Sri Jnanadev (a short life sketch)

There lived in the village of Apegaon, near Paithan, on the bank of the river Godavari, one Govmdpant Kulkarni. He had a son by name Vithalpant, the father of Sri Jnanadev. Vilhalpant developed in his early age a tendency towards the study of the Vedas and other Scriptures, and became a great devotee of God. He felt no interest in the day-to-day worldly affairs, while his mind got attracted towards the visiting of places of holy waters and other sacred places, association with devotees, and the rendering of service to God. He left his parental home in his teens and in the course of his visits to holy places he came to Alandi near Poona. During his visit to Alandi, Vithalpant attracted the attention of one Sidhopant of Alandi, who had a marriageable daughter. Sidhopant opened the subject to Vithalpant, offering him his daughter in marriage. The latter did not however readily assent to the proposal, but later on agreed to it, having had a dream-vision, giving him a mandate to accept the girl in marriage. Vithalpant took this as a divine mandate and soon married Sidhopant’s daughter and started his family life.

Although leading the family life, Vithalpant felt no charm for it and began to feel a sort of repentance for getting thus entangled. His wife Rukminibai, who was a most devoted wife, found it rather difficult to keep her husband attached to her. Vithalpant was always engaged in God-worship, feeling quite apathetic over family affairs; visiting holy places became a sort of hobby with him. After staying at Alandi for some days he once accompanied Sidhopant’s family members on pilgrimage to Pandharpur, where he felt his stay to be full of bliss. From there he went to his parents at Apegaon along with his wife. It was, however, not given to his parents to enjoy the happy association of their son and daughter-in-law for a long time, since they soon left this world, making Vithalpant the head of the family. His ascetic tendency, however, went on increasing day by day, and it became a question of grave anxiety to his wife,-how to run the day to day family affairs. Sidhopant learnt at Alandi this state of things, and he went to Apegaon and brought his daughter and son-in-law to Alandi. This change of station however did not bring about any change in Vithalpant’s ascetic tendencies, which went on ever increasing. The absence of progeny further strengthened these tendencies; and on the plea of going out to the river for a bath, Vithalpant one day left the house and went straight to Benares, where keeping his antecendents quite secret, he accepted the discipleship of one Swami Ramananda and became himself a Sanyasin (an ascetic). The desertion by her husband made Rukminibai very miserable, and she felt greatly mortified even to appear openly in society. The uncertain state of the whereabouts of her husband, as also her own future, made her life very burdensome. At last she took to an austere life, passing her days ever thinking of her absent husband, rendering service to God Sidheshwar, and perambulating the Ashvattha tree, taking meals once in 24 hours. As Rukminibai was passing her days in this way, Ramananda, the Preceptor of Vithalpant, who was on pilgrimage to Rameshwar, quite accidentally came to Alandi and put up in a Maruti temple. As Rukminibai in her daily rounds of visits to temples went to the Maruti temple one evening, she saw an ascetic sitting there, and in normal course she bowed down at his feet. The Swami seeing a ‘Savashna’ (“savāṣṇa”—a lady with a red turmeric mark on her forehead in token of her having a living husband) bowing to him, gave her a benediction quite in normal course using the words “Be ye the mother of a son”. The utter improbability of the Swami’s benediction coming to pass, on account of the ignorance of the whereabouts of her husband, first made Rukminibai to smile rather amusingly; and then she soon became grief-stricken, and her eyes got flooded with tears. The Swami observed this state of Rukminibai’s feelings, and made pointed inquiries in the matter. When he learned the particulars about her husband from Rukminibai, it occurred to him, and he soon felt certain within himself that his newly-initiated disciple ‘Chaitanyashram’ was none else but the runaway husband of Rukminibai. Since however the disciple was not with him in his pilgrimage, Ramananda returned direct to Benares and severely reprimanded his new disciple. The latter confessed his guilt, finding himself completely exposed. One deserting his issueless wife, without her consent, and taking to renunciation, as also the one admitting him into such a fold, were both equally guilty and with the object of absolving both from such a sin, Ramanand ordered Vithal Chaitanya to return to Alandi and re-enter family life. The latter, who had got all dejected, obeyed this mandate, and re-converted himself into a family man. The separation of the couple thus terminated and both lived together. But there began to be heard the rumblings of the approaching social storm. It was an unheard of thing that an ascetic should revert to family life; and as the present instance of it was likely to bring an odium on both the classes, the Brahmins of Alandi put a strong social boycott on Vithalpant and his wife. He felt very ill at heart at this treatment; but he had to put up with it being utterly helpless in the matter. In such a boycotted state Vithalpant passed his life in reading, in spritual meditation, and in the worship of God and maintained his composure. Rukminibai remained pleased (in the satisfaction of) being restored to the association of her husband and being thus able to render him service. There was no issue for about twelve years. Later, as a result of living together on the part of the couple, there commenced the natural process of procreation, and the birth of children became a source of added worry to both. The couple got in all four issues, three sons and one daughter, at intervals of about a couple of years. The eldest son, Nivrittinath, was born in Sake 1195, the next, Jnanadev in Shake 1197, the third, named Sopan in Shake 1199, while the fourth and the last, a daughter named Muktabai was born in Sake 1201. (A. D. 1273, 1275, 1277, 1279 respectively). Vithalpant mentally felt worried in regard to the future of these children, all of whom were specimens of the brightest intellect. Being a man of means, Vithalpant however found no difficulty in educating his children in the best way then possible.

