Dnyaneshwar Vitthal Kulkarni, also known as Sant Dnyaneshwar (1275-1296), also went by the names Jnaneshwar, Dnyandev, and Mauli.
He was also known as Jnanadeva. The Indian saint hailed from the Varkari and Nath Shaiva traditions and was known as. He also wrote poetry, thought deeply, and practiced yoga.
He wrote Amrutanubhav and Dnyaneshwari in his short 21 years on Earth. Dnyaneshwari provides an explanation of the Bhagavad Gita.
They were the first literary works written in Marathi and are considered classics of the language.
The Varkari (Vithoba-Krishna) Bhakti tradition of Hinduism in Maharashtra is often attributed to him.
Biography Of Sant Dnyaneshwar
Dnyaneshwar was born to a family of Marathi-speaking Deshastha Brahmins in the tiny village of Apegaon on the banks of the Godavari river not far from Paithan in Maharashtra on the auspicious day of Krishna Janmashtami, 1275.
During this time, the Yadava king, Ramadevarava, held sway. The kingdom centered in Devagiri was generally peaceful and stable because the ruler patronized the creative industries.
Satyamalanath and Sachchidanand, two of Sant Dnyaneshwar’s students, wrote biographies of him. The life of Dnyaneshwar is recounted differently by several traditions.
Dnyaneshwari, however, is undeniably his masterpiece, and it was completed in 1290 CE.
Family Of Sant Dnyaneshwar
Apegaon, located eight miles east of Paithan on the northern bank of the Godavari, is the ancestral home of Sant Dnyaneshwar Maharaj. His family once held sway over the ‘watan’ of Kulkarni.
Dnyaneshwar was born to Vithalpant and Rukminibai in 1275 CE, also known as Shaka 119. The couple also had three further children: Nivrittinath, Sopan, and Muktabai. Despite his Guru’s wishes, Vithalpant returned to Alandi after entering Sanyas.
Both Rukminibai and Vithalpant held strong religious convictions. Vithalpant wanted to perform the thread ceremony for Nivrittinath, but the Brahmins allegedly objected.
The reason Vithalpant was turned down was that he had taken Sanyas and then gone back to the grihastashram.
The couple apparently committed suicide by plunging into the meeting of the Ganga and Yamuna in Prayag, leaving their children without parents.
Because of their status as “outcasts,” the four youngsters were relegated to a life of begging for a living.
Sant Dnyaneshwar Life
Nivrittinath, Maharaj’s guru, was the one who first taught him about yoga and spirituality. The three siblings visited holy sites such as Rameswaram and Madurai.
During his time at Pandharpur, he befriended Sant Namdev. Due to Maharaj’s establishment of the Pandhari Sampradaya, Warkaris flocked to Pandharpur during the Ashad and Kartik Ekadashi.
Jani, Narahari, Gorakumnhar, Sena, and Chokamela were just a few of the famous people that followed him. On the thirteenth day of Krishna Paksha in the Kartik month, at the tender age of 22, he reached samadhi at Alandi.
Death And Journeys
Dnyaneshwar’s brother Namdev became a close buddy of Dnyaneshwar’s after the latter finished Amrutanubhav and the family traveled to Pandharpur.
Many people were initiated into the Varkari after Dnyaneshwar and Namadev traveled to India’s sacred sites.
Dnyaneshwar’s religious compositions, known as abhangas, are traditionally dated to this period.
After the meal, Dnyaneshwar felt the urge to do sanjeevan samadhi, a type of Ashtanga Yoga in which the practitioner willingly leaves their physical body while meditating very deeply.
The Sanjeevan Samadhi was prepared by Namdev’s sons. In discussing the state of enlightenment known as Sanjeevan Samadhi, Dnyaneshwar stressed the role that light, or pure energy in the form of electromagnetic radiation, plays.
At Alandi, Dnyaneshwar, on the thirteenth day of the Hindu month of Kartik’s dark half, a young man of twenty-one years of age attained Sanjeevan samadhi.
His samadhi can be found at the Siddhesvara Temple of Alandi. Namdev and bystanders were saddened by his passing.
Dnyaneshwari (Bhavarth Dipika) is another work.
When Maharaj was just 16 (or 13, as some accounts have it), he penned the Dnyaneshwari or Bhavarth Dipika, a commentary on the Bhagavad Gita.
The grantha emphasized the deeper meaning and significance of Bhagwan Krishna’s conversation with Arjun. The intellectual and poetic significance of the grantha cannot be overstated.
Words, phrases, similes, and metaphors are all used that are easy to understand and appropriate. The grantha explains complex philosophical ideas in simple terms.
His thoughts were more accessible to the general public since he expressed them in Marathi, the language of the people. Dnyaneshwari is the warkaris’ primary grantha.
The Grantha is required reading for any serious student of Marathi literature or poetry.
The spiritual experiences of Maharaj were chronicled in the Amritanubhava grantha’s 800 verses.
To further spread his teachings, Sant Maharaj also penned Abhangas. There’s also Haripath and Changdev Pasashti by him.
Miracles
Dnyaneshwar’s two miracles, teaching the he-buffalo the Vedas and resurrecting Sat-chit-Anandbaba, have already been discussed. Some further tales might be shared here.
Once upon a time, a Brahmin requested that his father’s Shraddha (anniversary of death) be observed in Paithan.
Dnyaneshwar had the Brahmin set up a lunch for the ancestors, and then he went there and invited everyone.
These forefathers are expected to show up elsewhere but have yet to do so. Here, however, they were able to partake in the festivities without leaving their current location.
Visoba Chati is a brahmin In Aland. He was very traditional before he started making fun of Sadhus and sages.
Nivrittinath once requested “Mande,” a dish that can only be prepared by roasting it in a frying pan, from Muktabai.
Muktabai searched the village for a pan but was unsuccessful because the evil Vosoba had instructed all the potters to deny her service.
She didn’t bring anything with her since she didn’t want to make her older brother Nivrittinath sad when she got home.
After hearing the news, Dnyaneshwar calmed Muktabai and, with the help of yoga, stoked the fire in his stomach, telling him to bake the “Mande” on his back, which was as hot as a frying pan.
One Yogi, named Changdeo, was rumored to be 1400 years old. Using his yogic strength, he had vanquished every fierce animal, including tigers and serpents.
He decided to pay Dnyaneshwar a visit after hearing about his prowess. He was armed with a whip made of a serpent and riding a tiger.
Dnyaneshwar and his brothers were just outside their house, relaxing on a wall in the compound.
When they saw Changdeo riding toward them, they shifted the wall to make a place for him and his tigers. Right away, he bowed to Dnyaneshwar and became one of his students.
Dnyaneshwar is credited with many more miracles than those listed here, but we could go on forever.
The miracles performed by Shri Dnyaneshwar that have been described above are adequate proof of his mystical powers.
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