Gyaneshwari -Sant Gyaneshwar
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Chapter-1
Despondency of Arjuna
Without realising that this task is beyond my capacity, I have made bold to undertake it. But what is a glow-worm before the sun? I hear that a lapwing tried to empty the sea to save her chicks, so ignorant that I am, I have set out to do this difficult task. If a person wishes to clasp the sky, he has to be bigger than the sky; so all this seems like an impossible task to me. When Lord Shiva was expatiating on the greatness of the Gita, his spouse Bhavani questioned him in wonderment (66-70). Lord Shiva said, “O goddess, like your figure which no one can fathom, this doctrine of the Gita appears ever new when one thinks of it.” While the ocean of the Vedas sprang from the snoring of the Supreme Lord, He told this scripture that is Gita in person. This Gita is so profound that it confounded even the Vedas. How then can a dull-witted person like me attempt to explain it? How can one hold within one’s grasp this boundless text or hold candle to its light? Or how can a midge hold the heavens within its fist? But I am blessed with the support of one, and because of him I can speak with confidence. I, Jnanadeva, say that my Guru is favourably disposed to me (71-75). O saints, though I am ignorant and undiscriminating, the lamp of your kindness shines bright, iron turns into gold with the touch of the philosopher’s stone and a dead person is revived by the power of nectar. When the Goddess of learning is pleased, she can bestow speech on the dumb. This is not a marvel, but the result of the inherent power in the object. How can anyone whose mother is the wish-yielding cow, ever be in want? I have undertaken to compose this work with my Master’s blessings.Please make good my shortcomings if any and ignore my superfluities (76-80).
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