Gokhale Institute of Public Affairs, an organization DVG built and nurtured, has made quiet but sustained efforts to educate people in all matters of collective living. Apart from conducting civic surveys, preparing reports for the perusal of Government and organizing lectures, it has played an active part in times of crisis. For instance, during the Indo-China war, it exhorted all its members and the people at large to contribute to the...
Volume Eight (1963–1967)
Readers of these volumes would surely know that DVG looked upon life as an undivided whole. This worldview enabled him to celebrate the arts, literature and all the fine graces of human life that are enriching on a personal level, and involve in socio-political activities that are beneficent at the collective level – all with the same zest and tenacity. What that literary savant, N Raghunathan wrote in a different...
DVG was deeply rooted in the philosophical tradition of India. Dharma as a concept was of absorbing interest to him. It engaged his energy throughout his life. In a sense, he was wedded to dharma. It is so constant a feature of his writings that we may consider it his idée fixe, albeit in a positive sense. His exposition of dharma alongside kindred concepts such as rta, satya, sattva, rajas, and tamas is a worthy contribution to Indian...
DVG never lost an opportunity to express his views on public affairs. To this end, he contributed to the leading periodicals of the country for many decades. In a popular article titled Thoughts on Republic Day, he mused on several important issues that plagued post-Independence India. He made a distinction between an ‘excited hour’ and an ‘average day’ and urged the leaders to promote moral integrity:
To take an excited hour of a special day...
DVG was a person of the people. His spectrum of contacts extended between the extremes of traditional scholars and true-blue Marxists. Long-standing interaction with a wide variety of people had provided him a window into the recesses of social life that usually remain unnoticed. His prodigious learning in political philosophy and statecraft contributed to his insight into world affairs. All this put together enabled him to see communism for...
DVG’s exposition of the philosophical footing of citizenship allures us by its timeless fragrance. Hearing him speak on this subject is like lending our ears to Bhagavan Chanakya, Svami Vidyaranya, or Svami Vivekananda:
According to the religion of the Vedanta, the highest felicity of man on earth is to attain to a full and steadfast vision of the spirit of the universe (Brahman). He should wear out the narrow blinkers of his ordinary...
Volume Five (1949–1952) [1]
DVG was an ardent devotee of literature. He laid great emphasis on the study of classics. After founding the Gokhale Institute of Public Affairs, he formed a weekly study circle to promote the study of classics in various genres and disciplines such as poetry, culture, history, economics, political science, and philosophy. Plato’s Dialogues was among the first batch of such classics. Socrates and Plato had an enduring...
M Venkatakrishnaiya (1844–1933) was popularly known as the ‘Grand Old Man’ of Mysore. He was a veteran journalist, educationalist, and builder of institutions. The Mysore State owed a great chunk of its development to his zeal and perseverance. DVG wrote a tribute to him in 1932. Assessing the importance of Venkatakrishnaiya’s work, he outlined the nature of public work in India:
… Public work in our country then was, even if it now is not,...
Volume Four (1929–1946)
In 1931, DVG brought together his considered views on the problem of the Native States in a monograph titled The States and their People in the Indian Constitution. The book drew acclaim from reputed periodicals such as Bombay Chronicle, People, Hindustan Times, Servant of India, and Triveni. Eminent publicists such as A B Keith, C F Andrews, Alladi Krishnaswamy Iyer, and P L Chudgar considered it a tour-de...
DVG’s assessment of the social milieu in South India before the fourteenth century ce requires mention:
The atmosphere was then one of unsophisticated faith. No alien civilization had invaded the land to disturb the old social order. No new economic developments had come about to unsettle the people’s adherence to traditional modes and ideals of living. Even Buddhism had attacked only dogma and ritual, and not the ethical and social sides of...