Sant

Dnyaneshwar
Dr.T.V.Rao MD
 Introduction

▪ Brief history of Hinduism

▪ Brief history of Sanskrit language
▪ Ashramas – four stages of life
▪ Four varnas in Hinduism
▪ Family of Sant Dnyaneshwar
▪ Calamities and sufferings
▪ Dnyaneshwari and other works
▪ Samadhi
▪ Varakari sect
 Hinduism

▪ The origin of Hinduism dates back to 5,000 or

more years.
▪ The word "Hindu" is derived from the name
of River Indus/Sindhu.
▪ The Persians migrated to India called the river
"Hindu" the land "Hindustan" (Sanskrit,
Hindi), and its inhabitants "Hindus".
▪ Hinduism refers to daily life practices evolved
as the religion followed by the Hindus.
 Supreme court defines
Hinduism

▪ In 1995 The Supreme Court of India highlighted Bal

Gangadhar Tilak's formulation of Hinduism's defining
features:
▪ Acceptance of the Vedas with reverence;
▪ Recognition of the fact that the means or ways to salvation
are diverse; and
▪ The realization of the truth that the number of gods to be
worshipped is large.
 Sanskrit language

▪ Sanskrit संस्कृतम ् is a language of ancient India with a

3,500-year history.
▪ Traceable to the 2nd millennium BCE (years 2000 to 1000
BCE - late bronze age).
▪ Vedas are earliest known composition.
▪ Sanskrit compositions were orally transmitted by methods
of memorisation.
▪ Has influenced many Indo-Aryan, Munda and Dravidian
languages.
Remarkable literature works
in Sanskrit

▪ Vedas – collection of hymns, poems, prayers and formulas

written between 1500 and 1000 BCE.
▪ Upanishada contain some of the central philosophical
concepts and ideas of Hinduism.
▪ Ramayana – major Sanskrit epic depicting story of Rama
and Ravana.
▪ Mahabharata - major Sanskrit epic depicting story of
Pandavas and Kauravas.
▪ Bhagvadgeeta - Bhagavad Gita is a synthesis of Hindu ideas
on jnana, bhakti, karma and Raja Yoga.
Four Varnas of Hindu
Religion
Upanayana Sanskara – The
thread ceremony

▪ Sanskara – sacred ceremonies are rites of passage in

a human being’s life.
▪ Some examples are: Namakaran, Karnabheda,
Vivaha.
▪ Upanayana samskara is done in upper varnas which
initiates the child’s formal education.
▪ In this ceremony, Guru accepts and draws a child
towards knowledge symbolizing second birth.
▪ A boy receives a sacred thread called
Yajñopaveetam, that he wears.
Ancestors of Dnyaneshwar

▪ Ancestor’s place: Apegaon – a village near Paithan in

Maharashtra.
▪ Family name: Kulkarni, business: Vatandar (landholder).
▪ Trimbakpant was the great-grand-father of
Dnyaneshwar.
▪ First person in the family to have a philosophical and
religious bent of mind.
▪ He was a disciple of Great Yogi Guru Gorakhnath.
▪ Govindpant is grand-father of Dnyaneshwar.
Vithalpant – Father of Dnyaneshwar

▪ The thread ceremony took place at the age of 7.

▪ Completed study of Vedas and started on a pilgrimage.
▪ Came to a place called Alandi (near Pune).
▪ Shri Sidhopant gave his daughter Rukminibai to Vithalpant
for marriage.
▪ Vithalpant went to Apegaon along with his wife.
▪ But he remained aloof from household duties due to
religious and philosophical nature.
▪ Again they went back to Alandi.
Vithalpant becomes a
Sanyasi

▪ Vithalpant had astrong desire to become a sanyasi.

