Durga Bhagwat

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Durga Narayan Bhagwat
Born1910
Died2002
Notable worksPais, Vyas Parva, Bhavmudra, Rutuchakra
Notable awardsSahitya Academy ( Pais)
RelativesKamala Sohonie, sister

Durga Narayan Bhagwat (10 February 1910 – 7 May 2002), popularly known as Durga Bhagwat, was an Indian scholar, socialist and writer. She studied Sanskrit and Buddhist literature and spent time in the jungles of

Jnanapeeth
.

Early years

Durga Bhagwat was born in 1910 in a Karhade Brahmin family settled in the then princely state of Baroda. The veteran Sanskrit scholar and social activist Rajaram Shastri Bhagwat was the brother of her grandmother. Her sister Kamala Sohonie went on to become the first woman scientist of India.[citation needed] Her father was a scientist who discovered the procedure of making ghee from oil.[citation needed]

Durgabai was attracted to Gandhism and took part in Indian freedom movement for a very short time. When she realised that she cannot do it for a longer time she left that and completed her studies from

idiosyncratic reaction to yam (Elephant foot) for which she was bed-ridden for six years. She could not complete her doctorate course.[citation needed
]

Later years

Durga Bhagwat was elected President of the 51st

Jaiprakash Narayan and was jailed by the government. After the emergency was lifted, she campaigned against the ruling Congress Party in the 1977 general election, and remained opposed to it for the rest of her life. After the Emergency, she was offered an influential government seat by the then ruling Janata Party which she declined. She decided not to accept any state-sponsored honours and declined the Jnyan Peeth Award
.

Before chairing the

Marathi Sahitya Sammelan, she was elected chairperson of the Tamasgir Meet and considered it a great honour.[citation needed
]

Durga Bhagwat never married. Her idols throughout her life had been

Adi Shankaracharya, American philosopher Henry David Thoreau, and Indian writer Shridhar Venkatesh Ketkar
.

Her contribution

Durga Bhagwat's notable works include a biography of Rajaram Shastri Bhagwat, Pais, a collection of articles based around religions, their literature and practises and Vyas Parva, a book about her study of

Mahabharat. She studied religious literature, particularly Buddhist, works of Marathi saints from Dnyaneshwar to Tukaram
, major Sanskrit works of Vyas and Adi Shankaracharya. Her book RRitu-chakra, detailing the nature (particularly trees and flowers) in each Indian month, is perhaps her most famous work. During her prolonged recuperation after being food poisoned in Madhya Pradesh, she observed the changes in the nature over the 12-month cycle and spurred her to write articles on each season.

Bhagwat wrote many articles on cooking and crafts and was known as the 'Marathi Saraswatachi Sarswati'.

Selected works

Short stories

  • Poorva

Novels

  • Mahanadichya tiravar

Children's literature

  • Tulshiche lagna
  • Vanwasi rajputra
  • Chandralekha ani aath chor

Other works

  • Loksahityachi ruprekha
  • Athavale Tase
  • Dharma ani loksahitya
  • Vyas parva
  • Rupranga
  • Pais
  • Prasangika
  • Doob
  • Bhavmudra
  • Khamanga
  • Satyam Shivam Sundaram
  • Ketkaki kadambari
  • Rajaram Shastri Bhagwat yanche charitra
  • Rutuchakra
  • Godhadi
  • Dupani
  • Nisargotsav
  • Shodh Ramayanacha

References

  1. ^ "President of Marathi Sahitya Sammelan, Durga Bhagwat". Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 12 September 2014.
Preceded by
Marathi Sahitya Sammelan - President
1975 at Karad
 Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Durga_Bhagwat&oldid=1159797878"