English Writings of D V Gundappa - 12

This article is part 12 of 12 in the series English Writings of D V Gundappa

DVG was deeply rooted in the philosophical tradition of India. Dharma as a concept was of absorbing interest to him. It engaged his energy throughout his life. In a sense, he was wedded to dharma. It is so constant a feature of his writings that we may consider it his idée fixe, albeit in a positive sense. His exposition of dharma alongside kindred concepts such as rta, satya, sattva, rajas, and tamas is a worthy contribution to Indian philosophical thought.

Rta is a self-existent instinct of man … It acts in us on the instant, as a sudden flash, lighting up the shape of the true in any situation. It is our inner witness and usually our first witness. Satya is rta confirmed … or action-worthy truth. And satya in action is dharmaDharma […] based upon a rational appreciation of the relative values of things of the body and of the soul, is justice or due satisfaction of the claims of each entity in a conflict. It is generosity or willingness to share the good things one has with those who have them not … It is harmony in relationships and grace in behaviour. It is not the suppression but the regulation of desire. It is the introduction of a rational order into the chaotic promptings of the body and the mind. It is in life what balance and proportion are in a picture. (pp. 49–51)

               If one would obtain a clear and steady vision of the True, which is the indispensable key to the Good, one should find a way of eliminating the two corrupters of understanding and judgment (sattva), — namely excitement (rajas) and apathy (tamas). The central purpose of ethics properly so called should be to secure the release of sattva from the hold of rajas and tamas which keep it prisoner. It is for this that all disciplines and all rules of conduct are designed. Law, social code, morality, manners — all these aim at facilitating the full expression of the sattva implicit within and its prevalence over rajas and tamas. So does the ethic of democracy. (p. 49)

On the practical side, this insight into philosophical concepts led him to aver that we should first observe our duties before asserting our rights:   

The origin of the right is a part of morality … and fitness is another part of that same morality. It is the latter part that has gone neglected in the career of democracy. Its prophets from Rosseau downwards have over-emphasized the “rights” aspect and under-toned the “duties” aspect of the democratic ethic. Herein has been the root of the trouble. (p. 53)

Taking up the problem of linguistic states for analysis once again, DVG offers a comprehensive picture in an essay contributed to The Indian Yearbook of International Affairs in 1954. Here are a few of his pointed observations:

Linguistic homogeneity is not necessarily and not always the same thing as cultural homogeneity. For example, while Mysore and Dharwar are both Kannada areas, Mysore is more akin to Madras, and Dharwar more akin to Bombay, in matters of music and the fine arts, and to some extent in habits of food and dress. The living affinities of a people are inevitably complex in their make-up and their working; and while they are too subtle and intricate for analysis, it would be taking serious risks to ignore them. (p. 94)

               It is unjust to speak of linguistic demands as though they were independent of the demands of national integrity. (p. 95)

               Can an average Mysorean with just a smattering of a book-learnt Hindi hope to beat a Lucknowallah in an oratorical contest in Hindi? If the answer is not a ready and definite “Yes,” then the Mysorean’s knowledge of Hindi is to him nothing more than a nominal accomplishment. Instead of that, he could have more usefully studied his own Kannada a little better. (pp. 107–08)

               North India on the whole does not seem to have appreciated the force of popular sentiment in South India. This is a great danger to our national unity. (p. 108)

Responding to people pressing for educational reforms, DVG emphasized on inculcating the basics – memory; pronunciation; Sanskrit, various Indian languages and English; science and mathematics:

The three R’s [reading, writing, and arithmetic] are still the staple of education, and all the rest are of secondary importance. And in the higher ranks, I plead for the old ideal of a liberal education, — “everything of something and something of everything.” It is in the High School that the foundations should be laid for the second part of the maxim, — “something of every worthwhile thing”; and it is in the University that the other part of the ideal, — “everything of something,” — should be cultivated. My plea in short is thus for no more than the repairing of the old foundations which have suffered neglect and damage through the ascendency of both amateurs and fanatics during the last two or three decades. (p. 121)

He gave an earful to activists who made a hue and cry about drastic readjustments. Well thought-out action — not noise — is what counts. He remarked with succulent effrontery:

[Education] must need cleansing and renovation now and then, even as our bodies need bath and nourishment every new day. But such renewal is not anything drastic; it is part of the ordinary routine of life. No one makes any fuss about his morning toilet. (p. 118)

DVG spent a good amount of his time in thinking about how the past can coalesce with the present to serve as a lamppost to the future. This was a recurring theme in his writings. When the government introduced the Hindu Intestate Succession Bill in 1954, he wrote an article titled Right to Patrimony Among Hindus, explaining the historical background and far-reaching consequences of the inheritance issue. Incidentally, this lucidly written essay showcases his mastery over the foundational Dharmashastra works.

