‘ಸಂಧ್ಯಾದರ್ಶನ’ವನ್ನು ಬರೆದ ಆಚೀಚಿನ ವರ್ಷಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ನನಗೆ ನಮ್ಮ ಕರ್ಮಕಾಂಡಗಳ ರೂಪ-ಸ್ವರೂಪಗಳನ್ನು ಪರಿಷ್ಕರಿಸಬೇಕು, ಸುಧಾರಣೆಗಳನ್ನು ಮಾಡಬೇಕು, ಜಳ್ಳು-ಕಾಳುಗಳನ್ನು ಬೇರ್ಪಡಿಸಿ ನಮ್ಮ ಕಾಲಕ್ಕೂ ಶ್ರುತಿ-ಸೂತ್ರ-ಸ್ಮೃತಿಗಳ ಆಂತರ್ಯಕ್ಕೂ ಒಪ್ಪಿಗೆಯಾಗುವಂಥ ಶುದ್ಧವಾದ ವ್ಯವಸ್ಥೆಗಳನ್ನು ಹವಣಿಸಬೇಕೆಂಬ ಹಂಬಲ ಹೆಚ್ಚಾಗಿತ್ತು. ಇದನ್ನು ಕುರಿತು ಶೇಷಣ್ಣನವರೊಡನೆ ಸಾಕಷ್ಟು ಹೇಳಿಕೊಂಡಿದ್ದೆ. ಆಗೆಲ್ಲ ಅವರು ನನ್ನ ವಿಚಾರಧಾರೆಯನ್ನು ಮೆಚ್ಚುವುದಲ್ಲದೆ ತಮ್ಮ ದೃಷ್ಟಿ-ಧೋರಣೆಗಳನ್ನೂ ಹೇಳುತ್ತಿದ್ದರು. ಅಂಥ ಒಂದು ಸಂವಾದದಲ್ಲಿ ಒಮ್ಮೆ ನಾನು ಮದುವೆ-ಮುಂಜಿಗಳಂಥ ಸಮಾರಂಭಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಆಡಂಬರ-ಅಬ್ಬರ ಹೆಚ್ಚಾಗುತ್ತಿದೆ, ಅಶಾಸ್ತ್ರೀಯವೂ ಅನವಶ್ಯವೂ ಆದ ಆರ್ಭಟಗಳನ್ನು ಪುರೋಹಿತರೂ ಕರ್ತರೂ ಮೆರೆಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದಾರೆಂದು ಆಕ್ಷೇಪಿಸಿದೆ. ಆಗ ಅವರೆಂದರು:
Author:shashikiran
It is very hard for me to write about V.S.Srinivasa Sastri or to get anything written about him. It is a challenging task to decide where to start and where to end. What’s all the more difficult is for me to control my own emotions. I had always considered him as my younger father (Uncle). He too, similarly, had great affection for me. It is impossible not to get swept by his showering of love and affection. However, this might also hinder an essential quality called objectivity which every pen portrait should posses.
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||
Everyone present there congratulated Bhīmasena. He bowed down before his elder brother and said, “Now the entire world is yours, free of all obstacles. The main person behind all this hatred and enmity is now fallen here with his limb broken. Duśśāsana and the other evil men have been eliminated too!”
Yudhishitra said, “Yes! What you say is true! Thanks to Kṛṣṇa’s generous assistance, we have now won over the entire world. You have vanquished the enemy and have been victorious!”
ನಾನು ಊಹಿಸುವಂತೆ ಅವರ ಮನಃಸಿದ್ಧತೆ ಬಹುಕಾಲದ ಮುನ್ನವೇ ಆಗಿತ್ತಾದರೂ ವ್ಯಾಸಂಗಸಿದ್ಧತೆಗೆ ಹೆಚ್ಚಿನ ಅನುಕೂಲ ಬಂದದ್ದು ನಿವೃತ್ತಿಯ ಬಳಿಕ. ದಿಟವೇ, ಅವರು ನಿವೃತ್ತರಾದಾಗ ಮಗಳ ಮದುವೆಯ ಬಾಧ್ಯತೆ ಉಳಿದಿತ್ತು, ಮಗನ ವಿದ್ಯಾಭ್ಯಾಸ ಪೂರ್ಣವಾಗಬೇಕಿತ್ತು. ಇದಕ್ಕಾಗಿಯೇ ಶೇಷಣ್ಣನವರು ನಿವೃತ್ತಿಯ ಬಳಿಕವೂ ಕೆಲವು ಕಾಲ ದುಡಿಯಬೇಕಾಗಿ ಬಂತು. ಈ ಎಲ್ಲ ಬಾಧ್ಯತೆಗಳು ತೀರಿದ ಬಳಿಕ ಹೆಂಡತಿ-ಮಕ್ಕಳನ್ನು ಕೂಡಿಸಿಕೊಂಡು ಕೇಳಿದರಂತೆ:
The Hauteur
Such goliathon pastimes of my great grandfather were rather popular. For a subject of the Queen of Scantiness that I was, I sensed pride in every pompous fable that surrounded my great grandfather. At least he got to eat what he wanted.
From the aforementioned conversations gleaming with haughtiness, it is quite evident that hauteur was an obvious underlying factor in his administration.
Note: This is the second of a two-part series of an English translation of D.V. Gundappa's essay titled "Bengalurinalli Hotel Udyamada Arambha," the tenth essay in the volume titled "Hrudaya Sampannaru," in the Jnapaka Chitrashale volumes.
