D.V. Gundappa: A Profile by Dr. S.R. Ramaswamy

Source: prekshaa series

[[D.V. Gundappa: A Profile by Dr. S.R. Ramaswamy Source: prekshaa]]

Note: This is the first part of the English translation of a series profiling D.V. Gundappa’s life and legacy authored in the original Kannada by Dr. S.R. Ramaswamy, part of his essay collection titled “Divatigegalu.”

“Do you have a notebook?” asked DVG when I went to see him one evening. When I said “yes,” he made me write this verse:

अज्ञस्य दु:खौघमयं
ज्ञस्यानन्दमयं जगत् ।
अन्धं भुवनमन्धस्य
प्रकाशं तु सुचक्षुषः॥
ajñasya du:khaughamayaṃ
jñasyānandamayaṃ jagat ।
andhaṃ bhuvanamandhasya
prakāśaṃ tu sucakṣuṣaḥ॥
(To the blind, the whole world is darkness; to the one who has eyes, the whole world is full of light.)

DVG (17 March 1887 – 7 October 1975) was the pennant of the grand mansion of Kannada literature. There is no doubt that his memory will remain for a long time in the minds of the Kannada people. He had earned the affection of people for a variety of reasons. On the one hand he indulged in the joyous sport of literature and poetry and profound philosophical contemplation on the other. On one side was his epicurean spirit of art and on the other was public service. His talent would sometimes turn towards political commentary and at other time, it would veer in the direction of social reform. It would sometimes proceed in the form of an independent and original discourse and in other instances, would spring forth as commentaries on the Vedas. DVG was an exception to the satirical note that “those who can’t understand philosophy will become poets.” He had penetrating scholarship in political science, economics, linguistics, Vedanta, and matching talent in poetry. His accomplishment was truly stunning. However, he never contorted his face with irritation in any work he did; he would laugh and make others laugh. Food, music, literature—DVG had digested the topmost quality in all these. Observing this, V. Sitaramaiah would frequently compare DVG to a giraffe: “Its neck is long. It eats nothing but the topmost foliage. It is beyond the reach of people like us!”

Precept and practice – DVG would constantly think about life situations in which there was a mismatch between the two. There are several people who are intelligent but are not virtuous; likewise, there are numerous people who are innately virtuous but lack knowledge of any subject.

DVG had a deep and genuine appreciation for the essence of the simple lives of villagers. His constant refrain: “Our Dharma has survived due to these simple people; due to the rustic devotees of ‘Munishwara’ who are unaware of urban sophistication.”

One of the great strengths of DVG was his vast connect with people. His firm conviction was that all that literature was useless which didn’t bring contentment and enthusiasm among people. He labored throughout his life to spread awareness among people.

On occasion, V.K. Gokak said this: “About fifty or sixty years ago when the entire country was mute, DVG spoke for the first time, he raised his voice. After that, others felt that even they should speak up. DVG first got inspired and then he became an inspiration himself.”

Acquaintance with Scholarship

DVG was inspired in his childhood by the speeches and writings of Swami Vivekananda, the pioneer and architect of India’s Dharmic Renaissance, and those of Max Mueller. As a result, love for scholarship, and conviction in literature grew deep roots in him. He gave special emphasis on earning knowledge and sought the company of scholars and pandits. By a combination of divine providence and incessant self-effort, he obtained such company. Till the end of his life, DVG remembered with gratitude the traditional Dharmic scholars and pandits who gave a concrete shape to both his mind and vision of life.

Mulabagal Venkatarama Bhatta, Chappalli Visweshwara Sastri from Bangalore, Motaganahalli Shankara Sastri, Hanagal Virupaksha Sastri, and other towering Vidwans of their stature; exponents and connoisseurs of music and other art: DVG repeatedly said that all these eminences stood as his inspiration. We can say that this acquaintance with scholars and connoisseurs together with his astonishing study of a vast range of books was also the reason why he possessed a harmonious blend of mastery over various Sastras and an innate literary heart.

DVG assimilated within himself the full benefit of this association with scholars and Vidwans. The mastery he derived over Sastras as a consequence of this association gave both authority and clarity to his thought of which his body of writing is the clearest proof.

In January 1970, the Kannada Sahitya Parishad organized a seminar on DVG. Learned discourses were delivered on DVG’s personality and works by luminaries such as V. Sitaramaiah, T.T. Sharma and M. Mariyappa Bhatta. Masti [Venkatesha Iyengar] was the chairman of the seminar.

V. Sitaramaiah opened his speech as follows: “The name of this great man itself is ‘Gundappa.’ One characteristic of a round [Gundu=round] or circle – any point can become the center, anything can become a boundary! Which is the starting point or the ending point of a circle? This is the difficultly that confronts us when we begin to speak about Sri Gundappa. Where do we begin? Where do we end?”

T.T. Sharma: “Each time I think of Sri Gundappa, the picture that arises in my mind is that of a vast banyan tree. Both its branches and roots are endless.”

Lively Literature

The same difficulty confronts even those who wish to write about DVG: his multifaceted nature. Journalism, creative literature, social service, political debates – in this manner, DVG had earned the love and regard of people. His various facets compete with one another in significance. Equally, owing to his profound vision, divisions like politics-literature, and philosophical-social sound artificial. At the root of the variety of his accomplishments lies harmony and completeness.

ಅತ್ತಲ್ ಬುದ್ಧಿವಿಚಾರಮು- ।
ಮಿತ್ತಲ್ ಲೋಕಪ್ರಸಕ್ತ ಹೃದ್ವಿಕಸನಮುಂ॥
ಯುಕ್ತಮಿಹಾ ಸಂಸ್ಕಾರದಿ - ।
ನಾತ್ಮದ ಸಾರ್ವತ್ರಿಕತ್ವಮನುಭವಮಕ್ಕುಂ ॥
attal buddhivicāramu- ।
mittal lokaprasakta hṛdvikasanamuṃ॥
yuktamihā saṃskāradi - ।
nātmada sārvatrikatvamanubhavamakkuṃ ॥

Journalism, creative literature, and dissemination of good literature – perhaps there are very few who have labored for such a prolonged period as DVG did in these and related areas.

Poetic joy was an inseparable part of DVG inner realm. A major portion of his poetry is a playful exposition derived from the circumstances of life, which gave rise to certain thoughts in his mind. A big reason for the immense popularity of his Mankutimmana Kagga is the fact that its sentences and similies create an echo of familiarity in the minds of its readers. DVG had given this aphorism in one of his discourses: “The mark of abiding literature is to offer an echo to the complaints, fights, and acrobatics in the daily life of humankind. Gestating heat generates poetry.”

Accordingly, he devoted substantial amount of energy to the creation and dissemination of good poetry (in the sense of literature). However, he devoted a hundredfold more energy to the study of subjects like politics and economics, constantly examined administrative policies and practiced the kind of journalism, which this sort of work demanded.

Writing about the musical quality of the Bhagavad Gita in his Gita-Tatparya work, DVG professes his philosophy as follows:

ಸತ್ಯಾನ್ವೇಷಣೆ ಶಾಸ್ತ್ರಂ ।
ಹೃತ್ತೋಷಣೆ ಕಾವ್ಯಮ್, ಅಂತು ಮತಿಮನಗಳ ದಾಂ - ॥
ಪತ್ಯದ ಫಲಮಧಿರಸರುಚಿ ।
ಯಾತ್ಮಾನಂದಮದು ಶಾಸ್ತ್ರಕಾವ್ಯಾನುಭವಂ ॥

satyānveṣaṇe śāstraṃ ।
hṛttoṣaṇe kāvyam, aṃtu matimanagaḻa dāṃ - ॥

patyada phalamadhirasaruci -।

yātmānaṃdamadu śāstrakāvyānubhavaṃ ॥

(Sastra is the quest of truth. Poetry is the delight of the heart…)

Nationalism and literary work were harmonized within DVG in this manner.

“That beauty of the theme and that beauty of a lofty quality in the creation of a poet which gives us joy…that divine beauty, that effulgence…it must be the attempt of a statesman to bring all these in solidified form into the daily lives of the people.”

DVG has expressed this same opinion in the opening lines of his essay collection, Sahitya Shakti (Strength of Literature) memorably:

ರಾಮಣೀಯಕವೆಂದು ಬಿಸುಸುಯ್ಯಲದು ಕವಿತೆ ।
ಭೂಮಿಗದನೆಟುಕಿಸುವೆನೆಂಬೆಸಕ ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರಕತೆ ॥
ಆಮೂಲಮದರರಿವನ್ ಅರಸಲ್ ಅದು ವಿಜ್ಞಾನ ।
ಸಮಗ್ರ್ಯದಿಂ ಕಾಣಲ್ ಅದುವೇ ದಿವ್ಯಜ್ಞಾನ ॥
rāmaṇīyakaveṃdu bisusuyyaladu kavite ।
bhūmigadaneṭukisuvenaeṃbesaka rāṣṭrakate ॥
āmūlamadararivan arasal adu vijñāna ।
samagryadiṃ kāṇal aduve divyajñāna ॥
Poetry is that which evokes a sigh of joy at its beauty
Nationalism is that which makes a person to bring that beauty to the earth
Science is that which makes a person investigate it thoroughly
Divine Knowledge is that which makes a person regard all of these in a harmonious spirit.

[[D.V. Gundappa: Wit, Humour and Compassion Source: prekshaa]]

The long years of service that DVG rendered variously as the member of the Municipal Council (1915-16), Legislative Council (1927-40), Mysore University Senate (1927-42), Mysore State Reforms Committee (1938-39) and other expert committees was inspired by this selfsame spirit of all-encompassing dedication to the nation. The index finger that shaped and guided his life was the following verse which he used to repeatedly recall:

jñāninā caritum śakyaṃ
samyag rājyādilaukikaṃ

Only the real Jnani (Wise) can harmonize the vicissitudes of both Government and worldly affairs.

This verse by Sri Vidyaranya and Gopalakrishna Gokhale’s famous ideal, “public life must be spiritualized” are good signposts to understand D.V.G’s life and accomplishments. D.V.G. has expounded their foundational treatises and methods of practical application in books such as Rajyashastra, Rajyangatattvagalu, Rajakiyaprasangagalu, and countless newspaper columns.

Wit and Humour

It is not incorrect to claim that D.V.G’s personality, like his works, was amazing. Simple living. Unceasing literary penance. Highly principled but unsterile conduct. Friendliness. Love of the arts such as music. Respect for scholarship. Humour and fun. Non-envious. Selflessness. Constant meditation on national interest. For all these reasons, D.V.G’s personality was far loftier than his published writings. To those who had the fortune of seeing him at close quarters, he was a mine of wonder. Several folks used to liken him to the [Samuel] Johnson of Kannada. Be it any episode, any person, a whole slew of humorous anecdotes fitting the occasion would flow forth from him. Extraordinary memory was among the boons that God had granted D.V.G. An incident that had occurred years ago, a random person he had met somewhere, a song someone had sung, an information he had gathered from somewhere – D.V.G. would never forget even the tiniest detail. The moment it touched his ear, it stayed recorded till eternity. Epigrams (in verse/sloka), satirical poems, bizarre personalities, crooked habits of famous people – D.V.G. was able to narrate all these plentifully.

D.V.G had the mental proclivity to unfailingly spot an opportunity for humour even in episodes involving history and great personalities. It was a grand feast for those who engaged in conversation with him. Majority of all such humourous chats remained as conversations and were never printed (Indeed, there were many portions that were unprintable!).

His Jnapakachitrashale (Art Gallery of Memories), the pen portraits of various people he had known, originally appeared in serialized form in various magazines. These were later compiled into individual volumes. It is here that D.V.G’s sense of humour is most pronounced. It was not uncommon for this humour to creep in conversations with and letters to friends.

Sometime in the mid-1960s, one evening, a conversation was in full flow as usual. D.V.G’s age was approaching eighty. He said to me: “It is true that I’m facing some difficulties obviously due to old age. In spite of this, till the time we have the friendship of a few people, the enthusiasm for life will not ebb. At times, I do get upset. The reason for getting upset—friends who had stood with me in sorrow and joy are passing away one after the other. If I feel happy reading a good poem or essay, who do I share it with? B.M. Srikantaiah? T.S. Venkannaiah? A.R. Krishna Sastri?” It can be said that this trait of friendship was the marked characteristic of D.V.G’s personality. The lustre that animates D.V.G’s literary endeavours came precisely from this life-quality.

“Sri Gundappa is himself a beautiful epic poem of humanity,” said Masti on an occasion.

His intimacy was equally distributed across the society ranging from eminent people right up to the proverbial ordinary masses. When we think about this facet of his personality, it appears that literary work was just a minuscule aspect of his life.

No class of people was unfamiliar to him. Blacksmiths, flower-sellers, weavers, barbers – he had the ability and the felicity to talk to such people for hours on end. For a few days, it was our routine to take a short walk around the surrounding streets of Gandhibazar and head towards the Gokhale Institute. In those days, we would encounter someone almost at every ten steps. Whether they were vegetable vendors or carpenters, D.V.G. would pause for a couple of minutes and enquire the well-being of that individual.

On one occasion, K.S. Haridasa Bhatta commented that sitting with D.V.G. was akin to sitting in the Time Machine of H.G. Wells.

The ideal and intent behind all literary and social work of D.V.G. was to construct an environment conducive for leading a life of integral equanimity. Scholarship; compassion; philosophical outlook; healthy interest in worldly affairs; intellectual inquiry; conviction in tradition; talent; hard work – very few people have blazed a lofty trail of harmonizing all these traits within them. D.V.G. deeply respected the ancient tradition of Bharatavarsha. However, he was not an inert practitioner of orthodoxy. When the mass movement demanding temple entry for Harijans was launched in the 1930s, D.V.G. advocated in the Legislative Assembly that the Government must support this reform from the perspective of social good (26 January 1937).

Melting Compassion

Several people are aware of the fact that D.V.G. exerted the maximum impact in shaping me and influencing my life. The Divine providence showered upon me is the twenty-plus years of close association with D.V.G. I continue to feel that this is the great fortune of my life. He taught me to lead an equanimous life. He taught me social accountability. He taught me how to distinguish between the sturdy and the hollow. He taught me contemplation and study. He regarded literature as the extension of a life of values. Even in situations involving extraordinary difficulty and extreme adversity, his magnanimity did not fade. I haven’t seen anyone else who had such total involvement with society. The kind of unwavering serenity he displayed even in several pernicious situations astonished me.

However, despite possessing such indomitable inner hardiness, I have also witnessed several instances where his heart melted. If we narrate a couple of instances where he cried profusely, it is possible to imagine his personality.

In the aftermath of D.V.G. getting the honorary doctorate (1961), a lady from Shimoga wrote him a letter. Her husband had just died. “Is it mandatory for widows to shave their head? What do the Sastras say?” This was her question. D.V.G. visualized her plight and wept profusely. Then he wrote a few words consoling her; he told her his opinion that there was absolutely no basis in the Sastras to support the practice of tonsure.

Another episode. The Gokhale Institute of Public Affairs had organized a discourse by Sri G.P. Rajarathnam. In those days, Sri Rajarathnam was an immensely popular speaker. The audience was jampacked. After the lecture concluded, D.V.G. stood up to deliver the vote of thanks as was customary. Speaking about the greatness of the topic and the beauty of Rajarathnam’s exposition of it, D.V.G’s voice became choked. He couldn’t control the teardrops. After a while, he addressed the audience: “Kannada is such an elegant language! I will bow down to all of you and say this – Kannada is a language that deserves all of our love! Retain your attachment for it, grow your love towards it, please don’t let go of this language.”

I recalled these instances merely by way of example. The company of such people endows us with true Samskara [culture, refinement].

*****

It is not the intent of the present essay to survey D.V.G’s life and body of work. The limited scope here is to attract attention to some facets that highlight a few métiers of his personality.

[[The Nationalism of D.V.G and the Problems of the Princely States Source: prekshaa]]

DVG practiced journalism for an unremitting seven decades; from the beginning, he fiercely upheld the nationalistic spirit in both speech and writing. From 1913-1920 when D.V.G. was editing the English biweekly Karnataka, this was the tenet that he declared: “The newspapers of our country need not imitate their counterparts in America or other foreign countries. Our papers need to conduct themselves in a manner that is consonant with our social circumstances and the nature and traditions of our people.”

Gopalakrishna Gokhale was the inspiration for D.V.G in such matters of patriotism, objective viewpoint, and intellectual integrity. The elders of the Servants of India Society established by Gokhale counted D.V.G. as an unofficial member and placed immense respect in him.

D.V.G. would become highly emotional whenever any mention was made of the Vande Mataram song. As far as he was concerned, he regarded this as our national song for decades on end and esteemed it as such. Before 1912, he had translated this song into Sanskrit.

D.V.G had included this Sanskrit translation in his poetry collection titled Vasantakusumanjali published in 1922. When India became independent in 1947, D.V.G. authored a poem titled Swatantra Bharata Abhinandanastava (An Ode Celebrating India’s Independence). He did not forget to recall the Vande Mataram song in the closing verse of this ode.

About three or four years before he passed away (1975), D.V.G had requested the music Vidwan, S. Chennakeshavayya to set an appropriate Raga for the Sanskrit version of Vande Mataram.

A Criticism

Sir Henry Cobb was the Resident back then. On one occasion, he paid a visit to the public library in Cubbon Park at about four in the evening. A disturbance had broken out when D.V.G arrived there at about five-thirty as usual. The library was subscribed to Annie Beasant’s New India and B.G. Harniman’s Bombay Chronicle papers. The ruler Cobb’s anger erupted when he saw these two papers, which were prominent organs of the national freedom movement. He apparently yelled, “Why are you subscribing to these poisonous tracts? Throw them out right now!,” and went away.

D.V.G. learnt of this episode from the folks present there. On the very next day, he unleashed a scathing criticism: “What right does this British Resident have to interfere in this institution established by the Mysore Government for the public benefit of the citizens of Mysore? Who is he to meddle in this matter?”

An incensed Cobb indicated to the Government to punish the Karnataka paper. Sir M. Visvesvaraya sent this letter to D.V.G through his secretary S. Hiriyannayya and ordered Hiriyannayya to reply to it.