            In the same year, he wrote a longform titled Industrial Technology and Indian Society. Although he was not against scientific progress, he argued that technological development should not result in the mechanization of life. The pursuit of physical comforts, he observed, should not mask our innate idealistic proclivities. DVG’s perspective has come to be known as ‘alternative economics’ after the 1970s. Here are a few excerpts:

Mankind is for the ordinary man a concept too vast and too remote and too impersonal to kindle intimacy of emotion. It is the magic tie of concrete kinship and fellowship that can convert that abstraction into a thing material and available for living relationships. The family, the caste, the sect and the State divide humanity into little bits and present to the eye a bit at a time as though it were a photograph fixed in a frame. The man who, sitting in his room, would gather a surface view of the whole of the terrestrial globe must need look at one sectional map after another in a series and then at last piece them all together in his own mind. Similarly, to the man of but average power of imagination and understanding, the customary divisions of humanity are so many part-pictures, each presented in a convenient frame so that he could easily recognize it, of an immense body of reality of which he is a tiny speck, and which therefore would otherwise be inaccessible to his comprehension. The essential point is that when looking at the parts, one should be careful not to forget that they are but parts and that there is a larger whole in which they are all to be seen joined as one. This in brief is the philosophy of Hindu social organization. Its central purpose is the facilitating of the soul’s education in shedding the narrowing instincts of self-concern and blossoming by stages into life universal. (p. 139)

               Life for the factory man becomes a treadmill routine and lacks spontaneity. It knows no outburst of joy or enthusiasm. From dawn to dusk it is an unceasing round of prescribed duties that can offer no scope for personal initiative or the unfolding of talent. Even pleasures become mechanical like Saturday cinemas and Sunday picnics. (p. 149)

               Life is to the factory hand no more than animal existence alternating between labour and languor. He has no psychological time in which to seek and enjoy the things that can refresh the mind and renovate the spirit … The milieu that can induce the mood for self-cultivation can be created only by conditions of natural and habitual mind-contacts among equals of kindred tastes and common aspirations. (pp. 149–50)

The quality and consistency of DVG’s journalistic labours were matchless. No significant development – regional, national, or international – escaped his attention. His comments were biting, jocular, laudatory, or disapproving befitting the occasion; but were always worth making. When the five-year plans were being touted as harbingers of all-round transformation, DVG made an incisive comment to bring the panegyrists back to ground:

So much fuss is being made by party propagandists about these plans that it is possible that young people may be persuaded to think that something very original and prodigious has been set on foot. In sober truth, all decent governments in the world including India have always “planned” for their States. What is an annual budget if not a “plan” for the year on view? The budget falls roughly under two heads: the Routine and the Capital. The former relates just to the ordinary work of the year and the latter to works of more lasting benefit to the State. When the needs of the people are studied ahead of the five years instead of for one year, it becomes a Five-year Plan; if for ten years, then a Ten–year Plan. Sir M. Visvesvaraya as Dewan gave Mysore a ‘plan’ forty years ago (1913–1919), long before Russia produced hers; and before him his predecessor Rangacharlu had a plan seventy-five years ago. They had no drums to beat or conches to blow in those days. If anybody had flaunted the phrase ‘Welfare State,’ Rangacharlu would have asked — “What else is a State for?”  (p. 222)

*                      *                      *

Concluded.

 

Author(s)

About:

Shashi Kiran B N holds a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and a master's degree in Sanskrit. His interests include Indian aesthetics, Hindu scriptures, Sanskrit and Kannada literature and philosophy.

Prekshaa Publications

Indian Perspective of Truth and Beauty in Homer’s Epics is a unique work on the comparative study of the Greek Epics Iliad and Odyssey with the Indian Epics – Rāmāyaṇa and Mahābhārata. Homer, who laid the foundations for the classical tradition of the West, occupies a stature similar to that occupied by the seer-poets Vālmīki and Vyāsa, who are synonymous with the Indian culture. The author...

