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