DEVANAHALLI VENKATARAMANAIAH GUNDAPPA or D.V. Gundappa or DVG is one of the sagely lamps that guides our work at The Dharma Dispatch. Various facets of his peerless and inimitable legacy have been featured on this journal from time to time. We have so far attempted to showcase his body of work in the realms of the Sanatana cultural heritage. However, DVG was much more than just a cultural icon.
In fact, trying to capture the full legacy of DVG is akin to imprisoning an ocean in a teacup. To give only the briefest idea of his multifaceted contributions,DVG primarily identified himself as a journalist and remained one till his last breath. It was an extraordinarily brilliant service record sprawled over sixty-five years. He was also a poet, playwright, freedom fighter, statesman, biographer, publicist, aesthete, polyglot, philosopher and a public eminence in the true sense of the word.
Few luminaries from Karnataka have enjoyed the kind of statewide acclaim that he did. In a Socratic sense, he was the Wise Elder who every home wished it had. It is said that the proverbial common man from various parts of Karnataka would write letters to him addressed simply as: “D.V. GUNDAPPA, BANGALORE.” The letters would reach him unfailingly and he would unfailingly reply to each.
In his own lifetime, DVG was recognized and honoured as an important voice of public conscience in the political, social, cultural and elite circles throughout India — from Bangalore to Bikaner, from Madras to Mumbai. His range of acquaintances, associates and friends included various Maharajas, five Diwans of the Mysore Princely State, Sir M. Visvesvarayya, S. Subramania Iyer, V.S. Srinivasa Sastri, Mysore Vasudevacharya, P.V. Kane, M. Hiriyanna, Kuppuswami Sastri, Madan Mohan Malviya, etc. As editor and journalist, he founded and edited several journals and papers and wrote for at least thirty-five publications. His journalistic corpus in both Kannada and English runs into a whopping fifteen thousand pages.
DVG wrote on an astonishing range of topics with authority and elan. These included but were not limited to current affairs, culture, music, art, books, public policy, health, education, law, biographies and profiles of great personalities, reminiscences, Princely States, temple reforms, Hindu society, historical essays, language, grammar... his gamut is daunting.
A defining quality of all these writings on such diverse subjects is the uniformity of their standard, tight rigour, pristine clarity, flowing eloquence and stylistic elegance. From this perspective, it becomes a Herculean task, for example, to select his essays for inclusion in an anthology that might be titled, The Best of DVG.
IF THIS IS THE CONDENSED SUMMARY of DVG’s corpus of non-fiction, a whole new and enchanting world opens up when we survey the corpus of his creative literature. Some of his finest literary works easily occupy a top slot in the annals of the great works of world literature.
Exquisite, consummate classicism is the defining trait of DVG’s creative output. The best of these are intoned and inspired by the best traditions of Sanskrit literature including but not limited to the Ramayana, Mahabharata, Kalidasa, our Puranic and Upanishadic lore.
On a broad canvas, DVG’s literary corpus can be thematically divided as follows:
1. Indian and non-Indian
2. Classical and contemporary
The singular work that propelled DVG into permanent literary fame and made him a household name is his magnum opus, Mankutimmana Kagga (Foggy Fool’s Farrago). It is an exquisite boutique of 743 contemplative verses. This work is widely regarded as the Bhagavad Gita in Kannada. In fact DVG and Mankutimmana Kagga have become synonymns. While it richly deserves every epithet heaped on it, it also illustrates the proverb of too much of a good thing. Among other things, Kagga’s enduring success, in a way, dimmed the radiance of DVG’s other literary creations that emerged during the pre and post Kagga period. In the memorable words of the scholar, author, writer, and DVG’s direct disciple, Dr. S.R. Ramaswamy, Mankutimmana Kagga has singlehandedly spawned a dedicated cottage industry over half a century. Almost every year, a new Kagga commentary is published.
DVG primarily wrote poetry and authored a total of nine plays. He did not attempt short stories and novels, which is consistent with the spirit of classicism that throbbed in his veins. Both the short story and the novel were recent imports into Indian literary writing when he began his forays in literature. Verse naturally came to DVG like breathing. Thus, even DVG’s plays properly belong to what is known as “dramatic poesy” in the annals of Western literature. Entirely consistent with the classical Indian poetic tradition, DVG’s poems can be set to tune and sung because they are metrical compositions. In fact, DVG has himself suggested the Raga and Tala for his lyrical verses found in Antaḥpuragītegaḷu, Gītaśākuntala, and so on.
By temperament, D.V. Gundappa was a literary savant who had completely surrendered to our Rishis who were also poets. He had submitted himself to Valmiki Maharshi, Veda Vyasa, Kalidasa, Bhavabhuti, Bhartruhari, Kumaravyasa and Tyagaraja. He patiently collected the invisible precious stones from the dust of the imprints left by their sacred feet and made them his own. With these, he created beautiful ornaments and gave it away to the world.
From an overall perspective, Ārdratā (moist compassion) and Snigdhata (delicate, tenderness) appear to be the hallmarks of DVG’s literary oeuvre.
To be continued
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