BG-18.18 — The Anatomy of Action: How the Witness Becomes a Doer

BG-18.18

ज्ञानं ज्ञेयं परिज्ञाता त्रिविधा कर्मचोदना । करणं कर्म कर्तेति त्रिविधः कर्मसंग्रहः ॥१८॥

"Knowledge, the knowable, and the knower — this is the three-fold impulsion to action. The instrument, the act, and the doer — this is the three-fold aggregate of action."

BG-18.18 is a precise Sānkhya-analytic of action, set in two parallel triads. The first — knowing, knowable, knower — is the impulsion (karma-codanā): cognition, with its object and its subject, is what first sets a being moving toward the world. The second — instrument, act, doer — is the aggregate (karma-saṃgraha): the collocation in which action is gathered and subsists. The verse opens adhyāya-18's long guṇa-classification (BG-18.18-40), where each factor of action will shortly be sorted into its sāttvika, rājasa and tāmasa grade.

Jñāneśvar's 56 ovis are one of the great analytic set-pieces of the Dnyāneśvarī. He does not merely gloss the two triads; he runs a continuous film of how the bare witnessing Self appears to become an agent — knowing splits into a knower and a known; the knower, meeting an object it likes or dislikes, turns into a doer; the doer takes up instruments and works a deed — and then, at the very end (18.515-516), he detaches the Self from the entire machine he has just built: wherever 'I am the doer of this' arises, the ātmā stands far from all the action. The whole anatomy was constructed in order to be set aside.

Because the cluster is long and largely definitional, the per-ovi blocks below give full treatment to the doctrinally load-bearing ovis (the impulsion-triad frame, the like/dislike pivot, the knower-to-doer hinge, and the detachment-climax) and compress the enumerative and simile-chain ovis.

Ovi 18.461

Original (Marathi): जें ज्ञान ज्ञाता ज्ञेय । हें जगाचें बीज त्रय । ते कर्माची निःसंदेह । प्रवृत्ति जाण ॥४६१॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna (Kṛṣṇa expounding to Arjuna; the imperative जाण "know" addresses the listener-Arjuna)

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
जें ज्ञान ज्ञाता ज्ञेय	that knowing, knower, knowable
हें जगाचें बीज त्रय	this is the seed-triad (bīja-traya) of the world
ते कर्माची निःसंदेह	that, of action, undoubtedly (niḥsaṃdeha)
प्रवृत्ति जाण	know [it] as the impulsion (pravṛtti)

Literal translation

English: That knowing, knower, and knowable — this is the seed-triad of the world; know it, beyond doubt, as the impulsion to action.

मराठी (आधुनिक): ते ज्ञान, ज्ञाता आणि ज्ञेय — हे जगाचं बीजरूप त्रिक आहे; हेच नि:संशय कर्माची प्रवृत्ती आहे असं जाण.

Metaphor-unfold

No extended metaphor in this ovi. बीज त्रय ("seed-triad") is a compressed seed-image for germinal origin, not a developed unfolding.

Nāth-yogic layer

No Nāth-yogic referent in this ovi. This is the analytic opening of an action-classification; no esoteric frame is active.

Cross-references

Internal: Opens the impulsion-triad block that 18.485 ring-closes; both equate the knowing-knowable-knower triad with the pravṛtti of all karma.
Tukaram parallel: (none specific to this ovi)
Source citation: Bhagavad Gītā 18.18 — ज्ञानं ज्ञेयं परिज्ञाता त्रिविधा कर्मचोदना; the बीज-त्रय "seed-triad" image amplifies codanā into the germinal origin of all action.

Modern application

When you treat "just looking into it" as innocent. Opening the tab, reading the profile, glancing at the price — the verse says cognition is already the seed of action, never neutral. The impulsion begins the moment you start knowing.
When a project's whole arc was set by the first framing. How the problem was first known (subject, object, the relation between) silently decided everything that followed. The seed-triad determined the harvest.
When you wonder where a compulsion "came from." It came from here — a knower, a known, and the knowing that bound them. There is no action whose root is not this triad.

Sādhanā

Today, catch one moment where mere attention to something (a notification, a craving, a worry) began to pull you toward acting on it. Name the three: who is knowing, what is known, and the knowing between them. Just see that the pull started at the seeing.

Arc

18.461 names the impulsion-triad as a single seed; 18.462 announces the plan to take its three members apart, one by one, and give each a definition.

Ovi 18.462

Original (Marathi): आतां ययाचि गा त्रया । व्यक्ति वेगळालिया । आइकें धनंजया । करूं रूप ॥४६२॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna (the vocative धनंजय "Dhananjaya" + first-plural करूं "we shall make" anchor Kṛṣṇa addressing Arjuna)

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
आतां ययाचि गा त्रया	now, of these very three
व्यक्ति वेगळालिया	each separately, distinctly
आइकें धनंजया	listen, O Dhananjaya
करूं रूप	we shall give form (definition)

Literal translation

English: Now of these very three, each one separately — listen, O Dhananjaya — we shall give a form.

मराठी (आधुनिक): आता या तिघांनाही वेगवेगळं — ऐक धनंजया — आपण रूप (व्याख्या) देऊ.

Metaphor-unfold

No extended metaphor in this ovi.

Nāth-yogic layer

No Nāth-yogic referent in this ovi.

Cross-references

Internal: Opens the definition-sequence that runs to 18.477 (the impulsion-triad) and on into the second triad.
Tukaram parallel: (none specific to this ovi)
Source citation: Bhagavad Gītā 18.18 — the resolve-to-define-each-member-separately is Jñāneśvar's pedagogical staging; the Sanskrit only lists the triad.

Modern application

When a vague dread or craving needs to be taken apart to be handled. "Let me look at this one piece at a time." The instinct to separate the strands of a tangled compulsion is exactly Kṛṣṇa's method here.
When understanding requires slowing down to define terms. Most arguments and anxieties run on undefined words. वेगळालिया — "each separately" — is the discipline of refusing to let three things blur into one.

Sādhanā

Today, take one thing you're "all wound up about" and write its three parts on separate lines: who is involved (knower), what exactly is the object, and what the relation between them is. Notice whether separating them loosens the grip.

Arc

18.462 promises to define each member separately; 18.463 begins with the knower (jñātā), imaged as the jīva-sun whose sense-rays rush out to break open the lotus-buds of the objects.

Ovi 18.463

Original (Marathi): तरी जीवसूर्यबिंबाचे । रश्मी श्रोत्रादिकें पांचें । धांवोनि विषयपद्माचे । फोडिती मढ ॥४६३॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna (continuing the address to Arjuna begun at 18.462)

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
तरी जीवसूर्यबिंबाचे	then, of the jīva-sun-disc
रश्मी श्रोत्रादिकें पांचें	the five rays, hearing and the rest
धांवोनि विषयपद्माचे	running [out], of the sense-object lotuses
फोडिती मढ	burst open the buds

Literal translation

English: The five rays of the jīva-sun-disc — hearing and the rest — rushing out, burst open the buds of the sense-object lotuses.

मराठी (आधुनिक): जीवरूपी सूर्यबिंबाचे श्रोत्रादी पाच किरण धावत जाऊन विषयरूपी कमळांच्या कळ्या उमलवतात.

Metaphor-unfold

Literal image	Philosophical referent	Modern equivalent
The jīva is a sun-disc; its five rays are the senses	The knower (jñātā) as the radiant source whose cognition reaches outward	The self as the source of attention, beaming out along five channels
The rays "burst open the buds" of the object-lotuses	Perception as the act that makes the latent object present/manifest	Attention "opening" an object into experience — the thing only blooms into awareness when looked at

Metaphor-family: sun-and-rays (here in its perception-as-radiance variant; the same family runs throughout the Dnyāneśvarī for consciousness illuminating its field).

Nāth-yogic layer

No Nāth-yogic referent in this ovi. The sun-rays-and-lotuses image is a perception-figure, not cakra-lotus esotericism — reading the विषयपद्म "object-lotuses" as the six cakra-padmas would be a fabrication; here they are plainly the sense-objects.

Cross-references

Internal: Parallel-image to 18.464 (jīva-king-and-cavalry) — both image the knower-and-senses reaching out to seize the object-field.
Tukaram parallel: (none specific to this ovi)
Source citation: Bhagavad Gītā 18.18 — elaborating parijñātā (the knower); the sun-rays-opening-lotuses image of perception is wholly Jñāneśvar's.

Modern application

When you realize a thing only "existed" for you once you attended to it. The product you never noticed until you wanted one, then saw everywhere. The ray opened the bud; before that the lotus was closed.
When your attention is the thing doing the reaching. It feels like objects come to you; the image says you go out to them. Perception is an outward raid of rays, not passive reception.

Sādhanā

Today, pick one ordinary object you usually ignore (a tree on your route, a coworker's habit). Deliberately "send a ray" — attend to it fully for thirty seconds — and watch it bloom into detail. Notice that the attending made the experience.

Arc

18.463 images the knower-and-senses as sun-and-rays opening lotuses; 18.464 gives a parallel image — the jīva-king's cavalry of senses raiding the country of the objects.

Ovi 18.464

Original (Marathi): कीं जीवनृपाचे वारु उपलाणें । घेऊनि इंद्रियांचीं केकाणें । विषयदेशींचें नागवणें । आणीत जे ॥४६४॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
कीं जीवनृपाचे वारु उपलाणें	or, the jīva-king's horses mounting up
घेऊनि इंद्रियांचीं केकाणें	taking the cavalry-troops of the senses
विषयदेशींचें नागवणें	the plunder of the object-country
आणीत जे	which they bring back

Literal translation

English: Or, the jīva-king, mounting his horses, taking the cavalry-bands of the senses, brings back the plunder of the country of the sense-objects.

मराठी (आधुनिक): किंवा जीवरूपी राजा आपले घोडे सज्ज करून, इंद्रियांची घोडदळं घेऊन, विषयरूपी देशातील लूट घेऊन येतो.

