Renunciation is thy name!

 All the Marathi saints in the Bhakti movement are great. Yet my personal favourite is Sant Dnyaneshwar. He was a great philosopher, a superb thinker, a yogi par excellence. In my opinion, however, he is one of the greatest poets ever writing. I do think he is, moreover, one of the most effective communicators.

I admire him immensely as a social thinker who truly revived not only the Marathi language, but the society then. By re-writing the Geeta in to Marathi (ज्ञानेश्वरी, and even अमृतानुभव, not to forget his अभंग), he thus made knowlege accessible to all, and thus revolutionized the social structure forever.

 More than anything else, he was a great human being. Want proof? Even Lord Krishna talks of "khal nirdaln" (खल निर्दलन) and "vinashay ch dushkrutam" (विनाशाय च दुष्कृताम्). That is to say, the Lord wants destruction of the wicked and the bad. Sant Dnyaneshwar, known as the fond and beloved mother, the "mauli" (माउली), feels that the best solution is that the worst shed their wickedness. (जे खळांची व्यंकटी सांडो!)

All such great achievements he managed while his daily lived life was sheer torture. He was harassed like hell, and by people who were like a mound of gravel  in  comparison with him as the Himalaya. Yet there is no bitterness in him. Despite his youth, he is maturity itself.  He is not assertive openly like Sant Tukaram who says "नाठाळाचे माथी हाणू काठी" (hit the harmful with a huge stick).

In my opinion, his strength and generosity undoubtedly come from his own great learning and scholarship, obviously from his committed parents. Yet the real 'influencer' is his "guru", and his elder brother, Niwruttinath.

Actually, all the four siblings are unique in their own ways. Yet Niwruttinath, not much known to the common man, is a great yogi. He belongs to the Shakt "navnath panth". He thus led an extremely disciplined and ascetic life. Yet his real contribution is his care and love for his hapless brilliant siblings, especially Dnyandeva. 

This deep affection is apparent at the time of the "smjiwn smadhi"(संजीवन समाधी) by Dnyandeva. The young Nivrutti, who mothered his brilliant brother, nurtured him in many ways, is sheer intense grief. The Sant Namdeo abhang describing the psychological commotion of Nivruttinath at the time of the "samadhi" always, without fail, brings tears to my eyes.

Renunciation was the middle name of Nivruttinath. Yet he was deeply humane and selfless. During the current Wari days hence, my humble tribute to this elder brother who was the protective tree that allowed the tendrils of the creepers, his siblings' life-n-work, to transcend the very horizon, the upper limit spatially, the sky!

Pratima@ Nivruttinath's abhang's  are few but they prove that rich intense brevity is the soul of wisdom!