Both your first and second versions are not idiomatic, at least not in US English. >He gave her a ring while proposing marriage >He gave her a ring while proposing marriage to her are idiomatic although awkward. What is being proposed, that is suggested, is a marriage. Your third skews a stock phrase that is archaic in form, "on bended knee." Because it is a stock phrase, altering it sounds odd. Some of what sounds natural relates to modern conventions involving proposals of marriage in the U.S. In a usual situation, a man offers to give a ring to a woman if she agrees to marry him; the offer and acceptance are a ceremony patterned on the old Latin phrase *Do ut des*: I give so that you will give. The gift is not technically made until she accepts the proposal of marriage. Thus, what are more characterizations are >He proposed >He proposed by offering her an engagement ring >He proposed marriage >He proposed marriage by offering her an engagement ring >He offered her an engagement ring to propose >He offered her an engagement ring to propose marriage >On bended knee, he proposed >On bended knee, he offered her an engagement ring