August 1, 2024 happens to be a unique day indeed. It celebrates two truly great individuals. Let me begin with Sant Dnyaneshwar (1275-1296). It is Ashadh Krishna Dwadashi today. Some seven hundred years ago, Sant Dnyaneshwar, then in his late teens, performed a miracle on this very tithi.
It changed his wor(l)ds forever. To understand this miracle, it is necessary to know the background a little. Hugely harassed because their father returned to the familial fold after accepting sanyas, the family were immensely ill-treated. The parents accepted the death sentence, too. Yet these brilliant children continued to be the outcasts every which way.
They decided to go to Paithan, the then center of religious authority. Absolutely insulted despite their obvious integrity at every possible level, the power-mongers controlling the socio-cultural milieu then dismissed these hapless siblings.
When Sant Dnyaneshwar calmly pointed out that his soul was as pure as anyone else's, and that the soul is an equal, whatever could be the apparent prejudices regarding the outer form, as a part of mocking him, he was asked if the soul, if any, in a buffalo and in him were the same. Further, he was given the challenge to prove so by making the buffalo recite the "ruchas" from the Vedas.
He managed the feat. The buffalo actually recited the Vaidic verses. The miracle made the establishment take note of the brilliant foursome. Post this miracle, his greatest contribution, the Dnyaneshwari, which made knowledge accessible to the common man, quietly but surely performed the miracle of changing the socio-cultural paradigm. From the domination of theocracy to an equality of devoted nearness of the common man to divinity, he sowed the seeds of the progressive Maharashtra. In the process, he gave a local dialect the status of a language.
Now let us know the contribution of the second great person referred to in the first paragraph of our blog. Yes, on August 1 falls the death anniversary of Lokmanya Tilak. Despite his hectic life, he could manage to pen brilliantly texts that challenged the domination of mediocre listlessness in to fiery activism. Through his writings and his life, he proved to the dormant society that sentimental abdication of duties is the real treason, against self, against every ideal.
Long live the memory of such radical thinkers and activists! Truly great was their contribution.
Pratima@ " Mahajana: yet gat: sa: panth:! That is to say, the great pave the path that the ordinary tend to follow.
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