Dnyaneshwari or Bhavartha deepika
From the internal evidence in Dnyaneshwari,. it is clear that this unique criticism on Bhagwatgeeta was completed in Shaka 1212. It will be seen from the life of Dnyaneshwar that he composed this book at a very early age of sixteen. The knowledge of all the philo¬sophical books, which were then in existence, the different theories of life, the knowledge of the customs and manners of the people of his times and all such things which are evident from the book, simply make the readers wonder how a boy of sixteen could acquire so much maturity and knowledge at that age; but as Lord Krishna has himself expressed in Bhagwatgeeta '' a very learned person take s rebirth in a great family with all his achievements" and hence he proves to be a progidy. Hence as belivers in rebirth, we might say that the knowledge already acquired by Dnyaneshwar in the previous birth came along with him in his present birth. Though Dnyaneshwari is apparently a criticism on the Bhagwatgeeta, still we find that it is really an in -dependent book expounding the Indian Philosophy. It has only taken Bhagwatgeeta as its base, because it was a known book re¬vered by all. The very fact that the commentary on 700 and odd shlokas of Bhagwatgeeta should expand into over 8,500 ' Ovees goes to prove the independent nature of the book.
If specific examples are to be cited we might point out that in the sixth canto of Bhagwatgeeta there are only 47 shlokas while the commentery thereon runs into 497 ovees. Similarly, the number of Ovees in the tenth canto is 1124. Similar figures about the extent of other cantoes could be given for comparison, but it is not quite necessary to prove the aforesaid fact.
Dnyaneshwari is not important only from the point of view of philosophy, it also is a very good example of poetry full of ima¬gination. The use of language is also unique. The words and phrases used are so very appropriate that nobody has been able to suggest so far a substitute for any one of them. The figures of speech like simile, metaphor etc. are met with very often in the book. They are not only appropriate but they show profuse knowledge on the part of the author. The language used is so captivating that any reader will agree to the statement made by Dnyaneshwar that he will get a certificate from his appreciative readers that the Marathi language is even sweeter than the nectar.
Gnyaneshwar is a Yogi. He appears to be well-versed in all practices of Yoga. Whenever he has spoken of Yoga and its prac¬tices he appears to be speaking with so much confidence that we feel that he is speaking not from heresay but from his personal ex¬perience. The ultimate live Samadhi, that Dnyaneshwar took, to put an end to his life, shows also that he had full knowledge of the practice of Yoga.
Along with Yoga, Dnyaneshwar has not neglected other ways of devotion like " Bhakti " and worship of the idol of the God. He has done enough justice to all these whenever necessary and has also described their importance in human life.
From the point of view of the development of Rasas. Dnyane¬shwari is not wanting. In the eleventh canto when Lord Krishna shows to Arjuna the whole universe, we see the develpment of different Rasas like Rowdra, Bhayanaka, Shanta etc. This also shows that Dnyaneshwar had studied the books on literary criticism that were existing at his time.
Dnyaneshwari is supposed to be the basic book of the. " War-kari " sect. Every " Warkari " who recognises God Vithal as his God revers this book unequivocally. In all the lectures of these people they will be constantly referring to " Ovees " from this highly revered book. Apart from the followers of the Warkari Sect, every student of the Marathi Literature has got to peep into this book. No student of Marathi literature can say that his study is complete without the study of Dnyaneshwari. Other great Marathi Saints like Namdeo, Eknath, Tukaram, Ramdas have always mentioned Dnyaneshwari with reverence, and have taken pride in stating that they have been the followers of Dnyaneshwar. Most of the Marathi poets who wrote on religious subjects have made free use of the similies, ideas and quotations from Dnyaneshwari, and even ac¬knowledged that they got inspiration to write their books after reading it.
As Bhagwatgeeta was the source of inspiration for writing a criticism to many Mara-thi poets, similarly there have also been a number of books in Marathi for explaining the philosophy of Dnyane¬shwari. As nearly 700 years have elapsed since the composition of Dnyaneshwari, its language has become obscure at certain places, some of the words used therein cannot be understood by the modern generation, hence the modern generation is mostly not able to read or understand Dnyaneshwari without a commentary or a guide.
Other Works
Even though, as pointed out before, Dnyaneshwari is as good as an independent work, though technically speaking it is a commen¬tary on Bhagwatgeeta, the story goes that, when after completing Dnyaneshwari, Dnyaneshwar went to Nivrittinath, whom he called his Guru, he said, " This is after all a commentary. It is not an independent work. So I want you to do some independent work." Hence Dnyaneshwar wrote the " Amritanubhava " or " Anubhava-mrit " in which he has stated his experiences in Yoga and Philosophy, whereby we can get the experience of nectar. This work of Dnyane¬shwar, though not so much universally acknowledged, is also as great and important as Dnyaneshwari itself. The style of writing, the use of words and phrases the use of figures of speech, the ease in writing and the confidence with which the book is written leave no doubt that the work must be of the Dnyaneshwar himself. The subject of this book is abstract and is dealt with great brevity and directness.
