2409:4042:E10:4932:4045:E099:E577:2EC6 at 20:47, 17 April 2021

2021-04-17T20:47:07Z

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[[File:1765 Saka, 1843 CE, Jnanesvari Jnandeva Dnyaneshwar manuscript page 1 and 2, Devanagari Marathi.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25| The ''Jnanesvari'' is a commentary on the ''[[Bhagavad Gita]]''. Above: Pages 1 and 2 in Devanagari script, Marathi language.]]
{{Hindu scriptures}}
The '''''Dnyaneshwari''''' ({{lang-mr|ज्ञानेश्वरी}}) ([[IAST]]: '''Jñānēśvarī'''), also referred to as '''''Jnanesvari''''', '''''Jnaneshwari''''' or '''''Bhavartha Deepika''''' is a commentary on the ''[[Bhagavad Gita]]'' written by the [[Marathi people|Marathi]] saint and poet [[Sant Dnyaneshwar]] in 1290 CE.<ref>{{Citation | last = Dnyandev | author-link = Dnyaneshwar | last2 = Pradhan | first2 = Vitthal Ganesh | title = Dnyaneshwari : Bhāvārthadipikā | publisher = State University of New York Press | editor-last = Lambert | editor-first = Hester Marjorie | year = 1987 | page = x-xi | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Xxg0RI7dSWIC | isbn = 978-0-88706-487-6}}</ref> Dnyaneshwar (born 1275) lived a short life of 21 years, and this commentary is notable to have been composed in his teens. The text is the oldest surviving literary work in the Marathi language, one that inspired major [[Bhakti movement]] saint-poets such as [[Eknath]] and [[Tukaram]] of the Varkari ([[Vithoba]]) tradition.<ref name="Sircar1996">{{cite book|author=D. C. Sircar|title=Indian Epigraphy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hXMB3649biQC|year=1996|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-1166-9|pages=53–54}}</ref><ref name="Ranade1997">{{cite book|author=R. D. Ranade|title=Tukaram| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZOWIAwAAQBAJ |year=1997| publisher=State University of New York Press|isbn=978-1-4384-1687-8|pages=9–11}}</ref><ref name="Melton2011">{{cite book|author=J. Gordon Melton|title=Religious Celebrations: An Encyclopedia of Holidays, Festivals, Solemn Observances, and Spiritual Commemorations|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lD_2J7W_2hQC |year=2011|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-59884-206-7|pages=373–374}}</ref> The ''Dnyaneshwari'' interprets the ''Bhagavad Gita'' in the [[Advaita Vedanta]] tradition of Hinduism.<ref>{{Citation | last = Dnyandev | author-link = Dnyaneshwar | last2 = Pradhan | first2 = Vitthal Ganesh | title = Dnyaneshwari : Bhāvārthadipikā | publisher = State University of New York Press | editor-last = Lambert | editor-first = Hester Marjorie | year = 1987 | page = xviii with footnote 1 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Xxg0RI7dSWIC | isbn = 978-0-88706-487-6}}</ref> The philosophical depth of the text has been praised for its aesthetic as well as scholarly value.<ref name=pradhan1987>{{Citation | last = Dnyandev | author-link = Dnyaneshwar | last2 = Pradhan | first2 = Vitthal Ganesh | title = Dnyaneshwari : Bhāvārthadipikā | publisher = State University of New York Press | editor-last = Lambert | editor-first = Hester Marjorie | year = 1987 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Xxg0RI7dSWIC&lpg=PR3&dq=dnyaneshwari&pg=PR4#v=onepage&q=dnyaneshwari&f=false | isbn = 978-0-88706-487-6}}</ref>

