Editing Dnyaneshwar (section)

==Writings==
According to [[Bhalchandra Pandharinath Bahirat|B. P. Bahirat]], Dnyaneshwar was the first known philosopher who wrote in the [[Marathi language]].{{sfn|Bahirat|2006|pp=2–3}} At about age 16, he composed [[Dnyaneshwari]] in the year 1290,{{sfn|Bahirat|2006|p=13}}<ref>{{cite book|last1=Shri Jnāneshvar|language=Marathi|others=Pradhān, V.G.(translator)|editor-last=Lambert|editor-first=H.M.|title=Jnāneshvari : Bhāvārthadipikā|date=1987|publisher=State University of New York Press|location=Albany, N.Y.|isbn=978-0887064883|page=xvii|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xxg0RI7dSWIC}}</ref> a commentary on [[Bhagavad Gita]] which later became a fundamental text of the [[Varkari]] sect.{{sfn|Schomer|McLeod|1987|p=4}} His words were recorded by Sacchidananda, who agreed to become Dnyaneshwar's [[amanuensis]].{{sfn|Ranade|1933|p=33}} ''Dnyaneshwari'' was written using the ''[[Ovi (poetry)|Ovi]]''; a [[Metre (poetry)|metre]], which was first used to compose women's songs in Maharashtra, of four lines where the first three or the first and third lines rhyme and the fourth line has a sharp and short ending.{{sfn|Claus|Diamond|Mills|2003|pp=454–5}} According to W. B. Patwardhan, a scholar on Dnyaneshwar, with Dnyaneshwar the ''ovi'' "trips, it gallops, it dances, it whirls, it ambles, it trots, it runs, it takes long leaps or short jumps, it halts or sweeps along, it evolves a hundred and one graces at the master's command".{{sfn|Ranade|1933|p=36}}
In Dnyaneshwari, at last he wrote "Pasaayadana" in which he prayed everything for others and all humanity and nothing for himself. Saint Dnyaneshwar himself believed that "The whole world has one soul- या विश्वाचा आत्मा एक आहे".

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| quote = O, God! Thou art Ganesha, the illuminator of all intelligence. The servant of Nivritti says, attend to my story. The Vedas in their perfection is as the beautiful image of the god, of which the flawless words are the resplendent body. The Smritis are the limbs thereof, the marking of verses shows their structure, and in the meaning lies a veritable treasure-house of beauty.
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| source = — ''Dnyanesvari''<br />Transl: Pradhan, Lambert{{sfn|Pradhan|Lambert|1987|p=1}}
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His first text ''Dnyanesvari'' was in the [[vernacular]] Marathi language, as opposed to the classical Sanskrit language.{{sfn|Balasubramanian|2000|p=545}} He wrote Dnyaneshwari in the Marathi language so that common people could understand philosophical aspects of life which were then understood only by those who knew Sanskrit (i.e. the higher priestly classes). Thus, this was a significant work in Indian history which simplified philosophy to the common man.

According to Bhagwat, like other Bhakti poets, Dnyaneshwar's choice of the vernacular language was an important departure from the prevailing cultural hegemony of Sanskrit and high–caste Hinduism, a trend which continued with later ''[[bhakti]]'' poets across India. Dnyaneshwar is to the Marathi literature what [[Dante Alighieri|Dante]] is to the Italian, states Bhagwat.{{sfn|Bhagwat|2002|p=74}}

According to tradition, Nivruttinath was not satisfied with the commentary and asked Dnyaneshwar to write an independent philosophical work. This work later came to be known as ''Amrutanubhava''.{{sfn|Bahirat|2006|p=14}}{{sfn|Ranade|1933|p=34}} Scholars differ on the chronology of the ''Dnyaneshwari'' and [[Amrutanubhav]]. Patwardhan has argued that ''Amrutanubhav'' is an earlier text than ''Dnyaneshwari'' because the latter is richer in use of metaphors and imagery, and displays greater familiarity with many different philosophical systems, such as [[Samkhya]] and [[Rāja yoga|Yoga]].{{sfn|Bahirat|2006|p=23–4}} However, both Bahirat and Ranade disagree with this view pointing out that in ''Amrutanubhava'', author displays familiarity with involved philosophical concepts such as ''[[Mayavada]]'' and ''[[Śūnyatā|Shunyavada]]'', and while the text has simpler language, it reveals Dnyaneshwar's "philosophical depth".{{sfn|Bahirat|2006|p=24–6}}

