DVG & Kagga
April 7th, 2007 @ 23:29:56 +0000
Devanahalli Venkataramanaiah Gundappa (D V Gundappa), known more popularly as DVG, was/is a well known Kannada (one of the Dravidian languages from southern India) writer and a philosopher. Born in 1887 in Mulabagilu province (in Kolar district, Karnataka), DVG obtained fundamental education in Kannada as well as English, while learning Sanskrit on his own. Although his formal education did not proceed beyond high school, his works have been serving as graduate study material. antahpura geetegaLu, baaLigondu nambike, jeevana dharma yoga, jnyaapaka chitra shaale, maruLa muniyana kagga, samskruti, umarana osage …. are some of his well known works, mankutimmana kagga is undoubtedly the crown jewel. It is not uncommon to find that there is hardly any aspect of life that this work does not touch. Hailed as the common man’s bible by many – for simplicity of language, vastness, greatness and poetic flow of content – scope and understanding of almost every verse from this work seems to grow richer and deeper with one’s own experience in life.
In the description you have written as ” common man’s bible ” It would have appropriate to call it as kannadada Bhagavadgeethe as it is popularly known as. I am not trying to say that it should not have been compared to Bible. I know it is only a comparision.
DVG is known for his simplicity and high thinking. This Kagga triggers thought process for everybody irrespective of the individuals knowledge level. Its meaning assumes wider dimensions as one repeatedly reads it. The verses are very practical, straight, rich in moral values, not confined any religion, caste or creed. It need not be read in any order . One can choose to read it randomly . Because they are called ” Muktakas”.
The following are the chief characters of “Kagga”
1. All are 4 lines ( Chowpadi rachanegalu).
2. All are in (Aaadi praasa) means 2nd word of every line is the same in all the four lines.
3. They are called “Muktaka galu”. Independant verses.
4. They all end with the ankitan naama ” Mankutimma”.
@Manjunath:
Once you have read [and studied] scriptures from different religions, you will probably realize that they all have many things in common. Calling Kagga as common man’s Bible is only a symbolic reference and as such should not be treated/taken literally. Moreover, kagga not only has drawn from Geeta but a plethora of other scriptures and DVG’s personal life experiences.
As to the rest of your comment, I understand them but there is one correction though:
Thank you for sharing your thoughts!
Hi everyone behind this website,
Really ur work is appreciated. Keep going. Can u give tell me is there any file anywhere in Net, which has Kagga in PDF format.
Regards,
Natesh
@Natesh,
Glad you like these postings. I am not aware of any website that has all/most of the verses from Kagga in a PDF format. Will let you know when I hear anything about it.
Hello Mr.Gowtham,
Thanks you so much for having made Kagga handy.
Can u please put some translations for words which are uncommon?
-Regards,
Aparna
@Aparna:
I will try my best but time is a big constraint in doing so. My personal practice is to keep Kannada Ratnakosha handy and refer to it frequently. You can get them in Kannada Sahitya Parishat or Ankita Pustaka and such other book shops.
Best,
Gowtham
Its sad to see that people are asking for e-book of kagga. Shame!. It costs almost nothing, and you can buy no matter in which part of the world you are.
Hi Gowtham
Amazing work..
Thanks for putting into a good habit a reading a verse a day.
You make my day, every day..
Hi Gowtham,
Really appreciate the efforts you have put in to make Kagga available in such a easily readable format on the Net. I am indeed indebted to you. Please keep up the good work. Now, my days begin by checking your website for Kagga updates.
Cheers,
Nagarajan B P
Hi – I don’t comment on many blogs but had to on yours. It’s fantastic! I really like how you write – very to the point. Thanks for having this site. I don’t have time to read everything right now, I found this site when looking for something else on Bing, but I’ve bookmarked your homepage and will visit again soon to see the latest articles. I always enjoy reading online about religion. Do you recommend any particular biblical commentaries? I’m looking for one to start reading, I just finished one and need a new one to read. I have a web site with daily Bible readings on it. Please visit it – it as at http://www.GotTB.com. I just redesigned the site with a new look and feel, please let me know what you think of the new layout. Do you have a favorite Bible passage or story? I would not even know where to being the processing of picking just one. God’s Peace!
Hi Gowtham,
Thanks for posting verses of DVG. Appreciate your work n time
Cheers!
Ramya
Have you ever considered adding more videos to your blog posts to keep the readers more entertained? I mean I just read through the entire article of yours and it was quite good but since I’m more of a visual learner,I found that to be more helpful well let me know how it turns out. This is good…thanks for sharing
Hi Goutham,
sincere thanks for posting Kagga.
i would be really grateful if there is a pdf/latex version of this book which you can share.
of course I have a printed book but having it online is another great feeling.
many people who are acknowledging your effort in this blog might also have a printed book.
thank you again,
hi Goutham
I really appreciate your efforts behind this. never mind if you dont have or cant share this book.
whatever you are doing now itself is good enough.
thank you.
regards,