Saint Dnyaneshwar

Sant Dnyaneshwar (Marathi pronunciation: [d̪ɲaːn̪eʃʋəɾ]), (Devanagari : सन्त ज्ञानेश्वर), pronunciation also referred to as Jñāneśvara, Jñānadeva, Dnyandev or Mauli or Dnyandev Vitthal Kulkarni (1275–1296 (living samadhi)), was a 13th-century Indian Marathi saint, poet, philosopher and yogi of the Nath and Varkari tradition. In his short life of 21 years, he authored Dnyaneshwari (a commentary on the Bhagavad Gita) and Amrutanubhav. These are the oldest surviving literary works in the Marathi language, and considered to be milestones in Marathi literature. Sant Dnyaneshwar's ideas reflect the non-dualistic Advaita Vedanta philosophy and an emphasis on Yoga and bhakti towards Vithoba, an incarnation of Vishnu. His legacy inspired saint-poets such as Eknath and Tukaram, and he is one of the founders of the Varkari (Vithoba-Krishna) Bhakti movement tradition of Hinduism in Maharashtra. Dnyaneshwar undertook samadhi at Alandi in 1296 by entombing himself in an underground chamber. Dnyaneshwar was born in 1275 (on the auspicious day of Krishna Janmashtami) in a Marathi-speaking Deshastha Brahmin family in the Apegaon village on the banks of Godavari river near Paithan in Maharashtra during the reign of the Yadava king Ramadevarava. The kingdom with its capital Devagiri enjoyed relative peace and stability, and the king was a patron of literature and arts. Biographical details of Sant Dnyaneshwar's life are preserved in the writings of his disciples, Satyamalanath and Sachchidanand. The various traditions give conflicting accounts of details of Dnyaneshwar's life. The date of composition of his work Dnyaneshwari (1290 CE), however is undisputed. According to the more accepted tradition on Dnyaneshwar's life, he was born in 1275 CE and he attained samadhi in 1296 CE. Other sources state he was born in 1271 CE. The biographical details of Dnyaneshwar's short life of about 21 years are well established.