Among the greatest jnanis – the followers of path of knowledge and wisdom- was Sri Jnanadev of Maharashtra. His life mission was primarily translating the Bhagwad Geeta into Marathi so that the knowledge of divine wisdom as taught by Sri Krishna for daily living was available to the common people. In those days, the Brahmins who knew Sanskrit and the Vedic rites controlled the knowledge and the society and all others in society were at the mercy of the Brahmins as they had to depend on them for the translations and interpretations.
Jnanadev’s father had become a monk but due to order of his guru, his father came back to his wife and they had a family of four children. Jnaneshwar was the second child. The family was ostracized by the society as Jnanadev’s father had broken the vows of sanyas or monkhood. The family was asked to perform purification rites and get a clearance letter from the well known Brahmins in society; else the boys of the family would not be invested with the sacred thread. Unable to get the purification letter, the parents of Jnanadev walked into the Ganges and drowned themselves.
The children were left alone and went to Paithan which was a spiritual centre. The Brahmins refused to give them a purification letter. Jnaneshwar argued that all were equal - the One Brahman – the Advaita philosophy. A buffalo was passing by. One Brahmin said that the buffalo was named Jnana and if the buffalo Jnana and the human Jnanadev were one, Jnanadev could ask it to recite the Vedas. Jnanadev was already enlightened and was one with the Spirit. When he looked at the buffalo, he saw the oneness of the Atman which pervaded the Universe. He lovingly asked it to chant the Vedas and the buffalo chanted the Sanskrit Slokas of Vedas. The awestruck Brahmins sought forgiveness and gave the required letter of purification.
Many such incidents abound in the life of Jnanadev which showed his enlightened state. There is a famous encounter of Jnanadev with the Yogi Changdev. Yogi Changdev had mastered hatha yoga techniques by which he controlled aging. At that time he was over 400 years old. He possessed many Siddhis and a formidable reputation as a Yogi. He was peeved that a young boy who was hardly 16 years old got so much love, respect and honour from all. He wanted to challenge Jnanadev but could not show him disrespect or insult him. In order to test the wisdom of Jnanadev, he sent him a blank letter. In reply, Jnanadev sent him a poem of sixty five verses of his teachings. These are known as Changdeva – pasashti. But Changdev could not understand the verses.
Changdev wanted to check out if Jnanadev really meant something in those verses or was insulting him. So he decided to visit Jnanadev riding on a tiger with a retinue of 3000 disciples. As he neared Alandi, where Jnanadev was living, Jnanadev came to know of the Yogi’s visit. He and his brothers and sister were sitting on an old wall. Jnanadev was always one with the Universal Consciousness. So when he commanded the wall to rise and fly in the sky, it flew. Jnanadev and his siblings flew on the wall to visit the Yogi and pay their respects. Changdev controlled a living being – a wild tiger, but Jnanadev was so one with Divinity that he controlled the inanimate wall. Changdev realised the greatness of Jnanadev and surrendered to him. But his ego was still strong and powerful. So Jnanadev asked Changdev to request one of his disciples to sacrifice himself so that Changdev could attain immediate Brahmajnana – the knowledge of Self. Changdev was very confident that all his disciples were dedicated to him and would do anything for him. But next morning, all of his disciples vanished. Changdev’s ego was utterly destroyed and he prostrated in front of Jnanadev in surrender. When his ego was vanquished, he attained enlightenment. Ultimately, Changdev became one of Jnanadev’s leading disciples.
The mysteries of the Enlightened ones can be marvelled at but rarely understood!