Metaphor-unfold

Literal image	Philosophical referent	Modern equivalent
The jīva is a king; the senses are his cavalry	The knower commanding the sense-organs	The self as the commander directing attention's troops
They "raid the country of objects" and bring back "plunder"	Perception as an acquisitive sortie into the sense-world	Consuming experience — scrolling, sampling, acquiring impressions as loot

Metaphor-family: king-and-army (here perception-as-raid; the martial register makes the acquisitiveness of ordinary perception explicit).

Nāth-yogic layer

No Nāth-yogic referent in this ovi.

Cross-references

Internal: Parallel-image to 18.463 (sun-and-rays); both image the knower's outward reach toward the object-field, here as a plundering raid.
Tukaram parallel: (none specific to this ovi)
Source citation: Bhagavad Gītā 18.18 — second elaboration of parijñātā; the king-cavalry-raid image is Jñāneśvar's.

Modern application

When consuming experience feels like acquiring loot. A day of scrolling leaves you with a hoard of impressions and a vague emptiness — the raid brought back plunder, but the country was the world and the king has only more to guard.
When attention behaves like an army you command and also serve. You send the senses out; what they seize then rules you. The "king" is quickly governed by his own plunder.

Sādhanā

Today, notice one stretch of compulsive intake (news, feeds, window-shopping) and name it for what the image says it is: a raid for plunder. Ask, at the end: what did the country yield, and what did the raid cost?

Arc

18.464 images the senses raiding outward in waking; 18.465 completes the knower-definition by contrast — in deep sleep that knowing recedes, leaving the bare jīva.

Ovi 18.465

Original (Marathi): हें असो इहीं इंद्रियीं राहाटे । जें सुखदुःखेंसीं जीवा भेटे । तें सुषुप्तिकालीं वोहटे । जेथ ज्ञान ॥४६५॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
हें असो इहीं इंद्रियीं राहाटे	let this be — that which operates through these senses
जें सुखदुःखेंसीं जीवा भेटे	which meets the jīva with pleasure-and-pain
तें सुषुप्तिकालीं वोहटे	that ebbs away in deep-sleep-time (suṣupti)
जेथ ज्ञान	where [there is] knowing

Literal translation

English: Let this be: that which operates through these senses, which meets the jīva with pleasure and pain — that knowing ebbs away in the time of deep sleep.

मराठी (आधुनिक): हे असो — जे या इंद्रियांद्वारे चालतं, जे जीवाला सुखदु:खासह भेटतं, ते ज्ञान सुषुप्तीच्या वेळी ओसरतं.

Metaphor-unfold

No extended metaphor in this ovi. वोहटे ("ebbs") is a single tide-verb, not a developed image.

Nāth-yogic layer

Referent: suṣupti (deep-sleep) as the avasthā where sense-knowing withdraws. Confidence: low. Note: सुषुप्तिकालीं वोहटे जेथ ज्ञान invokes the deep-sleep stage of the three-avasthā (waking/dream/deep-sleep) analysis to isolate the jīva-as-knower. This is shared Vedāntic avasthā-traya psychology, not overt Nātha cakra/kuṇḍalinī technique — flagged low precisely because suṣupti is common Vedāntic vocabulary here, not specifically esoteric.

Cross-references

Internal: Completes the knower-definition begun at 18.463-464 by the waking/deep-sleep contrast.
Tukaram parallel: (none specific to this ovi)
Source citation: Bhagavad Gītā 18.18 — defining parijñātā by its avasthā-behaviour; the waking-activity / deep-sleep-withdrawal contrast is Jñāneśvar's.

Modern application

When you notice "you" persist even when knowing stops. In dreamless sleep the whole sense-traffic ebbs, and yet you wake as the same one — the knower is not identical to the knowing it does.
When exhaustion drops the busy mind and something quieter remains. The pleasure-and-pain meeting the jīva ebbs; what does not ebb is worth noticing.

Sādhanā

Tonight, just before sleep, set one question for the threshold: when all this knowing ebbs in a moment, what remains that I still call "me"? Don't answer it; carry it into sleep.

Arc

18.465 describes the knowing that ebbs in sleep; 18.466 names its bearer — that jīva is what we call the jñātā, the knower.

Ovi 18.466

Original (Marathi): तया जीवा नांव ज्ञाता । आणि जें हें सांगितलें आतां । तेंचि एथ पंडुसुता । ज्ञान जाण ॥४६६॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna (the vocative पंडुसुता "son of Pāṇḍu" anchors Kṛṣṇa addressing Arjuna)

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
तया जीवा नांव ज्ञाता	that jīva's name is jñātā (the knower)
आणि जें हें सांगितलें आतां	and what has just now been told
तेंचि एथ पंडुसुता	that very thing here, O son of Pāṇḍu
ज्ञान जाण	know as jñāna (the knowing)

Literal translation

English: That jīva's name is the knower; and what has just been described, know that, O son of Pāṇḍu, as the knowing.

मराठी (आधुनिक): त्या जीवाला 'ज्ञाता' म्हणतात; आणि जे आत्ताच सांगितलं ते, हे पंडुसुता, 'ज्ञान' म्हणून जाण.

Metaphor-unfold

No extended metaphor in this ovi.

Nāth-yogic layer

No Nāth-yogic referent in this ovi.

Cross-references

Internal: Fixes two of the triad's names (jñātā, jñāna), set up by 18.463-465.
Tukaram parallel: (none specific to this ovi)
Source citation: Bhagavad Gītā 18.18 — परिज्ञाता and ज्ञानं both fixed by name; the described sense-activity is identified as jñāna.

Modern application

When naming a thing precisely changes your relation to it. "That restless reaching is the knower; that stream of impressions is the knowing." Precise naming is the first move out of being swept along by an unnamed process.

Sādhanā

Today, once, when caught in a stream of impressions, silently label the two: "knower" and "knowing." Notice that the labelling creates a sliver of distance from the stream.

Arc

18.466 names the knower and the knowing; 18.467 explains the knower's origin — born within ignorance, it divides itself, at the instant of its birth, into three.

Ovi 18.467

Original (Marathi): जें अविद्येचिये पोटीं । उपजतखेंवो किरीटी । आपणयातें वांटी । तिहीं ठायीं ॥४६७॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna (the vocative किरीटी "diademed one / Arjuna" anchors the address)

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
जें अविद्येचिये पोटीं	which, in the womb of ignorance (avidyā)
उपजतखेंवो किरीटी	at the very instant of being born, O Kirīṭī
आपणयातें वांटी	divides itself
तिहीं ठायीं	into three places

Literal translation

English: Which, in the womb of ignorance, at the very moment of its birth, O Kirīṭī, divides itself into three places.

मराठी (आधुनिक): जे अविद्येच्या पोटी, जन्मतःच, हे किरीटी, स्वतःला तीन ठिकाणी वाटून घेतं.

Metaphor-unfold

No extended metaphor in this ovi. अविद्येचिये पोटीं ("in the womb of ignorance") is a compressed womb-image for origin, not a developed unfolding.

Nāth-yogic layer

No Nāth-yogic referent in this ovi. The avidyā-origin is Vedāntic, not Nātha-esoteric.

Cross-references

Internal: Grounds the triad's threeness — the single cognition self-divides; this is the metaphysical basis for the whole impulsion-triad of 18.461.
Tukaram parallel: (none specific to this ovi)
Source citation: Bhagavad Gītā 18.18 — tracing the knower's source; the avidyā-origin and self-division-into-three is Jñāneśvar's Vedāntic deepening.

Modern application

When a single experience splits into "me, the thing, and my seeing of it." That split feels primordial and given; the verse says it is born, in ignorance, every time — not the bedrock you took it for.
When you suspect the subject-object divide is constructed, not found. Here is the claim outright: the knowing divides itself into three. The wall between you and the world is something cognition keeps building.

Sādhanā

Today, in one quiet moment of plain seeing, look for the seam where "I" and "the seen" split apart. You won't catch it forming — but the looking loosens the certainty that the divide was always simply there.

Arc

18.467 states the threefold self-division; 18.468 details its mechanics — the knowing throws the "ball" of the knowable ahead and raises knower-ness behind.

Ovi 18.468

Original (Marathi): आपुलिये धांवे पुढां । घालूनि ज्ञेयाचा गुंडा । उभारी मागिलीकडां । ज्ञातृत्वातें ॥४६८॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
आपुलिये धांवे पुढां	ahead of its own running
घालूनि ज्ञेयाचा गुंडा	casting the ball/lump (guṇḍā) of the knowable
उभारी मागिलीकडां	it raises up, on the side behind
ज्ञातृत्वातें	knower-ness (jñātṛtva)

Literal translation

English: Ahead of its own running it casts the ball of the knowable, and behind it raises up knower-ness.

मराठी (आधुनिक): स्वतःच्या धावेच्या पुढे ज्ञेयाचा गोळा टाकून, मागच्या बाजूला ज्ञातृत्व उभं करतं.

Metaphor-unfold

Literal image	Philosophical referent	Modern equivalent
The knowing flings the "ball" of the knowable ahead of its run	Cognition projecting its object out in front as the known	The mind throwing up a "that" — the thing attended to — in front of itself
It raises knower-ness behind	Cognition positing its subject behind as the knower	The mind simultaneously positing a "me" who is doing the knowing

Metaphor-family: motion/projection image (a one-off ball-and-thrower figure; not part of a larger recurring family, but a vivid mechanical picture of subject-object polarization).

Nāth-yogic layer

No Nāth-yogic referent in this ovi.

Cross-references

Internal: Develops 18.467's self-division into mechanics; sets up 18.469's account of knowing as the traffic between the two poles.
Tukaram parallel: (none specific to this ovi)
Source citation: Bhagavad Gītā 18.18 — the ball-thrown-ahead / knower-raised-behind image is Jñāneśvar's; the Sanskrit only lists jñeya and parijñātā as separate items.

Modern application

When you notice that "the object" and "the observer" arise together, in one stroke. They look like two independent givens; the image says one motion posits both — the known in front, the knower behind. Neither precedes the other.
When the "me" who is watching is itself a posit. The knower-ness raised "behind" is not the foundation; it is thrown up by the same act that throws the object ahead. A humbling thing to glimpse.

