Sant Dnyaneshwar (c. 1275 – 1296)
BACKGROUND
Son of Vitthalpant and Rukmini Bai, a Brahmin couple outcast by society because Vitthalpant had left and later returned from sannyasa. The four children, Nivruttinath, Dnyaneshwar, Sopan and Muktabai, grew up shunned, yet became luminaries of the Nath-Varkari lineage. Nivruttinath was his guru and elder brother.
PLACE OF BIRTH
Apegaon, on the Godavari near Paithan (Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district, Maharashtra). The family later lived at Alandi.
KEY CONTRIBUTIONS
Dnyaneshwari (Bhavartha Deepika), c. 1290: a Marathi commentary on the Bhagavad Gita, composed in his teens
Amrutanubhav: a profound treatise on non-dual experience
Haripath and abhangs on bhakti and the Name
Opened the Gita to ordinary Marathi speakers, not just Sanskrit scholars
PLACE OF SAMADHI
Alandi, near Pune, on the banks of the Indrayani. He entered sanjeevan samadhi at about 21. The Kartiki Ekadashi fair at Alandi is a major Wari milestone.
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