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 DNYANESHWARI 
(THE PHILOSOPHICAL PART)
 
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The COMMON MAN’S GITA
 Dnyaneshwariis a commentary on the Gita writtenmore than seven centuries ago bySaint Dnyaneshwarinthe contemporary Marathi language in verse form usingthe ovi style. It brought the philosophy of the Gita, untilthen the prerogative of Sanskrit pundits, to commonman. It is written in verse form as used to be custom of those days, An excellent spiritual seekers guide, itdiscusses in detail four different paths viz. The path of Knowledge, the path of action, the path of yoga and thepath of devotion to choose from depending upon thepsychological make up of the seeker. It presents thecream of Vedanta philosophy, Sankhya philosophy,Kundalini yoga and the practice of devotion. WhileGita is difficult to understand to a common man, SaintDnyaneshwar has written Dnyaneshwari (Originalname Bhavarthadeepika) specifically for common manand therefore the text is easy to understand. Saint Dnyaneshwar wrote this critique at the age of sixteen on the instructions of his Guru and elder (onlyby two years) brother Nivruttinath. Nivruttinath was adisciple of Gahininath, one of the nine gems orNavnaths of the Nath sect. Dnyaneshwari written sevenhundred years ago is still vibrantly alive and isregularly read in many homes in Maharashtra. Due to changes in the Marathi language over the lastfew centuries the text is not easily understandable, butmany prose translations are available. While writingcommentary on Gita Dnyaneshwar Maharaj has used alot of examples and similes from day to day life andfrom nature to make the meaning very clear to acommon reader. However, with today’s educationallevels many of these are not necessary and often they
 
distract the reader from the smooth flow of thephilosophical thought. In this translation therefore (i) Only the philosophical part of the text has beenretained except where there is need for clarifying themeaning (ii) Rather that presenting the translation sequentially itis presented as a group of sequential verses (omitting of course those having similes etc.) with a cogent meaningand are subtitled. Omitting unnecessary similes (for modern reader) andfurther omitting the traditional obeisances made tovarious deities and his Guru, only 5752
ovis
(verses)have been used out of the total 9032 ovis, reducing thematerial by about a third. This translation, thus truncated, is intended more for anintellectual reader rather than the pious. It is theintellectuals who hold executive and professionalpositions in today’s socio-economic world and are theones who can influence the society positively ornegatively. But their world is a world of perpetual hasteand cannot afford long winded texts of the old days.Thus a shortened version of Dnyaneshwari is mostsuited for this class un order to turn their influence onthe positive side. (SeePROLOGUE)  Being a commentary on the Gita, Dnyaneshwari alsohas 18 chapters. 
CHAPTER 1 : ARJUNA’SDESPONENCY
 
CHAPTER 2 : THE PATH OFKNOWLEDGE
 
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