Swamimhane

SHREE DNYANESHWARI NITYAPATH
BRIEF MESSAGE OF GEETA THROUGH SELECTED STANZAS FROM DNYANESHWARI
Original Compilation by Swami Swaroopanandjee of Pawas

“Shreemadbhagawadgeeta”, or say “Geeta”, as it is widely called, is known world over and has been translated in many languages. A large number of books have been written on “Geeta”. However, to the best of my knowledge, “Dnyaneshwari”, the treatise on “Geeta”, by Saint Poet Dnyaneshwar in Marathi, is unparalleled in the history. He wrote, nay narrated it for days together, to an audience present in a temple at a place called Newase in the Western Maharashtra, in the presence and at the instance of his Sadguru, who was none else but his own elder brother Saint Niwrattinath, and Satchidanandbaba wrote it as narrated. This was in the year 1290 when he was barely 16 years of age. His treatise has been translated in over 13 Indian languages. It has also been translated in English & French way back in 1954. This kind of popularity, by itself speaks, about the uniqueness of “Dnyaneshwari”. It enchants and enthralls a commoner, a pilgrim, a mystic, a philosopher, a scholar, all alike and leaves an everlasting impression.

Dr. R. D. Ranade alias Gurudeo Ranade Ex Vice Chancellor of Allahabad University, himself, a mystic & exponent of “Geeta”, is all praise for Dnyaneshwari.

Saint Dnyandev’s object while narrating it was to make the message of Geeta written in Sanskrit, intelligible to even a common man at a grass-root level. His success, in his mission, is evident from the fact, that it has reigned on the hearts of majority of Maharashtrians for the past over seven hundred years and popularity of his work is growing with each passing day. New books bringing out fresh facets of his work still keep pouring in the market regularly. It is commonly believed that, Dnyaneshwari contains everything, which is there in the Geeta and much more.

My Sadguru Swami Swaroopnandajee, firmly believed that, Saint Dnyaneshwar and his treatise on Geeta, “ Dnyaneshwari”, is a gift to humanity, a blessing for the mankind as a whole. His verse in veneration of the original work is quite vocal about his deep reverence for the author as well as his work. He selected 108 stanzas at random out of approx. 9033 stanzas from this magnum opus. This compilation, after adding one concluding stanza from Dnyneshwari as an offering in the end, is published as “Dnyaneshwari Nityapath”. It has literally become a ritualistic daily recital amongst thousands of Swamijees devotees & followers besides many others, living up to its name. It is characteristic in many ways.
In that :-
a) These stanzas picked up at random have been arranged in a new sequence, irrespective of the stanza/chapter number.
b) The fresh sequence has been so thoughtfully arranged, that, all the stanzas blend with one another extremely well making it a coherent and comprehensive reading.
c) There are no stanzas from 14th as well as 15th Chapter. It is not that these are any less important, but in his scheme of things for this compilation, he considered these redundant.
d) In his compilation, he has focused on simple ways to practice self evolution by doing your chartered duties selflessly. The selection of stanzas points to this obvious conclusion.
e) Maximum number of stanzas that is 19, are from 9th Chapter, followed by 17 from 2nd, 14 from 3rd, 13 from 18th, 11 from 4th, 8 from 12th, 7from 13th, 6 from 1st, 4 from 6th, two each from 5th, and 7th and, One each from 8th, 10th, 11th,16th & 17th Chapters making a total of 108 stanzas. 109th stanza of offering is from 11th chapter.
f) It is close to my heart, as these stanzas were originally selected by Swamijee for my mother, on her specific request to get peace of mind. This was sometime in the year 1942 when she was disturbed upon demise of a baby daughter born after my birth. As mentioned by her, Swamijee used to explain to her four stanzas a day, continuously for twenty seven days.
g) Few years later, he got the manuscript from my mother and got it published for the benefit of a larger section of the society.

