Man in viral image is not famous scholar Dandibhatla Vishwanatha Sastry
An image of a man along with Hitler’s picture and atomic bomb is viral on social media. Users identify the man as Dandibhatla Viswanatha Sastri.
By Satya Priya BN Published on 29 July 2021 10:35 AM GMT
An image of a man along with Hitler's picture and atomic bomb is viral on social media.
Users identify the man as Dandibhatla Viswanatha Sastri.
"One of the greatest vyakarana shastra and Veda pandit of Andhra Pradesh, India was Brahmasri Dandibhatla Vishwanatha Sastry from Rajahmundry. Dandibhatla Vishwanatha Sastry was invited by German scientists who worked for Hitler to decode Sanskrit hymns in Yajur Veda and Atharva Veda during 1938. This was done to design War Missiles before World War II. Viswanatha Sastry was a child prodigy who studied Tarka (logic), vyakarana (grammar), Mimamsa (dilemma) and mastered the entire Yajurveda karma kANDa bhAga and atharveda mantra prayoga bhAga (application part). His portrait is still hung on a wall at a University in Frankfurt, Germany. In 1938, he was summoned to Germany to help in decoding the rahasya mantras which were used for Missile Technology in World War by Germans", reads the message.
Two different images of two different Indian scholars are shared with the same narrative. Users identify the man in both pictures as Dandibhatla Vishwanatha Sastry.
Here is image -1
Here is Image-2
Fact check:
The claim that the man seen in the photograph is Dandibhatla Vishwanatha Sastry is FALSE.
When searched using Google reverse image search, we found that the image -1 has been shared on Flickr with the title "Mayuram Viswanatha Sastri".
When searched using the keywords "Mayuram Viswanatha Sastri", we found a YouTube channel of All India Radio Raagam (AIR Raagam) sharing musical videos under the playlist of Vishwa Geetham along with his photograph. The playlist is a series based on the life and the musical compositions of the veteran musician 'Mayuram Vishwanatha Sastri'.
https://www.youtube.com/
According to `Desibantu.com', Mayuram Vishwanatha Sastri was born in 1893 in Therazhundur near Mayuram. He was interested in Carnatic music from an early age and trained under Namakkal Narasimha Iyengar, Kasavadyam Venkatarama Iyengar of Devakottai, and Simizhi Sundaram Iyer. From an early age, Viswanathan was composing songs. His most remembered composition is the patriotic song 'Jayathi Jayathi Bharata Mata'.
One can learn more on Mayuram Vishwanatha Sastri on Karnatik.com.
When searched for Image -2, we found that it belongs to KS VIshwanatha Sastri, who is a lawyer and took private tuitions in Maths from Ramanujan.
Institute of Mathematical Sciences website shares an article written by KS Vishwanatha Sastri about Mathematics Wizard Ramanujan.
Hence, the person in both photographs is not Dandibhatla Vishwanatha Sastri. Pictures show different scholars belonging to different fields in India.
So, the claim that the man in the viral image is Dandibhatla Vishwanatha Sastry is FALSE.