Karnataka’s celebrated polymath, D V Gundappa brings together in the sixth volume of reminiscences character sketches of prominent public figures, liberals, and social workers. These remarkable personages hailing from different corners of South India are from a period that spans from the late nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century. Written in Kannada in the 1970s, these memoirs go...

An Introduction to Hinduism based on Primary Sources

Authors: Śatāvadhānī Dr. R Ganesh, Hari Ravikumar

What is the philosophical basis for Sanātana-dharma, the ancient Indian way of life? What makes it the most inclusive and natural of all religio-philosophical systems in the world?

The Essential Sanātana-dharma serves as a handbook for anyone who wishes to grasp the...

Karnataka’s celebrated polymath, D V Gundappa brings together in the fifth volume, episodes from the lives of traditional savants responsible for upholding the Vedic culture. These memorable characters lived a life of opulence amidst poverty— theirs  was the wealth of the soul, far beyond money and gold. These vidvāns hailed from different corners of the erstwhile Mysore Kingdom and lived in...

Padma Bhushan Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam represents the quintessence of Sage Bharata’s art and Bhārata, the country that gave birth to the peerless seer of the Nāṭya-veda. Padma’s erudition in various streams of Indic knowledge, mastery over many classical arts, deep understanding of the nuances of Indian culture, creative genius, and sublime vision bolstered by the vedāntic and nationalistic...

Bhārata has been a land of plenty in many ways. We have had a timeless tradition of the twofold principle of Brāhma (spirit of wisdom) and Kṣāttra (spirit of valour) nourishing and protecting this sacred land. The Hindu civilisation, rooted in Sanātana-dharma, has constantly been enriched by brāhma and safeguarded by kṣāttra.
The renowned Sanskrit poet and scholar, Śatāvadhānī Dr. R...

ಛಂದೋವಿವೇಕವು ವರ್ಣವೃತ್ತ, ಮಾತ್ರಾಜಾತಿ ಮತ್ತು ಕರ್ಷಣಜಾತಿ ಎಂದು ವಿಭಕ್ತವಾದ ಎಲ್ಲ ಬಗೆಯ ಛಂದಸ್ಸುಗಳನ್ನೂ ವಿವೇಚಿಸುವ ಪ್ರಬಂಧಗಳ ಸಂಕಲನ. ಲೇಖಕರ ದೀರ್ಘಕಾಲಿಕ ಆಲೋಚನೆಯ ಸಾರವನ್ನು ಒಳಗೊಂಡ ಈ ಹೊತ್ತಗೆ ಪ್ರಧಾನವಾಗಿ ಛಂದಸ್ಸಿನ ಸೌಂದರ್ಯವನ್ನು ಲಕ್ಷಿಸುತ್ತದೆ. ತೌಲನಿಕ ವಿಶ್ಲೇಷಣೆ ಮತ್ತು ಅಂತಃಶಾಸ್ತ್ರೀಯ ಅಧ್ಯಯನಗಳ ತೆಕ್ಕೆಗೆ ಬರುವ ಬರೆಹಗಳೂ ಇಲ್ಲಿವೆ. ಶಾಸ್ತ್ರಕಾರನಿಗಲ್ಲದೆ ಸಿದ್ಧಹಸ್ತನಾದ ಕವಿಗೆ ಮಾತ್ರ ಸ್ಫುರಿಸಬಲ್ಲ ಎಷ್ಟೋ ಹೊಳಹುಗಳು ಕೃತಿಯ ಮೌಲಿಕತೆಯನ್ನು ಹೆಚ್ಚಿಸಿವೆ. ಈ...

Karnataka’s celebrated polymath, D V Gundappa brings together in the fourth volume, some character sketches of the Dewans of Mysore preceded by an account of the political framework of the State before Independence and followed by a review of the political conditions of the State after 1940. These remarkable leaders of Mysore lived in a period that spans from the mid-nineteenth century to the...

Bharatiya Kavya-mimamseya Hinnele is a monograph on Indian Aesthetics by Mahamahopadhyaya N. Ranganatha Sharma. The book discusses the history and significance of concepts pivotal to Indian literary theory. It is equally useful to the learned and the laity.

Sahitya-samhite is a collection of literary essays in Kannada. The book discusses aestheticians such as Ananda-vardhana and Rajashekhara; Sanskrit scholars such as Mena Ramakrishna Bhat, Sridhar Bhaskar Varnekar and K S Arjunwadkar; and Kannada litterateurs such as DVG, S L Bhyrappa and S R Ramaswamy. It has a foreword by Shatavadhani Dr. R Ganesh.