Dnyaneshwari Nityapath can lightly be called philosophical FAST FOOD/CAPSULE. It has brought about transformation in the lives of innumerable readers besides generating interest for Sant Dnyaneshwars original works in their minds. The most eminent amongst them whose name I am keen to mention is late Dr. M. R. Gunye. He was a renowned scientist who has worked in TIFR Bombay, Bhaba Atomic Energy Research Centre, Maxmaster University Canada, and National Atomic Energy Centre Canada. At a difficult juncture in his life he read Swamijee’s compilation which brought him in Swamijee’s contact. This not only gave him a peace of mind but totally changed his course of life to such an extent, that he wrote three books after deep study of Dnyaneshwar’s literature and of Upanishads. He has made specific mention about this fact in his book. These books got Dr. Guney, state level awards and accolades.

‘Amit Anandache Vishwa’, a bird’s eye-view of main ten Upnishads and ‘Vishwacha San’, a treatise on Sant Dnyaneshwar’s ‘Amrutanubhav’ written by him are masterpieces in their own right. He has taken a comprehensive view of the latest developments in the field of science, about the genesis of the WORLD, mystery of existence, and the shift in paradigm in post quantum era and has compared these with the philosophical conclusions of Upanishads and of Sant Dnyaneshwar.

Today all these things are more relevant as there is a paradigm shift due to phenomenal progress is almost all branches of science particularly in post-quantum era. The so called void between Western and Eastern thinking is fast diminishing with the advent of quantum science and IT. The scholars in the field of science and mysticism have realized that these are complimentary to each other.
In this context, the words of the twentieth century’s doyen physicist Albert Einstein prove to be and will remain prophetic- “Science without religion is lame and religion without science is blind.”
Now the focus is from knowing to being.

This is exactly, what Sant Dnyaneshwar’s ‘Chidwilasvad’ is all about. According to him, ‘Wholistic Consciousness’ is the ultimate entity in which all the multi-dichotomies are resolved. “Existence and Non-existence”, are the phases of this total consciousness, “Being and Becoming” is one and the same thing. Consciousness has been there before our (so called) birth and will remain there even after our (so called) death. In Wholistic Consciousness, there are no divisions, like birth and death. These are vortexes, in that Holistic Ocean.

Swami Swaroopanand who was an ardent admirer of Sant Dnyaneshwar and staunch follower of his philosophy in his heart, and actions has propagated the same doctrine through his writing. Rather, it has been the central theme of all his writing. He was a living encyclopedia of Sant Dnyaneshwar’s literature.

To the best of my knowledge, no other single writer has translated Sant Dnyaneshwar’s above mentioned three major works in the past. In that sense Swamijee has made a literary hat trick. Each of these books has a distinct philosophical approach/standpoint and is unique in its own way, hence this Herculean task requiring perfect harmony and identical perception with the original author acquires special significance.

Considering Swamijee’s indifferent health and a frail, such colossal focused literary effort would not have been possible without divine grace. I strongly believe that, he was Saint Dnyaneshear incarnate.

The Department of Posts, issued a commemorative five rupee postage stamp and a two rupee first day cover on Swami Swaroopanandjee, in recognition of his services in the welfare of the society, on the eve of his birth centenary, on 23rd Dec. 2003. (Margashirsha Vadya Dwadashi) A history of sorts was created when these were released in the presence of thousands of followers/devotees and two central ministers at the birth place of Swami Swaroopnanand, at Pawas (Dist Ratnagiri, Maharashtra).

I would feel greatly satisfied, even if a small percentage of Marathi and Hindi young readers is attracted to the main source through these efforts.



Madhav Ranade

Swamimhane

Swami Swaroopanand an apostle of Sant Dnyaneshwar

Early Life : Swami Swaroopanand was born at Pawas, a remote village in Western Maharashtra, on 15 Dec 1903. It is in the vicinity of district headquarters of alphanso-famous Ratnagiri. Located on the banks of river Gautami, it is adorned with panoramic beauty.
Swamijee was born in an ascetic and pious Godbole family. He was named Ramachandra by father Vishnupant and mother Rakhmabai. He was popularly known by his family name Appa for a long time.

He completed his primary education at Ratnagiri and secondary education at Aryan Education Society high school at Mumbai. The atmosphere in the high school being conducive to his interests in Hindu scriptures, he spent lot of time in studying these.
He was greatly influenced by Lokmanya Tilak, Mahatma Gandhi and their Nationalist views and movements. At a very young age, he renounced sugar and tea. Thinking that, this was not enough, he gave up his own education and started a school at Pawas in June 1922 while still in his teens.

