Spirituality – Saint Dnyaneshwar of Alandi

Dnvaneshwari is a commentary on Shrimad Bhagwad Geeta in a poetic form composed in Marathi by Sant Dnyaneshwar. (‘Sant’ is Marathi equivalent of ‘saint’ in English). Sant Dnyaneshwar is fondly called in Maharashtra as “Mauli”- “The loving mother”. More than seven hundred years ago, he emerged as an incarnation of love, serenity and compassion for the entire universe and so, he is honoured as a motherly figure and adored with reverence not only by his contemporaries but also by Sants of succeeding generations and by millions of faithful devotees even today. At the blooming age of 22 years he realized that he has accomplished the purpose of his life and that realization led him to enter into Sanjeevan-Samadhi, so that he could remain united with the Supreme Self forever. Thus, Dnyaneshwar Mauli projected a unique example in spirituality in the history of all religions of the world.

The spiritual and philosophical knowledge in India in Dnyaneshwar’s time was confined to epics, poems and books composed or written in Sanskrit language and was available only to higher strata of the society through Vedas and Upanishads. Women and lower caste people did not have access to it. Dnyaneshwar Mauli decided to make that knowledge available to every member of the society. In his life span of just 22 years, he bestowed upon common people of Maharashtra, major literary works in vernacular Marathi such as Bhavartha Deepika (commonly known as Dnyaneshwari), Amrutanubhava, Changdev-pasashti, Haripatha and Abhangas. Through these fundamental and theoretically great works, he rooted devotional and yogic philosophy in the soil of Maharashtra in such a way, that the same could be understood and followed even by ordinary people of all castes and creeds, including illiterate villagers, and women. For more than seven hundred years, we all are enjoying the fruits of his revolutionary work and this enlightenment will continue forever in future.