▪ He run away from his wife to Kashi (Benaras) and found a
guru – Shri Ramanandaswami.
▪ He lied to his guru that he was alone and had no bondage.
▪ After 12 years, his guru came to Alandi.
▪ He blessed Rukminibai that she will conceive a son.
▪ Rukminibai tells him all the story.
▪ Ramanandaswami ordered Vithalpant to begin his family
life (grihasthashram) again. (00:20 – 04:10)
▪ See movie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Le5wTROS4oY&t=4646s
 Birth of Dnyaneshwar and
his siblings
▪ Nivritti (1273 A.D.) meaning one gets out of this worldly life
▪ Dnyana (1275 A.D.) meaning Knowledge
▪ Sopan (1277 A.D.) meaning bridge
▪ Muktabai (1279 A.D.) meaning liberation
▪ When Nivritti became due for thread ceremony (10 yo), the brahmins
refused as a sanyasi can not have family life.
▪ Vithalpant sought penance for his great sin.
▪ The brahmins declared that the penance is Death. (22:45 – 25:00)
▪ Both, Vithalpant and Rukminibai jumped in the waters of Ganges. (33:40 -
34:30)
▪ Still, brahmins refused thread ceremony of Nivritti.
Calamities and studies

▪ They kept on studying vedas and shastra on their own.

▪ Hardship of Dnyaneshwara and his siblings for getting alms.
(46:08 – 48:50)
▪ Learnt and mastered the philosophy and techniques of
Kundalini yoga.
▪ One day, Muktabai could not get fire for preparing rotis.
▪ Dnyaneshwar kindled the fire inside his body to prepare
rotis. (52:45 – 54:20)
Visit to Paithan

▪ Came to Paithan for getting certificate of purity.

▪ Brahmins of Paithan also did not treat them well.
▪ Dnyaneshwar performed the miracle in which the passing
bull recites vedas. (1:13:00 – 1:15:15)
▪ They get certificate of purity, but thread ceremony was
never done by Brahmanas in Alandi!!
 Dnyaneshwari and other
works
▪ The original teachings of Gita were confined to only few brahmins
who exploited the society.
▪ Vithalpant inspired Dnyaneshwar to preach knowledge of Gita to
common people.
▪ Dnyaneshwar wrote the first literature work in Marathi called
Bhavartha Deepika (aka Dnyaneshwari) to explain teaching of Gita
in Prakrit Marathi language.
▪ It is composed in a meter called ovi and has 18 chapters.
▪ He wrote another book Amrutanubhav explaining non-dualism.
▪ Also wrote many other smaller compositions like Changadev
Pasashti, Haripath etc.
 Some excerpts from
Dnyaneshwari

▪ Dnyaneshwar Maharaj says," There is no doubt that Knowledge leads to

liberation. But in order that the knowledge steadies itself in a person the mind
must be very pure. Without detachment knowledge cannot be steady. This
principle has been very thoughtfully stated by Shri Krishna who has also discussed
how the mind can get completely detached. Just as, a person taking his meal
leaves the dish and runs away if he knows that there is poison in it, similarly once
the idea of the impermanence of this world gets stamped on the mind one runs
away from attachment and the detachment (thus attained) does not leave you
even if you try to get rid of it. In this fifteenth chapter Shri Krishna is explaining
how the world is impermanent using the simile of a tree." (15:35-40).
Samadhi

▪ After composing Amritanubhava, Dnyashwar went on a

pilgrimage along with Namdeo and other saints.
▪ After the visit, Dnyaneshwar felt that the mission of his
life was over and expressed his intention to take Samadhi.
▪ He entered into Sanjeevan Samadhi at Alandi at the age of
21 (1296 A.D.) (2:24:30 – 2:26:45)
▪ His siblings also took Samadhi within a year’s time.
Samadhi Temple in Alandi
Varakari Sampradaya

▪ Varakari (pilgrim) is a samoradaya (religious movement) in

Hinduism based on the teachings of Dnyaneshwar and
other contemporary saints.
▪ They look upon God as ultimate truth and accept ultimate
equality among people.
▪ Everybody is brahma and stress on simplicity, compassion,
non-violence, love and humanity.
▪ Two annual pilgrimages to a place called Pandharpur.