Such episodes occurred quite frequently.

A Response to the Mischief of The London Times

The tactics employed by the British Government to stifle the Indian freedom movement were numerous. The strategy of the British was to somehow create fissures among Indians. They birthed the spurious theory that India was not a single country and that the nationalist feeling among Indians would be born sometime in the future. They fostered this theory for several decades precisely because of this reason. The British propagandized these self-centered arguments with such effectiveness that even a good number of well-meaning Indian elite had accepted them uncritically and echoed the British propaganda. It was but natural that the wealthy class and the conservative sections of the British society supported the British Government. The Times paper published from London, too, belonged to this group.

In 1919, the Times paper published a series of articles. Its tenor was as follows: What is known in India as nationalism is just the selfishness of the Brahmins. The Brahmins oppose Western civilization in order to establish their superiority, that they are equivalent to the Divine. In order to uproot Western civilization, the Brahmins are using as a tool the nationalist movement inspired in the West.

In July 1919, D.V.G. wrote an extensive series of articles in Karnataka condemning this mischievous tract published by the Times. Perhaps it was also D.V.G’s intent to infuse some wisdom among the Indian people through this article. One can savour the force of his argument, his analytical skill and beauty of language in this series.

Princely States

As a political commentator and analyst, D.V.G’s name and fame had spread even outside the borders of Karnataka. As early as 1915, D.V.G had earned widespread respect as the foremost among a handful of Indians who could speak with authority on the special problems concerning the Princely States. His writings on the various facets of this subject had attracted the attention of world-famous experts of political science such as Prof Berridale Keith and Indian constitutional experts like Sir P.S. Shivaswamy Iyer. The other person who keenly appreciated D.V.G’s scholarship was “Deenabandhu” C.F. Andrews. D.V.G’s political commentaries were widely cited in the famous papers in England.

The other notable accomplishment that D.V.G. did through the Karnataka paper was the following. In those days, the freedom movement was largely confined to British India. He brought the nature of the special problems of the Princely States to the notice of the country’s leading thinkers and the British Government. Such was the depth of his understanding in the field that D.V.G.’s name occupied the top position in the list of a handful of well-known scholars at the national level who could speak on it. For about thirty years, the topic that occupied D.V.G’s mind was this – the future of the Princely States and their citizens in the era of independent India.

In pre-independence India there were about three or four different categories of regions:

1. Those that were known as ‘Provinces’ – Madras, Bombay, etc 2. The Princely States – Mysore, Hyderabad, etc, which were under the rule of the Maharajas. 3. Mixed regions – Coorg, Bhopal, etc 4. A few islands and ‘kingdoms’ with an area less than fifty square miles: these were 336 in number. Of these, 300 had a population of less than 5000 people. Then there were 376 states with an annual income of less than one lakh rupees. Overall, about 2/5^(th) (7,12,508 square miles) of the total area of India (18,08, 679 square miles) was under the control of Princely States.

Despite this glaring reality, several thinkers like D.V.G. had to labour for a prolonged period to bring attention to the British that it was essential to keep in mind the special circumstances of the citizens of the Princely States in any deliberations about the future of India.

Whenever the problem of the Princely States came up, the British Government would brandish the old treaties that they had made with these states. However, this was just a ruse. This was also among the other tactics that the British used in order to postpone taking a decision. The number of Princely States that existed back then was 562. Of these, the number of states that had made the treaties with the British was just 40. The remaining 522 were not bound by any such treaty. Besides, the aforementioned 40 treaties were merely in name. They were not subject to any recognized legislative rule or law. They were akin to reminder letters written at some vague period in a remote past, a record meant to facilitate the carrying on of mutual relationships in an amicable fashion. The political customs and occurrences ever since had made them obsolete.

The British Government exercised its political power in a wanton manner. After the Diwan of Travancore, T. Raghavayya retired in 1925, the British Government appointed Maurice Watts, a Barrister in London to his position.

As mentioned above, the reason the British Government put forward to reject India’s demand for freedom was this – the treaties and agreements that existed with the Indian Princely States. The truth of this argument apart, it was essential purely from the Indian standpoint to reach a decision about the Princely States and the future of their citizens.

[[D.V.G: The Unrivalled Expert on the Problem of the Princely States Source: prekshaa]]

The Rule of the Maharajas

The situation in the states ruled by the Maharajas were not really praiseworthy.

Bhopal was a Hindu-majority state as long as it was under the suzerainty of the Gonds – until Mohammad Khan captured it. By the beginning of the 20^(th) century, the situation had declined so badly that not even one percent of key administrative posts was in the hands of Hindus.

Only a handful of Princely States like Mysore, Travancore, Kochi, and Baroda had accepted the principle of people’s representation and established representative assemblies. Because of this, it became a vogue to call such Princely States as “progressive” states. For example, writing about the Maharaja of Kashmir, the infamous Sir Hari Singh, Bombay Chronicle (20 October 1925) said: “The Maharaja of Patiala’s fame has been tom-tommed because he purchased the world’s most expensive car. The Mysore Maharaja is praiseworthy for his wisdom, orthodoxy, and enthusiasm for paving the way towards and efforts in the direction of establishing a Constitutional government. Kashmir is as large as Travancore. However, in literacy, Travancore is miles ahead of Kashmir.”

In 1911, Tukojirao Holkar ascended the throne of Indore. Although he exhibited some enthusiasm for the state’s development, by 1919, the administration was completely neglected. The number of schools established in 1925 were a paltry 29. In the same period, the number of licenses given to new liquor shops was 107.

Suppression of Rights

The Kings of various Princely States used to mercilessly suppress the fundamental rights of their own people. For example, in 1925, the Maharaja of Jodhpur issued an order to compulsorily register all typewriters in his state because “some people are writing complaints that are false or baseless or anonymous and thereby wasting the time of the officials.” Mocking this order, New India asked (9 May 1925): “From now on, will the use of pens and inks also be prohibited?”

The Maharaja of Jodhpur was a frequent visitor to England. When some eminent public persons questioned this licentious behavior, they were exiled without conducting the due process of inquiry. But the main reason for this exile was the fact that all these persons were the founders of the Marwar Hitakarini Sabha, a voluntary people’s representative body.

The penchant of the Maharajas to visit Europe for improving their health had become the butt of jokes. In a lecture delivered on 8 January 1925 in a political conference at Kathiawar, Mahatama Gandhi said: “The King of Mountains, the Himalayas, Ganga, Sindhu, Brahmaputra Rivers that flourish in this country – lakhs of people who are completely healthy in this country – won’t the health of the Kings be served in this country?”

Controversies

There existed a ceaseless and internecine conflict between the Princely States of Nabha and Patiala. The Nabha Government had gone so far as to foist false allegations against some officials of the Patiala State and had even punished them. The death dance of corruption was in full swing in the administration. Owing to all this, in 1923, the British Government issued an order asking the Maharaja of Nabha to step down from power.

Writing about Nabha, D.V.G. mentioned its former Maharaja in the March 1926 edition of the Karnataka paper. Furious upon reading this, Maharaja Ripudaman Singh wrote a strong letter of objection to D.V.G. He asked: “How can you address me as a ‘former’ Maharaja?” To which D.V.G. replied: “It is my practice to use the technical term, ‘Maharaja’ to refer to any person who is ruling according to Constitutional norms. The Government of India’s circular dated 7.7.1923 says, ‘The Maharaja of Nabha has desired to give up administrative responsibilities.’”

In this manner, several episodes presented themselves in which D.V.G. had to wage such verbal battles against various Maharajas.

There were also numerous experiences that were the exact opposite of these. Several Maharajas who foresaw and understood the inevitability of democracy in India sought D.V.G.’s advice regarding reforms in the administration of their respective kingdoms. For example, when the Maharaja of the Paltan Princely State requested Sir M Visveswaraya’s advice, the latter entrusted this job to D.V.G. The Maharaja not only appreciated D.V.G’s recommendations, he implemented a majority of them and in later days, continued an intimate letter correspondence with D.V.G.

Being thus endowed with great foresight, D.V.G. was one of the prominent public persons who incessantly strived to draw the attention of both the public and the British Government to the various facets of this complex problem of the Princely States. Other eminent people included G.R. Abhyankar from Sangli, A.V. Patwardhan, Dr. Hulyalkar and Madhavrao Lele from Jamkhandi, N.C. Kelkar and D.V. Gokhale from Pune, and Pandit Satavalekar from Aundh.

A Preface to Independence

Large-sized Princely States, or federations of small states must be recognized as units of the Indian Republic; a declaration had to be issued stating that democracy was the goal of every State, i.e. to have a responsible government; the geographical unity and integrity of the large states who didn’t wish to join any federation had to be maintained intact and an optimal amount of their autonomy had to be preserved; the traditional rights and privileges of the royal families had to be continued as before; their powers were to be recognized as equal to that of the titular/constitutional monarchs in England and elsewhere; a tribunal had to be established in order to resolve conflicts and disputes arising between the states and the union government; citizens of the Princely States had to enjoy the same rights and have the same electoral role as those enjoyed by the citizens of British India. Not only did D.V.G in great detail, put forward suggestions in this direction, he also underscored the urgency of their implementation and the long-lasting methods for doing the same.

King George V had founded the Chamber of Princes, a body to protect the interests of the Princely States. A prominent member of this Chamber was the Maharaja of Bikaner. The series of open letters that D.V.G. wrote in 1917 to the Maharaja of Bikaner was responsible for spreading his fame to the remotest kingdoms of India. Equally, the appeal that D.V.G. wrote to E.S. Montague in 1918 attracted the attention of the most brilliant minds of the country. In the same year, D.V.G. also sent a resolution to the Special Session of the All India Congress.

[[D.V.G’s Himalayan Service to Public Life: The Anti-Partition Champion Source: prekshaa]]

Public Organisations

The public meeting that took place towards the end of 1919 was organized by D.V.G. In the South Indian Princely States Conference held in 1929 in Travancore, D.V.G was the secretary to its president, Sir M. Visvesvaraya.

In the People’s Conference of South Indian States held in May 1925 in Pune, in the All India States People’s Representative Conference held in December 1927 in Mumbai, and on numerous such occasions, D.V.G’s opinions were sought and discussed.

In 1927, the Indian States People’s Conference, a pan-Indian organization was established under the leadership of Ellore’s Diwan Bahadur M. Ramachandra Rao. D.V.G. was appointed as the representative of the South Indian Princely States. This gathering included such luminaries as Balwant Rai Mehta from Bhavnagar, and G.R. Abhyankar from Sangli. D.V.G. played a promient role in a similar people’s assembly of the Princely States that took place in 1921.

In the middle of 1928, the famous Motilal Nehru Report about the problems of the Indian Constitution that was published under the pretext of the All Parties’ Conference was severely criticized by D.V.G. He said that this report consoled itself by condemning the Maharajas of the Princely States in an entertaining manner and that it paid no attention to the real problems of the citizens or to the fundamental and complex constitutional issues.

When Babasaheb Ambedkar spoke in the Second Round Table Conference in London, he cited D.V.G’s writings.

Butler Committee

In 1928, the British Government formed a committee under the presidentship of Sir Harcourt Butler in order to examine the issue of reorganizing the Princely States. The Mysore Government requested DVG to put forward arguments on behalf of Karnataka (i.e. the Mysore Princely State) before the Butler Committee. By this time, DVG had already attained widespread renown as an expert on this matter. Much before the actual meeting, DVG had already written a critique that the Terms of Reference in itself had a lacuna.

A Committee member, Holdsworth put this question: “You said that once the citizens of the Princely State are granted constitutional rights, the responsibility of the British Government ends. However, when the people of the state do not carry on the administration effectively, shouldn’t the British government step in?”

DVG: “People are aware of their own interests much better than others. If they commit an error due to lack of experience, they will correct themselves. This self-education is also an organ of Responsible Government.”

Butler, Holdsworth: “So you say that Responsible Government is the best among all administrative methods?”

DVG: “Isn’t this the same view of the British Parliament? That administrative system which is regarded as the best for the British, how will it be improper for British India? Of late, we have the instance of H.G. Wells and others critcising British democracy. In spite of that, my faith in that system hasn’t diminished.”

Sydney Peal: “Do you mean to say that all the subjects of all Princely States should become part of British India?”

DVG: “I did not say that. My argument is that the people of the Princely States are deserving of the rights available to the citizens of British India. Taking cognizance of this is an important step in the direction of the country’s constitutional reorganization.”

Cabinet Commission

During the 1935-45 decade, Indian leaders and British officials had assumed a hardened stance towards each other. As a result, the deliberations about the constitution had more or less come to a standstill. It was infused with renewed life during March – June 1946 with the arrival in India of a delegation of three British Cabinet members (Pethick Lawrence, Stafford Cripps, A.V. Alexander). This was the Cabinet Mission. The specialty of the constructive suggestions offered by Pethick Lawrence lay in rejecting Churchill’s naked espousal of Empire and agreeing that India was qualified to obtain freedom. The other specialty lay in rejecting the demand for Partition and upholding the indivisibility of India. However, Churchill stuck to the formula that if at all the British had to leave India, it would do so only after partitioning it. The Viceroys Linlithgow, Wavell and Mountbatten implemented this formula with extreme craftiness.

When India was partitioned according to the “Mountbatten Plan,” it brought tremendous grief to DVG. He said with great dejection: “Perhaps the Congress had no other alternative. But Mountbatten had alternatives.”

Opposition to the Creation of Pakistan

DVG opposed the creation of Pakistan till the very end. In 1945, DVG repeated his argument in reply to a series of questions posed by Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru: “I am totally opposed to the idea of erecting a State on the basis of a religion.” Later, he reaffirmed the same thing in numerous writings on the subject. Writing in February 1946 in a book titled All-India Federal Union, he said:

We must completely oppose the demand for Pakistan. (1) It is an endeavor to create a state based on people’s sectarian loyalty. This is dangerous. (2) It will be unable to solve the problems of the minorites. Because even Hindus, Sikhs and Christians will also need to live in Pakistan. (3) Because resources will be diminished, it will only result in problems for Pakistan. (4) Since untold antiquity, it has been recorded that from the Himalayas up to Sri Rama Setu, this is the land of Hindus. (5) If India will be partitioned, it will become a toy in the hands of foreign powers. (6) In this matter, if the principle of a plebiscite is accepted, it will be akin to laying the foundation for splintering the country. Some crazy group at some time in future might demand independence for itself.

In analyzing the failure of the Simon Commission and the Shimla Conference and various other episodes, DVG fiercely castigated the appeasement attitude of Congress leaders in his writings, speeches and appeals to the Government. Writing about the Shimla Conference in 1945, he said, “The obstinacy of Jinnah and the Muslim League is not new. During the discussions in the wake of the Cripps Mission, Wavell had himself observed this obstinacy. Still, instead of giving it a fitting reply, Wavell has fallen into the same path in Shimla, as before.”

In order to forget the deep pain he felt at the country’s partition, DVG immersed himself in relief activities held in Bangalore towards the close of 1947 aimed at helping the Punjab refugees.

[[DVG as a Constitutional Reformer and Inspiration from Tyagaraja Source: prekshaa]]

When the world-renowned scholar, India-aficionado, and multifaceted expert on various art forms, Ananda Coomaraswamy was asked to deliver a message regarding India’s independence, this is the note he wrote from America: “Be yourselves. Tread on the path showed by Mahatma Gandhi, Kumarappa, D.V. Gundappa and Ramana Maharshi.”

Political Reforms in Mysore

DVG directly involved himself for several decades in the politics of Karnataka (then, Mysore State). Several Diwans regularly sought suggestions and advice from DVG. For fourteen years (1927 – 1940), DVG was active as the Member of the Legislative Council of Mysore. His guidance was available to various government committees and officials.

In 1938-39, the Mirza Government appointed a committee under the chairmanship of K.R. Srinivasa Iyengar to examine the changes to be introduced in the Constitution of the Mysore State. As a member of this Expert Committee, DVG played an extremely notable part. Owing to his farsightedness, his thorough preparation, and deep scholarly study, DVG exerted a profound influence on both the Chairman and other members. On any matter, if DVG’s opinion differed from that of the others, he ensured that the difference was made part of the record. Ultimately, when the final report was submitted to the Diwan at the end of August 1939, D.V.G submitted his elaborate tract titled, Dissenting Notes, a compilation of his disagreements along with it. even today, this volume of dissenting notes is worthy of study for students of political science.

Although a state’s administration is carried on by the Cabinet of Ministers, it must have as its foundation the support of legislators and general public. Before the introduction of any Bill, it must have the endorsement of the majority of the Vidhana Sabha in principle. In conducting the business of the Vidhana Sabha, there should be an opportunity to enlist the services of external experts – these were some of the points that DVG repeatedly emphasized.

DVG fiercely opposed the suggestion of giving separate voting rights for the Muslim and Christian communities. Such moves would erase the feeling of harmony among the people and give rise to sectarianism; even without such separate voting system, India had a long tradition of social harmony in various kingdoms – DVG put forward these arguments very effectively.

Post-Independence India

After observing twenty-five years of post-independence India with his own eyes, DVG said the following words around 1970:

“The hunt for votes, the greed for profit, the celebration of strife – this has been the great fortune bestowed on our country by the new system of politics – the extent of distance between the written word in books and the real-world experience has now become crystal clear…in those days, we couldn’t even imagine how despicable human nature would become when confronted with the bounty of power…
Sri Krishna has said in the Bhagavad Gita, “Prakrutistvaam niyokshyati.” Thus, our accomplishment is directly proportional to our innate nature [Prakruti]. We have not understood our innate nature. We have merely increased the scope for avarice present in nature. Desires and wants have grown and self-restraint has been declining…
The real freedom of people is this: providing an opportunity and facility to enable the natural flowering of the noble strengths among the citizens and an unfettered development of honest and dignified self-effort.

Retirement from Politics

DVG who had been a Member of the Legislative Council of the Mysore State as long as Mirza was the Diwan – that is, for fourteen years – desired to retire from politics after Mirza’s term ended.

