Dnyaneshvari (Jnaneshwari)

The Dnyaneshvari* is an Advaita Vedanta commentary on the Bhagavad Gita by the saint and poet Dnyaneshwar. He was born in 1275 and while he only lived until he was 21 years old, he made this commentary in his teen years.

In The Voice of the Silence H. P. Blavatsky calls it “that king of mystic works”5 and quotes from it several times, in the notes below.

This edition is translated from the Marathi by the scholar M. R. Yardi, the 5th edition of 2011, kind courtesy of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.6

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* Also spelt “Jnaneshwari” from “Jnana” in Marathi meaning knowledge; or in Sanskrit Djnâna / Dnyan / Jnâna / Gnyana, which esoterically means much more, viz. “supernal or divine knowledge acquired by Yoga.” (Theosophical Glossary p 103)

In the Preface to The Voice of the Silence (first edition) it is spelt correctly as “Dnyaneshwari” (p. vi), although elsewhere as “Dhyaneswari” which appears to be either an error or a hint (?) since Dhyana is a Sanskrit word meaning meditation (p. 77, fn 25). To answer “why a hint”, it is asked “How else is mystic knowledge obtained but through a consciousness-raising Yoga of contemplation.”

 


The Voice of the Silence on The Dnyaneshvari

In a footnote in The Voice H. P. Blavatsky quotes from the Dnyaneshvari in three different places.

  1. The first is from its 6th. Adhyaya7 titled ‘Dhyanayoga’, meaning ‘contemplation-yoga’. There it describes how the mystic becomes a “Walker of the Sky” and that the body of the Yogi is then…

… as one formed of the wind; as “a cloud from which limbs have sprouted out,” after which —”he (the Yogi) beholds the things beyond the seas and stars; he hears the language of the Devas and comprehends it, and perceives what is passing in the mind of the ant.”

[The Voice, 1889 first edition fn. 25 p. 77]

This passage is translated in the above edition of The Dnyaneshvari as:

Then the yogi can see beyond the seas, hear the sounds of heaven, and comprehend the desire of an ant. He can ride on the wind, walk on water without wetting his feet, and in this way he acquires many miraculous powers (266-270).

… Arjuna, when the Shakti loses her power, the body becomes bereft of form and becomes invisible to the world. But then the body looks like a banana tree which, shedding its outer skin stands bare in its core or like the sky which has put forth limbs (291-295). When the body assumes this form, the yogi is called the sky-rover8. When he attains to his state, his body works wonders in the world. When he walks leaving a trail behind him, then the eight miraculous powers wait upon him at every step.

But of what avail are these powers to us? O Arjuna, the elements of earth, water and fire get dissolved in the body. The earth is dissolved by water, water by fire, and the wind dissolves the fire in the heart. Then the wind alone remains, but in the form of the body; and that too becomes absorbed in the sky of the Brahmarandhra (296-300). She retains her shakti form until she becomes one with Brahman.”

[The Dnyaneshvari, page 90-91 of PDF above]

2. We also find The Dnyaneshvari referred to in The Voice’s Preface and again in the most complementary terms:

Together with the great mystic work called Paramartha, which, the legend of Nagarjuna tells us, was delivered to the great Arhat by the Nagas or “Serpents” (in truth a name given to the ancient Initiates), the Book of the Golden Precepts claims the same origin.* Yet its maxims and ideas, however noble and original, are often found under different forms in Sanskrit works, such as the Dhyanéshvari, that superb mystic treatise in which Krishna describes to Arjuna in glowing colors the condition of a fully illumined Yogi.

* [The Voice states the Secret Doctrine “is based” on the ‘Stanzas’ of the Book of Dzyan… i.e. it is part of the same mystic vein of sacred literature. The Voice, 1889 first edition, The Preface, page vi]

It is not known whether anyone has yet been able to locate in The Dnyaneshvari the passage describing a fully illumined Yogi “in glowing colors”…

3. And in the reference below:

This “Path” is mentioned in all the Mystic Works. As Krishna says in the Dhyanéshvari: “When this Path is beheld . . . whether one sets out to the bloom of the east or to the chambers of the west, without moving, O holder of the bow, is the travelling in this road. In this path, to whatever place one would go, that place one’s own self becomes.”

“Thou art the Path” is said to the adept guru and by the latter to the disciple, after initiation. “I am the way and the Path” says another MASTER.

[The Voice, 1889 first edition, First Fragment, fn 32, page 78.]

