Profiles

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. Joshi, a friend who was present at the gathering and said, “Will it be appropriate if he was named Gundappa?”

Sardār M Kantaraj Urs was related to the Royal family: he was the Queen Regent’s younger brother and son-in-law. However, this wasn’t—even remotely—the reason why he obtained the post. He rose to power purely because of his experience, competence, and merit. Even if he had belonged to some other caste and had not been related to the royal family, he justly deserved such a position of authority.

“No Anger, please”

Sastri was an advocate of patience and humility. He was, at times, ridiculed by his own friends because of the great emphasis he laid on these traits. In one of his public lectures in Madras, he stressed on the point that anger should be avoided at all costs and one shouldn’t get enraged even under adverse circumstances. The newspapers carried a report on the lecture, the following day. His friends who happened to read the report had the following kind of conversations :

Real-life Examples

He used to give real-life examples to drive home the import of a scriptural tenet. This made his lessons entertaining—a feature common to lessons given by Śrī Hānagal Virūpākṣa Śāstri.

He recalled the following incident while explaining Syādvāda[1]:

I have heard that Chinnaswamy Shetty is the son-in-law of a wealthy landlord of Polepalli^[1]. I may have gotten to know him around 1910-11. I was in need of some loan. I brought it up with my close friend, Dr K. Shesha Iyer.

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. Shankaranarayana Rao, and C. Subba Rao from Shimoga, S. Venkateshayya and Nanjundayya from Hassan, C.B. Gopala Rao, T. Srinivasachar, and M.S.

Disseminating Dharma

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.