Jnaneshwar

Jnaneshwar, also transliterated as Dnyaneshwar or Jnaneshvar, was a 13th-century Marathi saint-poet and philosopher. He is believed to have lived circa 1275–1296. A central figure in the Warkari bhakti movement in Maharashtra, he is best known for the Dnyaneshwari, a comprehensive Marathi commentary on the Bhagavad Gita, composed in the 1290s. The Dnyaneshwari presents a synthesis of bhakti devotion and Advaita Vedanta, rendered in accessible vernacular Marathi and accompanied by verse and metaphors that helped disseminate Vedantic concepts among common people. Another important work, Amrutanubhav (The Nectar of Immortality), offers philosophical and experiential reflections on spiritual realization.

Tradition situates him within a bhakti lineage; he is associated with the Varkari tradition and the pilgrimage site at Alandi near Pune, where his samadhi shrine is located. His death is traditionally dated to about 1296. He is revered across Maharashtra, and his writings influenced later Marathi saints and poets of the Bhakti movement.