Initiation In Nathsampradaya : At twenty years of age he was initiated in Nath Sampraday (Sect) by Baba Maharaj Vaidya alias Ganeshnath of Pune. This proved a catalyst to his pursuit besides channelising his spiritual quest. He combined extra-curricular activities of ‘Swawalambanashram’, his school, with local social gatherings to get villagers rid of evil traditions and infuse sprit of patriotism in them. However, due to depleting students strength, Appa had to put full stop to his noble cause, the school, in 1927.

He then moved to Pune, with remaining three students of his school, to help them continue their education. This also gave him an opportunity to pursue his degree, ‘Wangmayvisharad’, from Tilak College, Pune and to be in the company of his Sadguru more often. Pained at seeing his Guru read a soiled copy of handwritten Dnyaneshwari, Swamijee took pains to copy this magnum opus of Sant Dnyneshwar in his own handwriting and offer it to his Guru. Photo print of this relic, now titled as “Swaroop Dnyaneshwari”, is available at a nominal cost. I feel, that, this event was a precursor of what was to follow, with regard to his work in the field of poetic literature in Marathi, by saints.

His joining civil disobedience movement and the jail term that followed disrupted his education once again. However, he took the sentence at Yerawada jail as a blessing in disguise and utilized most of his free time for meditation. In the jail he used to be popularly called “Swami” or “Muni”, by other freedom fighters like S. M. Joshi, Shankar Rao Deo, Raosaheb Patwardhan etc. due to his unrulffled nature and frequent meditation. He got rich mystic experiences while in jail. Poetic version of these in nine stanzas as ‘Navaratnahar’ (a garland of nine gems) made his spiritual teacher extremely happy.

Discerning Appa’s potential, Baba Maharaj named him ‘Swaroopanand’ and ordained him to be the apostle of Nath School, and thus was born the twentieth century benefactor of Natha Sect.
Self Realisation and Contribution to Saint Literature :The night of 21 July 1934 proved to be the dark night of the soul, (before dawn) for Appa. He shed shackles of the mortal form with the manifestation of his potential divinity. Ample evidence of this metamorphosis is found in his first book of lyrical composition written in 1935. (Amritdhara- 27,28,29)
‘Amritdhara’ contains 162 verses in ‘Saki’ version. It is a spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings of a sage. It is kind of a poetic soliloquy; a first hand account of his evolution to Sainthood. It unfolds the chronology of his transcendence from physical plane to divinity. Although small in size, it is very rich in its contents and poetic value.

Prior to this, to ensure detachment from mundane ties, he bid farewell to the family and family-house and moved to “Anant Niwas”, an abode of Desai family in the same village. He did so at the behest of Annasaheb Desai, whose eldest son Baba Desai was his erstwhile student and by then had become a Doctor and was more of a friend. Swamijee stayed at “ Anant Niwas” from Feb. 1935 till his NIRVANA on15th Aug 1974. For first almost twelve years he used to spend long hours in deep meditation. One day, while contemplating on the state of equanimity, (“Geeta”-2/56), poetic version of this stanza in Marathi, occurred to his mind intuitively. This was the genesis of “Bhawartha Geeta”; Dnyaneshwari based translation of Geeta in ‘Saki’ Formby Swmijee. It is kind of a two-in-onetrnslation; that is, a reader of this book, will find it easy to comprehend Geeta as well as Dnyaneshwari.

During that period, he also wrote many ‘Abhangs’ (Ballads without same refrain line) covering various religious topics. Compilation of 261 of these is published as ‘Sanjeewani Gatha’. Language of these verses, is lucid and composition lyrical. It is a classic example of how philosophical doctrines of recondite nature can be made palatable by using simple language and analogical illustrations (35, 42, 67, 110, 185, 256 etc.) The book also contains Swamijee’s prayers for the audience of the four armed Lord as seen by ‘Dhruva’ in ‘Madhuban’. These are so intense in there expression and he became so restless, (SG 92, 93, 94), that, the supreme being appeared in that form to meet his ardent devotee. The description of witnessing the formless in the form as desired is so graphic (S. G. 95) that, the reader is simply fascinated and floats rapturously on the crest of this extra sensory perception. It also reminds readers of what Sant Dnyandeo has said in his epic (Dnyaneshwari 6-36, 12/223, 224, 225).