From now on, I will live in peace and contentment through the pursuit of serious study or writing or some similar activity.

This was his resolve. However, scores of DVG’s friends were completely unhappy with his decision to retire. Friends like K.T. Bhashyam and others insisted, asking him to contest elections and said that they would make all arrangements like canvassing, arranging money for [election] deposits and so on. DVG had to kindly assent to get elected – this was their insistence. When this pressure escalated, DVG requested them to give him a day to think over the matter. Contemplating on what his exact duty in life was, DVG was strolling alone in Cubbon Park that afternoon. From afar (from a loudspeaker in a marriage hall), this Tyagaraja Kriti, sung by some random musician, fell on his ears:

oka māṭa oka bāṇa
oka patnīvratuḍe ।
oka cittamu galavāḍe
oka nāḍunu maravakave ॥
One Word, one arrow
Attached to One wife ।
Endowed with One Mind
You never forgot these even for One day॥

The moment he heard these words of Tyagaraja, DVG’s original decision solidified. He resolved that he would not change the decision that he had originally taken no matter the cost.

However, even after he retired from politics, his conviction of spreading awareness and energy among the people never dimmed. To this end, he established the Gokhale Institute of Public Affairs and developed it.

[[DVG Brings Gandhi to Bangalore for the First Time Source: prekshaa]]

Organizer of Society

One of the vows of DVG’s life was to infuse dynamism in society. He made one or the other attempt in this direction for about fifty or sixty years.

Around the decade of 1910, DVG lent his wholehearted support to numerous endeavours that encouraged widow remarriage. Chakravarthy Venkatavarada Iyengar who established the Abalashrama in Bangalore had DVG’s active participation that contributed to its growth. In several widow remarriage ceremonies, DVG personally donned the attire of a tradition Purohit, chanted the wedding mantras that he knew and officiated the marriage. The atmosphere in those days was not conducive to enlist the services of traditional Purohitas.

******

People who aspired to become doctors also needed to be acquainted with good literature—those who lacked knowledge of literature would find it difficult to understand human nature: this was the opinion of Dr. K. Gundanna, the renowned doctor in the Bangalore of those days. He informed DVG that this message had to be propagated widely. DVG was highly impressed by his argument. Whenever he found the opportunity, he advocated it (those in official positions listened to it but continued to remain silent!).

DVG continued to make such and related attempts from time to time. It was rare for factory workers to find opportunities to imbibe the finer aspects of culture; that it was the duty of the management to create an conducive atmosphere where the attention of the workers would flow towards culture and refinement; that due to this, the competence of the workers would only be enhanced and that this ultimately would only prove profitable to the management – he endorsed this point in the numerous letters that he wrote to prominent businessmen. These suggestions earned great esteem from organisations such the Bell Telephone Company in America.

It was DVG who invested great effort to organize Gandhi’s first ever public meeting in Bangalore – in May 1915 through an organization named Social Service League, which he had himself founded. This programme was attended by luminaries not just from Bangalore, but was also graced by Mysore’s M. Venkatakrishnayya (‘Tatayya’) and “Natyakalaaprapoorna” Sri Raghavacharya from Bellary. The event became a great milestone in the public life of Bangalore.

Although DVG disagreed with various political stances of Mahatma Gandhi, he had been impressed by the loftiness of Gandhi’s personality. This kind of mental serenity is possible only for persons endowed with an inner life that has attained ripeness.

DVG published an appeal in his Karnataka paper to assist Gandhi’s Satyagraha in South Africa. In response, he collected ₹ 1800 and sent it to Gandhi through the Madras-based publisher and journalist, G.A. Natesan.

Gandhi’s son, Devdas Gandhi was close to DVG. On one occasion, DVG invited Devdas Gandhi to his home, extended warm hospitality to this guest and honoured him.

(An interesting tidbit in this connection: in those days, DVG’s father was staying with him. It was his father’s habit to ask of any new guest, ‘which people are you?’ ‘what varna do you belong to?’ and so on. DVG cooked up a story saying, ‘He is an illustrious man from Gujarat,’ and pacified his father.)

Gorur Ramaswamy Iyengar recalled an incident in which DVG wore khadi and participated in a programme aimed at showing support for Gandhi’s Salt (Dandi) Satyagraha.

DVG once told me this: “Whenever I think about Gandhi, I recall the words F.W. Meyers said in connection with Mazzini.” (The words: “Our admiration and adoration for Mazzini is so great that we would not that little men should so much as praise him.”)

There was an empty room adjoining the Irish Press owned by K.S. Krishna Iyer in Siddikatte in Bangalore. It was in this room that the Popular Education League was born thanks to the idea seeded by DVG, M.G. Varadachar and others. It had a library and every Sunday, a discourse by an eminent person was hosted here. On some occasions, poetry recitation and exposition was also conducted. On Deepavali, sweets and clothes were distributed to helpless leprosy patients in the Magadi Road Leprosy Hospital and a couple of other hospitals in the city. These were among some of the achievements of the Popular Education League. This institution carried out truly praiseworthy services for about four or five years and then shut down.

A Night School was established in the name of Gopala Krishna Gokhale in Kemmangundi Road (today’s Good Shed Road) for the benefit of millworkers. After running the school for about three years, the management of the school was handed over to the Government. With that, the Popular Education League met its death.

Another institution that began in the selfsame Krishna Iyer’s Irish Press was the Bangalore Study Club. DVG, Dr. K. Kunhikrishnan (from the Agriculture Deparment), C.S. Anantapadmanabha Iyer (high school teacher) and others lent their enthusiastic cooperation to this endeavor as well. The arrangement was as follows: all the friends (read: members) had to meet once a month, have meals, discourses, and discussions. In the end, it was said that meals gained the upper hand over discourses and discussions and the attempt had to be abandoned.

Yet another such attempt was the Mysore Mahajanasabha which began in 1917-18. Its purpose was to make a thorough study of public problems disregarding caste differences and write a detailed appeal to the Government regarding these problems. Rao Bahadur K. Srinivasa Rangachar, the retired chief of the postal department was the chairman of this institution for some time. Members included eminent people like the lawyer A.R. Nageshwar Iyer, C. Krishnamurthy, and the litterateur, M.S. Puttanna.

A detail related to the functioning of the institution:

The purpose of the Mysore Mahajanasabha is to meet on Sundays. But at what time? Sri Srinivasarangachar’s objection is that the Rahukala will set in if we meet at 4:30 in the afternoon. If we decide to meet at four, it is too early. Lawyers don’t have free time even on Sundays.
In this manner, we had elaborate discussions and finally arrived at a decision: we shall begin to have snacks at four! Which means the meeting would have begun before 4:30 PM. By the time the items have all been consumed and it is time to begin the speech, the time would be 4:30. Because the meeting would have begun much earlier, the trouble of Rahukala will not exist.
However, the folks who would be present during snack time wouldn’t be present when the meeting started. They would cite some excuse and depart.

Although such experiences occurred incessantly, DVG didn’t give up his attempts and persisted for several years.

[[The Evolution of DVG’s Jivana Dharmayoga Source: prekshaa]]

The Mysore People’s Convention that convened in Bangalore in December 1919 under the aegis of the Mysore Representative Assembly was largely the result of DVG’s enthusiasm. More than three hundred eminent people hailing from various parts of Karnataka attended the Convention. Some names include M. Venkatakrishnayya, C. Narasimhayya and B. Narasinga Rao, from Mysore, C. Srinivasa Rao and Vasudeva Rao from Chickmagalur, S.R. Balakrishna Rao, K. Shankaranarayana Rao, and C. Subba Rao from Shimoga, S. Venkateshayya and Nanjundayya from Hassan, C.B. Gopala Rao, T. Srinivasachar, and M.S. Ramachar from Kolar, M.R. Nageshwara Iyer, M.P. Somashekhara Rao, Attikuppe Krishna Sastri and others from Bangalore. All of these eminent people played an important part in the deliberations of the Convention. K. Srinivasarangacharya was the head of the Welcoming Committee.

The main objective of the Convention was to examine and discuss the reforms proposed by the Montague Chelmsford Report that had been published just a few days ago. The Chief of the Convention was the retired Deputy Commissioner M. Changayya Shetty.

The following are the key decisions accepted by this three-day Convention: expansion in the civil liberties of the citizens; a place for people’s representative in the Ministerial Cabinet; revision in the Indian political system so that Mysore obtains its rightful place in Indian politics.

DVG also played a key role in organizing the States People’s Conference of the Princely States that was held in Bangalore in 1931. The Princely States were to systematically make way for Representative Government in their dominions; the Princely States had to become partners in the pan-Indian political system and integrate with it—this was the stand taken by the Chairman of the Conference, G.R. Abhyankar, the renowned political philosopher and principal of the Pune Law College.

As the Vice Chairman of the Kannada Sahitya Parishad (1933-38), DVG’s role in expanding the institution’s scope of activities is quite familiar. Therefore it is unnecessary to elaborate this point here. Numerous activities like the Special literary festival, Kannada Teachers’ Training workshop, and Gamaka classes were initiated as the fruit of DVG’s enthusiasm.

DVG offered full encouragement to scores of other initiatives like forming the Karnataka Journalists Association, Shorthand Writers Association, and the Ramayana Publishing Committee.

The Social Service League that DVG had founded in 1915 took rebirth in 1945 as the Gokhale Institute of Public Affairs. Till date, this Institute continues to work towards educating people in order that they become good nationalist citizens and to conduct unbiased study of civic issues. As long as he was alive, DVG was the life-breath of this institution and laboured night and day for three decades to nurture it.

Study Circle

Conducting a study circle every Sunday morning for all our benefit was a work of deep and abiding conviction for DVG. I can’t recall a single day in twenty-five years where he missed it. In the period when the Gokhale Institute was housed in an old building adjoining Pamadi Subbarama Shetty’s house near Netkallappa Circle, on numerous occasions when DVG was suffering from high fever, he would call all of us to his home and imparted lessons in a semi-supine posture in the front room.

Among others, the study of the ten principal Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita went on unremittingly for several years. The kind of deep and lasting bond that this study developed among DVG and all of us is truly extraordinary. It would transport us to an entirely different world. “kasminnu khalu vijñāte sarvamidaṃ vijñātaṃ bhavati?” “kathamasataḥ sajjāyeta?” It appeared to us as if we ourselves used to ask such lofty questions and seek answers to them on our own.

DVG did not make elaborate preparations before conducting these sessions. He had studied all these philosophical subjects in the traditional manner under the tutelage of “Vidyanidhi” Hanagal Virupaksha Sastri. Plus he was endowed with extraordinary memory. He would expound on the meaning of the Upanishadic verses with us. Complementary verses, analogies, examples from daily life…all these would flash to him without effort, in a torrential fashion. The kind of joy we derived from these expositions is something that needs to be experienced only by listening to them firsthand. All of us who were part of the study circle would eagerly anticipate the arrival of Sunday.

By the time the Bhagavad Gita sessions began, the number of participants had grown to the size of a small assembly. It included numerous Mothers as well. The timing of the study circle was shifted to evening in order to cater to everybody’s convenience.

After completing the study of each verse in detail and we revised the entire Bhagavad Gita once more including summaries of each chapter (1962-63). Its collected form is the (Kannada) work Srimad Bhagavad Gita Tatparya [or Jivana Dharmayoga] published by the Kavyalaya publishing house based in Mysore. Prior to this, it appeared as a series in the Kannada weekly, Prajamata.

The various phases during which the proofreading and revision of the text were ongoing were the most enthusiastic and happy days of DVG’s life. This was a lofty work, which was essential for our people – his mind was filled with this feeling of fulfilment. Even as the Bhagavad Gita series was being published each week, the number of letters that DVG used to receive from thinkers and enthusiasts from various towns and cities and villages was innumerable. DVG would unfailingly reply to every single question. In this manner, this became a sort of longstanding Movement which it was never intended to be when it began.

[[Facets of the Spiritual Independence and Equanimity of DVG Source: prekshaa]]

There was no dearth of humorous instances during the Sunday study circle. Besides, it was not in DVG’s nature to waste a single opportunity that afforded a humorous element in it.

On one occasion, DVG said in a circumstantial fashion: “If a person is given a name, it has to be appropriate. Look at me for example. It was entirely fitting that I was named Gundappa [in Kananda, Gunda/Gundu literally means ‘round.’].” He pointed to the slim Sri G.N. Joshi, a friend who was present at the gathering and said, “Will it be appropriate if he was named Gundappa?”

G.N. Joshi instantly stood up, folded his hands and said:

“You must forgive me. My full name is Gundappa Narayana Joshi.”

DVG: “Inappropriate! Inappropriate!”

One Sunday morning, the moment he arrived, DVG laughingly narrated an incident that had occurred en route, in this fashion: “As I left home and walked adjacent to the Mallikarjuna Temple and when I was close to Acharya Pathashala, a youth of about twenty-five years seated on a cycle said, ‘Where is East from here?’ He appeared educated. I couldn’t understand his question immediately. Was he talking about yeast that is used in making bread and other food? When I asked him to repeat the question, I understood it – this great man was asking about the easterly direction. I pointed to the sun and said, “See sir, how bright the sun is shining. That is the eastern direction.””

However, the story didn’t end at that.

A permanent member of our study circle Sri A. Lakshmisagar said:

“Oh! – you’re narrating this as if it’s something special sir! Come with me to our Bar Association sir. I’ll you at least ten such people there.”

Journalism

DVG’s labours in journalism and literature began roughly around 1908. His adventure named the Bharati newspaper and the biography of Diwan Rangacharlu were published just a few years later. Before this, a Benami open letter, a critique of Diwan V.P. Madhava Rao’s administration which he had authored saw a record ten thousand copies, which were distributed in the Madras Session of the Congress. DVG’s age hadn’t crossed even twenty at this time. When he started the Karnataka biweekly, DVG had attained a stately age of twenty-four. From then on, he incessantly authored newspaper columns, wrote and published countless appeals and open letters. He began various papers, and founded institutions. After Karnataka, he started Indian Review of Reviews, then Karnataka Janajivana Mattu Arthasadhaka Patrike, then from time to time, Tracts for the Times (an introductory booklet), and from the 1940 decade onwards, the monthly titled Public Affairs.

It was DVG’s habit to call himself a journalist primarily. The major portion of the fruits of his intellectual labour found expression through the numerous papers and magazines he ran for decades, and to a lesser extent through full-length literary works. He constantly published his socio-political commentaries and analyses in prestigious papers like The Hindu.

The biweekly English paper, Karnataka, which he founded and ran successfully from 1912-20 brought him widespread acclaim and popularity. His name became familiar and much-discussed beyond Karnataka and even in the scholarly circles of England. Each issue of that paper was filled with extraordinary topical wealth. Even today, after scores of decades, these issues are packed with articles that are fit for serious study.

The featured story of the 29 November 1915 issue of Karnataka was titled, Rammohan Roy, Vivekananda and Indian Nationalism.

In 1915, Karnataka published several unpublished letters of Diwan Rangacharlu.

The occasion was the publication of Annie Beasant’s book, How India Wrought for Freedom. In this backdrop, DVG published a series of articles in the 1917 issues of Karnataka expounding on the various facets of the Indian freedom struggle in South India in the beginning of the 19^(th) Century. This predated Annie Beasant’s account which begins in 1884. DVG unearthed and documented the efforts and struggles of eminent patriots like Gajulu Lakshminarasu Chetty, Madras Native Association, C. Purushottam Mudaliar and others who had been buried under the sands of time. The series of efforts of these people foreshadowed the establishment of the Indian National Congress Party by three or four decades. DVG has observed in numerous places about the unavailability of the required source material for these essays even in places like the Imperial Parliament. In this manner, we can make a guess about the kind of troubles that he undertook in writing these historical essays.

In 1918, he published a series of articles documenting the path trodden by the Mysore Princely State since 1800 based on extremely rare primary sources. These articles also analysed the administrative specialties of the regime of Commissioners.

On the occasion of Sir M. Vishvesvarya’s retirement as Diwan, DVG published an in-depth analytical survey of the administrative tenure of all the Mysore Diwans till then. These essays exhibit DVG’s deep knowledge of the subject, his broad-minded vision and his sense of history.

In the April 20, 1921 issue of Karnataka, DVG cited Rabindranath Tagore’s essay, Swadeshi Samaj.

When London Times published a perverted article condemning Indian nationalism, DVG wrote a series of articles rebutting it. This has been quoted at length elsewhere in the present article.

As recent as 1969-70, DVG wrote detailed essays in publications like Sudha and Prajavani explaining the meaning of concepts like Freedom and Democracy. When I joked about this saying, “For sixty years, you wrote about politics and now you’re beginning from the scratch!” He laughed, “What can I do? I am a propagandist!”

****

DVG gained enormous popularity from journalism. Along with it, he also gained tens of thousands of rupees worth of debt.

DVG’s negligence of financial matters landed him in trouble on several occasions. At one time, DVG had to feel the need to consult Nittur Srinivasa Rao’s lawyerly skills to get out of the clutch of a printing house. On two or three occasions, he had to resort to legal help to receive the money he was owed for his writing.

“I have the satisfaction of not having the occasion to seek help from anyone. I printed my first book, Rangacharlu at my own expense – by writing a document and taking a loan therefrom. I later repaid the loan.”

G.A. Natesan from Madras gave numerous suggestions to DVG about making Indian Review of Reviews a profitable venture: run this advertisement on this page, publish that other article here, publish two more pages worth of advertisement, and so on. After listening to this exchange between the two, Right Honourable V.S. Srinivasa Sastri said to Natesan: “Natesan, why do you waste words on this fellow? He firmly believes that success in business is a sin!”

Once, DVG wrote a detailed note containing suggestions on making Srinivasa Sastri’s paper, Servant of India profitable. Sastri’s reply to this:

“Our business is to write. If fools don’t read, the greater fools they!”

DVG never felt angry thinking that his efforts were in vain. He suffered difficulties and penury with a smile.

Once when we were arranging books in the Gokhale Institute library, a book caught his attention. Its title: “Recovery and Remanufacture of Waste Paper.” DVG exclaimed:

“Aha! What an apt description of my profession!”

