Durgabai went to Madhya Pradesh for studying tribal culture where she had an idiosyncratic reaction to yam (Elephant foot) for which she was bed-ridden for six years.

[citation needed] Durga Bhagwat was elected President of the 51st Marathi Sahitya Sammelan, held in Karad, in 1975.

Durgabai publicly opposed the state of Emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi and the arrest of Jaiprakash Narayan and was jailed by the government.

After the emergency was lifted, she campaigned against the ruling Congress Party in the 1977 general election, and remained opposed to it for the rest of her life.

Her idols throughout her life had been Vyasa, Gautama Buddha, Adi Shankaracharya, American philosopher Henry David Thoreau, and Indian writer Shridhar Venkatesh Ketkar.

During her prolonged recuperation after being food poisoned in Madhya Pradesh, she observed the changes in the nature over the 12-month cycle and spurred her to write articles on each season.