Durga Bhagwat

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Durga Narayan Bhagwat
Born	1910
Died	2000
Notable work(s)	Pais, Vyas Parva

Durga Narayan Bhagwat (1910 - 2002) was an Indian writer. She studied Sanskrit and Buddhist literature, roamed jungles of Madhya Pradesh to study tribal life, later returning to Mumbai as a researcher.

Contents 1 History 2 Bibliography 2.1 Short stories 2.2 Novels 2.3 Children's literature 2.4 Other works

[edit] History

Durgabai was elected President of the 51st Marathi Sahitya Sammelan, held in Karad, in 1976 The Indian Government later jailed her for her opposition. She campaigned against the ruling Congress Party in 1977 general election, and remained opposed to it for the rest of her life. She decided not to accept any state-sponsored honours and declined an offer of Jnan Peeth, the most prestigious award for Indian writers.

Before chairing Marathi Sahitya Sammelan, she was elected chairperson of Tamasgir Meet (tamaasgeers typically come from among prostitutes), and she was very proud of it, considering it a greater honour between the two. She contented that if she wasn't born in a well-off Brahmin family, and were born to a prostitute, her destiny would be very different. She did social work among downtrodden sections of the society, and wandered jungles to study the nomads.

Her notable works include 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. In early 1940s during her stay in forest, she tried to cook a vegetable which turned out to be poisonous and she was bed-ridden for years. The recovery was slow but it helped her observe the changes in the nature over the 12-month cycle, and spurred her to write articles on each seasons.

Durga Bhagwat never married. When asked about it, she told Jaywant Dalvi that she spent several years of her youth in research, during which she was the victim of food poisoning (luckily she did not eat the poisonous substance), and by the time she recovered from it, it was too late.

She had had many idols; the chief among them were Vyas Muni, Gautama Buddha, Adi Shankaracharya, and Shridhar Venkatesh Ketkar.

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] Short stories

• Poorva

[edit] Novels

• Mahanadichya tiravar

[edit] Children's literature

• Tulshiche lagna
• Vanwasi rajputra
• Chandralekha ani aath chor

[edit] Other works

• Loksahityachi ruprekha
• Dharma ani loksahitya
• Vyas parva
• Rupranga
• Pais
• Prasangika
• Doob
• Bhavmudra
• Khamanga
• Satyam Shivam Sundaram
• Ketkari kadambari
• Rajaram Shastri Bhagwat yanche charitra
• Rutuchakra