Dnyaneshwar's devotional compositions called [[Abhang]]as are believed to have been formulated during his pilgrimage to Pandharpur and other holy places when he got initiated into the Varkari tradition.{{sfn|Bobde|1987|p=xxii}}

===Influences===
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| quote = "Like a good farmer giving up his old business and beginning something new every day, the man overpowered by ignorance installs images of gods, often and again and worships them with the same intensity. He becomes the disciple of the guru who is surrounded by worldly pomp, gets initiated by him and is unwilling to see any other person who has got real spiritual dignity. He is cruel to every being, worships various stone images and has no consistency of heart."
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| source = —''Dnyaneshwari''<br />Transl: Fred Dallmayr{{sfn|Dallmayr|2007|p=46}}
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The [[Mahanubhava]] sect and the [[Nath|Nath Yogi]] tradition were two prominent movements during Dnyaneshwar's time that influenced his works. Mahanubhavas were devotees of Krishna who disregarded the [[Caste system in India|caste system]], the [[Vedas]] and the worship of the deity [[Vithoba|Vitthala]].{{sfn|Ranade|1933|p=28}} Dnyaneshwar differed significantly from Mahanubhava's religious precepts.{{sfn|Ranade|1933|p=28}} His thought was founded on the philosophy of the later Vedic texts such as the [[Upanishads]] and the ''[[Bhagavad Gita]]'',{{sfn|Ranade|1933|p=28}} and devotion to [[Vithoba|Vitthala]] formed the cornerstone of the egalitarian [[Varkari]] sect founded by Dnyaneshwar.{{sfn|Ganesh|Thakkar|2005|p=168}}{{sfn|Dhongde|Wali|2009|p=3}} However, the literary style adopted by Mahanubhava writers influenced Dnyaneshwar's works. According to [[Ramachandra Dattatrya Ranade|R. D. Ranade]], Dnyaneshwar "stands to Mahanubhavas just in the same relation which Shakespeare stood to [[Elizabethan era|Elizabethan writers]]".{{sfn|Ranade|1933|p=27}}

Dnyaneshwar was initiated into the Nath Yogi tradition by his brother Nivruttinath,{{sfn|Bahirat|2006|p=6}} sometime after the death of their parents;{{sfn|Ranade|1933|p=33}} Sopana and Muktabai were initiated into the tradition by Dnyaneshwar himself.{{sfn|Sundararajan|Mukerji|2003|p=33}} Founded by [[Gorakshanath]],{{efn|[[Matsyendranath]] is often called the founder of the Nath Yogi sect. However, his historicity is uncertain.{{sfn|Bahirat|2006|p=6}}}} the Nath Yogi sect had introduced the system of ''[[Hatha Yoga]]'', which emphasised on [[Asana|yogic poses]] and physical fitness.{{sfn|Kohn|2008|p=18}} Gahaninath, a disciple of Gorakshanath, had initiated Nivruttinath into the Nath Yogi tradition.{{sfn|Bahirat|2006|pp=5–6}} Dnyaneshwar's [[Advaita Vedanta|non-dualistic]] philosophy, usage of a vernacular language in his writing and an emphasis on yoga and oneness of [[Vishnu]] and [[Shiva]] were his inheritances from the Nath Yogi tradition.{{sfn|Pawar|1997|p=352}}

The values of Universal brotherhood and compassion espoused in his works came from his interactions with the devotional Vitthala sect, a tradition which was already in existence during Dnyaneshwar's time.{{sfn|Pawar|1997|pp=350–2}} [[J. N. Farquhar]] also notes the influence of ''[[Bhagavata Purana]]'' on Dnyaneshwar's poetry.{{sfn|Farquhar|1984|p=235}}