DVG was always ready to make himself the subject of a joke. He was not unaware of the fact that mere writing wouldn’t solve problems. He would say, “If one stands on the Himalayas and reads aloud the editorials of Public Affairs and chant the ‘yosman dweshti’ mantra in high pitch, will the enemies run away in fear?”

[[DVG’s Life Partner and His Abiding Conviction in Journalism Source: prekshaa]]

The foundational pillar of DVG’s fearless attitude was his characteristic transparency and abstinence from seeking anything. At no point in his life did he use his extraordinary political and social influence for personal benefit.

Till Sir M Visvesvaraya became Diwan, the Mysore Government had instituted a convention whereby on the Dusshera of each year or on the Maharaja’s birthday, it would invite editors and reporters for a grand feast and offer some cash. Once in 1913-14, DVG had been to Mysore for some conference related to the Representative Assembly. When he returned to Bangalore, a cheque for ₹ 250 from the Diwan’s office was waiting for him. He met the Diwan to enquire the matter. Sir M Visvesvaraya told him that this was an age-old practice.

DVG: “Perhaps this system was necessary in the earlier periods to gain the favour of the papers. I don’t need this.”

MV: “It costs money for you to visit Mysore for the conference. You can surely accept this money to cover your travel and accommodation costs at least?”

DVG: “Like the food and clothing costs of a journalist, the money he spends as part of doing his journalistic work should also be part of his daily expenditure. He must not expect the government’s assistance in this.”

MV: “You’ve been given a really paltry amount. Journalists and editors of English papers accept thousand or two thousand rupees without any fuss?”

DVG: “Their Dharma is theirs. My Dharma is mine. You must forgive me, please.”

Sir M Visvesvaraya smiled and told his secretary, “we must not force him in any matter.”

A few days later, DVG wrote an open letter to the Government jointly with Thomas from the Associated Press and expressed his displeasure at this system of largesse.

DVG was among the first people who toiled hard to popularize the Mysore Bank in the initial days of its founding. As a recompense of sorts for this help, Sir M Visvesvaraya put in efforts to get a few of its shares allotted to DVG. But would DVG agree?

Recalling this and several such instances, Sir M Visvesvaraya would rebuke DVG, “You are a fool” on numerous occasions.

The impact of DVG’s idealism in practice did not fail to affect his health as well as his family. He had experienced intense shortage of money and had undergone poverty. However, he believed and practiced the tenet that it was his duty to keep his troubles a secret and share only happiness with others. Even when he was afflicted with unbearable troubles, he somehow tided over them without giving as much as a hint to even those in his closest circle.

Instead of keeping your fears and troubles within yourself,
Why do you spread them across Mother Earth? – Mankutimma (719)

Those were the days during which DVG underwent extreme fatigue. He would spend the entire day involving himself in various matters and return home late at night. Even after half the night had elapsed, he would half-lie down on the bed and write something. This sort of taxing work made his mother extremely anxious. She would frequently tell him: “What is this son? What will happen to your health if you keep working like this day and night? Listen to me – bring some rice, grains, firewood and give me fifty rupees each month. I’ll take care of the entire family. Don’t neglect your health.”

Life Partner

Several instances make it clear that DVG’s wife was an ideal partner in his lifelong Tapas or penance. I recall a domestic incident in this regard.

Perhaps it was the period during which DVG was running the Indian Review of Reviews monthly. Some festival in the home of one of his relatives. Everyone in DVG’s family was invited. DVG’s wife sent their children while she stayed back home. When DVG noticed that his wife was still at home even when it was time for the Arati, he asked:

“Won’t you go there for taking the auspicious Kumkum and Haldi? Isn’t it late already?”

She: “I won’t go.”

DVG: “Why?”

She: “I have sent the kids.”

DVG: “So? Those people are dear to us. Plus they’ve invited all of us. Even you can spend some happy moments with them.”

She: “Who’ll look after the home if everyone goes?”

DVG: “I’ll stay back home. You go.”

She: “I won’t go.”

DVG repeatedly asked her the reason for refusing to go there. She kept putting forward some or the other random excuse. Finally, when he firmly insisted on knowing the real reason, she said:

“Please don’t force me. I really cannot tell you the reason.”

DVG: “Why do you speak like this? Why aren’t you telling me the real reason? Am I an outsider?”

When her husband and master insisted in fashion, her face paled. She choked. With great difficulty, she narrated the real situation:

“I had made up my mind not to tell you this. But you’re forcing me to open my mouth. So it is impossible for me not to reveal the truth now. This is the only sari I have with me. Even this has torn in a couple of places. It shows a lack of respect to the host on our part when we visit their home wearing faded and torn clothes. When I show my face in public wearing such clothes, won’t people mock you? Just as how it is my duty to visit the homes of relatives, it is equally my duty to conduct myself in a manner that does not impair your respect in society. Right? I’m not asking you to buy me a new sari. I will conduct myself in a way that I deem is fitting in this situation. My only plea is that you don’t create obstacles in this regard.”

****

The following is a verse that DVG wrote in the 1940s in his classic, Mankutimmana Kagga:

You didn’t come to this world without noise ।
Your whole life is suffering and strife ॥
To forsake noise, is your Last Day the only way?
Obtain death as if it is sleep – Mankutimma ॥ (929)

The matchless patriot of Italy, Giuseppe Mazzini who was responsible for the unification of the country says in an essay that he wrote towards the end of his life: “Only literature affords the mind the joy and elevation not found anywhere else. However, in my case, this has been akin to a dream in this birth. My entire life has been spent trying to make people understand the nationalist feeling and in educating them about their own duties and rights. The delight of poetry that my soul aspires, I hope I will obtain in my next birth.”

Recalling these words of Mazzini in 1920, DVG said that even his plight had become similar. It appears that the feeling within DVG was that he was more a journalist than a litterateur. Had he stayed away from the vagaries of politics, his literary creations would have increased more than tenfold. However, DVG believed from the bottom of his heart that it was his primary duty to mingle with all sections of the society and incessantly examine the policies and stands taken by the Government towards improving their lives. Therefore, his conviction was firm and deep-rooted in journalism.

[[D.V.G’s Deep Bonding with Society Source: prekshaa]]

Deep Bonding with Society

The source of inspiration for all of DVG’s life-work was the deep bonding he had forged with society. This bond was not something that was imposed on him externally; it was part of his bloodstream.

DVG wrote about Diwans and eminent people from various walks of life with the same kind of unsullied conviction that he wrote about masons, cart drivers, Avadhootas, and Shiva-Saranas. DVG transcended the mundane and external aspects of people and spotted their hearts. Even in casual conversations about general topics, DVG would fondly recall such people. Angadi (literally: shop) Thimmappayya, his barber Vasantayya, and Karupayya who served him affectionately in the last two decades of his life—DVG used to recall them repeatedly and say, “These people have made me their debtor.”

On one occasion, DVG’s anger was inflamed. He unleashed a torrent of verbal attack on Karupayya: “I will kill you!”

With great calmness, Karupayya said, “If my death occurs at your hands, what is the greater Punya for me, Master?” DVG’s eyes moistened.

For years on end, DVG recalled the memories of his childhood friends, Maada and Rama both of whom were Harijans. He would remark, “In terms of a human’s virtue, courtesy, nobility, fidelity to truth, keeping one’s word, and integrity of conduct, I have not seen anyone like Maada and Rama no matter which Jati they belong to.”

It was the period during which the new building of Gokhale Institute was being constructed: 1954-55. Every evening, he would speak with Kalayi Venkatappa for about fifteen-twenty minutes as he walked on the northern road from the Karanji Anjaneyaswamy Temple.

The complete details of the families and lives of hundreds of such people were recorded in DVG’s head akin to a computer. Their past, present, names of their parents, their native place, their siblings, parents-in-law, children, sons and daughters-in-law, their relatives—it would fill us with tremendous surprise when we noticed how DVG kept these countless details in his memory. This feat was possible only because he had a heartfelt, genuine bond with people.

It was unsurprising that DVG had an extraordinary kinship with his litterateur friends and others as well. However, DVG’s love was not restricted only to his friends. It extended to their wife, children and family. He had developed closeness with all of them. The number of letters of consolation that DVG wrote to his close friend Shivaram Karanth’s wife was greater than those he wrote to Shivaram Karanth himself.

DVG received countless letters from across the country. They were also extremely variegated. (The letters he received from acquaintances from the Madras region addressed him as ‘Goondappah.’ A highly naïve lady wrote with great enthusiasm, “I wish to do self-study with you.”)

DVG unfailingly replied to hundreds of such letters. Instead of thinking them to be a burden, he regarded it as the minimum duty he had to perform.

This is something that his close friend, K. Sampadgiri Rao said: “Gokhale, Sivaswami Aiyar, Srinivasa Sastri, Gundappa—these Liberals have contributed more towards the enrichment of the Postal Exchequer than anyone else. These are all literally men of letters.”

A significant portion of the heaps of letters that DVG received everyday were from the most ordinary people who were unknown to him. These were all in the nature of seeking solutions and answers to their family problems or for clarifying spiritual doubts. DVG wrote answers to a majority of these letters by his own hand. Indeed, a big part of DVG’s daily routine involved writing a few lines of consolation to those who were suffering or in trouble. In this manner, the number of people who obtained solace from DVG runs in thousands.

There was no day when DVG didn’t write a minimum of five or ten letters to friends, the Government or other institutions. There was no dearth of Rasa even in the letters he wrote to the Government.

In the 1960s, the Government imposed a restriction on the import of a laxative named ‘Agarol’ and related medicines. This is what the letter that DVG wrote to the central government on this occasion contained: “In an age in which there is shortage of food items like butter, ghee, rice, and wheat, the Government’s action of not making available a laxative like Agarol which lightens the body constitutes to a cruel act.”

For a long time, V.C. desired to organize a function to honour DVG. When that proposal was put forward, DVG refused to share details about even his birthday. After making several attempts, V.C. wrote a letter to DVG: “We will, on our own, announce a date and proceed with the function. You do not have any right to stop that. We will distribute sweets to everyone who attends it.”

We need to read DVG’s response to this suggestion of V.C. in his own words.

December 23, 1968

My dear Sitaramaiah,

Your Pottanam programme is excellent. But, alas, it comes 20 years late. 10 years too late. But I should not disappoint you. I therefore suggest alternative programmes.

1. Bhajanam: We will all put naamams. P. Srinivasa Row will hold the Garuda-gamba. I shall cry out the chorus which you will all repeat. Beginning with Kote Venkataramana Swami temple, we go to the City Market and return. 2. I shall lay myself down on a small wooden wheeled cot which you will all draw singing:

I’m blind, deaf, legless, crippled aa aa…

1. Nose Tongue Touching Competition: We will all sit in a circle and try to touch the tips of our noses with the tips of our tongues. Whoever does it first will get a prize. 2. We will similarly touch our left foot with the right hand behind our backs. He must do it three times. He will get the first prize. 3. Each one of us will tell the smuttiest story he knows. The most smutty will get a prize, and the least smutty will pay for it. 4. We will all hold a specially designed flag, with appropriate symbols on it, and go in a procession crying: DOWN WITH AGE! UP WITH YOUTH! 5. A Bharata Natyam performance: My paunch and my arthritis are particularly good qualifications. I think the spectators will enjoy. 6. Putting your right hand in your left armpit or your left hand in your right armpit and producing noises. I think this will also be highly entertaining.

I have suggested eight items to represent eighty.

There are other ideas simmering in my mind. I shall detail them if any of the above does not commend itself to you.

One condition: Each item must be self-sufficient. That is, the cost of the prize for the best performer should come out of the worst.

Please come over. We will discuss the programme and the date. You may bring any of the other 8 or 10 with you so that the programme may be settled finally.

The celebrations may all be duly photographed.

Yours affectionately,

(D.V. Gundappa)

[[The Sprawling World of DVG’s Literature Source: prekshaa]]

Honours and Felicitations

For years on end, DVG kept refusing the requests from the public and government for honouring and felicitating him. Without waiting for even a moment, DVG rejected the pension that the government voluntarily offered him.

Once an employment opportunity, which Sir M Visvesvaraya thought suited DVG’s temperament, afforded itself. It was the editorship of the Lahore-based newspaper, Tribune. The paper’s management had requested Visvesvaraya to suggest a suitable editor. The first name that flashed to Visvesvaraya was that of DVG’s. When he indicated his name, the paper’s management expressed great happiness. By then, DVG had earned great renown and esteem. The editorship of this paper, which enjoyed great prestige nationwide was a position enough to evoke desire in any person. However, DVG refused to let go of his mantra: “I will fill my stomach somehow. This life has grown in a haphazard manner by rolling and suffering on the streets throughout its existence. It is not suited for such great positions and status.”

DVG’s manner was an abiding love for absolute independence. This is why his political commentary and critique was completely objective and sharp. Even Residents and Diwans weren’t spared from his attacks.

It was but natural that the Emergency of 1975 caused great anxiety to DVG: “All that all of us had so far was our mouths. Now they have fastened locks even on that! What might happen to the country?”

He agreed to accept some felicitations in his advanced years only due to the pressure of his friends and well-wishers. In 1961, the Mysore University decided to confer an honorary doctorate on John Kenneth Galbraith and DVG. The then vice chancellor Prof N.A. Nikkam had to undertake a veritable adventure to get DVG’s assent to this. On one occasion, Sri Nikkam had returned with disappointment. Still, he came back to DVG to make another attempt. By then, the retired High Court Judge A.R. Nageshwara Iyer, who was older to DVG and akin to an elder brother, had managed to convince him. In this manner, DVG who had earlier rejected the Rajasevasakta award from the Mysore Princely State, now received the honorary doctorate at the hands of the Chancellor, His Highness the Maharaja of Mysore, Sri Jayachamaraja Wodeyar. This brought enormous joy to his vast section of admirers. An elated Rajaji wrote in a letter – “…an honour sometimes conferred on the deserving.”

Although he had rejected it once in the past, DVG now agreed to accept the Central Sahitya Akademi Award for his work, Srimad Bhagavad-Gita Tatparya (The Essence of Srimad Bhagavad Gita). He donated the award money to the Gokhale Institute.

Then, as was his custom, when Sri A.R. Krishna Sastri visited the Gokhale Institute, he remarked in his characteristic language: “What is it that they have given, the c**t! I can myself give the ten thousand rupees award money. Even if you’re given one lakh rupees, that’s also less.”

In the beginning of 1970, the industrialists, V.S. Natarajan, M.V. Krishnamurthi and others began to insist on a public felicitation to DVG. On his part, DVG agreed to it on the condition that the entire money had to be donated to the Gokhale Institute. In this manner, an amount of roughly one lakh rupees was collected and deposited with the Gokhale Institute.

It was the same story with the Padmabhushan Award. DVG didn’t show even an iota of interest in it. Even on this occasion, DVG submitted to the pressure of his well-wishers and close friends.

As far as he was personally concerned, he had already decided to reject it. It was DVG’s habit to discuss such important matters with Nittur Srinivasa Rao. On this occasion as well, he asked Srinivasa Rao: “This nonsense has come my way? What should I do?”

Srinivasa Rao said in a mixture of seriousness and semi-humour: “Accept it for the great man that you are! Don’t rake up trouble. Simply accept it!” DVG didn’t protest after this.

He had also opposed the move on the part of the City Corporation to name the street in which his house was located, in his honour.

***

The World of DVG’s Literature

DVG wrote an astonishing range and corpus of literature. However, an equally important fact is that every single piece of his writing delivered refinement and culture (Samskara) to the society. He never set out to write anything that did not elevate the cultural standard of society.

DVG wrote an essay in the Current Science magazine in which he detailed the steps necessary for the physical sciences to progress in the direction of uplifting society. The renowned Nature magazine based out of London cited this essay in glowing terms and wrote a lengthy editorial on it (1941). Citing DVG’s essay titled Science and Morality, the Nature magazine wrote, “Mr. Gundappa’s account…should serve as a most useful introduction to this important phase of human thought.”

New poetry that emerged in the garb of translations: poetry collections such as Umarana Osage (1930), Vasanta Kusumanjali (1922), Nivedana (1924); Antahpurageethe (1950), a unique gift to the world of both literature and music; intellectual discourses such as Jivana Soundarya Mattu Sahitya (1932), Sahitya Shakti (1950)—no matter in which language and country they are written, all these works are praiseworthy. These works have an innate value that is beyond the confines of country, time, and language. To those who wish to refine their minds, this material is deserving of deep study. DVG’s words are applicable to his own works:

This is an enthusiasm to
Learn the secrets of the world’s functioning
It is relevant in the Court of the
World’s Sculptor ॥

DVG’s Baligondu Nambike (1950), Samskruti (1953) and related essays are akin to guiding lamps for anybody who wishes to elevate their life. The purpose of these essays is to offer a detailed contemplation on such questions as: what does “good” in one’s life mean? How does one attain it? How was the conduct of great people like Sri Ramachandra who lived a meaningful life? What does culture mean? What is the nature of the contemporary challenges faced by Indian culture? What is the nature of the relationship that exists between culture, literature, art, and our mental and intellectual faculties? The subtitle given to the essay on Culture (Samskruti) is highly meaningful: “The Beauty of Wish, Conversation, and Conduct.”

DVG’s poetry collections garnered enormous popularity in a short span after their publication. After the close of the 1920s decade, the Vanasuma poetry collection quickly joined the ranks of prayer songs sung in thousands of schools across the state. It became the invocatory song at public gatherings. To tell the name and explain the features of the Athana raga to novices, music teachers would say, “this is the Raga of Vanasuma.” In the beginning these poems would be sung in two or three different ragas. Later, when it was found that Athana was the most appropriate raga, Vanasuma was sung in it and popularized on scores of public platforms by Sri H. Ramanna (father of the famous singer, Smt H.R. Leelavathi). Thanks to this, that great musician became known as “Athana Ramanna.”

