An affluent neighborhood in the city of Bangalore is known as Sadashivanagar today. Very few people know that it is named after Karnad Sadashiva Rao, a glorious son of Karnataka who died penniless (catching  a cold, and without warm clothing) in the cause of India.
Sadashiva Rao was born in a wealthy family, but spent all his material wealth in India's service. He was a social reformer, a great patriot, tireless organizer, a fatherly figure to the downtrodden, and a humanitarian. He was a Gandhian to the core. He is referred to as "Dharmaraj" (embodiment of charity) by Dr. Shivaram Karanth, the great Kannada writer, whose famous novel "Oudaryada Urulalli" is centered around a Sadashiv Rao-like hero.

Karnad Sadashiva Rao was born in 1881 in Mangalore, the only son of a rich and leading lawyer Ramachandra Rao and Radhabai. Even as as young boy, he used to give his books to poorer classmates, facing admonishing from his father, who was a strict disciplinarian. He studied at presidency college in Madras and later studied law in Bombay. He played tennis and cricket, and was a member of a elite sports club.
But Sadashiva was attracted to the Indian nationalistic movement that was sweeping the country and took to austere, simple life. With the help of his devoted wife Shantabai, he founded an organization "Mahila Sabha" for betterment of  widowed and downtrodden women. He provided funds to educate them and find means of self-support. Several were trained to become teachers, nurses, and tailors.
He organized re-marriage of child-widows, fighting a big social problem at the time. He also worked for betterment of Harijans. He was a member of  the organization "Mission for Depressed Classes" for years, eventually serving as its president. He fought and arranged for entry of Harijans in the temples of South Kanara district. He started a school "Tilak Vidya;aya" in the premises of his home, open to all communities. The Hindi languages, spinning, weaving, and other handicrafts were taught in the school. Eighteen such educational centers were started in the district. Sadashiv Rao stopped animal sacrifice at Kali temples.
The year 1919 saw him fully involve in India's Freedom Struggle. Gandhi had launched the first satyagraha, and Sadashiva Rao was among the first volunteer from Karnataka to take pledge to be a volunteer in the independence movement.

He was responsible for building of Congress Party in the state of Karnataka. He organized people moving from town to town, and from village to village, creating awareness of freedom and independence, and spreading the gospel of Sarvodaya.  In year 1923, he lost his youngest daughter, the only son, and also his soul-mate Shantabai who had actively supported him in his multifarious activities. A shattered man, Sadashiva went to Ganhiji's Sabarmati ashram to seek solace, only to  respond to distress call from his district, which faced unprecedented deluge and needed immediate relief. He organized relief camps, provided food and shelter from his personal funds. He was a front-level leader in the "No-tax" campaign and the Salt Satyagraha.
Sadashiva Rao's house was a hub of India's freedom fight. It served as a guesthouse for national leaders like C.R. Das, Sarojini Naidu, C. Rajgopalachari and others  besides Mahatma Gandhi.
In a caste-torn time, Sadashiva Rao united various communities of South Kanara for the cause of freedom. He was jailed three times, and during those five years, his health deteriorated. He even refused mosquito-curtain in the prison, because it was not given to all inmates. He'd lost all his inherited assets, including his ancestral home due to his "generous to a fault" nature, and due to the treachery of some of his associates. His old mother and daughters had to live in a small rented house.
At the Faizpur Congress Session (year 1936), he was thoroughly soaked due to leakage in the hut he was staying. he caught fever and traveled to Bombay on Congress work without telling anybody about his physical condition. The fever worsened, and soon after reaching Bombay he died. He was 56.
Not long after his death, Gandhi went to see Sadashiva Rao's mother. He bowed before her and said "Blessed are you mother, for having borne a son such as he".
The Roman Catholic community of South Kanara paid the highest tributes. "Sadashiva Rao's life was Christ-like, for it depicted purity of soul, and mind, nursed by supreme sacrifices". It was evident that Christians in South Kanara had joined Congress because of self-sacrifices of Sadashiva Rao.

Karnad Sadashiv Rao (Kannada: ಕಾರ್ನಾಡ್‌ ಸದಾಶಿವರಾವ್‌) (1881 - January 9, 1937) was an Indian freedom fighter and social reformer who was very first from Karnataka to sign the Satyagraha pledge. He was born in Mangalore, Karnataka and was the only son to his parents, Ramchandra Rao and Radhabai. Graduating from the Presidency College, Madras, he studied law at Bombay and set up as a lawyer in Mangalore.

