Vinayaka Krishna Gokak

{{Short description|Indian writer (1909–1992)}} {{other uses|Gokak (disambiguation)}} {{Use Indian English|date=July 2016}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}} {{Infobox writer  | name = V.K Gokak | image = VinayakaKrishnaGokakImage.jpg | caption = | pseudonym = | birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1909|08| 10}} | birth_place = Savanur State, Princely state, Deccan States Agency, British India (Savanur in present-day Haveri district of Karnataka) | death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1992|4|28|1909|8|9}} | death_place = Bengaluru, Karnataka, India | occupation = Professor, writer | nationality = Indian | period = | genre = Fiction | subject = | movement = Navodaya | spouse = Sharada Betadur | children = 4 | signature = Vinayaka Krishna Gokak's Autograph.jpg | website = }}

'''Vinayaka Krishna Gokak''' (9 August 1909 – 28 April 1992), abbreviated in Kannada as '''Vi. Kru. Gokak''', was an Indian writer in the Kannada language and a scholar of English and Kannada literatures. He was the fifth writer<ref>{{cite web |title = Jnanpith Award |url = http://ekavi.org/jnanpeeth.htm |publisher = Ekavi |access-date = 31 October 2006 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060427081930/http://www.ekavi.org/jnanpeeth.htm |archive-date = 27 April 2006 |url-status = usurped |df = dmy-all }} </ref> to be honoured with the Jnanpith Award in 1990 for Kannada language, for his epic ''Bharatha Sindhu Rashmi'' which deals with the Vedic age. In 1961, Gokak was awarded the Padma Shri from the Government of India.

==Academic life== Gokak was born in a Deshastha Brahmin family<ref>{{cite book|title=The Illustrated Weekly of India, Volume 95, Part 4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4Wc6AQAAIAAJ|author=Pritish Nandy|publisher=Bennett, Coleman & Company, Limited, at the Times of India Press|year=1974|page=31}}</ref> on 9 August 1909 to Sundarabai and Krishna Rao.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Reed|first1=Stanley|author-link1=Stanley Reed (British politician)|title=The Indian And Pakistan Year Book And Who's Who 1950|date=1950|publisher=Bennett Coleman and Co. Ltd.|page=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.15206/page/n713 679]|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.15206|access-date=20 February 2018}}</ref> He was educated in Majid High School, Savanur, and attended the Karnataka College Dharawada where he studied literature. He was later awarded first class honours by the University of Oxford. On his return from Oxford in 1938, he became the principal of Willingdon College, Sangli. He was principal of Rajaram College, Kolhapur, Maharashtra, from 1950 to 1952. Between 1983 and 1987, he served as the president of the Sahitya Akademi.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sahitya Akademi Annual Report 2017–18 (PDF) |url=https://sahitya-akademi.gov.in/aboutus/pdf/AR-2017-18.pdf}}</ref> He also served as the director of Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla, and the Central Institute of English, Hyderabad. He was an ardent devotee of the spiritual guru Sathya Sai Baba and served as the first vice-chancellor of Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, Puttaparthi, between 1981 and 1985, after a stint with the Bangalore University.<ref>{{cite web|title=V. K. Gokak dead|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=P9oYG7HA76QC&dat=19920429&printsec=frontpage|newspaper=The Indian Express|access-date=27 April 2017|page=10|date=29 April 1992}}</ref> His novel ''Samarasave Jeevana'' is considered one of the typical works of Navodaya literature in Kannada.

==Literary career and success== {{Unreferenced section|date=June 2024}} Gokak was a prolific writer in both Kannada and English. He was deeply influenced by the Kannada poet D.R Bendre who mentored him during his early forays into Kannada literature. Bendre is reputed to have said that were Gokak to allow his talent to bloom in Kannada, there was a bright future in wait for Gokak and Kannada literature. His ''Kavyanama'' (Pen name) was "VINAYAKA"

His epic ''Bharatha Sindhurashmi'' is 35000 lines long.

His novel 'Samarasave Jeevana' was translated by his daughter Yashodhara Bhat into English under the title 'The Agony and the Ecstasy' and released to worldwide popularity.