[[Maharshi Vidyaranya, Kanchi Paramacharya and DVG Source: prekshaa]]

DVG’s Sri Ramaparikshanam has attempted to examine and analyse the various strands of difficult questions related to Dharma by creating imaginary conversations that Sri Rama has between Ahalya, Sita, Lakshmana and other important characters. Although Sri Rama is a Puranic person, he is placed in the human world and his various accomplishments and sorrows are brought out in this work.

The gentleness in honouring all life ।
The method of enjoying the riches of the earth without the taint of greed॥
The attitude of always turning towards the Supreme।
The feature of Rama’s Kingdom is one of Dharma॥

Twenty-five years after he wrote Sri Ramaparikshanam, DVG brought out the Sri Krishnaparikshanam work in 1970. This work analyses the life of Sri Krishna in the form of a musical drama. Along with it, the work also contains a detailed essay that philosophically explores such difficult episodes as Sri Krishna’s dalliances with the Gopikas. From one perspective, it was far more challenging to write about Sri Krishna’s life.

This work gave a special sense of elation to DVG when it was completed. He said the following when the work was published: “I have put in lots of efforts over several years in political writing. However, I didn’t get the kind of satisfaction from all that work which I derived from writing this book.”

The series of books that DVG published on Maharshi Vidyaranya as early as in the decades of 1920-30 counts as first rate scholarship. For example, the renowned historical scholar, Prof. G.S. Dikshit says the following about the remnants of an inscription that is found in the Vararaja Temple at Kanchipuram: “Those who read this inscription before DVG have not properly understood the meaning of its lost portion. It is only DVG who read it in a fashion that brings out its accurate meaning”… “Vidyaranya was a Kannadiga. That is the reason he made Karnataka as the land of his work. This is the first of the findings unearthed by DVG.” In the perspective of some people, the Vijayanagara Empire was founded under the leadership of Sri Vidyatirtha. However, DVG marshalled a vast amount of internal evidences and on this basis, correctly established the fact that Sri Vidyatirtha was largely inward looking and that Vidyaranya who was keenly interested in worldly matters took the initiative and became responsible for establishing the Vijayanagara Empire. DVG memorably and vividly sketched the series of the pervasive cultural rejuvenation work that was accomplished by the efforts of Sayana – Madhava.

DVG also wrote about the lives and contributions of numerous contemporaries of Vidyaranya. He also had made plans to write about several other such contemporaries: Angirasa Madhava, Kriyashaktyacharya, et al. However, his attention was focused in other directions after the 1930 decade. And so, the aforementioned research work took a backseat.

The Kanchi Paramacharya repeatedly insisted that DVG should bring out a comprehensive volume on Maharshi Vidyaranya. However, that did not materialize.

But DVG completed another order that the Paramacharya had given him. When DVG had crossed 80 years, the Paramacharya told him to bring out a work propounding the essence of Vedanta based on experience. Accordingly, DVG made a Sankalpa within himself and delivered a long discourse on it and got it written down a few days before he passed away.

On the occasion of remembering the Paramacharya’s Shatabhishekha, an endowment was established in his name. The first discourse that was delivered under the aegis of this endowment was the aforementioned work of DVG. This discourse was read in the presence of Prof P. Shankaranarayanan, Ranganath Diwakar and others at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Madras, some time after DVG’s death (7 October 1975).

***

DVG’s body of work comprise poems, songs, philosophical commentaries, and thoughts on politics and other matters. At the time he began his literary endeavours, there was paucity in Kannada in various literary genres. For this reason, DVG had to devote his intellectual faculties to create works in different genres like other luminaries of this era of renaissance. Thus, DVG wrote drama and a few stories for children. A good portion of his work is inspired by the contemporary social conditions.

The Bhagavad-Gita is not a work that preaches only Sanyasa; it is a work that inspires respect for worldly life and infuses enthusiasm in discharging one’s duty—this is what DVG propagated in his discourses on the Gita (Srimad Bhagavad-Gita Tatparya – Jivanadharmayoga: 1966*).* An earlier essay has narrated the backdrop to this study of the Gita.

The debates regarding differences in various sects are largely semantic and that it is both feasible and essential to have harmony among sects—this was the stand of DVG.

[[The Making of Mankutimmana Kagga Source: prekshaa]]

Mankutimmana Kagga

Describing Mankutimmana Kagga as a phenomenon in Kannada literature is not an exaggeration given the popularity that it continues to enjoy even after five or six decades of its publication. The number of people who read it incessantly, read it repeatedly, read at least a few poems in it every day and some who have memorized several of its verses is still significant. In any language, there are only a handful of works that command this sort of pervasive public response.

What made Kagga special and unique is not merely its literary quality. The secret of its popularity lies in the fact that it is a honeyed block of years of prolonged contemplation of life and experience.

Sometime around 1950, a minister quoted the tidbit, “Annadaaturakinta chinnadaatura teekshna” (the desire for gold is more intense than that for food) – he had forgotten the rest of the poem – and claimed that this was a Vacana of the 16^(th) century mystic and poet, Sarvajna. One can cite numerous such instances to show how deeply embedded are the verses of Kagga within the people’s consciousness. A heated debate erupted a few decades ago in a session of the Bangalore City Corporation. A member of the opposition party claimed that there was an error in the usage of a word by the Mayor. The Mayor replied: “If all you want is good and accurate language, go to Sri Gundappa. Why do you come here?” In this manner, DVG’s name would crop up in really bizarre situations.

Today, several verses of Kagga continue to dance joyfully on the tongues of cultured people.

hullagu beTTadaDi, manege malligeyaagu।
kallaagu kaShTagaLa maLeya vidhi suriye॥
bella sakkareyaagu dInadurbalaringe।
ellarolagondaagu - mankutimma॥ 789 ॥

Be the grass at the foot of mountains, Be the jasmine to your home.

Be the rock to reckon with when fate throws torrential troubles at you.
Be the sweet savior to the needy and downtrodden.
Be one within everyone - Mankutimma.

hosa chiguru haLE bEru kUDiralu mara sogasu।
hosa yukti haLetatvadoDagUDe dharma॥
RuShivaakyadoDane vij~jaanakale mELavise।
jasavu janajIvanake - maMkutimma ॥ 522 ॥

Old roots with new leaves make the tree beautiful.
New knowledge and old proverbs constitute Dharma.
If the wise words of the Rishis and new science both go hand in hand then life is good – Mankutimma

hOru dhIrateyimda, monDutanadiM beda ।
vaira hagetana beda, hiri niyamavirali ॥
vairAgya kAruNya mELanave dhIratana ।
hOrudAttateyinda – Mankutimma ॥574 ॥

Fight with courage, not with obstinacy.
Cast away enmity and vengeance, be guided by the elderly.
Courage is the admixture of detachment and compassion.
Fight with a sense of magnanimity – Mankutimma

“This work is not for Pandits, eminences and the well-fed. I will be content if this will become akin to a drop of oil to the light in the homes of the most ordinary people,” remarked DVG about Kagga.

Speaking about the origins of the word Mankutimma, it was coined after considerable contemplation.

There is a picture at the beginning of Kagga: it is a painting of an anonymous person engaged in deep meditation inside a ruined cave. Because there’s no light in the cave, everything is hazy. It is only when we focus our vision intensely that we can spot the outline of a person. A brilliant person complained to DVG about the picture: “The picture has not been printed properly!” In reality, the picture appears in that fashion on purpose. In this world, the broad philosophical tenets are understood by most people in a broad sense – even to the unlearned. However, when we delve into the depths and begin to make inquiries, numerous matters continue to remain hazy – even to those well-versed in the Sastras. The purpose of that picture is to indicate that our knowledge of the world and even the possibility of acquiring this knowledge is limited. “Everything here is half: half-light, partial insight, partial knowledge.” (68)

DVG’s MaruLa Muniyana Kagga saw light of the day four decades (1984) after Mankutimmana Kagga was published (1943).

MaruLa Muniyanu nAnu Mankutimmana tamma ।
surivenennedeyachIladella puruLugaLa ॥
sari nODi koDuva sajjanarihare lOkadali ।
sharaNaveppenavarimge – maruLa muniya ॥ 7 ॥

I am Mankutimma’s younger brother, Marula Muniya.
I will pour forth all the items in the bag of my heart.
Are there any noble souls in the world to recompense their measure?
I surrender to them – Marula Muniya.

Marula Muniyana Kagga is equally bountiful and lush as Mankutimmana Kagga. This work too, contains more than 800 verses. The emotions and philosophy that unfolded in the first Kagga have also been recast and reiterated here. However, it is not a shortcoming if elements of joy and wisdom are repeated.

DVG had written down these verses on small scraps of paper at random whenever inspiration struck him. He had thought of refining and editing them at some point in the future. However, it didn’t quite transpire in that fashion. About seven or eight years after DVG departed from the mortal world, DVG’s close associate, Vidwan N. Ranganatha Sharma edited and refined this heap of poems and got them ready for publication.

In reality, a significant portion of these verses were born in the early years of the 1970s decade. DVG’s original plan was to bring them out as the second volume of the first Kagga. However, this scheme was abandoned because the existing form of the original Kagga was deeply embedded in the minds of people and any modifications or additions wouldn’t be that appealing to them. And so, after it was decided to bring it out as an independent volume, he thought of several names such as Marmajna, Hucchu Muniya, etc and finally retained Marula Muniya.

The inconvenience of altering the original fabric of Kagga had become clear long ago. In a short span after the first edition of Mankutimmana Kagga had run out of print, DVG made a few minor corrections in its reprint. A connoisseur who observed this – Principal Sub Judge, Sri C.B. Srinivasa Rao, personally visited DVG and took him to task:

CBSR: “Why are you giving us such troubles?”

DVG: “Why? What have I done?”

CBSR: “We learned your original verses by heart with great difficulty! Now we have to again start learning all of them from the scratch!”

One can count on the fingers of one’s hand the number of works of the Navodaya (literally, “New Dawn”) literary period that have retained this level of renown even five or six decades after they were published. When V.K. Gokak described Kagga as one of the summits of literary excellence in Kannada in the last century, he was not exaggerating.

Of the innumerable services that DVG has rendered to the public, Kagga deserves a special mention. Several verses of Kagga have attained the status of a bosom buddy in the lives of hundreds of people. Every single verse of Kagga bolsters and strengthens our faith in the innate value in life itself.

ollenenediru bALan, olavadEnennadiru ।
ullAsakeDemAdu ninninAdanitu॥
nillu kecchedeyiMdalanyAgaLanaLise।
ellakam siddhaniru – Mankutimma ॥258॥
Don’t reject life, don’t ask what is love.
Make way for enthusiasm and joy, that is your music.
Stand with a courageous heart while erasing injustices.
Be ready for everything – Mankutimma.

***

In no situation did DVG falter or hesitate to uphold the literary values that he had conviction in. The Kendra (Central) Sahitya Akademi had embarked on a project to translate Masti Venkatesha Iyengar’s award-winning novel, Chennabasavanayaka to multiple languages. However, they dropped it owing to opposition from some quarters. The opposition was entirely motivated by casteist considerations. DVG immediately voiced his protest to this opposition in a highly public manner.

“Poetry is not a feat of acrobatics; nor is it the tricks of playing cards. It is the lamp that shows an elevated path of life. Not just that. In itself, it is also a part of our elevated life. Or it is the best part of our life. This principle is indeed wise.”

DVG had deep faith in this dictum. DVG always used this yardstick for judging values.

[[The Making of Jnapakachitrashale and DVG’s Foreign Visitors Source: prekshaa]]

Jnapakachitrashale – The Art Gallery of Memories

The eight volumes of DVG’s Jnapakachitrashale constitute an unparalleled literary feat that he attained. These are rare records that portray the social environment of a past era, its lifestyle, and the specialties of personality of scores of people including public eminences and ordinary folks belonging to the previous two generations. These essays, which began in serialized form in various papers from 1953 and were then published as books from 1960 onwards are records nonpareil of the previous era. There is no other recourse but to read them to savour their variety and essence. Keeping in perfect tune with DVG’s fun-loving nature, his sense of humour has exulted throughout these volumes. DVG has written about the domestic and household lifestyles of the most ordinary people with the same enthusiasm as he has about famous personalities, in an eye-arresting manner. A few doses of difficulties and troubles faced by each family; many moments of auspiciousness and joy; poverty and some beliefs that accompanies it; some human effort, some achievement; a quarter of scarcity and three-quarters contentment: overall, there is an element of empathy towards life. This was a way of life characterized by simplicity and non-affectation – this was the typical and most common lifestyle in our country at one point in time. “That era of contentment has been lost and in its place, an age of constant turmoil has begun,” – this used to be one of the refrains of DVG.

Even as DVG’s reminiscences were being published as serials in different papers, it drew responses of admiration from all kinds of people. My close journalist friend, Y.N.K said the following about the series on the Diwans of Mysore: “This is remarkable writing. It looks as though D.V.G. was the only man who kept his eyes and ears open to what went on around him. What were other people doing when such momentous things were going on? Was politics unwanted by anybody at all? Or if others had indeed observed all this, why didn’t they write about it?”

Six decades before Independence – about one-third of this series of articles has for its subject the personality of Sir M. Visvesvaraya and his administrative acumen. Even as it was being published, Srinivasayya, the father of B.S. Subba Rao, associated with our Gokhale Institute, read it without fail each week. On occasion, Srinivasayya told DVG:

“You write about all sorts of random people. The Mysore Country witnessed several Diwans, Deputy Commissioners, and Officers. All of them travelled by cars; all of them wore Rumaals! When I was in service, even I used to tie the Rumaal in a crooked fashion. But what exactly did I accomplish? I stayed in service. After I grew old, I retired – that’s all. What good did I do to my country? Three-fourths of people belong to this category. However, I fully agree with what you have written about Visvesvaraya. Indeed, everybody must agree with it. You see, he’s the only guy…he’s the only guy who corroded his own life night and day by chanting ‘my country, my country,’ and hauled all sorts of troubles upon himself. Poor guy. He labored tirelessly thinking that this country was his father’s inheritance which he had to improve and expand. He is the only great man among all these other people.”

I have heard the same opinion from other people as well. My Guru who taught me Vedanta, Panditapravara M. Lakshminarasimha Sastri also used to read DVG’s series every week. He once told me: “This is called writing that has virtue and spirit. Sri Gundappa’s discourses on the Bhagavad-Gita and his other writings were really good. However, I feel that his writings about Sri Visvesvaraya are ten times more valuable than the ones on the Bhagavad-Gita. Of what use is it ultimately if we merely spout out verses from our Sastras? Vedanta derives real value only when it is reflected in conduct, right? Our people should know Sri Visvesvaraya’s sense of values, commitment, purity in public life, and unmatched competence in carrying out affairs of the state. By acquainting our people with the true nobility of his character, Sri Gundappa has done us all a great favour.”

Literature that Inculcates Samskara

In a discourse given on Akashavani (23-2-1962), DVG mentioned some books which had made a lasting impact on him. Of these, he cited Swami Vivekananda’s From Colombo to Almora discourses and then said before concluding:

“Let’s say a Divine Messenger stands before me and says, ‘You will be exiled to an uninhabited island. If you want a companion, you may take with you as many books as your hands can carry.’ In such a situation, I will select the Ramayana in one hand and the Mahabharata in the other. That much is enough for the lifetime of one person! Aren’t those two, two densely populated worlds by themselves?”

***

Several foreign dignitaries who happened to visit India had made it part of their routine to pay a visit to DVG. One such person was Prof Donald Bishop from Syracuse University. While he had met DVG several times in the past, he had occasion to visit DVG sometime in mid 1971. Their conversation veered towards the political situation in the country. DVG said:

“The mind of part of India is now looking backward in a kind of nostalgia…

I feel that the thought process of our current political class will not help solve our problems. The reason why there was contentment among our people fifty years ago was because there existed some moral principles which everyone had accepted. No matter which political party, faith in Dharma and fear of Paapa (loosely translated as sin) was exactly the same within everyone. And so, in the absence of such a principle which is universally accepted, no matter with what shrewdness you institute the Assembly, Parliament, and Administration, troubles will keep arising. This is true for every country. Let’s look at England. There was the great Gladstone. He was a Liberal and he had lots of disagreements with the Conservative Party. However, neither Gladstone nor his Opposition Party transgressed the orders of the Church.

Politics is not something that emerged today or yesterday. The Mahabharata is indeed filled with politics. The preaching of the Mahabharata is to resolve all complex problems using Dharma as the foundation. It is my belief that this sort of resolution is possible even today, and that the reason for today’s thoughtlessness in politics and economics is due to the lack of conviction in Dharma.”

[[Selected Portraits of DVG’s Deep Friendships Source: prekshaa]]

During the same period, (July 1971), our friend M.K. Anantaswami had brought along Robert Slater, a professor of English Literature from some university in America. He was curious to know DVG’s thoughts about Western literature.

“Litterateurs of the past had adopted timeless philosophies and the great problems of life as their themes. In recent poets and litterateurs, these timeless philosophies have become secondary and portrayal of the outward forms of life and the writer’s personal and mental imprint have become dominant,” said DVG. He also spoke in detail about Greek playwrights and Shakespeare.

Slater asked, “When we consider tragedies, between the Greek dramas and Shakespeare, which do you think is of a higher standard?” DVG said:

“Shakespeare from one perspective, and Greek playwrights from another. Euripides, Aeschylus, and Sophocles have movingly portrayed the fate of a person tormented by the vagaries of destiny. Shakespeare has variety. Therefore, when we view them from the perspective of depth, Greek plays are of a higher standard; when we consider range and expansiveness, Shakespeare’s dramas are of a higher standard.”

When he was asked whether Goethe was popular in India, DVG replied:

“Although Goethe is familiar to our scholarly circles, the Indian tradition and outlook does not have much sympathy for some elements of his thought. We may even agree with several of his pronouncements. However, we have differences with him in a chief area. We do not agree with his postulation of the Eternal Principle of Evil in his Faust drama. We recognize an Eternal Principle of Good. The stand that Evil is eternal is alien to our tradition. Evil is but a passing phase. When we travel in a forest, we encounter the shadow of trees and branches. Sin is akin to that shadow. After crossing the forest, all that remains is just the illumination of the sun. For this reason, Goethe’s propositions are not liked that much by Indians. We encounter the same difficulty even in the Christian conception of Satan.”