Sādhanā

Today, in one act of noticing, try to find the "knower" as something separate from the noticing itself. Discover that the moment you look for the watcher, you've only thrown up another object. Sit with that for a breath.

Arc

18.468 splits knowing into a forward-object and a backward-subject; 18.469 names what flows between the two.

Ovi 18.469

Original (Marathi): मग ज्ञातया ज्ञेया दोघां । तो नांदणुकेचा बगा । माजीं जालेनि पैं गा । वाहे जेणें ॥४६९॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
मग ज्ञातया ज्ञेया दोघां	then, for the two — knower and knowable
तो नांदणुकेचा बगा	that traffic of [their] mutual dealing (nāndaṇuka)
माजीं जालेनि पैं गा	arising in the middle
वाहे जेणें	by which it flows

Literal translation

English: Then, between the two — knower and knowable — that traffic of mutual dealing, arising in the middle, by which it flows [is the knowing].

मराठी (आधुनिक): मग ज्ञाता आणि ज्ञेय या दोघांमधलं जे देवाणघेवाणीचं वाहतं नातं, मध्ये निर्माण होऊन वाहतं — तेच ज्ञान.

Metaphor-unfold

No extended metaphor in this ovi. नांदणुक ("mutual dealing / commerce") is a relational figure compressed into a noun, not an unfolded image.

Nāth-yogic layer

No Nāth-yogic referent in this ovi.

Cross-references

Internal: Completes the subject-object-relation account begun at 18.468; knowing is the living relation, not a third thing.
Tukaram parallel: (none specific to this ovi)
Source citation: Bhagavad Gītā 18.18 — defining jñāna as the relational traffic between knower and known; the नांदणुक image is Jñāneśvar's.

Modern application

When you see that "knowing" is a relationship, not a possession. You don't have knowledge sitting inside you; knowing is the live traffic running between you and what you attend to. Stop the traffic and the "knowledge" is only a memory-trace.

Sādhanā

Today, in one act of understanding something, notice that the understanding lives in the meeting — it is happening between you and the object, not stored in either. Watch it flow; watch it stop.

Arc

18.469 makes knowing the traffic between knower and known; 18.470 widens it to the general naming-faculty that gives a name to all things.

Ovi 18.470

Original (Marathi): ठाकूनि ज्ञेयाची शिंव । पुरे जयाची धांव । सकळ पदार्थां नांव । सूतसे जें ॥४७०॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
ठाकूनि ज्ञेयाची शिंव	reaching the boundary (śiṃva) of the knowable
पुरे जयाची धांव	whose run is completed/fulfilled
सकळ पदार्थां नांव	for all objects, a name
सूतसे जें	which spins out / gives forth

Literal translation

English: Reaching the very boundary of the knowable, whose run is fulfilled — that which spins out a name for all objects.

मराठी (आधुनिक): ज्ञेयाची सीमा गाठून, जिची धाव पूर्ण होते — जी सर्व पदार्थांना नाव देते (तेच सामान्य ज्ञान).

Metaphor-unfold

No extended metaphor in this ovi.

Nāth-yogic layer

No Nāth-yogic referent in this ovi.

Cross-references

Internal: Widens jñāna from relation (18.469) to the universal namer; sets up 18.471's sealing of the jñāna-definition.
Tukaram parallel: (none specific to this ovi)
Source citation: Bhagavad Gītā 18.18 — the naming-of-all-things function of general-knowing is Jñāneśvar's amplification toward a nāma-rūpa account of cognition.

Modern application

When you realize naming is itself an act of cognition, not a neutral label. To know a thing is already to have named it — sorted, bounded, filed. The world arrives pre-named because knowing names it.

Sādhanā

Today, meet one thing before you name it — hold a sensation or a face for a moment in the wordless gap before the label lands. Notice how fast the naming comes, and what it does.

Arc

18.470 makes knowing the namer of all objects; 18.471 closes the jñāna-definition and turns to define the knowable.

Ovi 18.471

Original (Marathi): तें गा सामान्य ज्ञान । या बोअला नाहीं आन । ज्ञेयाचेंही चिन्ह । आइक आतां ॥४७१॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
तें गा सामान्य ज्ञान	that is general knowing (sāmānya-jñāna)
या बोला नाहीं आन	to this word there is no other [meaning]
ज्ञेयाचेंही चिन्ह	the mark of the knowable too
आइक आतां	listen now

Literal translation

English: That is "general knowing"; there is no other sense to this word. Now listen to the mark of the knowable too.

मराठी (आधुनिक): ते सामान्य ज्ञान आहे; या शब्दाला दुसरा अर्थ नाही. आता ज्ञेयाचंही लक्षण ऐक.

Metaphor-unfold

No extended metaphor in this ovi.

Nāth-yogic layer

No Nāth-yogic referent in this ovi.

Cross-references

Internal: Seals the jñāna-definition (18.466-470) and opens the jñeya-definition (18.472-476).
Tukaram parallel: (none specific to this ovi)
Source citation: Bhagavad Gītā 18.18 — सामान्य ज्ञान precisely fixes BG-18.18's jñāna as ordinary cognition, not the liberating tattva-jñāna sorted by guṇa later in the chapter.

Modern application

When a key word is being used in a smaller sense than you assumed. Kṛṣṇa stops to say: here "knowing" means ordinary knowing — not wisdom, not realization. Half of all confusion is one word carrying two weights.

Sādhanā

Today, catch one loaded word you use (love, success, knowing, freedom) and ask which of its senses you actually mean this time. Pin it to one. Notice the clarity.

Arc

18.471 announces the turn to the knowable; 18.472 defines it as the five-fold sense-field.

Ovi 18.472

Original (Marathi): तरी शब्दु स्पर्शु । रूप गंध रसु । हा पंचविध आभासु । ज्ञेयाचा तो ॥४७२॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
तरी शब्दु स्पर्शु	then: sound, touch
रूप गंध रसु	form, smell, taste
हा पंचविध आभासु	this five-fold appearance (ābhāsa)
ज्ञेयाचा तो	is the knowable's

Literal translation

English: Then — sound, touch, form, smell, taste — this five-fold appearance is the knowable's.

मराठी (आधुनिक): शब्द, स्पर्श, रूप, गंध, रस — हा पंचविध आभास म्हणजे ज्ञेय.

Metaphor-unfold

No extended metaphor in this ovi. आभासु ("appearance/shining-forth") frames the object as what shows up to cognition, but it is a term, not an image.

Nāth-yogic layer

No Nāth-yogic referent in this ovi.

Cross-references

Internal: Identifies the knowable with the pañca-viṣaya; the mango simile of 18.473 illustrates it.
Tukaram parallel: (none specific to this ovi)
Source citation: Bhagavad Gītā 18.18 — defining jñeya as the five sense-objects śabda-sparśa-rūpa-gandha-rasa is Jñāneśvar's specification.

Modern application

When "the world" turns out to be five channels of data. Everything you've ever known of any object arrived as sound, touch, form, smell, taste — five narrow doors. The knowable is exactly that wide and no wider.

Sādhanā

Today, take one rich experience (a meal, a place) and disaggregate it into the five: what was sound, what touch, what form, smell, taste. Notice the whole "thing" was assembled from just these five streams.

Arc

18.472 lists the five sense-objects; 18.473 explains why one knowable shows as five — the single mango met by separate senses.

Ovi 18.473

Original (Marathi): जैसें एकेचि चूतफळें । इंद्रियां वेगवेगळे । रसें वर्णें परीमळें । भेटिजे स्पर्शें ॥४७३॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
जैसें एकेचि चूतफळें	as one single mango-fruit (cūta-phala)
इंद्रियां वेगवेगळे	by the senses, separately
रसें वर्णें परीमळें	by taste, by colour, by fragrance
भेटिजे स्पर्शें	is met, [and] by touch

Literal translation

English: As one single mango-fruit is met by the senses separately — by taste, by colour, by fragrance, by touch.

मराठी (आधुनिक): जसं एकच आंबा इंद्रियांना वेगवेगळ्या प्रकारे — चवीनं, रंगानं, सुगंधानं, स्पर्शानं — भेटतो.

Metaphor-unfold

Literal image	Philosophical referent	Modern equivalent
One mango met by the senses as taste, colour, fragrance, touch	A single object fractured into multiple sense-aspects through the sense-doors	One thing, many data-streams — the same item delivered as separate channels that the mind reunifies

Metaphor-family: one-object-many-aspects (a clear, much-loved Dnyāneśvarī illustration of how unity appears as multiplicity through the instruments).

Nāth-yogic layer

No Nāth-yogic referent in this ovi.

Cross-references

Internal: Illustrates 18.472; its conclusion is drawn in 18.474.
Tukaram parallel: (none specific to this ovi)
Source citation: Bhagavad Gītā 18.18 — the mango-met-by-five-senses image is Jñāneśvar's.

Modern application

When the same reality looks different through different faculties. The mango is one; taste, sight, smell, touch make it "four." Likewise one situation looks different through fear, through hope, through analysis — and you mistake the channels for separate truths.

Sādhanā

Today, hold a single fruit (or any object) and meet it deliberately through each sense in turn, naming each. End by noting: it was one thing the whole time; the manyness was mine.

Arc

18.473 gives the mango-illustration; 18.474 draws the conclusion — the knowable is one, but knowing through five doors makes it five.

Ovi 18.474

Original (Marathi): तैसें ज्ञेय तरी एकसरें । परी ज्ञान इंद्रियद्वारें । घे म्हणौनि प्रकारें । पांचें जालें ॥४७४॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
तैसें ज्ञेय तरी एकसरें	so the knowable is of one piece
परी ज्ञान इंद्रियद्वारें	but knowing, through the sense-doors (indriya-dvāra)
घे म्हणौनि प्रकारें	takes [it], therefore in kinds
पांचें जालें	it became five-fold

Literal translation

English: So the knowable is of one piece, but because knowing takes it through the sense-doors, it became five-fold.

मराठी (आधुनिक): तसं ज्ञेय मुळात एकच आहे, पण ज्ञान इंद्रियद्वारांतून ते घेतं म्हणून ते पाच प्रकारचं झालं.

