Karunashtaka is the story of the author’s mother. It renders a story of a woman from a middle class Brahmin family which lives in penury in rural Maharashtra. It is a large family: an old lady, the father whose earnings are meager, the mother, and eight children. The parents are unable to bring up all children and often take to sending some to either a home of charity or to other relatives. The abject poverty is worsened when the family is crushed under debt and sources of income dwindle. The family had also to bear the brunt of public anger following the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi by a Brahmin.

While conditions improve as more members begin to earn, the woman now sees her husband and many of her children pass away. She puts up with the tragedy bravely but is dispirited from within.

Karunashtaka may be seen as a form of an autobiographical novel. Thus it reflects a section of the society in twentieth century India, which lived in stringent conditions. One may also see in it the story of a mother anywhere at any time in the world, who faces similar hardships while raising her little ones.