On one occasion in 1970, Prof G. Venkatasubbayya had brought with him K.R. Kriplani and K.R. Srinivasa Iyengar from the Central Sahitya Akademi. Sri Iyengar narrated the attempts to translate Shakespeare’s works into Telugu. Sri Venkatasubbayya informed him that DVG had translated Shakespeare’s Macbeth into Kannada three decades ago.

“Why did you select only Macbeth?” asked both Kriplani and Iyengar out of curiosity.

DVG described the backdrop. When DVG’s father was bedridden with illness, he had to be by his side at all times. However, it was not in DVG’s nature to sit still. That was how the Kannada translation of Macbeth originated. DVG said: “The highest use of literature is a certain grace and serenity.”

Kriplani: “But where do we see either grace or serenity in Macbeth?”

DVG: “Don’t we see it in the last line of the play?”

Malcolm says the following at the end of Macbeth:

and what needful else

That calls upon us, by the grace of Grace,

We will perform in measure, time and place:

So, thanks to all at once and to each one.

Friendship

On 29 February 1968, the Kannada Sahitya Parishad organized a gathering in DVG’s home to felicitate him for receiving (rather, for agreeing to accept) the Central Sahitya Akademi Award. Folks like Prof G. Venkatasubbayya, Prof G.S. Shivarudrappa and others were present. However, instead of feeling happy, DVG shed tears recalling his friends such as B.M. Srikantaiah, T.S. Venkannayya, M.R. Srinivasa Murthy, A.R. Krishna Sastri and others who had dedicated their entire lives to the service of Kannada. He wept saying that his life had been greatly impoverished after losing such friends. When the topic of the award came up, DVG recalled a poem of Basavappa Sastri:

arasar kuḍuvā kārta - ।
svarakaṃkaṇamirke sarasarāsvādisi kā - ॥
vyarasava sūsuva sukhabhā - ।
svarāśru kaṇ kaṇame kavige kaṃkaṇamaltE ॥

***

The kind of friendship that DVG developed with Panje Mangesharaya, Mudaveedu Krishna Rao, Masti Venkatesha Iyengar, V.C. V.K. Gokak, Shivarama Karanth and others is truly deserving of a poetic metaphor. It was a friendship that was both deep and lasted a lifetime.

DVG had been elected as the president of the Kannada Literature Conference of 1932 held at Madikeri. After the conference was over, DVG, Masti and others returned to Bangalore together. As DVG was stepping into his home, Masti said:

“You stay outside for a bit.”

DVG: “why?”

M: “We must perform an Arati to you.”

DVG: “Che che! What is this?”

But Masti didn’t relent. He called the womenfolk who were inside and said, “Perform Arati, and ward off evil eyes afterwards. The eyes of thousands of people have fallen on him.” It was a command. Duly followed.

“The whole thing looked thoroughly ridiculous,” said DVG recalling the incident forty years later. On 19 June 1972, the Bangalore public honoured Masti Venkatesha Iyengar and offered him a felicitation volume entitled Srinivasa. Although his body was ill-disposed for it, DVG joyfully attended the function owing to his deep friendship with Masti.

En route while returning from the function, Masti instructed the car driver to turn towards some random road. After the car turned accordingly, DVG asked:

“Isn’t this route circuitous?”

Masti said: “If we had gone in that other road, it would have meant reverse circumambulation.”

When DVG narrated this incident to me the next morning, he recalled the aforementioned episode of Madikeri.

Masti was younger to DVG by three years. DVG would jokingly say, “You must do Namaskar to me.” However, Masti was always eager to do him Namaskar even without being explicitly asked in this fashion. For all of us, it was a great festival to merely witness the honeyed friendship of these two elders.

***

In one of the functions held at the Gokhale Institute, V.K. Gokak had to be garlanded. DVG was sitting below in the audience while Gokak was on the dais. Gokak was about to step down to get himself garlanded. DVG said: “You please stay there, I’ll come up,” and then continued: “Even if I come there, you will still have to bend down!”

Gokak was indeed a “tall” personality!

[[DVG’s Profound Devotion and Inseparable Attachment to Tyagaraja Source: prekshaa]]

DVG was the main inspiration for Vidwan N. Ranganatha Sharma to embark on the prodigious task of undertaking the comprehensive [Kannada] translation of Srimad Ramayana. DVG authored detailed forewords for several volumes of these translations.

All of us in the Gokhale Institute family obtained the Samskara of Sanskrit language, literature and grammar through the guidance of Sri Sharma. Whenever DVG and Vidwan Sharma met, some element of Sastra or literature would invariably, inevitably crop up. These discussions would imbue a great degree of Samskara within all of us.

Once, Vidwan Sharma had the occasion to visit the doctor for repairing his teeth. On that occasion, DVG sent him the following auspices:

ekadaṃtaḥ prabhuH kuryā-
dadya vo daṃtamaṃgalaṃ

Being endowed with just one tooth, let Ganapati bestow auspiciousness upon us.

The next day, the other half of the aforementioned verse came from the Vidwan as follows:

asūyayeva pūrvedyuH
daṃtadvayamapāharat

As if stricken by jealousy, Ganapati took away two of my teeth yesterday.

The person who obtains this sort of scholarly wit is truly blessed.

***

The litterateur A.N. Krishna Rao [A.Na.Kru] had enormous respect for DVG. Equally, DVG had great affection for A.N. Krishna Rao. When A.N.K. died in the early days of July 1971, DVG deeply grieved for him. He said:

“Krishna Rao had talent. Apart from first-rate folks such as Mudavidu Krishna Rao and others, A.N. Krishna Rao was the foremost in the class of fine orators. The arrangement of words, the manner of expounding upon a topic so that it impresses people – this art naturally came to him…not just Krishna Rao, I know several people in his family and relatives. They’re all truly eminent people, magnanimous. Krishna Rao’s father, Narasinga Rao, his relative Kerebagilu Krishnappa, his maternal uncle, his brother-in-law…I know all of them well. All these people have shown tremendous friendship towards me. Likewise with Krishna Rao. I don’t know how he was with others; with me, he has behaved with the same consistent affection over the last thirty or forty years. How does one forget such friendship? How much I have made fun of Krishna Rao! The faults that one can point out in Krishna Rao, we can point them out in hundreds of people. However, how many people are endowed with the kind of good qualities, friendship and genuine affection that was in his character?

***

Artistic Sagacity

DVG’s constant companion till the end of his life was his aesthetic spirit. Music was incessantly strumming in his heart. Whether he was alone or in conversation with friends, he would repeatedly recall various Kritis of Tyagaraja. On occasion, if I was perchance late in arriving at his home, he would hum this Kriti in the Ritigowla ragam, “Nannu vidachi kadalakuraa…” He would say that the words of people who had firsthand experience of divinity were far stronger proofs than the lines in various Sastras. The Samskara of DVG’s Inner Life was truly affluent. It is the special fortune of this land that the Kannada people were benefitted from it.

One evening when I went to his home as usual, DVG was silent for some reason. After a couple of minutes, he said:

“My boy, I have come to a conclusion regarding the place where God does not exist.”

“Where?”

“He is definitely not in the realm of logic.”

DVG had realized the fact that extremities of logic, grammar and endless debates on definition will injure the core essence of pure philosophy [used in the sense of Darshana or Tattva].

Mr. Su, an eminent personality and friend repeatedly prodded DVG at a music concert, “Which Ragam was sung now?” “Which Ragam is this?” After four or five times of this pestering, DVG said: “My dear sir, when you visit a prostitute’s house, why do you want to know her name? And if you ask it, will you get an answer? And even if you get an answer, will that heighten your enjoyment? Shouldn’t you only focus on whether the product is agreeable or no?”

Even amidst his weakness of body [due to old age] and ill-health, DVG’s opportunity for such humour was copious.

Before entering the Gokhale Institute, one has to cross the gate and climb up some six or seven steps. DVG would climb each step and rest for about two minutes. As he climbed, he would recall the Saptapadi Mantras such as “ekamiṣe viṣṇustvānvetu,”and laugh.

Tadbhavananda, a Swami of the Anandamarga sect once invited DVG to deliver a discourse. Explaining his incapability to attend, DVG said, “Just as your god experiences are your own, my arthritis is my own – incommunicable!”

At times, these emotions would take the form of a poem or song.

anubhaviso guṃḍā
anubhaviso!
goṇagadade baṃdaddannellā nī-
nanubhaviso guṃḍā ॥

Undergo it Gunda
Undergo it!
Without cribbing, everything that comes [your way]
You undergo it॥

This song would be set to swaras and elaborated musically. Once when the [music] Vidwan N. Chennakeshavayya was visiting, DVG sang these lines in some Ragam and said, “Isn’t this a Panchama Ragam, Chennakeshavayya?”

“Of course it is!” said Sri Chennakeshavayya, laughing.

At times he would sing such lines set to a Ragam:

ādaddāyitu
hodaddhoyitu
ogiyo kaṃtenā
guṃḍā
hoḍiyo ghaṃṭenā

Whatever happens
Whatever is lost
Throw your bundle
Gunda
Ring the bell[i]

Such philosophical lines would repeatedly take birth.

AntahpuragIta, a collection of sixty songs that he wrote in 1950 praising the coquetry and dalliances of the Madanikas[ii] at the Belur Chennakeshava Temple is akin to a feast for [classical] music and dance connoisseurs. Equally, his Gita-Shakuntala is a musical translation of Kalidasa’s renowned play, Abhijnana-Shakuntala.

****

“Natyacharya” V.S. Kaushik adapted Vedanta Desikar’s famous work, Sankalpa Suryodaya into dance form. When he visited DVG to give the invitation card to the performance, DVG mocked him.

“This is all fine, Sri Kaushik. But if the sun rises [Suryodaya=Surya + Udaya. Surya=Sun; Udaya=To rise] by the time the Sankalpa is taken, when does the actual work happen?”

***
Connoisseurial spirit, poetry and music were inseparable organs of DVG’s Inner Life. When he was admitted to St. Martha’s Hospital in 1972 after suffering from a paralytic stroke, the Vina Vidwan V. Doreswami Iyengar came visiting. DVG was filled with enthusiasm the moment he saw him. Although he found it difficult to speak, he began to hum this mellifluous Tyagaraja Kriti set to Mohana Ragam:

nanu pāliṃpa
naḍaci vaccitivo
nā prāṇanātha
The Lord of my Life
You came walking to
Guide me

Towards the end of his life, DVG would repeatedly recall this Kriti.

DVG had extraordinary devotion towards Tyagaraja. He would constantly recall this saint’s life-incidents and Kritis. Once, Tyagaraja received an invitation from the Maharaja appointing him as the court singer. Tyagaraja respectfully bowed to him saying, “The joy and happiness I derive from serving Sri Rama is not available from following any other path,” and returned home. Tyagaraja’s elder brother who sensed an opportunity to lead a comfortable life thanks to this royal appointment was greatly upset. While he was asleep at night, this brother took the Vigraha of Sri Rama which Tyagaraja had kept for his daily puja, and threw it into the river. The next day after Tyagaraja finished his bath and got ready for his Puja, he didn’t see the Murti which he so dearly loved. In this state of deep anguish, the Kriti that manifested itself on his tongue was set in the Athana Ragam, Ye pApamu jEsitirA rAma [What sin did I commit, Rama?]. In this Kriti, he has lamented with great feeling, “How can I bear this difficulty? I am unable to fathom what to do. Come, stand before me and speak, My Lord. Do you have such forgetfulness towards me?” In another Kriti set to the Devagandhari Ragam, Tyagaraja has openly spoken about “the troubles from my brother.”

On scores of occasions, I have witnessed DVG shedding tears recalling this and other, similar episodes in Tyagaraja’s life. Indeed, DVG faced many such trying situations in his own life. A close relative was upset with DVG – because DVG had not used his influence with higher officials to help him get a promotion. To this relative, DVG wrote an ancient tenet that he had regarded as an ideal for his own conduct:

akṛtvā parasantāpaṃ
agatvā khalanamratām ।
anutasṛjya satāṃ vartma
yat svalpamapi tad bahu ॥

Inflicting no hurt on others
Not bowing before petty people in positions of authority
Not abandoning the honest path that naturally comes to good people
The livelihood that one earns in this fashion
No matter how materially poor it is,
It is the only way that is deserving of respect.

---

[i] This verse is notable for its profound simplicity in sketching the essential transient nature of everything, especially the human life. Here, “bundle” signifies the numerous material accumulations and attachments of a person, and “ring the bell” denotes a readiness for departing from this mortal world with serenity.

[ii] Celestial damsels typically carved in sculpture on the walls of temples

[[DVG’s Shiva Yajna: M.D. Ramanathan, M.S. Subbulakshmi and Love of Mirth Source: prekshaa]]

The foremost of musicians of that period regarded meeting DVG as akin to a sacred Tirthayatra. Stalwarts like Rallapalli, V. Doreswami Iyengar, S. Chennakeshavayya and others would frequently drop in, pay their respects and have conversations with him.

In a programme organized to commemorate Mysore Vasudevacharya at the Gokhale Institute, Doreswamy Iyengar’s Vina concert was truly out of this world. The manner in which Sri Iyengar elaborated the renowned Kriti, Brochevarevarura set in the Kamaj Ragam that day was extraordinary. Perhaps Doreswamy Iyengar’s passion was kindled by the sacred memory of Vasudevacharya and the presence of DVG.

Both M.S. Subbulakshmi and her husband, T. Sadasivam had enormous devotion towards DVG. Each time they visited Bangalore, they would unfailingly come to DVG and pay him their respects. On one such occasion, DVG’s health was not all that good. Smt. Subbulakshmi sat at DVG’s bedside and sang pibare rama rasam. On a similar occasion, she sang a composition of TAyumAnavar for him. When she visited the Gokhale Institute, Smt. Subbulakshmi sat amidst all of us and sang a few songs without no musical accompaniments.

The first ever musical concert of Smt. Subbulakshmi that was ever recorded and then cut into an LP by the HMV company was inaugurated at DVG’s home and his blessings were sought.

***

M.D. Ramanathan too, was endowed with great devotion towards DVG. When he visited Bangalore for concerts during festivals like Sri Rama Navami, he would unfailingly seek DVG’s blessings. On one such visit, the Sri Rama Navami Puja was being celebrated at the Gokhale Institute. Ramanathan sang with great devotion, Rama Rama, his own composition in the Nilambari Ragam followed by a few other Kritis.

We can estimate the extent of Ramanathan’s devotion towards DVG through an incident. On one visit, Ramanathan took off a ring he was wearing on his finger, placed it in DVG’s hands and prayed, “You must touch it, give your blessings and return it to me.”

When DVG asked him what was so special about it, Ramanathan said: “This ring was given by Mysore Vasudevacharya to Smt Rukmini Devi. She has given it to me.”

***

Shiva’s Sport

One day, DVG wrapped around a red-coloured shawl he selected at random and set out for a walk. He reached the Tagore Circle near Gandhibazar. A Shiva Sharana [typically, wandering minstrels and/or mendicants hailing from the Shiva tradition founded by Basavanna] saw him and mistook him for a Guru from some Matha. He prayed, “Please command a spiritual tenet, my Shiva.” This was the spiritual tenet that stemmed forth from DVG impromptu:

Of what use are your matted locks without a sturdy heart, O Wanderer ।
Contentment without melancholy is true Kailasa, O Wanderer॥

And so on. The Shiva Sharana was overjoyed at this. He said, “This is really beautiful, my Shiva. Please command another tenet.”

By now, passion had overtaken DVG. He sang:

Such fabulous things he has done, our Shiva
Such amusing things he has done ।
Wearing streaks of ash
Marrying that mountain lady
He played all sorts of crazy sport ॥
He danced naked, Our Shiva
He made all Creation in darkness।
Dancing naked
Creating in darkness
He made this whole world crooked॥

The conception of this cosmos as the garden of Shiva’s sport repeatedly featured in DVG’s speeches and writings. A Kriti that was published in 1956 in Prajavani [a Kannada daily broadsheet] set to the Devamanohari Ragam emanated directly from the depths of his soul:

In the Yaga called Shiva – I have my daily meals ।
My salary from doing Shiva’s work – is my great treasure ॥
Service in Shiva’s dwelling – is my ablution in the waters of life ।
The feast from Parvati’s hands – sanctifies this birth ॥

***

Love for Mirth

Several folks are aware of DVG’s love for mirth and humour. Funny stories, sarcastic lines, farcical commentaries – countless feats of such wit would gush forth from him. One must count his penchant for humour as a chief trait of his nature.

Hilarious expositions would flow from DVG like a continuous torrent.

A devotee of some Swami ji once reported to DVG about an interpretation that the Swami had given regarding the boon given by Brahma to the demon Hiranyakashyipu: “May you be Avadhya [indestructible].” According to the Swami ji, what Avadhya really meant was[i] this: “May you be destroyed only by Vishnu, He who symbolizes the primordial alphabet, अ [a].” DVG immediately said: “Please ask your Swami ji the meaning of the word Amedhya [used in the sense of “feces”] and let me know what he says.”

Once DVG said this to Sri N. Chennakeshavayya: “I didn’t understand a specific point in your article about Vina Subbanna.”

It didn’t take long for Sri Chennakeshavayya to understand that this was the prelude to some mischief. He said, “Please command me.”

DVG: “Writing about Subbanna’s daily routine, you mention, ‘after finishing his music concert and taking his meals, he took rest, etcetera.’ I didn’t understand the meaning of this ‘etcetera.’”

Humour and mirth were serious business as far as DVG was concerned; he wouldn’t let it float lightly.

Once, he hit upon the idea of conjuring a nickname for a close friend. For about half an hour, we mulled over and debated the most appropriate nickname. We were not satisfied. He said, “You make a list of all the names that come to your mind. I’ll make a note of the names that occur to me. We will make a decision when we meet tomorrow morning.”

***

It was the occasion of a marriage or some other auspicious function at someone’s home. A friend named Shyame Gowda was sitting next to DVG. Shyame Gowda was a gentle soul. He was endowed with virtuous conduct and was loved by all friends. He was devoid of habits like drinking coffee.