Metaphor-unfold

No extended metaphor in this ovi (it states the moral of 18.473's image).

Nāth-yogic layer

No Nāth-yogic referent in this ovi.

Cross-references

Internal: Concludes the mango-illustration (18.473); the इंद्रियद्वार "sense-door" account recurs as Jñāneśvar's standard epistemology.
Tukaram parallel: (none specific to this ovi)
Source citation: Bhagavad Gītā 18.18 — the sense-door explanation of the unitary object's five-fold appearance is Jñāneśvar's.

Modern application

When a single issue fractures into "five problems" only because you approached it through five separate channels. The unity was real; the fragmentation was an artifact of the doors you used. Re-find the one thing.

Sādhanā

Today, take a worry that has split into several "separate" problems and ask: is this actually one knowable, fractured by the channels I'm viewing it through? Try to name the single object underneath.

Arc

18.474 explains the object's five-fold appearance; 18.475 begins two similes for where the knowing's run comes to rest — at the object.

Ovi 18.475

Original (Marathi): आणि समुद्रीं वोघाचें जाणें । सरे लाणीपासीं धावणें । कां फळीं सरे वाढणें । सस्याचें जेवीं ॥४७५॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
आणि समुद्रीं वोघाचें जाणें	and the river's going into the sea
सरे लाणीपासीं धावणें	the running ends at the shore
कां फळीं सरे वाढणें	or, in the fruit, the growing ends
सस्याचें जेवीं	as of a crop

Literal translation

English: And as the river's going into the sea — its running ends at the shore; or as a crop's growing ends in its fruiting.

मराठी (आधुनिक): आणि जशी नदीची धाव समुद्राच्या किनाऱ्याशी संपते, किंवा जसं पिकाचं वाढणं फळात संपतं.

Metaphor-unfold

Literal image	Philosophical referent	Modern equivalent
River's flow ends on reaching the sea; crop's growth ends in fruiting	Cognition's outward run terminates at — completes itself in — the object	A search ending when it finds; attention coming to rest the instant it lands on its target

Metaphor-family: completion-at-the-goal (river-to-sea, crop-to-fruit — natural-terminus images).

Nāth-yogic layer

No Nāth-yogic referent in this ovi.

Cross-references

Internal: Sets up 18.476's definition of the jñeya as the resting-point of cognition's run.
Tukaram parallel: (none specific to this ovi)
Source citation: Bhagavad Gītā 18.18 — the river-to-sea / crop-to-fruit terminus-images for cognition's halt are Jñāneśvar's.

Modern application

When attention finally lands and the restless searching stops. The river reaches the sea; the seeking ends in the found object. The relief of arrival is cognition completing its run.

Sādhanā

Today, notice the exact moment a restless search (for a word, a fact, a missing thing) lands — and the seeking ceases. Mark that point of rest; that landing-place is the "knowable."

Arc

18.475 gives the terminus-similes; 18.476 applies them — where the knowing comes to its halt, that is the jñeya.

Ovi 18.476

Original (Marathi): तैसें इंद्रियांच्या वाहवटीं । धांवतया ज्ञाना जेथ ठी । होय तें गा किरीटी । विषय ज्ञेय ॥४७६॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna (the vocative किरीटी anchors the address)

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
तैसें इंद्रियांच्या वाहवटीं	so, on the current/channel of the senses
धांवतया ज्ञाना जेथ ठी	where the running knowing [comes to a] halt (ṭhī)
होय तें गा किरीटी	that, O Kirīṭī, is
विषय ज्ञेय	the viṣaya, the knowable

Literal translation

English: So, where the knowing — running on the current of the senses — comes to a halt, that, O Kirīṭī, is the object, the knowable.

मराठी (आधुनिक): तसं इंद्रियांच्या प्रवाहावर धावणारं ज्ञान जिथे थांबतं, ते, हे किरीटी, विषय म्हणजे ज्ञेय.

Metaphor-unfold

No extended metaphor in this ovi (it applies 18.475's similes).

Nāth-yogic layer

No Nāth-yogic referent in this ovi.

Cross-references

Internal: Closes the jñeya-definition; 18.477 sums the whole first triad.
Tukaram parallel: (none specific to this ovi)
Source citation: Bhagavad Gītā 18.18 — विषय = ज्ञेय fixes the knowable as the sense-object, the resting-point of cognition's outward run.

Modern application

When you want to know what an experience was "really about," find where the attention stopped. The object is wherever your knowing came to rest — that landing-place names the true content of the moment, often not what you'd have guessed.

Sādhanā

Today, after an absorbing stretch, ask: where did my attention actually halt? The honest answer (not the official one) names the real object you were knowing.

Arc

18.476 completes the knowable-definition; 18.477 sums the first triad — all three together are the impulsion to action.

Ovi 18.477

Original (Marathi): एवं ज्ञातया ज्ञाना ज्ञेया । तिहीं रूप केलें धनंजया । हे त्रिविध सर्व क्रिया । प्रवृत्ति जाण ॥४७७॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna (the vocative धनंजय anchors the address)

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
एवं ज्ञातया ज्ञाना ज्ञेया	thus, to knower, knowing, knowable
तिहीं रूप केलें धनंजया	to these three, form has been given, O Dhananjaya
हे त्रिविध सर्व क्रिया	this three-fold, of all action
प्रवृत्ति जाण	know as the impulsion (pravṛtti)

Literal translation

English: Thus to knower, knowing, and knowable, form has been given, O Dhananjaya; know this three-fold as the impulsion to all action.

मराठी (आधुनिक): अशा रीतीनं ज्ञाता, ज्ञान, ज्ञेय या तिघांना रूप दिलं, हे धनंजया; हे त्रिक म्हणजे सर्व क्रियेची प्रवृत्ती आहे असं जाण.

Metaphor-unfold

No extended metaphor in this ovi.

Nāth-yogic layer

No Nāth-yogic referent in this ovi.

Cross-references

Internal: Closes the impulsion-triad definition; pairs with 18.461 (the opening statement) and 18.485 (the ring-close).
Tukaram parallel: (none specific to this ovi)
Source citation: Bhagavad Gītā 18.18 — प्रवृत्ति precisely renders karma-codanā (impulsion-to-action); the first triad is sealed.

Modern application

When you trace any action back to its true starting-gun. Not the decision, not the desire — earlier: the bare knowing of subject-and-object. Every act fires from that triad; locate it and you've found where the chain of doing actually begins.

Sādhanā

Today, take one action you'll perform and run it backward to its seed: the deed, the wanting, the knowing of the object, the splitting into knower-and-known. See the whole chain start at the impulsion-triad.

Arc

18.477 closes the impulsion-triad; 18.478 begins the turn to doership — the object presents itself as liked or disliked, and this valence will convert the knower into a doer.

Ovi 18.478

Original (Marathi): जे शब्दादि विषय । हें पंचविध जें ज्ञेय । तेंचि प्रिय कां अप्रिय । एकेपरीचें ॥४७८॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
जे शब्दादि विषय	the sense-objects beginning with sound
हें पंचविध जें ज्ञेय	this five-fold knowable
तेंचि प्रिय कां अप्रिय	that very thing — liked (priya) or disliked (apriya)
एकेपरीचें	of one kind [or the other]

Literal translation

English: The sense-objects beginning with sound — this five-fold knowable — that very thing is either liked or disliked, of one kind or the other.

मराठी (आधुनिक): शब्दादी विषय — हे पंचविध ज्ञेय — तेच प्रिय किंवा अप्रिय, एकाएका प्रकारचं असतं.

Metaphor-unfold

No extended metaphor in this ovi.

Nāth-yogic layer

No Nāth-yogic referent in this ovi.

Cross-references

Internal: Opens the priya/apriya pivot (18.478-490) that converts the knower into a doer; consequences spelled out at 18.486-487.
Tukaram parallel: (none specific to this ovi)
Source citation: Bhagavad Gītā 18.18 — the priya/apriya valence is Jñāneśvar's bridge from the verse's first triad to the doer-analysis; the Sanskrit verse names no like/dislike.

Modern application

When you notice that almost nothing arrives "neutral." The object barely registers before it is already tagged want or don't-want. That instant tagging is the hinge the whole verse is about — the place where seeing becomes craving.
When the same object flips from liked to disliked and your whole stance flips with it. The valence, not the object, is steering you.

Sādhanā

Today, catch three objects (a message, a food, a face) at the instant of arrival and notice the like/dislike tag landing — usually before any thought. Just see the tag attach. Don't act on it.

Arc

18.478 makes the object liked-or-disliked; 18.479 states the consequence — the moment knowing shows the object, the knower sets out to take it up or cast it off.

Ovi 18.479

Original (Marathi): ज्ञान मोटकें ज्ञातया । दावी ना जंव धनंजया । तंव स्वीकारा कीं त्यजावया । प्रवर्तेचि तो ॥४७९॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna (the vocative धनंजय anchors the address)

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
ज्ञान मोटकें ज्ञातया	the knowing has barely [shown] to the knower
दावी ना जंव धनंजया	has not yet [finished] showing, O Dhananjaya
तंव स्वीकारा कीं त्यजावया	when, to accept (svīkāra) or to reject (tyāga)
प्रवर्तेचि तो	he already sets out

Literal translation

English: The knowing has barely shown [the object] to the knower, O Dhananjaya, before he already sets out — either to accept it or to reject it.

मराठी (आधुनिक): ज्ञान ज्ञात्याला नीट दाखवतही नाही, हे धनंजया, तोवर तो स्वीकारायला किंवा त्यागायला प्रवृत्त होतोच.

Metaphor-unfold

No extended metaphor in this ovi.

Nāth-yogic layer

No Nāth-yogic referent in this ovi.

Cross-references

Internal: The pivot-statement of the like/dislike block; the take-up/cast-off (svīkāra/tyāga) pair recurs at 18.489, 18.505.
Tukaram parallel: (none specific to this ovi)
Source citation: Bhagavad Gītā 18.18 — the instantaneous slide from perception to take-up/cast-off activity is Jñāneśvar's; the धनंजय vocative confirms the voice.