When, however, the eldest Nivrittinath reached the age of seven years, the age of thread ceremony for a boy—initiation as a Brahmin without which the status of a Brahmin could not be secured,—Vithalpant became very nervous, feeling quite helpless and begged of the Alandi Brahmins to restore him to his original status of life as a Brahmin,—making him eligible to sit in the same row at meals along with other Brahmins. But none paid any heed to his request.

In such a dispirited state, Vithalpant went to Triambakeshwar with his family for performing certain religious ceremonies and works in propitiation of God (anuṣṭhāna).Once, during their stay there, as all the family members got out for the purpose of circumambulation of the deity, they sighted a tiger taking leaps towards them. They all got terribly frightened at this danger to their lives, and in self-protection, they all ran about in whatever direction they could, and thus got scattered and separated from one another. In such a confused state Nivrittinath lost his way and rushed into a cave in the Anjani Mountains. That cave happened to be inhabited by the revered preceptor Gahininath of the traditional Nath Sect. Gahininath’s mind got attracted towards Nivrittinath as soon as he saw him, and not minding his tender age, he initiated Nivrittinath into the mysteries of his (Yogins’) School. He then prescribed to him the group of words ‘Ram Krishna Hari’ as a hymn, to be chanted constantly, and issued to him a mandate to go and spread out, all over the world, the worship of Lord Krishna. Thus Nivrittinath got initiated by his preceptor at the tender age of 7 and he became fully equipped to undertake the mission of world-salvation.

