D. R. Bendre

Dattatreya Ramachandra Bendre
D.R Bendre
Born (1896-01-31)31 January 1896
Dharwad, Bombay Presidency, British India
Died 26 October 1981(1981-10-26) (aged 85)
Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Pen name Ambikatanayadatta
Occupation Teacher, poet
Nationality Indian
Genre Fiction
Literary movement Navodaya

Dattatreya Ramachandra Bendre (31 January 1896 – 26 October 1981), popularly known as Da. Ra. Bendre, was a Kannada poet of the Navodaya Period. He was given the honorific Varakavi ('the gifted poet-seer'). Bendre was awarded the Jnanapita[1] for his 1964 poetry collection, ನಾಕು ತಂತಿ (Naaku Tanti). Bendre published most of his work as ಅಂಬಿಕಾತನಯದತ್ತ (Ambikatanayadatta; lit. Datta, son of Ambika). Often mistaken for a pseudonym in the Western sense, Bendre described Ambikatanayadatta as the "universal inner voice" within him that dictated what he (Bendre) then presented in Kannada to the world.[2] He was recognized as the Karnataka Kavi Kula Thilaka ("The crown-jewel among Kannada Poets") by the Udupi Adamuru Matha. He was also awarded the Padma Shri in 1968 and made a fellow of the Sahitya Akademi in 1969.[3]

Biography

Early life and education

Dattatreya Ramachandra Bendre was born into a Chitpavan Brahmin family in Dharwad, Karnataka.[4] His grandfather was a Dashagranthi ("Master of ten volumes of sacred lore") and a scholar of Sanskrit classical literature. Bendre's father, a Sanskrit scholar himself, died when Bendre was only 12 years old. The oldest of four boys, Bendre completed his primary and high school education in Dharwad and matriculated in 1913. He then joined Fergusson College, Pune, and graduated in 1918 with a BA in Sanskrit and English. Returning immediately to Dharwad, he became a teacher at the Victoria High School, thereby transforming into "Bendre Maastra" (ಬೇಂದ್ರೆ ಮಾಸ್ತ್ರ), a sobriquet he held for the rest of his life. He married Lakshmibai from Ranebennur in 1919. He earned his Master of Arts degree in 1935.[5]

Career

Starting his career as a teacher at Victoria High School (later called the Vidyaranya High School) in Dharwad, he worked as a professor of Kannada in D.A.V. College Solapur between 1944 and 1956. In 1956, he was appointed an advisor for All India Radio's Dharwad station.

Later life

Bendre formed the Geleyara Gumpu ("Group of Friends") in 1922, a peer group inclined toward the study of culture and literature. This friends circle drew poets, writers and intellectuals from different parts of Karnataka including Ananda Kanda, Shamba Joshi, Siddavanahalli Krishna Sharma, Enke, G.B.Joshi, Krishnakumar Kallur, V. K. Gokak, R. S. Mugali and Pandhareenathachar Galagali.[6][7] In 1926, Bendre started the cultural movement "Nada-habba'", a celebration of the land and its culture which is still prevalent in Karnataka. This festival is celebrated during the time of the Hindu festival Navaratri.

In 1932 Bendre was sentenced to home imprisonment in Mugad village for writing Nara Bali ("Human Sacrifice"), which was branded seditious by the British government.[8] Bendre's two sons Panduranga and Vamana and daughter Mangala were the only surviving children among nine who were born to him.[9] In 1943, he presided over the 27th Kannada Sahitya Sammelana held at Shimoga. He went on to become a fellow of the Kannada Sahitya Parishat. In 1972 the Government of Karnataka produced a documentary on his life.[9]

Works and message

Bendre started with simple and earthly romantic poetry, often using the "spoken" form of the language. His later works dug deeper into social and philosophical matters. According to G. S. Amur, a leading critic in Kannada, "Bendre believed in the value of an integrated personality but loved to project himself as a threefold being: Dattatreya Ramachandra Bendre - the biological self, the thinking self and the creative self. According to Amur, the three 'selves' were conceived as mutually supporting 'selves', as the imagery Bendre used to concrete this idea clearly suggests. He spoke of Ambikatanayadatta and Professor Bendre as two entities that were closely related just as the river and its bank or the belly and the back. One could not exist without the other.[10]

