Freedom fighter Sudhakar Chaturvedi dies at 122

Centenarian freedom fighter and Vedic scholar Sudhakar Krishna Rao, widely known as Sudhakar Chaturvedi died on Thursday here due to old age related ailments, one of his disciples said.

Rao, an eye-witness to the Jalianwala Bagh massacre on April 13, 1919, breathed his last at his resident in Jayanagar here, disciple Sudhakar Sharma said.

He was said to be 122 year old. He passed away today. His last rites were performed by his granddaughter Dr Suma, Sharma told PTI.

Rao was given the title Pundit Sudhakar Chaturvedi for his authority on all the four Vedas.

Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa condoled the death of Rao and said he was an authority on Vedas.

He also recalled his role in the freedom struggle.

A celibate, Rao was born in a Madhva family in April 1897, and became a disciple of Swami Shraddhananda, the disciple of the founder of Arya Samaj Swami Dayananda, at the age of 13, Sharma said.

During the freedom struggle, he was associated with Mahatma Gandhi and been imprisoned in different jails across the country.

Sharma said Chaturvedi had told him he was an eye-witness to the Jalianwala Bagh massacre on April 13, 1919 when Brigadier General Reginald Dyer ordered troops of the British army to fire on unarmed people.

After independence, he opted to stay away from politics and went back to propagating the philosophy of Veda, he said.

He had penned about 50 books in Kannada, English and Sanskrit, which include 20 volumes of Veda translation in Kannada.

As his longevity amazed many, he had said once publicly it was possible to lead a life for more than 300 years if one followed the principle of Trayayushyam, as laid down in Veda.

He had told us secrets of his long life love everyone-hate none, eat one morsel less than what you can eat, do as much good work as you can and be sportive and laughing.

We have seen him following these principles, Sharma said.