Mahadeva Sastri hails from a family of renowned scholars: he was the son of Korada Ramakrishnaiya,[7][8] the first Telugu scholar to work systematically on Comparative Dravidian Linguistics, the great-grandson of Korada Ramachandra Sastri,[9][10] author of the first original Telugu play 'Manjari Madhukariyamu'.

His academic lineage is equally impressive: he was a student of world renowned linguists Suniti Kumar Chatterji,[11][circular reference] Sukumar Sen, Kshitish Chandra Chatterji at Calcutta University, and famous historian K.A.

Mahadeva Sastri was highly influenced by the erudition of his father and his teachers, the speeches of Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, and the personality of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi with whom he worked closely as a volunteer (1946-1948) at the Charka (spinning wheel) Center in Karolbagh, Delhi.

He participated in Gandhiji's evening prayers at Birla House on Albuquerque road, later renamed Tees January Marg.

(1961) for his thesis “Historical Grammar of Telugu” under the guidance of Dr. Suniti Kumar Chatterji from Calcutta University.