According to Pradhan and Lambert, the reliable dating of ''Dnyaneshwari'' to 1290 CE is based on textual and corroborative reference to the Yadava king Ramadeva as well as the name of the scribe and the ''samvat'' of its completion.<ref name=pradhan1987/>{{rp|xiii-xv}} It is also confirmed by the works of [[Namdev]], another contemporary Bhakti movement saint-poet, who mentions Dnyaneshwari and who the Hindu tradition believes accompanied Dnyaneshwari on various pilgrimages.<ref name=pradhan1987/>{{rp|xv-xvi}} The authenticity of the ''Dnyaneshwari'' has been contested in light of [[Eknath]] comments in late 16th-century, where he stated he had restored the text to the original version, and asked "neither change nor addition should be permitted".<ref name=pradhan1987/>{{rp|xv-xvi}} Scholars generally accept that this version is most faithful one, and this edition was identified in 1909 by V. K. Rajvade and published in 1959.<ref name=pradhan1987/>{{rp|viii-ix}}

The narrative of the ''Dnyaneshwari'' closely follows the ''Bhagavad Gita'', yet the commentary – called ''tika'' in the local tradition – is written in the form of a "song-sermon" that expands the explanation to include a discussion of the major Hindu philosophies and beliefs in the 13th-century.<ref name=pradhan1987/>{{rp|xvii-xviii}} While the ''Gita'' has 700 verses, the ''Dnyaneshwari'' has about 9,000 verses. It includes references to the Vedas, the Upanishads and other major Hindu texts.<ref name=pradhan1987/>{{rp|xviii-xix}} The ''Dnyaneshwari'' is a rhythmic prose, that can be recited alone or chanted as a group. Each of its 9,000 verses consists of four lines (quarters) called an ''ovi'' (a form of Marathi meter). Unlike the ''Gita'' which has fixed number of syllables in its verses and which do not rhyme, the ''Dnyaneshwari'' commentary on the ''Gita'' has a variable number of syllables per line, of which first three of four do rhyme. Each line in the ''Dnyaneshwari'' typically has between three and thirteen syllables.<ref name=pradhan1987/>{{rp|xix-xx}}

The text reverentially includes the names of numerous Hindu gods and goddesses from Vaishnavism, Shaivism, and Shaktism traditions, as well as Vedic ones such as Saraswati (Sharada). The last line of many of its verses include the characteristic "Jnanadeva says" or "Says Jnanesvara".<ref name=pradhan1987/>{{rp|1-24}}<ref>{{cite book|author1=Jñānadeva|author2=Pu. Vi Bobaḍe|title=Garland of Divine Flowers: Selected Devotional Lyrics of Saint Jnanesvara|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xoxH5uVBUqkC |year=1987|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-0390-9|pages=1–14}}</ref> This format was adopted by other later era Bhakti movement poets, as well as in the [[Guru Granth]] of Sikhism.<ref>{{cite book|author=Neeti M. Sadarangani|title=Bhakti Poetry in Medieval India: Its Inception, Cultural Encounter and Impact|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WVQrKJbJ2JIC |year=2004|publisher=Sarup & Sons|isbn=978-81-7625-436-6|pages=65–66}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===Further reading===
* "Swadhyay Dyaneshwari" - Marathi Self Study book by Chhapkhane Keshav Ramachandra (Born-1875, Sangli, Maharashtra, India)

==See also==
* [[s:mr:ज्ञानेश्वरी|ज्ञानेश्वरी (Dnyaneshwari) text in Marathi Wikisource]]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070107140433/http://www.stanford.edu/~adeo/dnya.html Dnyaneshwari]
* [[Dnyaneshwar]]

==External links==
*[https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/jnaneshwari-bhavartha-dipika Jnaneshwari (Bhavartha Dipika)] English translation by R. K. Bhagwat, 1954 (includes glossary)

{{Marathi language topics}}
{{Krishna}}
{{Mahabharata|state=uncollapsed}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dnyaneshwari}}
[[Category:Bhagavad Gita]]
[[Category:Hindu texts]]
[[Category:Marathi-language literature]]
[[Category:Warkari]]
[[Category:Indian non-fiction books]]
[[Category:13th-century books]]
[[Category:Cultural history of India]]

Dnyaneshwari - Revision history

2409:4042:E10:4932:4045:E099:E577:2EC6 at 20:47, 17 April 2021