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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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....
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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 20th 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...
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