Ajjada Adibhatla Narayana Das (31 August 1864 – 2 January 1945) was a multifaceted gem of a talent in diverse fields of learning and forms of fine arts in Madras Presidency, British India.

He was a poet, musician, dancer, linguist, and philosopher with an unparalleled body of work in a wide variety of subjects with great depths.

An embodiment of Bharateeyata (Indian-ness) articulating the universal appeal, touching the unifying chord of Advaita or applied non-duality, among all fields of learning and arts dedicating a full life to study and deliver creative productivity in isolation competing with one-self maximizing his time spent on the planet.

[1] Narayana Das was a linguist with proficiency in as many as eight languages (including Arabic and Persian), poet, philosopher, playwright, composer, dancer, actor and the creator of the unique art form, Hari Katha.

He had mastery over several Indian and classical languages like Telugu, Sanskrit, Tamil, Hindi, Bengali, Urdu, English, Arabic and Persian.

The only songwriter-composer who translated into Telugu and set to music Rig Vedic hymns and the only writer-composer who composed a geeta-malika comprising 90 Carnatic ragas.

Maestros of the musical world honoured him with titles like Laya Brahma and Panchamukhi Parameshwara for his ability to sing to five different Talas, beat with two arms, two feet and the head.

He set to musical notation 300-odd select ruks from the Rigveda in a work titled Ruksangraham and taught playing them on the veena to students but also translated them as poems in Telugu, demonstrating his command in Vedaardham (meaning of Vedas).

An exponent of Harikatha should be able to compose and recite extempore the objective of the performance being to entertain and educate (edutain) both the layman and the erudite scholar.

He began writing what would have been the first autobiography in Telugu and sent the initial chapters, narrating his life story from birth to the age of about thirty, to the printers.

In the parlance of modern behavioral sciences, the term self-actualization is defined as a fundamental tendency to maximum realization and fulfilment of one's potential.

Self-actualization was the leitmotif of Narayana Das's life in all the fields he worked in, be it literature, music or other performing arts such as Avadahanam, and Hari Katha.

Even when he consented to head 'Shri Vijayarama Gana Pathashala', the music college the Maharajah of Vizianagaram founded for the express purpose of honoring him, he insisted that it be treated as a temple for Sri Rama and him as His servant.