In the 1980s, Karnataka was in the midst of an agitation which demanded the replacement of Sanskrit with Kannada as the medium of instruction in schools. V.K Gokak also headed the 'Gokak Committee' which recommended declaring Kannada as the first language in schools in the state.

Gokak's writing reflected his interest in religion, philosophy, education and cultures. His education abroad prompted him to write two sets of travelogues.

The Navodaya movement was at its peak and Gokak stayed true to his spirit- his poems showed nuances of Victorian poetry, oral traditions in Kannada storytelling and epics in Sanskrit and Kannada.

V.K Gokak wrote many collections of poetry under the pen name Vinayaka. These collections include 'Samudra Geethegalu', 'Baaladeguladalli', 'Abhyudaya', 'Dhyava Prithvi' and 'Urnabha'.

Gokak's anthology of poetry by Indian poets titled The Golden Treasury of Indo Anglican poetry was a treatise on poets like Sri Aurobindo, Sarojini Naidu and Toru Dutta, Nissim Ezekiel and Kamala Das.

In the late 1960s he was deeply influenced by Sri Sathya Sai Baba of Puttaparthi and over the years, Gokak became the medium for translating the guru's words into English and spreading it to the world. His book 'The Advent of Sathya Sai' explains the meaning of Sathya Sai Baba's miracles, his work with the poor and his impact on the educational system.

The state of Karnataka hosts a series of literary events to mark Gokak's birth centenary on 9 August of every year.

==Writings== ===Epics=== *''Bharatha Sindhu Rashmi.''

===Novels=== * ''Samarasave Jeevana – Ijjodu Mattu Erilita'' (vol 1) * ''Samarasave Jeevana – Samudrayana Mattu Nirvahana'' (vol 2) * ''Samarasave Jeevana – Narahari Nootana Yugada Pravaadi'' (vol 3) - Gokak originally authored this in english with title 'Narahari the prophet of New India" which was translated to kannada by S A Ramakrishna.

===Poetry collections=== * ''Urnanabha'' * ''Abyudaya'' * ''Baaladeguladalli'' * ''Dyava Pruthvi'' (Kendra Saahithya Academy Award) * ''Samudra Geethegalu'' * ''English words''<ref>{{cite web |title=English Words (V. K. Gokak Poem) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9ATKogKrzk |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211213/I9ATKogKrzk |archive-date=2021-12-13 |url-status=live|website=YouTube |access-date=15 December 2018}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=English Words - Poem by V. K. Gokak |url=https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/english-words/ |website=poemhunter.com |date=10 July 2012 |access-date=15 December 2018}}</ref>

===Other=== * ''Sahitya Vimarsheya Kelavu Tatvagalu'' * ''Nanna Jeevana Drishti'' * ''Jeevana Paatagalu'' * ''Kala Siddhantha'' * ''India & World Culture'' * ''Gokak Kruthi Chintana'' *''Pravasa katanagalu''

==Honors and awards== * ''Presidentship of the 40th Kannada Sahitya Sammelana in 1958'' * ''Honorary doctorates from the Karnatak University''

* ''Honorary doctorates from the Pacific University of the USA'' * ''Central Sahitya Akademi award for his 'Dyava Prithivi' in 1961'' * ''Jnanpith award-for his Bharatha sindhu rashmi, in 1990''

===Translations=== * Voices of the Himalaya: translated by the authors, Kamala Ratnam, V.K. Gokak and others. (Bombay: Asia Publishing House, 1966. vi, 70 p. Poems by celebrated poet Ramdhari Singh 'Dinkar'

==See also==

* Gokak agitation – a language campaign

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gokak, V. K.}} Category:1909 births Category:1992 deaths Category:Kannada poets Category:English-language Indian poets Category:20th-century Indian poets Category:Recipients of the Jnanpith Award Category:People from Haveri district Category:Kannada people Category:Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Kannada Category:Scholars from Karnataka Category:Indian male novelists Category:20th-century Indian novelists Category:Novelists from Karnataka Category:Poets from Karnataka Category:20th-century Indian male writers