Bendre is usually considered the father figure of modern Kannada poetry. His poems are linked to the Kannada poetic tradition through their use of folklore, the vachanas and the Kirtans. Apart from native prosodic forms, Bendre also employed native imagery, folk beliefs, references to Indian mythology and the language spoken by the common people. Nada Lila ("The Play of Sounds") is perhaps the most remarkable among his collection of poems. All the features of Navodaya poetry like patriotism, the reformatory zeal, critical attitude, Indian culture, consolidation of traditional strength, mystical faith and assertion of a poet's individuality can be found in this collection of poems.

Bendre used diverse techniques for spiritual lyrics, classical style for sonnets, and traditional as well as colloquial idioms for pastoral and folk lyrics. Symbolism is characteristic of his poetry. His poem Patargitti (Butterfly) which is sung as a nursery rhyme is about the colors of temptation. Mudalmaneya ("Dawn") is symbolic of all pervading peace or, the poet's yearning for it. In the Kuniyonu bara ('Let us Dance") all diverse currents of thought meet in on great confluence. Apparently, all of Bendre's poems could be set to music and abound in alliteration; but there was always a hidden layer of meaning which only a trained poetic mind could decipher.

Towards the end of his life Bendre was deeply absorbed in numbers. This was not just a new interest but one that became a central concern.[10] When Dom Moraes visited him during his exploration of Karnataka in 1976, he found Bendre immersed in numbers. In his books Vishvadharanasutra and A Theory of Immortality Bendre made ambitious attempts to intuit all knowledge into numbers.[10]

In 1972, film director and playwright Girish Karnad made a Kannada documentary film, D. R. Bendre on his life and work.[11][12]

Awards and honours

And many more.

Bibliography

Poetry collections

  • Krishṇakumāri (ಕೃಷ್ಣಕುಮಾರಿ) (1922)
  • Gari (ಗರಿ) (1932)
  • Moorthi mattu Kamakastoori (ಮೂರ್ತಿ ಮತ್ತು ಕಾಮಕಸ್ತೂರಿ) (1934)
  • Sakheegeeta (ಸಖೀಗೀತ) (1937)
  • Uyyāle (ಉಯ್ಯಾಲೆ) (1938)
  • Nādaleelē (ನಾದಲೀಲೆ) (1938)
  • Meghadoota (ಕನ್ನಡ ಮೇಘದೂತ) (1943))
  • Haaḍu Paaḍu (ಹಾಡು-ಪಾಡು) (1946)
  • Gangāvataraṇa (ಗಾಂಗಾವತರಣ) (1951)
  • Sooryapaana (ಸೂರ್ಯಪಾನ) (1956)
  • Hrudaya Samudra (ಹೃದಯ ಸಮುದ್ರ) (1956)
  • Muktakanṭha (ಮುಕ್ತಕಂಠ) (1956)
  • Chaityālaya (ಚೈತ್ಯಾಲಯ) (1957)
  • Jeevalahari (ಜೀವಲಹರಿ) (1957)
  • Araḷu Maraḷu (ಅರಳು ಮರಳು) (1957)
  • Namana (ನಮನ) (1958)
  • Sanchaya ( ಸಂಚಯ) (1959)
  • Uttaraayaṇa (ಉತ್ತರಾಯಣ) (1960)
  • Mugila Malligē (ಮುಗಿಲ ಮಲ್ಲಿಗೆ) (1961)
  • YakshaYakshi (ಯಕ್ಷಯಕ್ಷಿ) (1962)
  • Naaku Tanti (ನಾಕುತಂತಿ) (1964)
  • Maryaadē (ಮರ್ಯಾದೆ) (1966)
  • Shrimaata (ಶ್ರೀಮಾತಾ) (1968)
  • Idu Nabhōvaaṇi (ಇದು ನಭೋವಾಣಿ) (1970)
  • Matte Shrāvaṇa Bantu (ಮತ್ತೆ ಶ್ರಾವಣಾ ಬಂತು) (1973)
  • Chaturōkti (ಚತುರೋಕ್ತಿ) (1978)
  • Paraaki (ಪರಾಕಿ) (1982)
  • Kavyavaikhari (ಕಾವ್ಯವೈಖರಿ) (1982)
  • Tā Lekkaniki Tā Dauti (ತಾ ಲೆಕ್ಕಣಿಕಿ ತಾ ದೌತಿ) (1983)
  • Bālabodhē (ಬಾಲಬೋಧೆ) (1983)
  • Pratibimbagaḷu (ಪ್ರತಿಬಿಂಬಗಳು) (1987)
  • Shatamaana (ಶತಮಾನ) (1990)
  • Bhoo Daivategaḷu (ಭೂ ದೈವತೆಗಳು)