As all the four children grew in age they acquired spiritual as also other general knowledge, and became the very authorities in all branches of learning. But being the children of a Sanyasin they were denied the privileges of Brahmins, not having been allowed to go through the thread ceremony; and this fact made Vithalpant very miserable. He first went to Apegaon (near Paithan), his native place, with all his family, and from there he went to Paithan to stay with his maternal uncle who lived there. He told his uncle that he had gone there to secure a letter of purification (“śuddhipatra”) from the Brahmins of Paithan. The latter however told Vithalpant plainly that self-immolation was the only penance for the expiation of his sins. At the persuasion of Vithalpant’s maternal uncle, however, a conference of the Paithan Brahmins was called wherein the whole question of Vithalpant’s purification was discussed. In that conference Shri Jnanadev (as described in Chapter XXIV entitled “Jnanalilamrita’ of an old and rare work called ‘Sahyadri Khanda’), exhibited the glory of his miraculous divine powers by getting hold of a passing he-buffalo and making him actually recite some stanzas from the sacred Vedas. This miracle struck awe in the minds of the Paithan Brahmins and convinced them that the Sanyasin’s children were no ordinary human beings, but had something superhuman in them. They changed their original obstinate attitude and issued a letter of purification with an open mind to Vithalpant. Having succeeded in his mission to Paithan, Vithalpant started on his return journey. When he met his old preceptor Ramananda, who said, he came there from Alandi where he had first gone. Ramananda came to know of what had happened at Paithan, and of the securing by Vithalpant of a letter of purification. At his advice Vithalpant left his children to take care of themselves, and went with his wife Rukminibai to Prayag (present Allahabad) where they both put an end to their lives by plunging (drowning) themselves in the sacred Ganges. This “Shuddhipatra” (letter of purification) was secured in the year Shake 1209 (1287 A.D.). After the departure of their parents, Nivritti, his brothers and sister shifted to Newasa, town in the Ahmednagar district, situated on both the banks of the river Pravara. Jnanadev composed his ‘Bhavartha-dipika’, Jnaneshwari, in the temple of Mhalsa (Mahalaya) on the Southern bank of the river. The work was completed in the year Saka 1212 (1290 A.D.). It seems obvious from the references in his work that Jnandev had got initiated in the mysteries of the Yoga study through his brother and preceptor Nivrittinath, before composing the work and that he had become an expert in it. He could, however, perceive that both the paths of Yoga and Knowledge were beyond the capacity of ordinary human beings, with average capacity, and he opened out the comparatively easier path of Devotion as leading to Deliverance. The path of devotion preached by Jnandev was of devotion-cum-knowledge. Although Jnandev was mainly a follower of the Path of Yoga, he was also a follower of the Path of Devotion and also a ‘Vaishnava’, a follower of the four-fold caste system. With all this, it seems strange that absolutely no reference was made to God Vithoba of Pandharpur in the whole of Bhavarthadipika, although there is an indirect reference to that God (vide verses 214-218 of Chapter XII of the work) in that, Lord Krishna says that he holds on his head God Shankar, his great devotee. This obviously refers to the fact of (the idol of) Shri God Vithoba of Pandharpur having on his head the Pindi (lingam of Shiva)—a form to be seen nowhere else. The omission of the mention of God Vithoba of Pandharpur in Jnaneshwari is explained by some, suggesting that Jnandev had not, before he composed Jnaneshwari, personally visited Pandharpur, and had not viewed the glory of the God there. It seems that side by side with the composing of Jnaneshwari, Jnandev used to preach to Nivrittinath and other saints the portions already composed. It is suggested that Saint Namdev formed one of the audience at such preachings. These meetings afforded opportunities both to Jnandev as also to Namdev of coming in closer contact with, and appreciating the merits of each other. Subsequently both of them became quite intimate associates. The composition of Jnaneshwari was completed in Sake 1212 viz. when Jnandev was only 15 years of age. It seems that through his association with Namdev, Jnandev got admitted into the Varkari sect of devotees, the leadership of which also soon devolved on him. Jnandev later on composed other versified works, known as ‘Amri-tanubhava’, “Changdev Pasashti,” as also other poems consisting of Haripath and other ‘Abhangas and Padas’ for the benefit of the Varkari sect. Later on, Jnandev undertook a long pilgrimage to far off places in Northern India in the company of Namdev. In the course of his pilgrimage Jnandev spread out far and wide, even in distant provinces like the Punjab, tenets of the Vamashram School. Jnandev and his friends returned from this pilgrimage to Alandi and on the dark thirteenth day of the month of Kartika of Saka 1218, he (at Alandi), entered into his last spiritual meditation preparatory to getting buried alive (Samadhi) in the presence of his brothers, sister and other saints amidst scenes of bitter grief on the part of the less perfected ones. The remaining two brothers and the sister left this mortal world soon after viz. within about a year and half of Jnaneshwara’s Samadhi (getting burned alive while in meditation).

Some half a dozen miracles are attributed to Jnandev during his life time, such as i) making a he-buffalo recite some stanzas from the Vedas, ii) bringing to life again Satchitanandbaba, who later on copied out the Jnaneshwari, iii) making an old mud wall move on for going to meet Changdev, iv) bringing in physically, the deceased forefathers of a Brahmin to attend the death anniversary dinner, etc. etc. These are not mentioned in detail here since this is merely a brief sketch of the life of Shree Jnandev.