The Seeds of Poetic Essence That Bhairappa Scattered

Let me come straight to the point. S. L. Bhairappa — one of Kannada’s most celebrated novelists — is no longer with us. Yet the mere sound of his name still sends a subtle vibration through the mind — a vibration of poetic essence.

He was a realist thinker. Through works such as Dharmashree, Vamshavriksha, Tabbaliyu Neenade Magane, and Avarana, he created the illusion of being a Hindu traditionalist. The political right hailed him as their own, while the left, unable to tolerate it, unsheathed its familiar weapons — Manuvadi, anti-woman, anti-humanitarian. They tried to wound him with words.

In Parva, even after he stripped the Mahabharata of divinity and rendered it human, the right would not release him, and the left would not accept him. Such is the strange power of the poetic seed Bhairappa sowed — it sprouted everywhere, belonging to no camp.

Even the feminist Seetha of Uttarakanda could not peel away the label of “misogynist.” He portrayed Rama as an ordinary man who, remorseful for abandoning Seetha, ends his life by drowning in the Sarayu. Yet the right-wing Hindus did not riot, did not burn his book, did not brand him anti-Hindu. And the left did not suddenly embrace him as feminist. That, precisely, is the miracle of Bhairappa’s poetic rasa — it transcends binaries.

The Journey I Now Begin

In this spirit, I refuse to weigh Bhairappa on the scales of left or right. I rise above them and walk through his works seeking only the poetic experience. Not arguments — only moments where literature touches the eternal.

I call these moments Poetic Peaks. Each peak is a shimmer where Bhairappa’s realism turns luminous, and I will climb them one by one, reverently.

This will be both an inward and outward pilgrimage — a poetic journey through the Himalayas of his imagination. I believe this journey will delight both those who have already read him and those who are just beginning.

Our expedition covers these summits of his creation: Gatajanma, Bhīmakāya, Belaku Mūḍitu, Dharmashree, Dūrasaridaru, Matadāna, Vamshavriksha, Jalapāta, Nayi Neralu, Tabbaliyu Neenade Magane, Gṛhabhanga, Nirākaraṇa, Grahaṇa, Dāṭu, Anvēṣaṇa, Parva, Nele, Sākshi, Anchu, Tantu, Sārtha, Mandra, Avarana, Kavalu, Yāna, Uttarakanda, and Bhitti.

Each is a Himalayan range in itself — every summit lit by a different hue of human truth.

So where shall we begin this poetic journey?

Let us begin with Parva — where Bhairappa’s realism met eternity.

— Vinod Kadakol
IAS Monk