Krishna Rao was born in a Brahmin family in 1879 in Mutnuru village of Divi taluk, Krishna district of erstwhile Madras Presidency. He lost his parents when he was very young. His father was a district munsif. He was brought up by his paternal uncle. He completed his primary education in Hindu high school, Bandar. He studied F. A. course in Noble college, Bandar. Raghupathi Venkataratnam Naidu was one of his teachers. Rao was influenced by his ideology and used to attend the meetings of Brahmo Samaj.