Modern application

When there was no gap between seeing and grabbing. "I didn't even decide — I just clicked / replied / reached." The verse names this exactly: the knowing hadn't finished showing before the hand moved. The whole spiritual task is to widen that vanished gap.
When the rejection is as automatic as the grasping. Recoiling from the disliked is the same reflex running in reverse — and just as unexamined.

Sādhanā

Today, choose one small recurring trigger (phone buzz, a certain person's name, a craving) and practice inserting one breath between the seeing and the response. Just one breath in the gap the verse says has closed.

Arc

18.479 names the take-up/cast-off impulse; 18.480 gives the first triplet of vivid similes for that compulsive set-out.

Ovi 18.480

Original (Marathi): परी मीनातें देखोनि बकु । जैसा निधानातें रंकु । कां स्त्री देखोनि कामुकु । प्रवृत्ति धरी ॥४८०॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
परी मीनातें देखोनि बकु	but as a heron (baka) on seeing a fish (mīna)
जैसा निधानातें रंकु	as a pauper (ranka) on [seeing] treasure (nidhāna)
कां स्त्री देखोनि कामुकु	or a lustful man (kāmuka) on seeing a woman
प्रवृत्ति धरी	seizes the impulse

Literal translation

English: But as a heron on seeing a fish, as a pauper on seeing treasure, or a lustful man on seeing a woman — [each] seizes the impulse [to act].

मराठी (आधुनिक): पण माशाला बघून बगळा, खजिन्याला बघून दरिद्री, किंवा स्त्रीला बघून कामुक — जसे प्रवृत्त होतात तसं.

Metaphor-unfold

Literal image	Philosophical referent	Modern equivalent
Heron→fish, pauper→treasure, lustful man→woman	The knower's helpless compulsion toward the liked object	The instant, will-bypassing lunge: the addict at the cue, the bargain-hunter at the deal, the lonely heart at the notification

Metaphor-family: desire-as-compulsion (a triplet of seer-and-coveted-object pairs; paired with the nature-triplet of 18.481).

Nāth-yogic layer

No Nāth-yogic referent in this ovi.

Cross-references

Internal: First of the desire-simile chain (18.480-484) illustrating pravṛtti; continued by 18.481-483 and applied at 18.484.
Tukaram parallel: (none specific to this ovi)
Source citation: Bhagavad Gītā 18.18 — the heron/pauper/lustful-man triplet for compulsive pravṛtti toward the priya-object is Jñāneśvar's amplification of codanā.

Modern application

When the cue triggers the lunge before "you" arrive. The heron doesn't deliberate about the fish. Recognize your own cue-lunge pairs — the deal, the like, the drink — where the object simply takes your activity.
When you see this reflex in others and call it weakness, then feel it in yourself. The verse lists heron, pauper, lustful man without contempt — it is describing a mechanism, not a moral failing. Watch the mechanism in yourself.

Sādhanā

Today, name your own "fish" — the one object whose mere appearance reliably hijacks your activity. Just naming it ("for me, the fish is ___") begins to loosen the heron's automatic strike.

Arc

18.480 gives three human/animal images of compulsion; 18.481 continues with a nature-triplet — water to the low place, bee to flower, calf to mother.

Ovi 18.481

Original (Marathi): जैसें खालारां धांवे पाणी । भ्रमर पुष्पाचिये घाणीं । नाना सुटला सांजवणीं । वत्सुचि पां ॥४८१॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
जैसें खालारां धांवे पाणी	as water runs to the low place
भ्रमर पुष्पाचिये घाणीं	the bee [to] the flower's fragrance
नाना सुटला सांजवणीं	or, loosed at evening
वत्सुचि पां	the calf itself [runs to its mother]

Literal translation

English: As water runs to the low ground, as the bee to the flower's fragrance, or as the calf, loosed at evening, [runs to its mother].

मराठी (आधुनिक): जसं पाणी उताराकडे धावतं, भुंगा फुलाच्या गंधाकडे, किंवा संध्याकाळी सोडलेलं वासरू आईकडे धावतं.

Metaphor-unfold

Literal image	Philosophical referent	Modern equivalent
Water→downhill, bee→fragrance, calf→mother	Pravṛtti as innate, effortless gravitation toward the object	The pull you don't generate and can't easily resist — homing instincts of desire

Metaphor-family: natural-attraction (the gentler obverse of 18.480's predatory triplet — here desire is gravity, not a strike).

Nāth-yogic layer

No Nāth-yogic referent in this ovi.

Cross-references

Internal: Second of the desire-simile chain (18.480-484); pairs the predatory and the gravitational faces of pravṛtti.
Tukaram parallel: (none specific to this ovi)
Source citation: Bhagavad Gītā 18.18 — the water/bee/calf nature-triplet of innate attraction is Jñāneśvar's amplification of codanā.

Modern application

When the pull feels less like grabbing and more like falling. Water doesn't decide to go downhill; you don't decide to drift toward your phone, your comfort, your person. The gravitational image is gentler and harder to fight than the predatory one.

Sādhanā

Today, notice one "downhill" you keep running to without choosing it — a habit your attention falls into the moment it's loosed, like the calf at evening. Just watch the falling once, without correcting it.

Arc

18.481 gives three nature-images of attraction; 18.482 extends the series with the heavenly Urvaśī — men hearing of her launch sacrifices skyward.

Ovi 18.482

Original (Marathi): अगा स्वर्गींची उर्वशी । ऐकोनि जेंवी माणुसीं । वराता लावीजती आकाशीं । यागांचिया ॥४८२॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna (the address-particle अगा "O!" continues the direct address to Arjuna)

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
अगा स्वर्गींची उर्वशी	O — heaven's Urvaśī (the apsaras)
ऐकोनि जेंवी माणुसीं	as men, merely on hearing [of her]
वराता लावीजती आकाशीं	set wedding-processions going up into the sky
यागांचिया	of sacrifices (yāgas)

Literal translation

English: O — as men, merely on hearing of heaven's Urvaśī, send up wedding-processions of sacrifices into the sky [to win her].

मराठी (आधुनिक): अरे, स्वर्गातील उर्वशीचं केवळ ऐकूनच माणसं यज्ञांच्या वराती आकाशाकडे लावतात (तिला मिळवण्यासाठी).

Metaphor-unfold

Literal image	Philosophical referent	Modern equivalent
Men, merely hearing of Urvaśī, launch sky-bound sacrifices to win her	Even a heard-of, unseen object launches elaborate, strenuous action	Chasing the idea of a thing you've never seen — the heard-of promotion, the imagined ideal partner — building your whole life's "sacrifices" toward it

Metaphor-family: desire-launches-action (here the object is not even present, only reported — desire works on hearsay; cf. the svarga-kāma fire-rites critiqued at BG-2.42-43).

Nāth-yogic layer

No Nāth-yogic referent in this ovi.

Cross-references

Internal: Extends the desire-simile chain to the case of a merely heard-of object; continued by 18.483-484.
Tukaram parallel: (none specific to this ovi)
Source citation: Bhagavad Gītā 18.18 — the Urvaśī-yajña image of desire-launched action is Jñāneśvar's, evoking the svarga-kāma sacrificial frame.

Modern application

When you are striving toward something you've only heard of, never seen. The dream job, the idealized future, the imagined relationship — whole years of "sacrifices" launched skyward toward an Urvaśī you've only been told exists.
When the report is more potent than any reality. Desire feeds on hearsay better than on presence; the unseen object is the most relentless taskmaster.

Sādhanā

Today, name one large effort in your life aimed at a heard-of object you've never actually experienced. Ask, plainly: have I ever met this thing, or only heard of it? Sit with the answer.

Arc

18.482 images desire launching action skyward; 18.483 gives the dove flinging its whole body down on sighting its mate.

Ovi 18.483

Original (Marathi): पैं पारिवा जैसा किरीटी । चढला नभाचिये पोटीं । पारवी देखोनि लोटी । आंगचि सगळें ॥४८३॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna (the vocative किरीटी anchors the address)

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
पैं पारिवा जैसा किरीटी	just as the male dove (pārivā), O Kirīṭī
चढला नभाचिये पोटीं	risen into the belly of the sky
पारवी देखोनि लोटी	on seeing its mate (pāravī), flings down
आंगचि सगळें	its whole body

Literal translation

English: Just as the male dove, O Kirīṭī, risen into the belly of the sky, on seeing its mate, flings down its whole body.

मराठी (आधुनिक): जसा नर कबूतर, हे किरीटी, आकाशात उंच चढलेला, आपल्या जोडीदाराला बघून सगळं अंग खाली झोकून देतो.

Metaphor-unfold

Literal image	Philosophical referent	Modern equivalent
The high-flying dove flings its whole body down on sighting its mate	The total self hurled toward the liked object — no part held back	Throwing your entire self at the wanted thing the instant it appears — career, dignity, caution all flung after it

Metaphor-family: desire-as-total-self-abandon (the intensification of the chain: not a strike, not a drift, but the whole body thrown).

Nāth-yogic layer

No Nāth-yogic referent in this ovi.

Cross-references

Internal: Penultimate of the desire-simile chain; the intensity peaks here before 18.484's application.
Tukaram parallel: (none specific to this ovi)
Source citation: Bhagavad Gītā 18.18 — the whole-body-hurled dove image is Jñāneśvar's; the किरीटी vocative confirms the voice.

Modern application

When you throw your entire self at a desire and hold nothing in reserve. The dove keeps no wing aloft. Notice the moments you fling the whole body — all caution, all judgment — after one sighted object.

Sādhanā

Today, recall one time you "flung your whole body" at something wanted and held nothing back. Ask now, in the calm: was the object worth the totality you gave it? Just assess, honestly.

Arc

18.483 gives the dove flinging itself down; 18.484 closes the series with the peacock leaping at the thunderclap, and applies the whole chain.