The Mahābhārata is the greatest epic in the world both in magnitude and profundity. A veritable cultural compendium of Bhārata-varṣa, it is a product of the creative genius of Maharṣi Kṛṣṇa-dvaipāyana Vyāsa. The epic captures the experiential wisdom of our civilization and all subsequent literary, artistic, and philosophical creations are indebted to it. To read the Mahābhārata is to...

Shiva Rama Krishna

சிவன். ராமன். கிருஷ்ணன்.
இந்திய பாரம்பரியத்தின் முப்பெரும் கதாநாயகர்கள்.
உயர் இந்தியாவில் தலைமுறைகள் பல கடந்தும் கடவுளர்களாக போற்றப்பட்டு வழிகாட்டிகளாக விளங்குபவர்கள்.
மனித ஒற்றுமை நூற்றாண்டுகால பரிணாம வளர்ச்சியின் பரிமாணம்.
தனிநபர்களாகவும், குடும்ப உறுப்பினர்களாகவும், சமுதாய பிரஜைகளாகவும் நாம் அனைவரும் பரிமளிக்கிறோம்.
சிவன் தனிமனித அடையாளமாக அமைகிறான்....

ऋतुभिः सह कवयः सदैव सम्बद्धाः। विशिष्य संस्कृतकवयः। यथा हि ऋतवः प्रतिसंवत्सरं प्रतिनवतामावहन्ति मानवेषु तथैव ऋतुवर्णनान्यपि काव्यरसिकेषु कामपि विच्छित्तिमातन्वते। ऋतुकल्याणं हि सत्यमिदमेव हृदि कृत्वा प्रवृत्तम्। नगरजीवनस्य यान्त्रिकतां मान्त्रिकतां च ध्वनदिदं चम्पूकाव्यं गद्यपद्यमिश्रितमिति सुव्यक्तमेव। ऐदम्पूर्वतया प्रायः पुरीपरिसरप्रसृतानाम् ऋतूनां विलासोऽत्र प्रपञ्चितः। बेङ्गलूरुनामके...

The Art and Science of Avadhānam in Sanskrit is a definitive work on Sāhityāvadhānam, a form of Indian classical art based on multitasking, lateral thinking, and extempore versification. Dotted throughout with tasteful examples, it expounds in great detail on the theory and practice of this unique performing art. It is as much a handbook of performance as it is an anthology of well-turned...

This anthology is a revised edition of the author's 1978 classic. This series of essays, containing his original research in various fields, throws light on the socio-cultural landscape of Tamil Nadu spanning several centuries. These compelling episodes will appeal to scholars and laymen alike.
“When superstitious mediaevalists mislead the country about its judicial past, we have to...

The cultural history of a nation, unlike the customary mainstream history, has a larger time-frame and encompasses the timeless ethos of a society undergirding the course of events and vicissitudes. A major key to the understanding of a society’s unique character is an appreciation of the far-reaching contributions by outstanding personalities of certain periods – especially in the realms of...

Prekṣaṇīyam is an anthology of essays on Indian classical dance and theatre authored by multifaceted scholar and creative genius, Śatāvadhānī Dr. R Ganesh. As a master of śāstra, a performing artiste (of the ancient art of Avadhānam), and a cultured rasika, he brings a unique, holistic perspective to every discussion. These essays deal with the philosophy, history, aesthetics, and practice of...

Yaugandharam

इदं किञ्चिद्यामलं काव्यं द्वयोः खण्डकाव्ययोः सङ्कलनरूपम्। रामानुरागानलं हि सीतापरित्यागाल्लक्ष्मणवियोगाच्च श्रीरामेणानुभूतं हृदयसङ्क्षोभं वर्णयति । वात्सल्यगोपालकं तु कदाचिद्भानूपरागसमये घटितं यशोदाश्रीकृष्णयोर्मेलनं वर्णयति । इदम्प्रथमतया संस्कृतसाहित्ये सम्पूर्णं काव्यं...

