Jnaneshwar's Gita (A Rendering of the Jnaneshwari)

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Foreword Inaneswari, so called from its author Jnanelwar or Jnänadev but which calls itself Bhavarthadipika-the lamp of simple explanation-is by any account the most seminal work of Marathi literature. Composed according to tradition in 1290 by a young brahman of the Nath sect, on the instruction and to the glory of his guru Nivrttinäth, it is a huge verse expansion of the Bhagavad Gita in the simple ov metre in which so much of later Marathi literature was written. Taking each verse of the Gita it expounds its meaning with a series of brilliantly vivid and down-to- carth examples and images, thus making this crucial work of Indian philosophy accessible to the common man and woman in the common tongue of the region.

Introduction A work like the Jnaneshwari requires no in- troduction. It introduces itself to the reader. For it is the outcome of the deep mystical experience of its author that is ineffable and which can be shared only by one who has it. Namadeva aptly calls it 'brahmananda- lahari, a ripple of the bliss of the Brahman. Jnanadeva was not only a great mystic but also a poet par excellence who could confi- dently say: "In words I will give form to the formless and cause the senses to experience what is beyond their power to know" (Jna. 6.36). At the same time he was conscious of the fact that in the adhyatma-sastra, or the Science of the Spirit, it is personal experience that counts and nothing else. But he had the rare capacity to please his audience and uplift them by his verbal skill; hence the production of this monumental work called the /naneshwari, which speaks for itself. Here we can only try to look at it from different angles.

**Contents and Sample Pages**