Swamijee not merely belonged to the age old Nath Sect, pioneered by Adinath (Lord Shiva), but followed the footsteps of Sant Dnyaneshwar, his ancestor in the sampradaya (school). In that, he made literary hat trick, by rewriting three of Saint Dnyaneshwar’s works considered as ‘Prasthan-trayee’ (foundation) of poetic literature in Marathi by saints. This was certainly the need of the time as well, because seven hundred year old form of Marathi expression of Sant Dnyaneshwar is hardly intelligible even to a large section of Marathi knowing population. ‘Abhang Dnyaneshwari’, ‘Abhang Amritanubhav’ and ‘Abhang Changdev-Pasashtee’ written by Swamijee in present day Marathi in a very simple day to day Marathi language has bridged the time gap. Swamijee’s aim in bringing out these was to resurrect the treasure of this born giant of a philosopher and spread it to the masses. ‘Dnyaneshwari’ in particular, is unparalleled piece of work in Marathi literature and for that matter, may be even in any other language, so far as treatise on “Geeta” is concerned, except may be ‘Shankarbhashya’. The fact, that, over twenty five editions of ‘Abhang Dnyaneshwari’ containing nearly 16,000 stanzas in two volumes have been published/sold is a testimony to the fulfillment of swamijee’s dream.

Sainthood and Divine Grace : To the best of my knowledge no one single saint/writer has done this feat of translating all the three books in the past. Such a work acquires special significance, as each of these books has a distinct philosophical approach, standpoint, proposition and each one is unique in its own way, requiring perfect harmony and identical perception with the author.
Publication of these brought publicity averse Swamijee into limelight and people thronged to Pawas. To name a few, these included dignitaries like Ex CMs of Goa, Bhausaheb Bandodkar, Smt. Shashikala Bandodkar, earstwhile VC of Pune University MM. D. V. Potdar, Ex. Rss Chief Golwalkar Gurujee, Saints like Shreedhar Swami, Bhalchandra Maharaj famous writers like Dr. S. D. Pendse, S. V. Dandekar etc.

He initiated innumerable people into the fold of Nath school and put them on the path of self realization.

A compilation of sixty five letters written by Swamijee and published as ‘Swaroop Patra Manjusha’ is a good guide to followers on pathway to God.
Dr. B. N. Turambekar got his doctorate by writing a thesis on Swamijee’s literature, which is a tangible evidence of scholarship, depth and magnitude of Swamijee’s Literature. His thesis is now published in book form as ‘Arupache Swaroop’.

Swamijee was a living encyclopedia of Sant Dnyaneshwar’s literature. In Dnyaneshwari two verses are very similar except for first two words (3/145 and 18/218). Readers would be astonished to find two identically worded stanzas as their parallel in Swamijee’s Abhang Dnyaneshwari. Swamijee selected 109 stanzas from Dnyaneshwari and arranged these in a fresh sequence which gives gist of the original epic and make a comprehensive reading. This compiliation titled “Dnyaneshwari Nityapath” has become household name amongst many families in Maharashtra.

Such computer like precision, and focused colossal literary efforts to resurrect and spread Sant Dnyaneshwar’s spiritual knowledge which is crux of Upanishads would not have been possible by a frail person like Swamijee without divine grace.

Like many of his devotees, I too, therefore, strongly feel, that Swami Swaroopanandjee of Pawas was an apostle of Sant Dnyaneshwar.


Madhav Ranade
“Swaroop Saulee”
Plot No. 259, Sector No. 28,
Pradhikaran, Nigdi, Pune-411044.
Ph. No. (020) 27656958
Mob : 9823356958

Note :
1) One of my relations suggested that, I should write at least one article outlining brief biography of Swamijee in English so that a larger section of the internet surfers come to know about Swamijee’s rich literary contribution.
2) Swamijee’s literature and cassettes of his Abhangs are available at
a) Swami Swaroopnand Sewa Mandal, Pawas, Dist : Ratnagiri, Pin-415 616.
b) Desai Bandhu Ambewale, 1483, Shukrawar Peth, Near Shanipar, Pune-411002.