One more book in Ovee form under the caption of ' Yoga washishtha ' goes as a work of Dnyaneshwar; but on close study o-the book, though it appears to be written in the same style as that of Dnyaneshwari, we feel that the grace of the words and the poetic imagination is not of the same level as that in Dnyaneshwari. The scholars of Marathi literature have therefore a serious doubt whether this work is of the same Dnyaneshwar who composed Dnyaneshwari. It is suspected that somebody else has imitated the style of Dnyane¬shwari and has pawned his own work under the name of Dnyane¬shwar.
Apart from the above works there are about 1200 Abhangas said to be composed by Dnyaneshwar, but on their close examination we find that all of them are not of the same standard. From the style of the use of words, the ideas and the philosophy embod¬ied therein we may say that only about two to three hundred of these abhangas must have been composed by Dnyaneshwar himself and the others are composed and interspersed by other writers.
Miracles
The two miracles, in Dnyaneshwar's life, one of making the he-buffalo repeat Vedas and the other of bringing to life Sat-chit-Anandbaba have already been referred to. A few more can be narrated here.
At Paithan once a Brahmin wanted to perform the Shraddha (death anniversary) of his father. So Dnyaneshwar requested the Brahmin to make all the preparations and after going there invited all the forefathers for lunch. At other places these ancestors are supposed to come, but they are not visible. However, here they remained physically present and enjoyed the feast.
In Alandi there was a Brahmin named Visoba Chati. He was very orthodox and used to ridicule the Sadhus and sages. Once Nivrittinath expressed his desire to Muktabai to eat " Mande " which are required to be baked on a frying pan. So Muktabai went round the village for buying a pan; Vosoba, who was wicked, had informed all the potters in the village not to give the pan to Muktabai and hence she could not get it in the whole village. She came home empty-handed and was sobbing, because she thought that Nivrittinath, her eldest brother, would get annoyed at this. When Dnyaneshwar knew about this he consoled Muktabai and by the power of Yoga, he kindled the fire inside his stomach and told Muktabai to bake the " Mande " on his back which was as red hot as the frying pan.
One Yogi, Changdeo by name, was said to be fourteen hundred years old. By his Yogic power he had subdued all fierce beings like the tiger and the serpent. After knowing the power of Dnyane¬shwar he started for a visit to him. He rode on a tiger and was using a serpent as a whip. At that time Dnyaneshwar and his bre¬thren were sitting on a compound wall outside their house. When they were told that Changdeo was coming to them on tiger backs they made the wall itself to move and thus went forward to receive Changdeo. When Changdeo found that Dnyaneshwar was having control over inanimate objects as against his control on living beings, he was completely subdued and knew his folly in underestimating the power of Dnyaneshwar. He at once fell at the feet of Dnyane¬shwar and became his disciple.
A number of such other miracles are narrated under the name of Dnyaneshwar; but they need not all be listed over here. The miracles already referred to are enough to show the supernatural power of Shri Dnyaneshwar.
Samadhi
After composing 'Amritanubhava', Dnyaneshwar went to visit the holy places along with Namdeo and other saints of his time. In his Abhangas known as " Tirthawali " Namdeo has given a gra¬phic description of this their visit to the holy places from which we know that Dnyaneshwar had visited many holy places of his day.
After completing their visits to the holy places, Dnyaneshwar felt that the mission of his life was over. He therefore, expressed his intention to take live Samadhi. When all his colleagues knew about this they felt sorry that this ocean of knowledge was leaving them; but Dnyaneshwar was firm on his decision. Ultimately, on the 13th day of the second half of Kartik in Shaka 1218 Dnyane¬shwar Maharaj took live Samadhi at Alandi. An account of this heartrending incident is graphically pictured by Namdeo in his Abhangas known as " Samadheeche Abhanga ". After setting of this Sun of Knowledge, pitch darkness spread before the eyes of Dnyaneshwara's brothers and sister. After the departure of Dnyane¬shwar, they also therefore decided to end their existence in this world and within a year's time from the Samadhi of Dnyaneshwar Maha¬raj they all left this perishable world. Thus ended the tragic life of all these four children of Vithalpant, whose only fault was that he did not observe the traditional sequence of the Ashrams.
Topic: SAINT DNYANESHWAR 2 (Read 36452 times)