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The national conscience of our people, their love for their dear motherland and indeed their great veneration for their ancient heritages have never before manifested themselves in such a high degree as they are today. This noble spirit of national pride and love which is sweeping over the land at the present time is as deeply penetrated as it is widespread. There is not one branch of our activities – political, social, religious, artistic or literary – which it has not affected in some measure at least. While politically this national conscience has been roused to a remarkable high degree it is to be very much regretted that it has not shown itself to the same satisfactory extent in the preservation and spread of those priceless and revered heritage inheritances, those countless books and writings in Sanskrit and in other vernaculars by that noble band of sages, rishis, poets and kings whose footsteps we have the good fortune to follow today in this dear land of ours. These books which were written when other nations were either not dreamt of or were still barbarians are the wonder and amazement of the nations of the present day and have been the fountain, the perennial fountain, from which modern society and modern government have to drink deep. It is of the utmost importance and, indeed, it is the nation’s duty that it should lose not a moment’s opportunity in making every effort to save this most valued of gifts which is sure to be lost and forgotten through the ravages of time.
The various other nations which have grown up since our time have developed their own institutions and their own literature, art and thought. A comparative study of these is essential to us today if we desire that our knowledge of the world and its peoples should be founded on a wider and more solid basis.
Lastly it is necessary that we may keep ourselves abreast of the times a great deal more of assimilating the thought and works of other nations. The achievements of the world’s nations in science, technology, arts and philosophy have got to be familiarised to our countrymen by means of translations of books in foreign languages on these subjects.
The preservation of our national culture and heritages, the comparative study of international thought and literature and the assimilation of foreign achievements in the sciences and arts are thus the three very important duties which have fallen upon our countrymen at the present time and which offer a wide scope for that abundant national activity which is seeking newer and newer channels every day along which to flow. Except for the spasmodic and occasional attempts of this or that Indian State, of this or that provincial Government whose sympathies often varied according as this or that man who was at the helm of affairs, there has been no organised and central body in this land of ours to do these, the most important, the most noble and the most patriotic of duties though organisations with far less noble and much less pretensions to a national cause have sprung up of late and have found ready support.
To meet this desideratum this limited liability Company is formed with a capital of three lacs of rupees divided into 4000 shares of Rs. 50 each and 10000 shares of Rs. 10 each with a view to start a big central All-India Printing and Publishing House whose sole concern will be to fulfil the above-mentioned three very important duties.
The promoters in their efforts to found such a central organisation have made their labours easy by resolving to purchase as a going concern the Sri Vani Vilas Press of Srirangam, that well-known firm of publishers and printes of ancient and national literature founded eighteen years ago, who have laid all Indians under a deep debt of gratitude by the zeal and enormous amount of work they have exhibited in bringing to light many hitherto unpublished classics in Sanskrit and Tamil which have won the approbation and even the admiration of eminent scholars throughout the world, a selection of whose opinions is appended hereto.
The Press is fully equipped with the latest machinery in every department of the printing and publishing line and has got its own process, electro, stereotyping, gilding, dye-stamping and other allied departments.
It has till now published several rare and valuable books and the present stock of the published works on hand is about one and a quarter lacs of rupees while the vlaue of the works in the Press and of those under preparation will be about a quarter lac of rupees. The value of the plant together with all appurtenances is about Rs. 65,000 and the value of the stock of unprinted paper on hand is about Rs 20000. The goodwill, copyright etc. may safely be valued at Rs. 1 lac.
While thus the value of the Press, its publications, goodwill etc. is estimated at about Rs. 3,35,000, the proprietor, as a true nationalist and in consideration of the patriotic work undertaken by the Company, has agreed to part with the whole concern for just Rs. 1½ lacs which is exactly half the capital with which the present Company intends doing work and which barely covers the value of the printed books and the stock of unprinted paper on hand. The gain which thus accrues to the Company at the very outset is not one of any small measure as practically the whole plant is obtained without any cost especially during these days when machinery is very scarce and dear.
The Press at present is found to earn Rs. 1,500 a month and deducting the working expenses it is not too much to expect a dividend of at least 6 per cent from the very commencement on the capital of Rs. 1½ lacs invested on it. The Press is also running a weekly, the Hindu Message, an independent journal whose chief aim is to preserve the Indianness in the Indian. The Company is free to run the Journal on the same lines either as a weekly or as a daily.
An agreement will be entered into between Mr T K Balasubrahmanya Aiyar the proprietor of the Sri Vani Vilas Press and the Hindu Message, on the one hand, and the Sri Vani Vilas Syndicate Limited on the other, whereby the former will convey and transfer the goodwill of and all his proprietory rights in the Sri Vani Vilas Press (exclusive of the building) and the Hindu Message with all their assets including all existing contracts to the Sri Vani Vilas Syndicate Limited in consideration of the sum of Rupee 1,50,000 only to be paid in cash...
It is earnestly hoped that every Indian with the least spark of the national spirit in him who desires to preserve the cultural unity of his race will find his way to subscribe for at least one share in the Company and, thus, participate in a scheme which is as noble as it is national, which is as patriotic as it is profitable.
(Sd.)