Presently, coffee was served to DVG and other friends. When the coffee cup was placed before Shyame Gowda, he roared:

SG: “No way! This is poison!”

DVG: “What is the poison, Sri Shyame Gowda?”

SG: (Pointing to the coffee) “That is poison. It shouldn’t be drunk.”

DVG: (Smiling) “If that is coffee, I am Hara, Ishwara.”

Saying so, DVG began to drink the coffee.

***

Once Sri Kudali Chidambaram[ii] was bedridden with fever. Chidambaram’s son, Krishnamurthy had come to Bangalore for some work. DVG enquired about Chidambaram’s health.

Krishnamurthy: “The fever has now subsided. However, he is still weak. He says he can’t lift his hands.”

DVG: “Who should he lift his hands against? If someone needs to be beaten up, call me. I’ll take care of it.”

***

Once a university professor supplied some bizarre meaning to a certain verse of Kalidasa after a lot of hard effort. Immediately, DVG suggested an even more outlandish meaning to it. The stunned professor asked, “Which book supplies this meaning?” DVG said, “A work named Gaundya.” Still not understanding DVG’s mischief, the professor went around asking random people, “Have you read a work titled Gaundya? Where is it available?” The professor didn’t understand the simple (grammatical) truth: guṃḍasya bhāvaḥ gauṃḍyaṃ – the feeling of Gunda[appa] is Gaundya.

***

A friend had sprained his neck. Another friend who was nearby said, “The sprain will be cured if a Mantra is chanted.” DVG instantly said: “Yes of course, when the Mantra is chanted and a massage is given, it will be cured.”

***

Once when DVG received some award, Sri K. Sripadacharya who knew him since childhood asked:

S: “Hey Gundappa, do you know how you have received all these awards?”

DVG: “Due to the blessings of Pranadevaru [Vayu], right, Sripadu?”

S: “If you put it that way, I have no quarrel with you.”

Hundreds of such incidents occurred. This level of scholar-humorists and learned connoisseurs are really few in number in any era.

***

DVG had once gone to Melukote with a group of friends. As they were walking engaged in random small talk, they came face to face with a Rathotsava [chariot procession of a Deity]. DVG and a couple of others attempted to proceed on their way by skirting the procession sideways. Sri S.G. Sastri stood behind; he told others to come behind him.

DVG: “Why is this Sastri?”

S: “The procession is coming towards us, right?”

DVG: “So?”

S: “What? Why do you say that? Isn’t it said, ‘Upon seeing the Swami seated in the chariot?’”

DVG: “Who said that?”

S: “How should I know? One of our ancients must have said it.”

DVG: “That’s okay. At least tell me what they have said. Let’s hear it.”

S: “Upon seeing the Swami seated in the chariot… Upon seeing the Swami seated in the chariot…seated in the chariot… (fumbling, he asked the person next to him)…do you remember the full thing? (several folks fumbled similarly).

DVG: “Upon seeing the Swami seated in the chariot, one should take a bath fully clothed. Perhaps that is the full verse.”

---

[i] Avadhya is the antonym of vadhya, meaning “to destroy.” When the prefix “a” is added to “vadhya,” it means “indestructible.” Thus the aforementioned interpretation will mean that Vishnu as the primordial sound, “a” is the only one capable of making the indestructible, destructible.

[ii] Founder and publisher of Kavyalaya Publishers, Mysore, which published scores of DVG’s works.

[[The World of DVG’s Impromptu Poetry and Dictation Source: prekshaa]]

There was no paucity of impromptu poetry in letter correspondence with both close friends and staff of the Gokhale Institute. Once I had put a packet of caramel toffees in the box containing the Institute’s papers that needed DVG’s signature and sent it to him as was the daily practice. The reply was a poem set to the Kanda metre:

You have such compassion on this old man! ।
When my teeth got the fortune of savouring the caramel toffee ॥
I became happy upon realizing your ।
sweet affection O Sondekoppa [i.e. Sondekoppa Ramaswamy] ॥

The sentences containing instructions regarding writing, typing and related work would flow forth in the Anushtup metre: “kāpīyatāmidaṃ deva rāmasvāmi dayānidhe” (Please copy this O Lord Ramaswamy, you the treasure-house of compassion) and so on.

In Routine Matters

DVG was able to spot ample opportunities for poetry even in routine matters.

When DVG was the vice president of the Kannada Sahitya Parishad, an assistant named Lakka put forward a request for a hike of five or ten rupees in his salary. In those days, even this slight increase in costs meant a significant burden for the Parishad. The giants in the Working Committee deliberated on the matter and came to the decision that it was impossible to give this hike to Lakka.

DVG wrote this in the notebook:

lakka dhanamiralu keḍuguṃ॥
It is ruinous to have lakhs in wealth ॥

Note: There is a pun in the Kannada word, “Lakka,” which also means “Lakh.”

***

In the advisory team of the Gokhale Institute, Sri D.R. Venkataramanan had a postgraduate degree in Economics. Sri B.S. Subba Rao was a mathematician of the highest order.

Introducing these two gentlemen to Sir C.P. Ramaswamy Iyer who had come to the Gokhale Institute for a lecture, DVG said: “Chill penury repressed their noble rage, Sir!”

(This is a line from the poet Thomas Gray’s famous, Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard)

***

If for some reason (our) meeting didn’t take place on a day, DVG’s response would invariably emerge in the form of a poem. Such notes, satire, and mockery that emanated from him is innumerable.

Once, owing to some reason, I was unable to meet him. The note from him that reached me the next morning comprised about thirty lines set to perfect metre. For example:

The bath of one’s life is the company of another life dear to it
The honey of sacred love is the ambrosia we drink
The day you are pleased to meet is the newness in my life
If you ignore me, the world is a dull stone.

Thus it went, in this vein.

***

It was the opinion and experience of numerous people that it was difficult to work with DVG. This was the popular opinion about him: ‘A very hard taskmaster.’ The certificate that I frequently received from Masti, V.C. and M.V. Sitaramayya was this: “How are you managing with him for so many years!”

However, I never felt this to be a problem at all. (Perhaps, because even I am a nag and finicky regarding work, our relationship became easy.)

However, in V.C’s words, “Why has God made this man so formidable and adept? Perhaps only to torment us. This is what I sometimes feel.” This sentiment was prevalent from time to time among all friends and those who assisted him.

***

Dictation

Taking down dictation from DVG, instead of being a chore, was a joyous experience. Once he began to dictate and ask me to write it down, he would go on for two or three hours, his flow of words unstoppable. The exchequer of his vocabulary relevant to the specific context and subject was an inseparable part of his nature. His extraordinary memory was the greater part. He had the felicity to narrate an incident that occurred more than sixty years ago with specific details as if it had occurred just yesterday. I haven’t come across anybody else who had this sort of memory. If a mention of some book that he had read forty years ago came up, the screen of his mind would summon the topics in that book and the order in which they appeared in it.

Once we needed some line from the Bible. He indicated to me the approximate portion in which that line appeared and asked me to open the book. As I read out random lines here and there, he asked me to look further. Even as he said this, he began to narrate the text and context of these random lines—as if he had kept the book in front of him.

This same degree of suzerainty would flow forth even in the case of the Ramayana, Mahabharata, and the Upanishads.

Then, his method of contemplation and thought was highly systematic. The moment he began to speak, it would entail an experience as if the seed, root, sprout, stem, branch, leaves, flowers…all of these were taking shape in their natural fashion.

Thanks to my long years of association with him, it is nothing special that I have fully imbibed his method of thinking and writing style.

One evening at around six in the evening, as usual, he began to dictate something and asked me to take it down. Accordingly, I went on writing. Presently, G.P. Rajarathnam arrived. DVG said, “Come, come,” and continued dictating so that it could be paused at an appropriate stage. Rajarathnam sat to my left.

After about ten minutes, we stopped the writing work for the day. Then, Rajarathnam said to DVG:

“This is weird. This fellow is already writing the next sentence before you completed the first one.”

DVG laughed and said, “This is how he is…this (hurling an unprintable expletive)!”

DVG would frequently poke fun at me: “After working with me for so many years, you must have become really intelligent, right?”

DVG would always be in a state of elation throughout the time he was giving dictation. And then, in the midst of this work, there was absolutely no paucity for random deviations. Both printable and unprintable sentences would gush forth from his mouth like a torrent.

This sort of experience provided delight to the work of writing instead of making it a burden.

On several occasions, I had to search for and add for a couple of supplementary details to an incident that he narrated. Thrilling experiences occurred even in this regard.

[[D.V.G: The Incessant Experimenter of Language, Working Style and Food Source: prekshaa]]

On one occasion, DVG had fixed the year for some incident. Later, I had consulted the primary source for the said incident and slightly altered the year.

As I was reading out the material during the second round of editing the work, I mentioned the (revised) year. DVG immediately changed it. I mentioned the name of the primary source and said, “that work gives this year.” Instantly, DVG said, “How’s that even possible? I have seen it with my own eyes and I’m sitting right here, my boy!” Then he added some more details regarding the incident that had occurred more than fifty years ago.

After this, we consulted some more primary sources. These works indeed affirmed the year that DVG mentioned! The book that I had seen earlier had a printing error.

I have already mentioned about how DVG’s method of contemplation was highly systematic. This was provenly demonstrated in innumerable situations. Once, DVG made me write some suggestions addressed to Sri G. Narayana about a matter concerning the Kannada Sahitya Parishad. A few months after this, the matter came up for detailed deliberation. However, G. Narayana found that the aforementioned document was missing from his files. So he approached DVG with embarrassment and confided the matter with him. DVG said: “That’s okay. Let’s do it afresh,” and dictated a revised list of suggestions.

A few more months later, G. Narayana found the original document that DVG had sent him. When he compared it with the revised list, he found that not even a single word was different!

***

A gentleman who was aged over sixty once visited DVG. It was a meeting after a long time. The moment he entered, DVG launched into an enquiry, “Come, Kamalu…are you doing fine? Your three kids? Where are they now?” The gentleman was taken aback. DVG was addressing him in the feminine; besides, he was asking him about some random people.

“Please forgive me. Perhaps you haven’t recognized me. I am…”

DVG cut him off at that and said, “My man…back then, weren’t you the one who played the Kamalu role in the <XYZ> play?”

The visitor remembered now. The play in question had been performed more than forty years ago. “It’s my mistake, you must forgive me,” he said with folded hands.

***

Experimentation

Throughout his life, DVG was engaged in various experiments regarding the usage of language in writing. At different stages, he would affix himself to a specific writing style. On some days, he would say, “People should get used to excellent phraseology.” Accordingly, he would lace his writing with Sanskrit usage and long samAsas (compound words). On other days, he would say, “Writing should be in common, spoken language.” Then he would use purely Desi (roughly, “native,” or “common dialect”) language.

Like writing style, a new axiom regarding the system of work would be propounded anew from season to season. On one occasion, he would say, “It’s okay if there’s a delay of a couple of days. But the work must be thorough.” On another, he would say, “Time is the essence of things. It is vanity to claim that we will do everything perfectly. We must do whatever occurs to us at the moment and chuck it afterwards. We need to keep moving, that’s all.”

All such episodes would invariably culminate in laughter. “Hasn’t Cardinal Newman said, ‘To live is to change; to be perfect is to change often?’” DVG would quote this often.

In the duration when an article or a book began and finished, the method of safeguarding the material related to it would change scores of times. At times, he would place it in a file; at others, he would bind it with a thread. Or he would place it in an iron trunk. Or he would wrap it with a cloth. Amid the commotion of these procedures, it was not rare for the required papers to get lost or disappear altogether.

When the Bhagavad Gita discourses were being transcribed into the written form, DVG had taken special effort to write some metrical verses to mark their completion. When I told him that I’d take them out, he said, “You’re still boys. You’ll lose them. I’ll safeguard them myself. They are very important.” They were so safe that even after the printing was nearing completion, they could not be found even after searching the entire house for several days. “There seems to be some divine play in this. Leave it. My child, write down bits of the verses you remember. We’ll write something else.” Several lines were still in my memory. In this fashion, we rewrote and included them in the work.

He would constantly hit upon newer and newer procedures to overcome such episodes. Both he and all of us knew that these would not last beyond a few days. Observing how we tried to suppress our laughter, he also laughed and said, “This is its nature! Am I Brahma to accomplish everything perfectly in a single shot? That God has himself committed so many blunders….?”

***

Once in some speech, he quoted a line by way of example: “nīcāḥ kalahamicchaṃti saṃdhimicchaṃti sādhavaḥ,” and then said, “I have quoted this verse so often that I have forgotten the other half!”

Everybody knew that this penchant for mirth was a chief feature of DVG’s nature. Indeed, his working style itself would evoke laughter both from him and those close to him.

DVG would liberally make edits and corrections at every stage of a writing work that was going to print. Only after he changed some word or sentence would he feel satisfied that he had discharged his duty. It was also not rare that a sentence would return to its original form after undergoing several corrections.

***

Incessant experimentation was born from DVG’s very nature.

Because he felt that it would be cool to his eyes, DVG would immerse his spectacles in water all night.

In an attempt to brush his teeth thoroughly, blood flowed from his jaws. Following somebody’s advice, he once attempted to take bath using carbonic acid, burnt his body and had to take treatment for about four days.

DVG’s experimental zeal was annexed to the kitchen as well.

DVG would repeatedly complain that potato was not tasty and that it reeked of the smell of mud. On one occasion, his sister-in-law, Smt Sharadamma took special effort to procure potato from some place and praised its quality, claiming that it didn’t emit a bad odour. DVG sampled its taste and delivered his verdict: “What you say is true Sharadamma. There is no mud-odour in the potato. Today, I sense ash odour.”

[[The Taste of Gutter Pakora and DVG’s Vogue Words Source: prekshaa]]

At times, DVG’s political critiques would become the subject of analysis even in his home. At the end of 1971, Smt Sharadamma brought some sweets to DVG and said: “Don’t scold Indira Gandhi from now on.” It was the occasion of India’s victory in the Bangladesh war.

It was Smt Sharadamma’s responsibility to take care of DVG’s health. Once DVG asked, “For some reason, the medicine today is not like normal. It’s bitter.” Smt Sharadamma explained: “I had indicated to the doctor that hyacinth beans were in excessive supply lately.”

The folks who took care of DVG like a flower for several decades were his younger brother D.V. Rama Rao and his wife, Smt Sharadamma, their children Shyamala and Chandramouli, and Rama Rao’s daughter-in-law Lalithamma. It is not an exaggeration to claim that thanks to their loving care, DVG was able to preserve his zest for life till the very end.

After DVG returned home from taking treatment at the St. Martha’s Hospital for his paralysis, the doctors laid down the stricture that visitors should not disturb him thereby causing fatigue. In spite of this, several folks would visit him. DVG’s family tried to reduce this flood as much as possible. Still, some folks would drop in citing random pretexts. An acquaintance, Acharya who was an advocate visited one day and said, “DVG appeared in my wife’s dream yesterday. That’s why she sent me to see him.” To which, Smt Sharadamma said: “Sri DVG doesn’t have a wife. Else, she would have taken her to task saying, ‘why do you visit the dreams of random people?’”

****

DVG would frequently laugh at the vagaries of his own personality. He displayed double enthusiasm in describing his own follies.

Once an Ayurveda Pandit had prescribed some massage to DVG. Accordingly, he had to grind a mixture of tamarind and an assortment of leaves and herbs, apply it on his head and stand in tender sunlight for an hour.

While he was in this state, a friend visited him and invited DVG to his home that evening. DVG declined.

Friend: “Why? Is there some programme?”

DVG: “I need to deliver a lecture in Central College on Morley’s On Compromise.”

The friend regarded DVG from head to toe and exclaimed: “O! So all this preparation is for that! Very appropriate.”

***

On one occasion, DVG felt that the regular walking stick he used was inadequate. And so, he began to use a seven-foot-long log. Both his family members and our friends’ circle launched on a betting match to see how long that would last in his hands. A few days later, DVG said, “This is indeed venerable. However, it is not convenient,” and returned to his old walking stick.

The kind of experiments DVG regularly subjected himself to were the constant subjects for mirth.

***

As soon as I met him one evening, he announced: “It appears that from now onwards, I need to cultivate discipline in the matters of eating snacks.”

I asked him what had transpired. He said:

“Some guy has declared, ‘I have been cheated by own sense organs,’ right? One must not forget that even the mind is included in the list of sense of organs. Just as our bodily organs give us trouble, so does our mind play games with us.

“The moment our stomach aches, we take Agarol or liquid paraffin. It does its job. That is the matter related to the stomach. But does the tongue remain tranquil? It makes us think, ‘After taking medicine constantly, everything seems tasteless.’ The moment this feeling arises, self-pity envelops me. Then I send for Subbanna or Chandra and ask them to fetch me some unhealthy stuff. The taste of that gutter side Pakora can never be present in homemade delicacies.

“But then, we can surely learn from one such unhealthy experience? Ummhmmm! No way! A new argument, a new reasoning each day – a new method to rationalize. ‘This morning’s broth was not all that satisfactory’ – in this manner, I coax myself and fall into unhealthiness again. Its outcome is the same – axe to the bottom!

“The same story was repeated just last Saturday. First, the stomach ache. So I took Agarol. No stomach pain at night. But no sleep either…”

Our friend, the humorist Dasharathi Dikshit had dedicated one of his books to DVG, the Pakora-lover.”

***

Humourous Nature

Because DVG’s nature was endowed with the quality of detached isolation about himself, it was possible for him to observe scores of incidents and record them. We can see illustrations of this in his Jnapakachitrashale essays.

The working committee of the Kannada Sahitya Parishad was faced with passing a resolution mourning the death of a certain person. But then, would such a decision be passed so easily when the luminaries of the world of literature were all assembled in one place? It was said that this simple task consumed several hours. The dispute revolved around the most appropriate choice of words to be used. “On account of his death.” “Upon leaving his mortal body.” “On account of him passing in the clutches of Time.” “Because he attained the Fifth State.” Or was it okay to simply write, “On him coming under the sway of the Divine?” Or, was it appropriate to say, “Upon his attaining Heaven?” But then, if one writes, “Upon his attaining Heaven,” would it be proper to then add that the Parishad “expresses its sorrow?”

