Chapter 7 The Theory of the Triple Purusha Jnaneshwar was essentially a Yogi-Poet and not a philosopher or metaphysician dealing with abstruse problems of creation. His expression is that of a mystic who uses the poetic language of symbols and metaphors while giving form to his ideas and concepts. He piles simile upon simile, example upon example to make a certain point of deeper import, the technique being in the nature of an address to a devout gathering. But this is a technique which a strict logician will not accept. According to him any serious discourse ought to be carried out in a rigorous manner. However, the poetic method has its own convin

Chapter 5 Obeisances to the Divine on the Battlefield The Tree of Literature was planted by the great Seer and now it is bearing rich and ripe fruits of sweetness.  And what a wonder this book of the Gita is! Praise be to it, all praise—bapa bapa grantha gita, as Jnaneshwar says. The Lord himself is the revealer of the supreme creative-formative Truth which even the Vedas cannot seize, the Word that ushers divinity in a tranquil poise of unfolding phenomenality of this creation. But when the Lord comes he comes not only as a Teacher with the executive Word; his dynamism is there in full operation of an active person who can accomplish t

The Wager of Ambrosia Introduction Chapter 1 It is said that when the Sanskrit version of Jnaneshwar’s Amritanubhava was shown to Raman Maharshi he danced with joy. He would have gone into deep ecstasy had he read in Marathi the Yogi-Poet’s work on the Gita. This work is commonly known as Jnaneshwari and has the status of a guide-book in the vernacular, even that of a Scripture. The composition is not exactly a commentary, but it takes the Gita only as a precious occasion to create poetic magnificence in yet another medium. Profound spiritual philosophy based on spiritual experiences are described in the language of a mystic and not that of a me

Chapter 9 The Divine Assurance Part A Which is that supreme word the Gita declares to the bewildered warrior on the battlefield?  Which paramam vachah has it to offer for the highest good of the soul now ready to receive the revelations of the Spirit? Arjuna wanted to renounce all the holdings of the world and all the trappings, all actions associated with it. He wanted to follow the path of ascetic self-abnegation, even as he saw in front of him his preceptors and his own people ready to enjoy the “holiday” of life by killing each other. Better to stay back from such a cruel and frightful sanguinary deed, ghora karma, than commit the sin of universal d

Chapter 12 Jnaneshwari: Some Perspectives Jnaneshwar is regarded as the first poet in Marathi, Adi Kavi of the vernacular, who wrote his commentary on the Gita a little more than seven hundred years ago. It is a work as fresh and living even today as it was at the time of its composition. Jnaneshwari’s poetic sweetness and charm, its enchantment, its spiritual ambience, its overhead quality of expression have remained alone and unsurpassed. Its spell is cast on all writings that have nobility of thought and feeling and aesthetic delight. Jnaneshwar’s yogic excellence,—and later Tukaram’s household yet deeply experiential poetry,—is the accomplishment

Chapter 6 The Tree of Cosmic Existence The fifteenth chapter of the Gita begins with a description of the astounding tree of cosmic existence, having its roots in the infinite above and its thousand branches plunging and spreading here around. But it is not possible for us to know the true nature of this strange Ashwattha tree, with its foundation fixed in the timeless Eternal; it is an ever-widening movement carrying the ancient urge to act and grow, in activity to give shape and form to the manifestive Spirit and in growth to bring and establish more and more of its Light, Knowledge, Truth, Love, Beauty, Joy in the workings of a ceaseless process. Th

-01_Publisher^s Note.htm The Wager of Ambrosia A Study of Jnaneshwari R Y Deshpande ********************************* Publisher's Note "The first Marathi poet... at once a devotee, a Yogin and a thinker,"—this was how Sri Aurobindo spoke of Jnaneshwar in the context of Indian culture and literature. His magnum opus Bhavartha Deepika, popularly known as Jnaneshwari, was written seven hundred years ago when the Yogi-Poet was just about fifteen years of age. It is a marvellous literary work and presents the Gita in the form of a series of discourses. Jnaneshwar gave these discourses in the temple of Mhalsa at Newase on the bank of the river Pravara, in Maharashtra. In

The Debt we Owe to Vyasa Chapter 2 Jnaneshwar likens the Gita to a rain-bearing cloud. No doubt   from its gleaming contents it is the abundant sea that supplies water to the nimbus; but it is the cloud, and not the sea, which pours beneficences on creature-kind. In that sense it proves more gainworthy than the source from which it comes. The formless incomprehensible Brahman is All-Knowledge and may be all right; but it is not accessible to the understanding and cannot be seized by expression, nor does it in any immediate way participate in our affairs. Of what direct use is it then for us? Yet it is the same All-Knowledge that the Gita brings to us in

Chapter 11 The Invocation and the Boon “I know not how to use words nor do I know how to state a  proposition or premise, and I have no knowledge of the figures of speech,” says Jnaneshwar while coming towards the conclusion of his Marathi discourse on the Gita. (Jnaneshwari: 18.1767) Whatever he has done, presenting the scripture in his language, he could do that because of the blessings he had received from his guru Nivritti, as much as by the gracious and encouraging patronage of the well-versed in the audience. Their keen understanding and appreciation of the literary composition was a reciprocation that inspir