Philosophy, literature go hand in hand, says Bhyrappa

Writer S L Bhyrappa said, Philosophy and literature complement each other.

He was speaking after inaugurating the three-day seminar on 'Hundred Years of Philosophy in Mysore University - An Overview' as part of the centenary celebrations of the department of Studies in Philosophy, University of Mysore (UoM), sponsored by the University with Potential of Excellence, at the Educational Multi-Media Research Centre (EMRC), in Manasagangothri, on Thursday.

"The one who has not studied Philosophy cannot become a good writer. The philosopher, who has not studied good literature cannot become a good teacher," he said.

Connecting Philosophy and literature, questions about death and his own journey of life since 86 years, he said, he would not give an intellectual lecture on Philosophy, but explained why chose Philosophy as a subject.

Bhyrappa recalled how he lost his elder brother and elder sister due to plague and two years later his mother. "My mother would appear in my dreams in a white saree. When I was about to touch her, she would disappear. This haunted me for two years. Then my brother, who was just five years old, died. I was 15 then. I cycled 16 miles, carried his body on my shoulder and cremated him. I lost my younger sister also," he said.

"I came across one of the finest philosophers of the time, M Yamunacharya. I asked him, 'What is death? Why people should die?' He gave the Kathopanishad and asked me to read its Kannada translation. I did not understand. When I went back to him, he asked me to study Philosophy. When I went to do BA, the head of the department of Philosophy, T A Purshottam, also headed the Sociology department. His 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 said.

"My teacher H T Shantha helped me emotionally. She even typed my thesis on her typewriter as I had no money. 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. Unfortunately, the teachers would begin 'As Galloway said...'. Only when I was in Sardar Patel University, I started wondering why the teachers did not question what Galloway said. My independent thinking began only in the 1970s," he added.