Ovi 18.484

Original (Marathi): हें ना घनगर्जनासरिसा । मयूर वोवांडे आकाशा । ज्ञाता ज्ञेय देखोनि तैसा । धांवचि घे ॥४८४॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
हें ना घनगर्जनासरिसा	or rather, with the thundercloud's roar
मयूर वोवांडे आकाशा	the peacock springs up toward the sky
ज्ञाता ज्ञेय देखोनि तैसा	so the knower, on seeing the knowable
धांवचि घे	just runs to seize [it]

Literal translation

English: Or rather, as with the thunderclap the peacock springs up toward the sky — so the knower, on seeing the knowable, simply runs to seize it.

मराठी (आधुनिक): किंवा मेघगर्जनेसरशी मोर जसा आकाशाकडे उल्हासानं झेपावतो, तसा ज्ञाता ज्ञेयाला बघून धावतच ते घेतो.

Metaphor-unfold

Literal image	Philosophical referent	Modern equivalent
The peacock leaping rapturously skyward at the thunderclap	The knower's instantaneous, joyful leap toward the knowable	The surge of delight that is itself the lunge — wanting and moving fused into one motion

Metaphor-family: rain-and-peacock (a beloved Dnyāneśvarī image, here closing the desire-chain by explicitly mapping it onto jñātā sighting jñeya).

Nāth-yogic layer

No Nāth-yogic referent in this ovi.

Cross-references

Internal: Closes the desire-simile chain (18.480-484) and explicitly maps it onto the knower-and-knowable; leads to the thesis-restatement at 18.485.
Tukaram parallel: (none specific to this ovi)
Source citation: Bhagavad Gītā 18.18 — the peacock-at-thunder image and the explicit ज्ञाता-ज्ञेय mapping are Jñāneśvar's.

Modern application

When wanting and acting are a single rapturous motion, not two steps. The peacock doesn't feel joy and then leap; the leap is the joy. Catch the moments your desire and your movement are fused — that fusion is the whole difficulty.

Sādhanā

Today, watch for one "peacock moment" — a surge of delight that is already a lunge toward its object. See if you can feel the delight without the leap, even once. That sliver of separation is the practice.

Arc

18.484 applies the similes to knower-and-knowable; 18.485 restates the thesis — therefore this three-fold is the impulsion to all action.

Ovi 18.485

Original (Marathi): म्हणौनि ज्ञान ज्ञेय ज्ञाता । हे त्रिविध गा पंडुसुता । होयचि कर्मा समस्तां । प्रवृत्ति येथ ॥४८५॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna (the vocative पंडुसुता anchors the address)

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
म्हणौनि ज्ञान ज्ञेय ज्ञाता	therefore knowing, knowable, knower
हे त्रिविध गा पंडुसुता	this three-fold, O son of Pāṇḍu
होयचि कर्मा समस्तां	just is, of all action
प्रवृत्ति येथ	the impulsion here

Literal translation

English: Therefore knowing, knowable, knower — this three-fold, O son of Pāṇḍu — just is the impulsion, here, to all action.

मराठी (आधुनिक): म्हणून ज्ञान, ज्ञेय, ज्ञाता — हे त्रिक, हे पंडुसुता — हीच सर्व कर्माची प्रवृत्ती आहे.

Metaphor-unfold

No extended metaphor in this ovi.

Nāth-yogic layer

No Nāth-yogic referent in this ovi.

Cross-references

Internal: Ring-closes the impulsion-triad block opened at 18.461; together they bracket the 25-ovi first-triad exposition (18.461-485).
Tukaram parallel: (none specific to this ovi)
Source citation: Bhagavad Gītā 18.18 — प्रवृत्ति-to-all-karma exactly renders codanā; the पंडुसुता vocative confirms the voice.

Modern application

When you want the leverage-point on any compulsive action. It is not the deed and not even the desire — it is the prior impulsion of knower-knowing-known. Intervene there (at the seeing) and the whole downstream act loses its inevitability.

Sādhanā

Today, take one habit you wish to change and locate its impulsion — the seeing that fires it — rather than fighting the action itself. Spend the day watching the impulsion, not the deed.

Arc

18.485 closes the impulsion-triad; 18.486 pivots to the consequences of valence — if the object is liked, it brooks not a moment's delay.

Ovi 18.486

Original (Marathi): परी तेंचि ज्ञेय विपायें । जरी ज्ञातयातें प्रिय होये । तरी भोगावया न साहे । क्षणही विलंबु ॥४८६॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
परी तेंचि ज्ञेय विपायें	but that same knowable, by chance (vipāya)
जरी ज्ञातयातें प्रिय होये	if it happens to be dear to the knower
तरी भोगावया न साहे	then, to enjoy it, it cannot bear
क्षणही विलंबु	even a moment's delay

Literal translation

English: But if that same knowable happens to be dear to the knower, then it cannot endure even a moment's delay in being enjoyed.

मराठी (आधुनिक): पण तेच ज्ञेय जर योगायोगानं ज्ञात्याला प्रिय असेल, तर ते भोगायला क्षणाचाही विलंब सहन होत नाही.

Metaphor-unfold

No extended metaphor in this ovi.

Nāth-yogic layer

No Nāth-yogic referent in this ovi.

Cross-references

Internal: Spells out the priya-consequence opened at 18.478; paired with 18.487's apriya-consequence.
Tukaram parallel: (none specific to this ovi)
Source citation: Bhagavad Gītā 18.18 — the urgency-of-enjoyment of the liked object is Jñāneśvar's, building toward the kartā-analysis.

Modern application

When the liked thing demands "now" and any delay feels unbearable. The notification must be checked this instant; the craving cannot wait one minute. That intolerance-of-delay is the priya-object's signature — and a clean signal that you've been seized.

Sādhanā

Today, when one liked thing demands "right now," deliberately impose a two-minute delay before enjoying it. Watch the "cannot bear a moment's delay" feeling rise and then subside. Notice it was survivable.

Arc

18.486 gives the urgency toward the liked; 18.487 gives the obverse — the disliked object that even an aeon feels too long to be rid of.

Ovi 18.487

Original (Marathi): नातरी अवचटें । तेंचि विरुद्ध होऊनि भेटे । तरी युगांत वाटे । सांडावया ॥४८७॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
नातरी अवचटें	or else, by chance
तेंचि विरुद्ध होऊनि भेटे	that same thing, turning hostile (viruddha), is met
तरी युगांत वाटे	then an aeon (yuga) seems [too long]
सांडावया	to cast it off

Literal translation

English: Or else, if by chance that same thing turns out hostile and is encountered, then an aeon seems too long to be rid of it.

मराठी (आधुनिक): किंवा अचानक तेच जर विरुद्ध होऊन भेटलं, तर ते टाकायला एक युगही फार वाटतं.

Metaphor-unfold

No extended metaphor in this ovi.

Nāth-yogic layer

No Nāth-yogic referent in this ovi.

Cross-references

Internal: Completes the priya/apriya pair with 18.486; the joint result is imaged at 18.488.
Tukaram parallel: (none specific to this ovi)
Source citation: Bhagavad Gītā 18.18 — the aeon-feels-long urgency-of-rejection of the disliked object is Jñāneśvar's amplification.

Modern application

When you cannot get away from the disliked thing fast enough. The dreaded meeting, the painful conversation, the unwanted task — every second of it stretches to an aeon. The disliked object distorts time as surely as the liked one does.

Sādhanā

Today, in one stretch of "I can't wait for this to be over," notice the time-distortion itself: the dislike is making the minutes into an aeon. Watching the distortion shrinks it.

Arc

18.487 gives the urge to be rid of the hostile; 18.488 images the simultaneity of joy-and-dread with the man who finds both a garland and a snake at once.

Ovi 18.488

Original (Marathi): व्याळा कां हारा । वरपडा जालेया नरा । हरिखु आणि दरारा । सरिसाचि उठी ॥४८८॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
व्याळा कां हारा	a snake (vyāḷa) or a garland (hāra)
वरपडा जालेया नरा	for a man who has chanced upon [both]
हरिखु आणि दरारा	delight (harikha) and dread (darārā)
सरिसाचि उठी	rise together, at once

Literal translation

English: For a man who has chanced upon a snake or a garland, delight and dread rise together, at once.

मराठी (आधुनिक): साप किंवा हार अचानक समोर आलेल्या माणसाला आनंद आणि भीती एकाच वेळी उठतात.

Metaphor-unfold

Literal image	Philosophical referent	Modern equivalent
A man comes upon a garland (delight) and a snake (dread) at once	The paired attraction-and-repulsion the liked/disliked object provokes together	The moment that is exciting and threatening at once — the opportunity that is also a danger, joy and dread firing in the same instant

Metaphor-family: snake-and-rope / snake-and-garland (the classic Vedāntic superimposition-image, here repurposed to dramatize the simultaneous priya/apriya response rather than error-of-perception).

Nāth-yogic layer

No Nāth-yogic referent in this ovi.

Cross-references

Internal: Images the joint result of 18.486-487; applied to the knower at 18.489.
Tukaram parallel: (none specific to this ovi)
Source citation: Bhagavad Gītā 18.18 — the simultaneous joy/dread snake-garland image is Jñāneśvar's.

Modern application

When one event triggers delight and dread in the same breath. The promotion that thrills and terrifies; the message you wanted and feared. The verse names this exactly — हरिख and दरारा rising together. The mixed feeling is not confusion; it is two valences at once.

Sādhanā

Today, in one mixed moment, name both at once: "delight here, dread here, together." Let them both be present without collapsing into one story. Notice you can hold the snake and the garland in the same glance.

Arc

18.488 images paired delight-and-dread; 18.489 applies it — the knower, seeing the object as liked-or-disliked, is carried into the activity of rejection-and-acceptance.

Ovi 18.489

Original (Marathi): तैसें ज्ञेय प्रियाप्रियें । देखिलेनि ज्ञातया होये । मग त्याग स्वीकारीं वाहे । व्यापारातें ॥४८९॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
तैसें ज्ञेय प्रियाप्रियें	so the knowable, as liked-or-disliked
देखिलेनि ज्ञातया होये	when seen by the knower
मग त्याग स्वीकारीं वाहे	then in rejection-and-acceptance (tyāga-svīkāra) he is borne
व्यापारातें	into activity (vyāpāra)

Literal translation

English: So when the knowable is seen as liked-or-disliked by the knower, then he is borne into the activity of rejection-and-acceptance.