 


 

CONTENTS

 

Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….1

Foreward………………………………………………………………………………………………………..…………….3

Preface……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…………5

Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………………………………………….20

Chapter 1 : Despondency of Arjuna……………………………………………………………………………..23

Chapter 2 : Sankhya And Yoga…………………………………………………………………………………..34

Chapter 3 : Karmayoga……………………………………………………………………………………………….51

Chapter 4 : Sankhyayoga…………………………………………………………………………………………….63

Chapter 5 : Renunciation……………………………………………………………………………………………73

Chapter 6 : Dhyanayoga…………………………………………………………………………81

Chapter 7 : Wisdom And Knowledge………………………………………………………………………..100

Chapter 8 : The Imperishable Brahman……………………………………………………………………109

Chapter 9 : The Esoteric Knowledge………………………………………………………………………..120

Chapter 10 : The Divine Manifestation……………………………………………………………………..139

Chapter 11 : The Universal Form………………………………………………………………………………154

Chapter 12 : Bhaktiyoga……………………………………………………………………………………………183

Chapter 13 : The Field And The Knower of the Field………………………………………….………192

Chapter 14 : The Three Qualities……………………………………………………………………………..230

Chapter 15 : The Supreme Person…………………………………………………………………………….245

Chapter 16 : The Divine And Demoniacal Natures…………………………………………………….266

Chapter 17 : Three Kinds Of Faith……………………………………………………………………………283

Chapter 18 : Release ……………………………………………………………………………………………....299

Appendix 1 : Glossary of Names……………………………………………363 (not incl. in the PDF)

Appendix 2 : Technical Terms in Jnaneshwari…………………………376       ”          ”          ”

Appendix 3 : Legends referred to in Jnaneshwari………………….386       ”          ”          “

Appendix 4 : Subject Index…………………………………………………….397       ”          ”          “


Footnotes
Dnyaneshvari (Jnaneshwari) by Dnyaneshwar translated by M. R. Yardi
  1. fn 25, page 77
  2. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan is an Indian educational trust. It was founded on 7 November 1938 by Dr K.M Munshi, with the support of Mahatma Gandhi.
  3. chapter or lecture
  4. The idea of an adept having sky-walking powers has passed into popular culture due to the name being used for the Star Wars hero, Luke Skywalker in the long and successful series of movies by Stephen Speilberg. This and other references are suggestive, such as
    * Luke's Master being called Obi-Wan Ben Kenobi appears to be a nod the koinobion community of Essenean “Brothers.” This fraternity is mentioned in Isis Unveiled (1:xxx): "Essenes belonging to the Pythagorean school, and known as the Koinobi". Jesus was in frequent contact with the Essenes, "a mysterious sect of Jews said by Pliny to have lived near the Dead Sea per millia sæcolorum through thousands of ages." (sæcolorum, Latin, 'centuries');
    * The clear disciple-student relationship between Luke and his Guru;
    * Another play on the name Kenobi is "O-be-One", acording to the mystical and Theosophical doctrine of "the Unity of all Life."
    All this suggests a well documented semi-esotericism was being promoted by Speilberg so, in his words, it could again become accessible to young people in popular form. He has gone on record saying that due to the loss of sacred mythos among today's young he wished to give them back something missing from contemporary culture.
  5. fn 25, page 77
  6. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan is an Indian educational trust. It was founded on 7 November 1938 by Dr K.M Munshi, with the support of Mahatma Gandhi.
  7. chapter or lecture
  8. The idea of an adept having sky-walking powers has passed into popular culture due to the name being used for the Star Wars hero, Luke Skywalker in the long and successful series of movies by Stephen Speilberg. This and other references are suggestive, such as
    * Luke’s Master being called Obi-Wan Ben Kenobi appears to be a nod the koinobion community of Essenean “Brothers.” This fraternity is mentioned in Isis Unveiled (1:xxx): “Essenes belonging to the Pythagorean school, and known as the Koinobi”. Jesus was in frequent contact with the Essenes, “a mysterious sect of Jews said by Pliny to have lived near the Dead Sea per millia sæcolorum through thousands of ages.” (sæcolorum, Latin, ‘centuries’);
    * The clear disciple-student relationship between Luke and his Guru;
    * Another play on the name Kenobi is “O-be-One“, acording to the mystical and Theosophical doctrine of “the Unity of all Life.”
    All this suggests a well documented semi-esotericism was being promoted by Speilberg so, in his words, it could again become accessible to young people in popular form. He has gone on record saying that due to the loss of sacred mythos among today’s young he wished to give them back something missing from contemporary culture.

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