Vanitakavitotsavah

इदं खण्डकाव्यमान्तं मालिनीछन्दसोपनिबद्धं विलसति। मेनकाविश्वामित्रयोः समागमः, तत्फलतया शकुन्तलाया जननम्, मातापितृभ्यां त्यक्तस्य शिशोः कण्वमहर्षिणा परिपालनं चेति काव्यस्यास्येतिवृत्तसङ्क्षेपः।

Vaiphalyaphalam

इदं खण्डकाव्यमान्तं मालिनीछन्दसोपनिबद्धं विलसति। मेनकाविश्वामित्रयोः समागमः, तत्फलतया शकुन्तलाया जननम्, मातापितृभ्यां त्यक्तस्य शिशोः कण्वमहर्षिणा परिपालनं चेति काव्यस्यास्येतिवृत्तसङ्क्षेपः।

Nipunapraghunakam

इयं रचना दशसु रूपकेष्वन्यतमस्य भाणस्य निदर्शनतामुपैति। एकाङ्करूपकेऽस्मिन् शेखरकनामा चित्रोद्यमलेखकः केनापि हेतुना वियोगम् अनुभवतोश्चित्रलेखामिलिन्दकयोः समागमं सिसाधयिषुः कथामाकाशभाषणरूपेण निर्वहति।

Bharavatarastavah

अस्मिन् स्तोत्रकाव्ये भगवन्तं शिवं कविरभिष्टौति। वसन्ततिलकयोपनिबद्धस्य काव्यस्यास्य कविकृतम् उल्लाघनाभिधं व्याख्यानं च वर्तते।

Karnataka’s celebrated polymath, D V Gundappa brings together in the third volume, some character sketches of great literary savants responsible for Kannada renaissance during the first half of the twentieth century. These remarkable...

Karnataka’s celebrated polymath, D V Gundappa brings together in the second volume, episodes from the lives of remarkable exponents of classical music and dance, traditional storytellers, thespians, and connoisseurs; as well as his...

Karnataka’s celebrated polymath, D V Gundappa brings together in the first volume, episodes from the lives of great writers, poets, literary aficionados, exemplars of public life, literary scholars, noble-hearted common folk, advocates...

Evolution of Mahabharata and Other Writings on the Epic is the English translation of S R Ramaswamy's 1972 Kannada classic 'Mahabharatada Belavanige' along with seven of his essays on the great epic. It tells the riveting...

Shiva-Rama-Krishna is an English adaptation of Śatāvadhāni Dr. R Ganesh's popular lecture series on the three great...

Bharatilochana

ಮಹಾಮಾಹೇಶ್ವರ ಅಭಿನವಗುಪ್ತ ಜಗತ್ತಿನ ವಿದ್ಯಾವಲಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಮರೆಯಲಾಗದ ಹೆಸರು. ಮುಖ್ಯವಾಗಿ ಶೈವದರ್ಶನ ಮತ್ತು ಸೌಂದರ್ಯಮೀಮಾಂಸೆಗಳ ಪರಮಾಚಾರ್ಯನಾಗಿ  ಸಾವಿರ ವರ್ಷಗಳಿಂದ ಇವನು ಜ್ಞಾನಪ್ರಪಂಚವನ್ನು ಪ್ರಭಾವಿಸುತ್ತಲೇ ಇದ್ದಾನೆ. ಭರತಮುನಿಯ ನಾಟ್ಯಶಾಸ್ತ್ರವನ್ನು ಅರ್ಥಮಾಡಿಕೊಳ್ಳಲು ಇವನೊಬ್ಬನೇ ನಮಗಿರುವ ಆಲಂಬನ. ಇದೇ ರೀತಿ ರಸಧ್ವನಿಸಿದ್ಧಾಂತವನ್ನು...

Vagarthavismayasvadah

“वागर्थविस्मयास्वादः” प्रमुखतया साहित्यशास्त्रतत्त्वानि विमृशति । अत्र सौन्दर्यर्यशास्त्रीयमूलतत्त्वानि यथा रस-ध्वनि-वक्रता-औचित्यादीनि सुनिपुणं परामृष्टानि प्रतिनवे चिकित्सकप्रज्ञाप्रकाशे। तदन्तर एव संस्कृतवाङ्मयस्य सामर्थ्यसमाविष्कारोऽपि विहितः। क्वचिदिव च्छन्दोमीमांसा च...

The Best of Hiriyanna

The Best of Hiriyanna is a collection of forty-eight essays by Prof. M. Hiriyanna that sheds new light on Sanskrit Literature, Indian...

Stories Behind Verses

Stories Behind Verses is a remarkable collection of over a hundred anecdotes, each of which captures a story behind the composition of a Sanskrit verse. Collected over several years from...