosophy, which he named Satveka Brahma Vidya Vilas, or knowledge of the mild influence of the supreme being. This poet was houosehold priest to the Chandrigire Rajahs, and used to visit them by travelling post from Kanchi: while he was absent from home, his chaste and affectionate wife was in the habits of standing at the gate of their dwelling, waiting the arrival of her husband. One unfortunate day, when she. was at her usual station, some wicked unfeeling wretches assembled round her, and invented a tale, that her husband had met with some accident, and was tilted; the affectionate woman on hearing this false intelligence, fell down in a swoon, and expired. At the usual hour, Tatachari arrived, and beholding the fate of his wife, immediately died of grief, so this amiable couple in one day met an untimely fate. Tatachari was much regretted by all classes of the inhabitants, for, exclusive of his pre-eminent erudition, he was a most affable and benevolent individual bestowing large sums of money on the indigent, especially for marriage ceremonies.