1. Gandhi of the South
He was known as the "Gandhi of the South" for his work for the Congress Party and his participation in the Indian freedom movement.
He had lived a full life, taking an active part in sports and athletics. However, he soon perceived backwardness, superstition, social and economic evils as well as injustice around him and set about to remove them. With the help of his devoted wife Shantabai, he founded the Mahila Sabha for upliftment of widowed and downtrodden women. He provided funds to educate them and find means of self-support. Several women were trained to become teachers, nurses, and tailors.

2. Improving social life

He organized re-marriage of child-widows, fighting a big social problem at the time. He also worked for betterment of Harijans. He was a member of "Mission for Depressed Classes" for years, eventually serving as its president. He fought and arranged for entry of Harijans in the temples of South Kanara district. He started a school "Tilak Vidyalaya" which was open to all communities in the premises of his home. The Hindi language, spinning, weaving, and other handicrafts were taught in this school. Eighteen such educational centers were started in the district. Sadashiv Rao stopped animal sacrifice at Kali temples.

3. Joins the Freedom Movement

At the call of Mahatma Gandhi, he gave up his legal practice and threw himself heart and soul into the freedom struggle. In addition, he was a great social reformer, an indefatigable worker for the cause of the downtrodden and depressed sections of society, for the education of women and for widow remarriage.

4. Benefactor of the Poor

World War I saw Sadashiv Rao in a new role, as a benefactor and servant of the poor. Scarcity and near-famine conditions were widely prevalent and the poorer sections were almost starving, because of the high cost of their staple food rice. He opened his purse wide, purchased the commodity and then sold it to the needy at prices within their reach. The produce from his own lands he sold at the low price of Rs. 3 per mura (40kg) and to the poor he offered it gratis.

5. Signs the Satyagraha Pledge

The year 1919 saw the Rowlatt Act and the Jallianwala Bagh tragedy. Sadashiv Rao was among the first few and the very first in Karnataka to sign the Satyagraha pledge.
It was Sadashiv Rao who unfurled the Congress banner in Karnataka and carried the Congress message to every hamlet and village, trekking long distances by day and by night.
Sadashiv Rao’s residence had become a center of Congress activities and many notables had been his guests. He accompanied Gandhiji, Kasturba, C. R. Das, Jawaharlal Nehru, the Ali Brothers and others in tours through the district to generate enthusiasm for the Congress among the masses. As part of the constructive program, he organized spinning, weaving, handicraft and village reconstruction centers.

6. Tragedy

Domestic tragedy struck him in 1921, the year memorable as the Satyagraha year. In a very short time he lost a daughter, his only son and his wife, Shantabai. To seek solace he visited Gandhiji at Ahmedabad. But he could not stay there for long, as soon as he heard there were floods and famine in South Karnataka, he rushed there to organize relief and relieve distress.

6. Tragedy

Domestic tragedy struck him in 1921, the year memorable as the Satyagraha year. In a very short time he lost a daughter, his only son and his wife, Shantabai. To seek solace he visited Gandhiji at Ahmedabad. But he could not stay there for long, as soon as he heard there were floods and famine in South Karnataka, he rushed there to organize relief and relieve distress.

9. Quotes

"Blessed are you mother, for having borne a son such as he". Mahatma Gandhi to Sadashiva Rao's mother when he met her soon after Sadhashiv Rao's death. [1]
"Sadashiv Rao’s was a life of single-minded piety and utter self-sacrifice. There were innumerable institutions that he brought into being and assisted through difficult times. Not a few of these were for the education of the young and the relief of the indigent and lowly—objects that always lay closest to his heart."
Born one of the richest men in Kanara, when he died he was one of the poorest. Having given away very pie he could call his own to some Congress cause or other, he had reduced himself to penury. But never had penury so gentle a smile for a companion. Never a word of regret for what he had given away nor one of recrimination or anger ever passed through his lips though transgressed against he was. When he was gone, the only strictures passed against him were by those who measured everything by the yardsticks of money—worldly wealth. "Generous to a fault" was their verdict. The verdict was correct." [2]

Referece:
http://wapedia.mobi/en/Karnad_Sadashiva_Rao
http://www.kamat.com/kalranga/kar/leaders/karnadu.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karnad_Sadashiva_Rao