D.V. Gundappa as an Innate Saṃnyāsi
By his innate temperament, D.V. Gundappa (DVG) was a renunciate or Saṃnyāsi as he discloses in his essay, Hakkiya Payana
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COMPOSING RENUNCIATE POETRY was the natural extension of DVG’s anchorage in Sanatana Dharma. In terms of quantity, these poems are meagre but in appeal, substance and profundity, they rub shoulders with the best in the genre.
Strictly speaking, his Dārigara Hāḍu (Song of the Wayfarers) is the only full-fledged Virakta Kavite that he wrote. However, the feeling of renunication permeates scores of poems in his store. For instance, the Mankutimmana Kagga verses 312, 437, 574, 621, 672, 773, 774, 780, 798, 812 and 835 among others, can be cited as fine samples of this renunciate attitude. Especially in verse 798, when DVG asks, “vairāgyapathikange naṣṭabhayavenu?” (What fear of loss is there for the Traveller on the path of renunciation?), we’re instantly reminded of Bhartrhari’s majestic three-word law: vairāgyamevābhayaṃ (Renunciation is Freedom from Fear).
From another perspective, DVG’s immensely popular Vanasuma (Forest-Flower) — which used to be sung during morning prayers in schools — is also a Virakta Kavite. The poet expresses his heartfelt desire to become akin to a forest flower — unseen, anonymous but known only through its fragrance. The overall Bhāva (emotion) of the poem resonates with the Mahanarayana Upanishad’s evocative phrase:
yathā vṛkṣasya saṃpuṣpitasya dūrād gandho vāti ।
evaṃ puṇyasya karmaṇo dūrād gandho vāti ||
Just as the fragrance emanating from the flowers of a tree wafts far and wide and reaches people who haven’t seen the tree, so do the virtues and good deeds done for the welfare of the world by wise people and sages spread everywhere.
D.V. Gundappa’s body of nonfiction too, contains numerous accounts of Saṃnyāsis, Sadhus, Bairagis, Yogis, etc., whom he had personally met, known or heard about. His Jñāpakacitraśāle (Art Gallery of Memories) volumes especially, portray with intense feeling and reverence the profiles of Avadhūta Mahadeva Sastri, Shivapicchai Mudaliar, Natti Sastri, Mukundadasa, Ronuru Veerabrahmam, et al.
Thus, a handy approach to delineate DVG’s contribution to the Virakta Kāvya genre and to grasp the nuances thereof is to first recognise his own, innate temperament as a Virakta.
Almost every person in his close circle has testified to DVG’s anchorite nature; of how he mingled heartily with the world even as he inwardly remained detached from it.
For more than three decades, DVG was thickly enmeshed in hardcore politics and remained a journalist for nearly seven decades. Yet, only a handful knew that he found solace in Valmiki, Vyasa, Kalidasa, Bhartrhari, Tyagaraja, and in the Iktara that he kept by his bedside. He built and was instrumental in building and nurturing a prolific number of social and cultural institutions. He tended to plague victims, officiated widow remarriages and worked as a voluntary teacher in the service of adult education. All these fall under the broad umbrella of social service but is more correctly known as Loka-Sangraha. To quote Acharya M. Hiriyanna once more,
“It may appear that renunciation and service are separate aims to be pursued independently. But it is really not so… Service is not regarded here as a mere concomitant of renunciation, but the very means of cultivating it. Consequently, the aim is not renunication and service, but renunciation through service.”
In fact, DVG has himself expounded upon this philosophy on numerous occasions, most notably in his Vedanta and Nationalism, and in his exposition of Tarangavalayavistāra or the systematic expansion of the Self akin to ripples in a lake. And DVG lived as he exposited. Indeed, only a true Virakta could reject numerous offers of high office that effortlessly landed on his desk. Only a true Nispruha (unselfish) could bluntly utter the following verse when a relative asked him to use his influence to obtain a personal favour:
akṛtvā parasantāpam agatvā khalanamratām ।
anutsṛjya satāṃ vartma yat svalpamapi tadbahu ॥
Without troubling others, without displaying false modesty, without giving up the path of virtue, whatever little achieved is a lot.
Thus, DVG’s innate temperament of a renunciate made him, from many perspectives, a Mumukshu and a Yati in the sense of a Seeker and a Striver of the Highest Truths.
FORTUNATELY FOR US, he has left behind some confessional nuggets, which speak of his renunciate disposition and they tell us why, despite his fascination for Saṃnyāsis, Bairagis, et al, he never became a full-fledged Saṃnyāsi himself.
These confessional nuggets are ensconced in an essay titled Hakkiya Payana (Journey of a Bird), which makes us yearn for nostalgia by itself. The bird metaphor is highly apt, and he uses it again in the aforementioned Song of the Wayfarers. Here are the relevant portions from the essay:
“Since childhood, each time I saw Jogis, Dasas, Bairagis, Saṃnyāsis and Fakirs, this thought would strike my mind: when can I too roam around like them, liberated from all concerns? It was akin to the thought of a monkey trapped inside a cage. What attracted me most towards their wandering life was their complete absence of worry. They never thought about their next meal or their next destination. They had absolute faith in some lofty ideal. Because this faith was unquestioning, they had absolute courage, which in turn gave them unfettered temperament…
“If I had such fascination for this sort of life, why didn’t I pursue it? The answer: cowardice. There are two parts to this cowardice. One, respect for social norms and tradition. Two, fear of bodily troubles that accompany such a lifestyle… Respect for and fear of social norms was the function of the environment I grew up in. My elders gave me enough freedom after I became an adult. Yet — perhaps because I was influenced by books like The Dialogues of Socrates, my faith that traditions and social restraints were worthy of honour only strengthened.”
Two outstanding episodes strike us in this long confessional made by DVG, the aborted renunciate. Both are noteworthy for the poignant vividness of their detail. And, as serene emissaries of Hindu societal history, both are priceless primary sources of a past that we can recover.
The first is DVG’s arresting narrative of the life, lifestyle, ideals and the unsullied spirituality of Godavari Brahmanas. These were a group of Telugu Brahmanas from the Godavari belt who were perpetual Yatris with no fixed abode. They were deeply traditional and DVG’s deft quill transforms them into the 20th Century versions of the ancient Vedic Rishis.
The second is DVG’s personal experiments with Saṃnyāsa. This portion of Hakkiya Payana is deeply moving and is also characteristic of DVG’s brand of self-deprecating humour. When he recounts his attempts of dogged stalking of a band of Bairagis, a range of emotions awaken within us — wonder, suspense, trepidation and levity. We also learn that these are North Indian Bairagis of some sect and we compare T.S. Shama Rao’s rich anecdote regarding a similar group of Bairagis known as Jai Siya Ram Gosais, whom his grandfather had witnessed in his native village, Taluku.
DVG rounds off Hakkiya Payana with a profound verse:
tanagaḻuvarārumillade |
manujaṃ tānāramaḻuvudiradir dhanyaṃ |
anusarisade tānāranu — |
manusaripar tanagammilladire kaḍu dhanyaṃ ||
Having none to cry for him,
having no need to cry for another, such a human is blest.
Having to follow no one,
Having no one to follow him, such a human is highly blest.
This verse composed on the spur, is one of the most exalted expressions of the meaning of Virakti.
To be continued
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