मराठी (आधुनिक): तसं ज्ञेय प्रिय-अप्रिय म्हणून ज्ञात्यानं पाहिलं की मग तो त्याग-स्वीकाराच्या व्यापारात ओढला जातो.

Metaphor-unfold

No extended metaphor in this ovi.

Nāth-yogic layer

No Nāth-yogic referent in this ovi.

Cross-references

Internal: The explicit pivot from knower to incipient doer; the take-up/cast-off "business" (व्यापार) is taken up in the karaṇa-analysis (18.500-505).
Tukaram parallel: (none specific to this ovi)
Source citation: Bhagavad Gītā 18.18 — the त्याग-स्वीकार व्यापार is Jñāneśvar's bridge from knower to doer.

Modern application

When liking/disliking has already conscripted you into doing. You haven't decided to act; the valence "bore" you into activity. Most of a day's doing is this — being carried into take-up/cast-off by tags you never examined.

Sādhanā

Today, catch one action you find yourself already mid-way through and trace it back: which like or dislike carried you here? Name the valence that did the conscripting.

Arc

18.489 carries the knower into rejection-acceptance activity; 18.490 gives the dismounting-commander image for how the knower quits his detached stance to engage as a doer.

Ovi 18.490

Original (Marathi): तेथ रागी प्रतिमल्लाचा । गोसांवी सर्वदळाचा । रथु सांडूनि पायांचा । होय जैसा ॥४९०॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
तेथ रागी प्रतिमल्लाचा	there, the enraged [master] of the rival-wrestlers
गोसांवी सर्वदळाचा	the lord (gosāvī) of the whole army
रथु सांडूनि पायांचा	abandoning his chariot, [a man] of foot
होय जैसा	comes to be — just as

Literal translation

English: There — as the enraged master of the rival champions, lord of the whole army, abandoning his chariot, comes down to fight on foot.

मराठी (आधुनिक): जसा प्रतिमल्लांवर रागावलेला, सर्व सैन्याचा स्वामी, रथ सोडून पायउतार होतो.

Metaphor-unfold

Literal image	Philosophical referent	Modern equivalent
The army's lord, in fury, abandons his chariot to fight on foot	The knower quitting his detached, commanding station to engage directly as a doer	The boss who stops delegating and dives into the task himself; the observer who can no longer just watch and steps into the fray

Metaphor-family: king/commander-dismounting (a martial image of descent from a higher, detached station into direct engagement).

Nāth-yogic layer

No Nāth-yogic referent in this ovi.

Cross-references

Internal: First of three conversion-images for knower-becoming-doer; continued by the diner-cook (18.491) and the whirlpool/lump/deity triplet (18.492).
Tukaram parallel: (none specific to this ovi)
Source citation: Bhagavad Gītā 18.18 — the commander-dismounting image of the knower descending into doing is Jñāneśvar's.

Modern application

When you stop observing and get pulled into the fray. The detached vantage collapses; "I'll just watch" becomes "I'm in it." The commander left his chariot. Notice the moment your witness-stance dissolves into combatant-stance.

Sādhanā

Today, catch one moment you abandon a calm overview to "get in there" — the meeting you meant to just listen to, the argument you meant to stay out of. Note the instant the chariot was left behind.

Arc

18.490 gives the dismounting-commander image; 18.491 states the thesis directly — knower-ness now comes into the doer-state, as a seated diner rises to cook.

Ovi 18.491

Original (Marathi): तैसें ज्ञातेपणें जें असे । तें ये कर्ता ऐसिये दशे । जेवितें बैसलें जैसें । रंधन करूं ॥४९१॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
तैसें ज्ञातेपणें जें असे	so, that which exists as knower-ness (jñātepaṇa)
तें ये कर्ता ऐसिये दशे	comes into the doer-state (kartā-daśā)
जेवितें बैसलें जैसें	as one seated to eat
रंधन करूं	[rises] to do the cooking

Literal translation

English: So that which exists as knower-ness comes into the doer-state — as one seated to eat gets up to do the cooking.

मराठी (आधुनिक): तसं जे ज्ञातेपण आहे ते कर्तेपणाच्या दशेत येतं — जसं जेवायला बसलेला उठून स्वयंपाक करू लागतो.

Metaphor-unfold

Literal image	Philosophical referent	Modern equivalent
One seated to eat (a receptive posture) gets up to cook (an active one)	The contemplative/receptive knower converting into the active doer	The shift from receiving to producing — from consumer to maker — within the same person, same moment

Metaphor-family: posture-conversion (a homely domestic image marking the central hinge of the whole cluster: jñātepaṇa → kartā).

Nāth-yogic layer

No Nāth-yogic referent in this ovi.

Cross-references

Internal: The central knower-to-doer hinge of the cluster; reinforced by 18.492 and named outright at 18.493.
Tukaram parallel: (none specific to this ovi)
Source citation: Bhagavad Gītā 18.18 — the diner-rising-to-cook image of jñātepaṇa becoming kartā is Jñāneśvar's; this is the hinge from the verse's first triad to the second.

Modern application

When "just knowing about" a thing silently becomes "being the one responsible for it." You came to observe a problem; now you own it. The diner rose to cook. The transition is so smooth you rarely catch the moment your knowing became doing.
When the witness becomes the worker without a decision. No one chose to take it on; the knower-ness simply slid into doer-ness. The verse marks the exact seam.

Sādhanā

Today, notice one moment you cross from knowing about something to being the doer of it. Pause at the seam and ask: did I choose this, or did the knower just rise to cook? Just see the conversion happen.

Arc

18.491 states the knower-to-doer hinge with the diner-cook image; 18.492 reinforces it with three more conversion-images.

Ovi 18.492

Original (Marathi): कां भंवरेंचि केला मळा । वरकलुचि जाला अंकसाळा । नाना देवो रिगाला देऊळा । चिया कामा ॥४९२॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
कां भंवरेंचि केला मळा	or, the very whirlpool became the millrace (maḷā)
वरकलुचि जाला अंकसाळा	the very lump became the die-mould (ankasāḷā)
नाना देवो रिगाला देऊळा	or the deity entered the temple
चिया कामा	for its [own] work

Literal translation

English: Or, the whirlpool itself becomes the millrace; the lump itself becomes the die-mould; or the deity itself enters the temple for its own work.

मराठी (आधुनिक): किंवा भोवराच गिरणीचा प्रवाह झाला, गोळाच ठशाचा साचा झाला, किंवा देवच आपल्या कामासाठी देवळात शिरला.

Metaphor-unfold

Literal image	Philosophical referent	Modern equivalent
Whirlpool→millrace, lump→die-mould, deity→temple-for-its-work	The one thing passing into the very instrument/site of its own action	The idea becoming its own implementation; the principle becoming the institution that enacts it

Metaphor-family: thing-becoming-its-own-agency (three artisanal/ritual images reinforcing the knower-to-doer conversion).

Nāth-yogic layer

No Nāth-yogic referent in this ovi. (देवो रिगाला देऊळा "the deity entered the temple" is a ritual-image of self-becoming-its-instrument, not a deha-as-temple esoteric reading; importing kuṇḍalinī here would be a fabrication.)

Cross-references

Internal: Reinforces the 18.491 hinge with three conversion-images; the named result follows at 18.493.
Tukaram parallel: (none specific to this ovi)
Source citation: Bhagavad Gītā 18.18 — these artisanal/ritual self-becoming-its-agency images are Jñāneśvar's.

Modern application

When the planner becomes the plan's machinery. The one who designed the system is now a cog inside it; the deity went into the temple to do the temple's work. Watch how often the maker dissolves into the made.

Sādhanā

Today, find one place where you (the "knower," the one who had ideas) have become the working-machinery of those ideas. Ask whether the deity is still free, or has fully entered the temple.

Arc

18.492 gives three conversion-images; 18.493 names the result — in the craving for the knowable, the knower sets the senses to work and becomes the doer.

Ovi 18.493

Original (Marathi): तैसा ज्ञेयाचिया हांवा । ज्ञाता इंद्रियांचा मेळावा । राहाटवी तेथ पांडवा । कर्ता होय ॥४९३॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna (the vocative पांडवा anchors the address)

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
तैसा ज्ञेयाचिया हांवा	so, in the craving (hāṃva) for the knowable
ज्ञाता इंद्रियांचा मेळावा	the knower, the assembly (meḷāvā) of the senses
राहाटवी तेथ पांडवा	sets to work there, O Pāṇḍava
कर्ता होय	becomes the doer

Literal translation

English: So, in the craving for the knowable, the knower — setting the whole assembly of the senses to work — there, O Pāṇḍava, becomes the doer.

मराठी (आधुनिक): तसं ज्ञेयाच्या हव्यासापायी ज्ञाता इंद्रियांचा मेळावा कामाला लावतो, आणि तिथे, हे पांडवा, तो कर्ता होतो.

Metaphor-unfold

No extended metaphor in this ovi (it states the result of the conversion-images).

Nāth-yogic layer

No Nāth-yogic referent in this ovi.

Cross-references

Internal: Names the kartā that the whole 18.478-492 block was building toward; leads to the germinal second-triad at 18.494.
Tukaram parallel: (none specific to this ovi)
Source citation: Bhagavad Gītā 18.18 — कर्ता directly renders BG-18.18's kartā; the पांडव vocative confirms the voice.

Modern application

When craving turns you into "the one mobilizing everything" to get the thing. The hāṃva — the wanting — recruits the whole apparatus (calls, plans, the body) and that mobilization is what makes you the doer. Doership is craving-in-action.

Sādhanā

Today, when you notice yourself "mobilizing everything" toward some wanted end, name the craving (हांव) underneath the busyness. Ask: is the doer here anything other than this want, organizing my faculties?

Arc

18.493 makes the knower into the doer; 18.494 completes the second triad in germ — knowing becomes instrumentality, the knowable becomes the deed.