N.D. Subbarama Iyer
M.R. Seturatnam
S. Rm.M.Ct. Pethachi
S. Sivaramakrishnan Iyer
T.K. Balasubrahmanyam
(Managing Director)
29.7.1922
Views on the Sri Vani Vilas Press
• Sir Asutosh Mookerjee, Judge, High Court, Calcutta: I have for many years past felt the deepest admiration for the excellence of the Work accomplished by the talented founder of the Sri Vani Vilas Press and I have felt it my duty to visit the institution during my brief stay at Trichinopoly. I feel convinced that all Indians may legitimately take pride in the manner the great task has been carried out and the self-sacrifice it has involved. The Memorial Edition of the works of Sankaracharya would, by itself, justify the hightest approbation of all scholars.
• Babu Bipin Chandra Pal: Through the kind courtesy of Mr. Balasubrahmanyam the Proprietor of the Sri Vani Vilasa Press, I was able to look over the numerous valuable works published by it. The selection, compilation, and arrangement of the publications speak highly of the education, culture, and critical discrimination of the Proprietor who is also the editor of most of the publications, while the get-up speaks very highly of the printer's art which the Press evidently commands.
• Rao Bahadur V.T. Krishnamachariar: I have this day renewed my acquaintance with this Press. For years Mr. Balasubramania Iyer has been, at great self-sacrifice, publishing our classics in a style which would do credit to the best publishing firms in the West.
• Mrs. Annie Besant: All lovers of Sanskrit know the exquisite printing of this press, and know also the devotion and the self-sacrifice which make sacred its work.
• Dr. F. Otto Schrader, Ph.D: Mr. T.K. Balasubrahmanyam, Proprietor of the Sri Vani Vilas Press at Srirangam, is one of the most prominent publishers of Sanskrit Works in Southern India. His Memorial Edition of Sri Sankara Acharya's Works (20 Vols) is really admirable. His "Sastra Series" the latest volume of which is Venkatanatha's extensive and valuable commentary on the Bhagavadgita, contains only noteworthy and hitherto unpublished works and is edited very neatly and accurately.
• Hon'ble Mr. P.S. Sivaswamy Aiyar, C.S.I., C.I.E: Your edition of the Kutuhala Vritti is a scholarly work and the get-up is worthy of the reputation of your press. It goes without saying that your publications are excellently well got-up, quite unlike the coarse unattractive style of Sanskrit Publications generally.
• Rao Bhadur M. Rangacharya, M.A: I am glad that you are continuing the labour of love in bringing out worthy and valuable Sanskrit Publications. The accuracy and artistic get-up of the publications of the Srirangam Sri Vani Vilas Press are widely known and recognised; and the help you are rendering through them to the development of Sanksrit Scholarship and the unearthing of buried literary treasures of the past is indeed very considerable. The fact that unaided you have done so much so well, is convincing proof to me that your hands deserve to be strengthened by adequately bestowed aid. I think you ought to seek aid from all those who are interested in the cause of India's ancient learning and are in a position to give the needed aid.
• Mr. S. Kuppuswami Sastrigal, M.A.: I am glad to be able to bear testimony to the excellent work which the Sri Vani Vilas Press, Srirangam, has been doing for the past ten years. The Press has conferred on the world of Sanskrit scholars an inestimable boon by bringing out correct and critical editions to many rare and hitherto unpublished Sanskrit works, with the co-operation of many eminent Sanskrit scholars.
Hon'ble Mr. T.K. Seshagiri Aiyar: You are doing excellent service to the cause of Sanskrit Literature. You are yourself a good scholar and you have resolved to devote your life to the work you have taken in hand. I know personally some of the men who assist you and the work of discriminative editing cannot be in safer hands. For neatness and typographical accuracy, there is none in the whole of India which can excel yours and I say this with complete knowledge of the various publications from all parts of India.
• The Madras Mail: The Sri Vani Vilas Press of Srirangam has been helping the cause of the advancement of Sanskrit Literature, and its admirable publications of valuable classical works have been the means by which Sanskrit knowledge has been more widely disseminated. Several ancient works, chiefly on Mimamsa and Vedanta, of great literary merit and value, which were hitherto supposed to have been lost, have been unearthed by the energy of Mr. T.K. Balasubrahmanya Aiyar and the Pandits associated with him and made available to the Public.
• The Hindu: That this extremely useful work (Kutuhala Vritti) is now brought to light for the first time is due to the untiring efforts of the Sri Vani Vilas Press at the resuscitation of all that is rare and precious in the field of Sanskrit literature.
• The Sri Vani Vilas Press, Srirangam, have published this edition (Kavyalankarasutra Vritti) and their name is a guarantee for everything excellent in publications of this kind. The publications are no common literary critics.
• Louis H. Gray, Esq., Newark, USA: I can very conscientiously say that it (Vasavadatta) is one of the most admirable editions I have over seen from an Indian Press.
• At the end of the meeting, he asked me to drop in his house for a chat sometime. My regret is that even before I could fulfil my promise to him, he passed away.
• Gopulu for all his talent as a cartoonist, for all the name and fame he achieved, remained till the end a humble, jovial and friendly person. He was humility personified. The world of art and artists and advertising will surely miss him.
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