Gundappa didn.t gain much fame outside of Karnataka, his chosen arena of action. He spent 50 years there, working for political reform and increasing social awareness. He did all this through his writings, be it songs, poems, plays, political pamphlets, biographies and commentaries on the Bhagavad Gita. His commitment to the democratic ideal was complete and he laid a lot of stress on discipline. Indiscipline, he asserted, is the first enemy of democracy. He was offered a pension by the Karnataka government, but he refused it on the ground that it would curb his freedom to express his views in public.