Sri Viswanatha had an elder sister and two younger brothers. His younger brothers were Venkateswarlu, and Ramamurthi.

Sri Viswanatha's thread Ceremony was performed when he was 8 years old and was married when he was 11 years old. He went to Masulipatam town when he was 12 years old to join in the 6th class. By then he had already mastered great lyrical Kavyas 'Bhagavata'& 'Manucharitra'. He was also initiated into writing poetry. A decline in the family riches let his father to think that studying English would help revive the past glory and thus Sri Viswanatha was sent to study in English Schools.

During his stay at Masulipatam, he came under the influence of Chellapilla Venkata Sastry. Pingali and Katuri Venkateswara Rao were his seniors in the high school.

His two brothers, both younger, are eminent Sanskrit scholars in their own right. He had three sisters also. He didn't inherit much property because of his father's charitable and religious disposition. Sobhanadri, Satyanarayana's father used to derive great satisfaction from spending money on construction of new temples, the compassion of Lord Siva, whom he brought from Varanasi and installed in his village and renovation of old ones rather than on the education of his children and for providing material comforts to his family

He is blessed with two sons and three daughters.