Plays

  • Tirukara Pidugu (1930)
  • Uddhara (1930)
  • Nageya Hoge (1931)
  • Hucchatagalu (1935)
  • Hosa Samsara mattu Itara Ekankagalu (1950)
  • Ambikatanayadatta Nataka Samputa (1982)

Story collections

  • Nirabharanasundari (1940)

Criticism

  • Sahitya mattu Vimarshe (1937)
  • Sahityasamshodhana (1940)
  • Vicharamanjari (1945)
  • Kavi Lakshmishana Jaimini Bharatakke Munnudi (1954)
  • Maharashtra Sahitya (1959)
  • Kannada Sahityadalli Nalku Nayakaratnagalu (1968)
  • Matella Jyotu (1972)
  • Sahityada Viratsvaroopa (1974)
  • Kumaravyasa (1979)
  • Matadharma mattu Adhunika Manava (1979)

Edited works

  • Nannadu Ee Kannada Nadu (1928)
  • Hakki Haruthide (1930)
  • Chandrahasa (1948)
  • Hosagannada Kavyashree (1957)
  • Kanakadasa Chaturshatamanotsava Samsmarana – Samputa (1965)

Translations

  • Vittala Sampradaya (1984)
  • Hosagannada Kavyashree (1957)
  • Shantala (1972)
  • Upanishadrahasya, by R.D. Ranade (1923)
  • Bharatiya Navajanma (1936, "The Indian Renaissance" by Sri Aurobindo)
  • Sri Aravindara Yoga Ashrama mattu Tatvopadesha (1947)
  • Kabira Vachanavali (1968)
  • Bhagnamoorthi (1972)
  • Guru Govindasingh
  • Noorondu Kavanagalu (from Tagore's poems ed. by Humayun Kabir)

Works in other languages

  • A Theory of Immortality (1977)

Further reading

Notes

  1. ↑ "Jnanapeeth Awards". Ekavi. Retrieved 31 October 2006.
  2. ↑ "I (ನಾನು)". darabendreinenglish. 13 April 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
  3. ↑ "..:: SAHITYA : Fellows and Honorary Fellows ::." sahitya-akademi.gov.in. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
  4. ↑ Datta, Amaresh (1987). Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature: A-Devo Volume 1 of Encyclopaedia of Indian literature. Sahitya Akademi. p. 413. ISBN 9788126018031.
  5. ↑ Dharwad.com – Bendre's bio data retrieved on 5/27/07
  6. ↑ "Trust to bring out articles on Bendre in book form". India: The Hindu. 9 January 2009. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
  7. ↑ "Friends' gift to the written word". India: Deccan Herald. 26 September 2003. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
  8. ↑ "Bendre comes alive at Belgaum jail". India: The New Indian Express. 3 October 2010. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
  9. 1 2 "Vara Kavi Bendre". India: ARCHIMAGE Architects. 30 August 2013. Archived from the original on 27 December 2013. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
  10. 1 2 3 Amur, G. S. Dattatreya Ramachandra Bendre (Ambikatanayadatta) Makers of Indian literature Volume 1 of Encyclopaedia of Indian literature. Sahitya Akademi. p. 105. ISBN 9788172015152.
  11. ↑ D. R. Bendre IMDB.
  12. ↑ AWARDS: The multi-faceted playwright Archived 16 October 2007 at Archive.is Frontline, Vol. 16, No. 03, 30 January – 12 February 1999.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.