One who does not read Philosophy cannot be a great writer: Dr. S.L. Bhyrappa

Mysuru: Dwelling at length on the subject death, which he experienced as a child losing his mother and siblings, renowned Kannada Novelist, Professor of Philosophy (Retd.) and Saraswati Samman awardee Dr. S.L. Bhyrappa said that the challenge of finding answer to death led him to study Philosophy.

Dr. Bhyrappa, himself a student of Philosophy in Maharaja’s College, was speaking after inaugurating the three-day Centenary Celebrations of the Department of Studies in Philosophy, on the topic “Hundred Years of Philosophy in Mysore University- An overview,” organised by the Department and sponsored by University with Potential of Excellence, University of Mysore, at EMRC, Manasagangothri, here yesterday.

Recalling how he came across one of the finest Philosophers of the time Prof. M. Yamunacharya, he said, “I asked him, ‘What is death? Why people should die?’ He gave the Kathopanishad book and asked me to read the Kannada translation of the Sanskrit work. I did not understand and when I went back to him he asked me to study Philosophy.”

According to Dr. Bhyrappa, when he went to do his B.A. the Head of the Department of Philosophy T. A. Purshottam also happened to be the Head of Sociology Department, whose inclination was more towards the latter subject. “He called me and said, ‘Philosophy makes no bread.’ I told him, ‘I will open a bakery and sell bread but I want to study Philosophy.”  He then recalled his teacher H.T. Shantha, who helped him emotionally. “She even typed my thesis on her typewriter as I had no money,” he said.

Expounding on Philosophy of Religion a subject he had to study, Dr. Bhyrappa said, “A Padre, George Galloway had written a book ‘The Philosophy of Religion.’ All he did was, show how Christianity was the best religion, unlike Buddhism, which was slightly better and Islam though monotheistic had its own problems. He put down Hinduism as it worshipped many Gods.”

“The sad part was when the teachers who taught us, would begin — take down and begin dictating, ‘As Galloway said.’ Only years later when I was in Sardar Patel University did I start wondering why the teachers did not question what Galloway said. And the independent thinking began only in the 1970s,” he said.

Recalling his stint in Hubballi as a lecturer and how an old man changed his thinking while he was basking in the glory of the adulation and admiration he had received after delivering a lecture on Mysticism as a young man, Dr. Bhyrappa then went to narrate his failure in being able to learn Sanskrit and how it was very important to understand Vedas, Upanishads in the original text by studying Sanskrit.

He revealed how he completed his Ph.D thesis on the topic “Truth and Beauty: A Study in Correlations” in just over a year and how his guide Dr. Javadekar was angry when he gave up his D.Lit work and instead focused on his novel Vamshavriksha. “After looking at the draft of Vamshavriksha I decided to become a novelist. Once I took this decision, I sought the help of one of my colleagues and undertook a formal study of how to write novels,” he said.

Touching upon Buddha, he said, the greatest monk renounced his kingdom in search of three answers, ‘old age, ill health and death.’ “My many novels also speak about death in detail and that is the essence of Indian Philosophy unlike the Western philosophers and Greek Philosophers whose philosophical concepts led to foundations in science,” he said.

“I finally realised Philosophy is a must in one’s life. One who does not read Philosophy cannot be a great writer as Philosophy and literature are related to one another,” said Dr. Bhyrappa.