Such episodes were innumerable: those that DVG wrote or didn’t write or narrated orally.

DVG, K.S. Krishna Iyer and others once met to discuss famine relief works. The snacks and other culinary arrangements made on this occasion became the subject of great praise for days on end.

The renowned orator Mudavidu Krishna Rao was famous for driving the audience crazy with his splendid eloquence. Once in a speech in Bangalore, “What kind of dazzling poets were born in our Kannada land! What about Pampa! What about Ranna! What about Ponna! What about Janna!…” Even as he blazed forth along these lines, DVG who was seated next to Krishna Rao poked him. When Krishna Rao truned, DVG asked him: “What Ponna? What Janna?”

Krishna Rao: “How should I know about all that man? It’s you guys who say all that!”

Once when N. Narasimha Murthy set out for the toilet with a mug of water in his hand, he was suddenly confronted by a deep philosophical question. He said, “But hasn’t Leibnitz said this? What about Spinoza?”

DVG: “Should this matter be resolved right now or do we have time till you finish your job in the toilet?”

***

A famous journalist was known for concocting stories about his wife’s illness or her impending delivery or whatever and taking cash rewards from Diwan Mirza Ismail. But Mirza was generous. He would say, “My heart goes out to him, you know,”and give him money.

DVG who knew this drama background of the said journalist would humourously ask Mirza: “Sir, is your heart in place these days?”

***

DVG used a substantial number of vogue words. Even these created humour on many occasions.

DVG used the word “occasion” very often. If one of us visited him at odd hours, he would say, “What’s the occasion?”

The vogue word that Sri S. Venkatachalapati—who served as an assistant for several decades since the Gokhale Institute began—used was “non-occasion.”

Another episode. The work of applying distemper to the walls and ceiling of the inner room of the Gokhale Institute was in progress. While painting the ceiling, the painter inadvertently took the support of a book rack placed in the middle of the room. The consequence: three or four racks filled to the brim with books fell to the ground in a heap together with the books. In this manner, the weeks-long effort we had all put in to categorize the books came to naught. By divine grace, the painter didn’t suffer any injury.

We decided to relate the incident to DVG immediately. It was past eight in the night. Venkatachalapati, Subbanarasimhayya and me went to DVG’s house. This was the conversation that transpired:

DVG: “What’s the occasion?”

Venkata: “A non-occasion has occurred…”

[[DVG: A Life of Expansiveness, Confidence, Heartiness, Fuss, Food and Poetry Source: prekshaa]]

Spending five mirthful minutes with DVG was sufficient to make us forget the fatigue of undertaking four hours of brain-wracking work. In the overall reckoning, he had a habit of making a fuss about things.

Let’s assume that DVG would be seated in the front room or the living room of his house. He could call Chandra (son of DVG’s younger brother, D.V. Rama Rao) and ask him to fetch some book from DVG’s bedroom: “There’s a blue-stringed book inside a green plastic bag next to the stool at the right. Bring it.” Chandra would say, “Yes,” and head to the bedroom.

Within ten seconds, by the time he had reached the end of the living room, DVG would shout out: “Did you get it?” Chandra would say, “Yes,” and quicken his pace. And by the time twenty seconds would have elapsed, DVG’s second shout would issue forth: “Didn’t you find it?” Chandra would shout back, “Got it, coming.”

By this time, three quarters of a minute would have passed. And by the time the minute would finish, DVG would roar, “Should I come there myself?” Before the last syllable of “myself” was completed, Chandra would have reappeared.

Chandramouli and others would re-enact all these scenes among themselves and have great fun and forget such minor troubles given by this old man. On many occasions DVG would laugh at his own behaviour. After such episodes were over, DVG would himself report them to us and laugh at himself. He would say, “What can I do? I have become habituated from childhood to this kind of undisciplined life. Shameless life. God has somehow enabled me to lead this sort of life so far – for eighty years. Now it is impossible for me to rectify myself.”

***

Sometime in 1970, V.C. came to visit DVG as usual.

DVG: “Come my man, Sitaramappa…”

VC: “How are you sir?”

DVG: “Look at me. I’m like this. I’m looking forward to the fall of this body as Partha said.”[i]

VC: “That will happen on its own. What should you do for that?”

DVG: “Why do you say that, my man? “looking” is also a job, right?”

Both laughed.

(There was no dearth of sarcastic irony even in these words of DVG. The aforementioned line occurs in Kumaravyasa’s Mahabharata in an episode where Arjuna disguises himself as a Sanyasi and says, “Suffering the chain of fruits of this mortal life with all its Karmas, We are now looking forward to the fall of this body.” After speaking such lofty words of renunciation, Arjuna elopes with Subhadra.)

***

A Trait Inherited from his Father

It can be said that the trait of DVG fussing over everything was inherited from his father. I will narrate what he used to say about his father, in his own words:

“My father’s nature was to fuss over things. My grandmother’s (mother’s mother) annual death rites fell in the month of Vaishakha. For these Vaishakha rites, my father’s commotion would begin right in the month of Chaitra. “Oh! It’s already here! The ceremony will begin tomorrow itself!” He would start his rigmarole a month earlier. We would discuss among ourselves that the moment any death ceremony was on the anvil, it was the onset of troubles for my mother. My father would put his hands on his head as though the sky had fallen on his head and ask his wife – “What do you say? It’s fast approaching, right? What all will you prepare?” She: “There! You started your grumbling again – there’s still twenty days left; what’s your hurry now?” But he would grumble further, “None of them have any concern about this. Nobody takes it seriously in their minds.” Two more minutes of complaining in this fashion, he would again ask his wife: “What sweet delicacies will you prepare?” She: “I’ll prepare some Obbattu. What else should I make?” My father: “Che! Only Obbattu! Can’t you make anything else at all?” She: “It’s the death ceremony of a pious wife. It is said that one must prepare only Obbattu. It is auspicious. That is the tradition of our home.” He: “You prepare Obbattu to keep up with the Sastras. Prepare something else for the satisfaction of the Brahmanas. Can’t you make Chiroti?” She: “I don’t know how to make it. How can I prepare something that I’ve never seen, something whose name I’ve never heard? If you want that, get someone else to make it. What I prepare are the traditional dishes.” By the time the rites were complete, such arguments would be repeated at least five or six times.

“Overall, death rites would be performed with great enthusiasm. One can say that the grandeur of death ceremonies had an upper hand over that of festivals. All those folks lived their lives with great Shraddha. Akin to a proof of this conviction, my father died passed away on the day of his mother’s annual death ceremony. He was not in a position to perform her ceremonies – extreme illness; he couldn’t get up from the bed. The ceremony was performed by his cousin Surappa under the aegis of the Purohita, Sri Rama Sastri. My father would repeatedly ask Rama Sastri in sign language, “Is it done?” After all the ceremonies were complete, Rama Sastri took the Mantrakshata and sprinkled it on my father’s head. Lying on the bed, my father enquired, “Was everything done properly?” Rama Sastri said, “Oho! It went on really well. Nothing was lacking.” My father: “Who performed it?” Rama Sastri: “Surappa.” After this, Rama Sastri had his meals and left. Within an hour, my father passed away.”

***

Active Voice

Even if DVG had to say something minor or trivial, it had to be said in a high pitch. The lessons that he used to teach to his daughter’s son Naati (Nataraj) at his home would reach everybody’s ears. The word “urgency” was absent in DVG’s dictionary. The lesson on just one sentence would not be complete even after an hour had passed. In the end, a fatigued Naati would stand up, spread both his hands upwards and shout, “I have understood.” Only then would the vehicle of DVG’s lesson would move forward.

Recently, my elder friend, Dr. B.P. Radhakrishna’s biography of V.C. (titled Fruitful Life) was launched (28 May 1997). On this occasion, Nittur Srinivasa Rao remarked amidst a conversation: “None of us have heard V.C. speaking in a loud voice. Nobody has ever heard D.V. Gundappa speak in a soft tone!”

Be it speech, writing, snacks or meals—DVG was expansive in everything – unconstrained, confident, hearty. He would take even the most insignificant episode, clothe it with grandeur, expand it, and describe it in a high pitch. This quality was embedded in his nature. His voice would envelop his entire surrounding.

Some beggars would obstinately remain rooted at the spot even after they were given money or other stuff. If they had to be sent on their way, DVG would roar at his sister-in-law, “Should I come? If you tell them in such a soft tone, they won’t go.”

Once when the Working Committee of the Gokhale Institute met, the topic of a certain gentleman came up. The person in question was completely deaf. Our Committee member, Sri Rama Chaitanya said, “He is stone deaf. Perhaps he will be able to hear only if our Chief [DVG] speaks.”

Be it an incident, episode, short story, a Sanskrit Sloka, a quote from someone – everything had to be said in a full-mouthed fashion. Every alphabet had to be expressed with the right amount of force.

This was the rule that DVG followed not just on stage but in everyday conversation.

Once Masti was delivering a discourse at the Gokhale Institute. In between, he quoted Bommera Potana’s famous verse, bAla rasAla sAla navapallava to elucidate the context. After reciting a couple of words, Masti himself felt that he was reciting it in a rather plain fashion. He looked at DVG seated next to him and said, “You recite it.” DVG recited the verse with extraordinary force, the entire hall reverberating his voice.

---

[i] The line ending with “Partha” is drawn verbatim from Kumaravyasa’s Karnatabharatakathamanjari. Partha is another name for Arjuna.

[[The Parivrajaka Heart of DVG: The Luminous Inner Life of a Wandering Mendicant Source: prekshaa]]

Luminous Personality

I have seen DVG from close quarters for about twenty-five years. In all these years, I have never once seen his intellectual enthusiasm or his method of intellectual inquiry come to a halt. His personality was truly luminous. It felt as if the more I observed, the greater was its expansiveness and depth. As the years rolled by, DVG’s old friends—friends for decades—began to pass away one after the other. This would cause him distress from time to time. In one such mood, DVG wrote a letter to V.C. sometime in mid-1970: “A Jnani has been described as an ekākī nispṛhaḥ śāṃtaḥ – alone, detached and tranquil. My friends kicked the bucket one after the other. Now I have attained aloneness. However, I haven’t achieved detachment. Perhaps it might come in future.”

In his series of memoirs, DVG has recollected the people who bore a great influence and impact on shaping his mind since childhood: K. Ramachandra Rao, K.A. Krishnaswamy Iyer, M.G. Varadacharya, D. Venkataramayya and others. All of them are truly extraordinary people viewed from any perspective. However, the fact that DVG actively sought their company indicates the magnanimity and spiritual yearning that was innate in his nature.

The chief reason for DVG’s deep respect for the High Court (it was known as the Chief Court back then) Judge H.V. Nanjundayya was the largeness of his heart. Even with regard to convicted criminals, Sri Nanjundayya showed magnanimity and would reduce the severity of punishment as far as possible. This was his argument: “He may have committed a mistake. However, the fruit of the punishment that we award him will be suffered by his wife and children. Poor things, what mistake have they committed?”

When DVG was involved in the renovation of his house, he had the opportunity of getting acquainted with an old man.

His name was Shivapicchai Mudaliar. His profession was that of a mason but his inner calling was that of a wandering mendicant. A pair of clothes that covered his body, ten or fifteen rupees for the bus or train fare, a trowel, a weighing stone, a peg and other implements—he would be armed with just this and board either a train or bus. He would get down at its last destination. If he found some construction work there, he would remain until he finished it. If there were some temples in that place, he would have a Darshan. After this, he would depart for some other town. He had no fixed rule of going to a predetermined place. He would take up work only when his pockets were empty. Once he had earned enough money for train fare, he would set out for a Tirtha-Yatra. In this manner, he visited all sacred places of pilgrimage throughout Bharatavarsha.

Shivapicchai Mudaliar received his spiritual initiation at the hands of Vakulabharana Paradeshi, a Sadhu hailing from the Andhra region who stayed in Halasuru [Ulsoor].

When DVG asked, “Sri Mudaliar, when do I see you next?”, he said, “When the Swami arranges it.” DVG: “Which is the next place in your Yatra?” He said: “In whatever direction God points me to.”

DVG would recall this and say, “This particular experience is far greater than all the experiences I acquired through books. It is unforgettable.”

DVG’s close friend, Gorur Ramaswamy Iyengar, in his famous work, the essay collection titled Garudagambada Dasayya, has vividly described the different kinds of Dasayyas. DVG had asked Sri Gorur to introduce him to a few of them. DVG would repeatedly praise the absolute inner security and freedom of Dasayyas, Jogis, Bairagis and Fakirs.

We are wanderers, leave us free from the
Troubles of the town, friends ।
We come from afar, stay in a Chattra in your town
And move forward today, friends ॥

DVG had penned this Wanderers’ Song [Daarigara HaaDu] as early as 1922-23 itself. From one perspective, this song can be regarded as an exposition of his nature. The root of his independence of thought, undeformed mental composure, intrinsic quality of holism, and other lofty traits can be traced to his immersion in spirituality. The socio-political environment or the fear of his opponents did not bother or deter him. His vision akin to the Wanderers encompassed the horizon. The strength of his character emanated from this all-encompassing vision; from that strength emanated his fearlessness and sturdiness of inquiry and examination. To the Wanderers:

There is no obstinacy to accomplish something,
No fear that the path is so tough ।
Within the Inner Life we lean upon the Word of the Guru
And take delight in their sayings, friends ॥

It is therefore unsurprising that the life of any person within whom this standard of self-confidence, straightforward and transparent conduct resides, will be magnanimous, pleasant and sweet.

It was the aforementioned verse that was greatly dear to V.C. He would constantly recall it; he had translated it to English as well.

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[[The Grief of DVG that Never Lost its Edge: Conclusion Source: prekshaa]]

Magnanimity

Qualities such as objectivity, courtesy and calmness that had elevated Gopala Krishna Gokhale to the status of an eminent personality stood out in a marked fashion even in DVG’s personality.

It was not rare for differences of opinion to arise among Sir M. Visvesvaraya, Mirza Ismail and DVG in the matters of politics and administration. However this never caused any rupture in their friendship. DVG had cultivated this magnanimity right from his early years.

Around 1915, Sri P. Kodandaraya who was working as a Biology lecturer at Central College (he later joined the Servants of India Society) wrote an essay in which he analyzed Sri Krishna as a human being. DVG, who was one hundred percent a traditionalist, deeply believed that Sri Krishna was indeed an Avatar of Mahavishnu. Despite this, he published Kodandaraya’s essay in full in his Karnataka paper.

No matter how many differences of opinion, it was a natural trait for people of that generation to preserve friendships in an infallible fashion. Because that trait is now very rare, it needs to be mentioned as a special quality.

Once DVG said this about N.S. Subba Rao: “I did not endorse many aspects of his behaviour. But what affection he had for me! Once in a meeting of the Working Committee of the University, both of us fought bitterly over the issue of appointments. Three or four days after that, I was struck with typhoid and had to be admitted to the hospital. Subba Rao visited me and wept. When I reminded him of our fight, he said –

‘Let that incident go die somewhere. We’ve fought before, we’ll fight in future. You come back alive. Then we’ll have plenty of opportunities to fight.’”

DVG’s mind had ripened with numerous such experiences.

In 1970, a literary critic (he is also a famous writer) wrote a rather trenchant piece regarding some programme related to DVG. I was naturally upset. I also felt that I should write a rebuttal to it.

When I met him the following morning as usual, DVG asked:

“You feel that you must write a rebuttal to it, right?”

“Yes.”

“Don’t do that. We need to ignore such things.”

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A Tragedy

One can say that because spirituality flowed in DVG’s blood, he was able to face and withstand several ups and downs in his life with courage.

The sorrow of DVG’s wife Smt Bhagirathamma’s death at a young age tormented him till the end of his life. DVG was married when he was just 17 (when he was studying in the Fifth Form). The circumstance under which his wife permanently departed from him (9 March 1924) is also extraordinary. It was just fifteen days since she had delivered a baby. She was drying her hair in front of the stove after finishing her oil bath and became the victim of a fire accident. She was the chief pillar of support and stability in DVG’s life, which went on in a haphazard manner without regular income. This tragic separation from this noble lady, this epitome of sacrifice, made life unbearable for DVG. He never recovered from it. In a letter written to console DVG, “Right Honourable” V.S. Srinivasa Sastri said, “Some griefs never lose their edge.” This sorrow troubled DVG forever. One day—as recent as 1974—when his mind was filled with extreme grief, he told me by way of conversation: “I didn’t aspire for fame. God gave it to me generously. All I wanted was friendship. That was what he snatched away from me.”

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View of Life

Complete harmony and inseparability with society, incessant study-contemplation-inquiry, vast experience of life – these and similar aspects were inextricably woven within DVG. Which is why the body of his literary work became sturdy and radiant. “The intellect is the Brahmagiri[i]; poetry is Kaveri.”

It can be said that DVG’s stand regarding the positives and negatives about “modernity” was shaped during his early and formative years. As the years rolled by, his stand only solidified. The following words, which appear as though he had written them in his advanced years, were written as early as 1911:

God save us from servile and apish imitation of the westerners. God help us to assimilate the practical and rationalistic spirit of the West and to avoid the extreme individualism, the extreme socialism and the other ugly offspring of its rank materialism.

On one occasion, DVG had himself used the Latin proverb, “Ex pede Herculem.” What it means is this: look at the feet of Hercules and from it, make an estimate of the other parts of his body. Following the same logic, the few episodes recalled hitherto should suffice to suggest the spread and grandeur of DVG’s personality.

One is reminded of the poet Thomas Campion’s lines while dwelling upon the mental environment and the sport of DVG’s talent:

Thus, scorning all the cares
That fate or fortune brings,
His book the heavens he makes,
His wisdom heavenly things;
Good thoughts his surest friends,
His wealth a well-spent age,
The earth his sober inn
And quiet pilgrimage.

Concluded

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[i] Brahmagiri is a lush and thickly forested mountain in Coorg