Ovi 18.494

Original (Marathi): आणि आपण होउनी कर्ता । ज्ञाना आणी करणता । तेथें ज्ञेयचि स्वभावतां । कार्य होय ॥४९४॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
आणि आपण होउनी कर्ता	and himself becoming the doer
ज्ञाना आणी करणता	brings knowing into instrumentality (karaṇatā)
तेथें ज्ञेयचि स्वभावतां	there the very knowable, naturally (svabhāvataḥ)
कार्य होय	becomes the deed (kārya)

Literal translation

English: And himself becoming the doer, he brings knowing into instrumentality, and there the very knowable naturally becomes the deed.

मराठी (आधुनिक): आणि स्वतः कर्ता होऊन तो ज्ञानाला करणत्व देतो, आणि तिथे तेच ज्ञेय स्वभावतः कार्य होतं.

Metaphor-unfold

No extended metaphor in this ovi.

Nāth-yogic layer

No Nāth-yogic referent in this ovi.

Cross-references

Internal: The first triad (jñātā/jñāna/jñeya) transforming into the second (kartā/karaṇa/kārya) — the structural heart of the cluster; the two are set side by side again at 18.512.
Tukaram parallel: (none specific to this ovi)
Source citation: Bhagavad Gītā 18.18 — this precisely maps the verse's first triad onto its second; the two triads shown as one continuous process.

Modern application

When the same three things just change costume. The object you were knowing becomes the task you're doing; your knowing becomes your tool; you the knower become you the doer. Nothing new entered — the witnessing-situation simply re-roled itself as a working-situation.

Sādhanā

Today, take one shift from contemplation to work and watch the three roles re-cast: knowable→deed, knowing→tool, knower→doer. Notice it's the same triad wearing a second set of names.

Arc

18.494 shows the triad-transformation; 18.495 marks it as a change-of-state in the knowing's own nature — a turning-over.

Ovi 18.495

Original (Marathi): ऐसा ज्ञानाचिये निजगति । पालटु पडे गा सुमति । डोळ्याची शोभा रातीं । पालटे जैसी ॥४९५॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna (the address सुमति "O wise one" anchors the instructional voice to Arjuna)

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
ऐसा ज्ञानाचिये निजगति	thus, in the very self-course (nija-gati) of knowing
पालटु पडे गा सुमति	a turning-over (pālaṭu) occurs, O wise one (sumati)
डोळ्याची शोभा रातीं	the eye's beauty/seeing, at night
पालटे जैसी	as it alters

Literal translation

English: Thus, in the very self-course of knowing, a turning-over occurs, O wise one — as the eye's beauty alters by night.

मराठी (आधुनिक): अशा रीतीनं ज्ञानाच्या स्वतःच्या गतीत पालट होतो, हे सुमति — जसा रात्री डोळ्याचा प्रकाश/शोभा बदलते.

Metaphor-unfold

Literal image	Philosophical referent	Modern equivalent
The eye's seeing/beauty altering by night	The same faculty (knowing) undergoing a change of mode — from knower-mode to doer-mode	The same capacity running in a different register — focused attention by day, diffuse by night; the one mind in two modes

Metaphor-family: modal-alteration (eye-at-night; a subtle image that the same faculty changes mode without becoming a different thing).

Nāth-yogic layer

No Nāth-yogic referent in this ovi.

Cross-references

Internal: Names the knower→doer shift as a pālaṭu (turning-over); reinforced by 18.496's fortune/moon images.
Tukaram parallel: (none specific to this ovi)
Source citation: Bhagavad Gītā 18.18 — the eye-at-night image of a faculty's modal change is Jñāneśvar's; सुमति fits the instructional address.

Modern application

When the same attention "turns over" into a different mode and you barely register it. Receptive listening becomes active fixing; open noticing becomes goal-driven grabbing. The eye's seeing altered — same eye, different light.

Sādhanā

Today, watch your attention "turn over" once — from open/receptive to narrow/acquisitive — and name the turn as it happens: "it just changed mode." See that the faculty is one; the mode flipped.

Arc

18.495 images the modal turning-over of the eye at night; 18.496 gives two more turning-images — fortune fading, the waning moon.

Ovi 18.496

Original (Marathi): कां अदृष्ट जालिया उदासु । पालटे श्रीमंताचा विलासु । पुनिवेपाठीं शीतांशु । पालटे जैसा ॥४९६॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
कां अदृष्ट जालिया उदासु	or, when fortune (adṛṣṭa) grows indifferent
पालटे श्रीमंताचा विलासु	the rich man's luxury (vilāsa) turns
पुनिवेपाठीं शीतांशु	after the full-moon (pūrṇimā), the cool-rayed moon (śītāṃśu)
पालटे जैसा	as it turns/wanes

Literal translation

English: Or, as when fortune grows indifferent the rich man's luxury turns; as after the full-moon night the cool-rayed moon wanes.

मराठी (आधुनिक): किंवा नशीब उदासीन झाल्यावर श्रीमंताचा विलास बदलतो, पौर्णिमेनंतर चंद्र जसा क्षीण होत जातो.

Metaphor-unfold

Literal image	Philosophical referent	Modern equivalent
Rich man's luxury fading as luck turns; moon waning after the full	The knowing's modal change — its "phase" shifting from one state to another	A capacity in its waxing vs. waning phase — the same moon, the same wealth, in an altered condition

Metaphor-family: waxing-waning (fortune-and-moon turning-images; reinforcing the pālaṭu of 18.495).

Nāth-yogic layer

No Nāth-yogic referent in this ovi.

Cross-references

Internal: Completes the turning-image set (18.495-496); the upshot follows at 18.497.
Tukaram parallel: (none specific to this ovi)
Source citation: Bhagavad Gītā 18.18 — the fortune-and-moon turning-images are Jñāneśvar's.

Modern application

When the same self is simply in a different phase. The waning is not a different moon; the dimmed luxury is not a different man. When your knowing has "turned over" into grasping, it is your own faculty in another phase — recognizable, reversible.

Sādhanā

Today, when you catch your mind in a grasping "phase," tell yourself: this is my own knowing, waned — same moon, another phase. Notice the phase is not permanent.

Arc

18.496 completes the turning-similes; 18.497 states the upshot — plying the instruments, the knower gets enveloped in doer-ness; now hear its marks.

Ovi 18.497

Original (Marathi): तैसा चाळितां करणें । ज्ञाता वेष्टिजे कर्तेपणें । तेथींचीं तियें लक्षणें । ऐक आतां ॥४९७॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
तैसा चाळितां करणें	so, while plying the instruments (karaṇa)
ज्ञाता वेष्टिजे कर्तेपणें	the knower is enveloped (veṣṭije) in doer-ness
तेथींचीं तियें लक्षणें	those marks (lakṣaṇa) of that [state]
ऐक आतां	listen now

Literal translation

English: So, while plying the instruments, the knower is enveloped in doer-ness; now listen to the marks of those [instruments].

मराठी (आधुनिक): तसं करणं चालवताना ज्ञाता कर्तेपणानं वेढला जातो; त्याची ती लक्षणं आता ऐक.

Metaphor-unfold

No extended metaphor in this ovi (वेष्टिजे "enveloped" is a single covering-verb).

Nāth-yogic layer

No Nāth-yogic referent in this ovi.

Cross-references

Internal: Closes the knower-to-doer block (18.491-497) and opens the karaṇa-analysis (18.498-499).
Tukaram parallel: (none specific to this ovi)
Source citation: Bhagavad Gītā 18.18 — the ऐक आतां "now listen" hinge opens the karaṇa-analysis.

Modern application

When doing something gradually wraps you in being-the-doer. You start plying the tools; soon the doer-identity has enveloped you — "I am the one who does this." The verb is enveloped, not chosen. The role accretes around the activity.

Sādhanā

Today, notice one task that has "enveloped" you in a doer-identity ("I'm the person who handles X"). Ask: is that a self I am, or only a wrapping the doing put on me?

Arc

18.497 pivots to the instrument-analysis; 18.498 enumerates the four-fold inner instrument (antaḥkaraṇa).

Ovi 18.498

Original (Marathi): तरी बुद्धि आणि मन । चित्त अहंकार हन । हें चतुर्विध चिन्ह । अंतःकरणाचें ॥४९८॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
तरी बुद्धि आणि मन	then: intellect (buddhi) and mind (manas)
चित्त अहंकार हन	citta and ego (ahankāra) — indeed
हें चतुर्विध चिन्ह	this four-fold mark
अंतःकरणाचें	is of the inner-organ (antaḥkaraṇa)

Literal translation

English: Then — intellect and mind, citta and ego — this four-fold mark is of the inner organ.

मराठी (आधुनिक): बुद्धी आणि मन, चित्त आणि अहंकार — हे चतुर्विध लक्षण अंतःकरणाचं आहे.

Metaphor-unfold

No extended metaphor in this ovi.

Nāth-yogic layer

No Nāth-yogic referent in this ovi. (The buddhi-manas-citta-ahankāra fourfold is standard Sānkhya-Vedānta psychology, not Nātha cakra-mapping.)

Cross-references

Internal: Enumerates the inner karaṇa; paired with the outer five at 18.499; both are summed as instrument at 18.506.
Tukaram parallel: (none specific to this ovi)
Source citation: Bhagavad Gītā 18.18 — the fourfold antaḥkaraṇa specifying the inner karaṇa is Jñāneśvar's standard psychology, beyond the bare term.

Modern application

When you want to see the "machinery" behind a deed, look at the inner instruments. Intellect (judging), mind (registering), citta (recalling/dwelling), ego (claiming). Every action runs on these four; naming which is loudest in a given act is genuine self-knowledge.

Sādhanā

Today, take one reaction and ask which inner instrument drove it: was it buddhi (judgment), manas (raw impression), citta (a remembered groove), or ahankāra (ego defending itself)? Name the one in charge.

Arc

18.498 lists the four inner instruments; 18.499 lists the five outer ones — the indriyas.

Ovi 18.499

Original (Marathi): बाह्य त्वचा श्रवण । चक्षु रसना घ्राण । हें पंचविध जाण । इंद्रियें गा ॥४९९॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
बाह्य त्वचा श्रवण	external: skin (tvacā), ear (śravaṇa)
चक्षु रसना घ्राण	eye (cakṣu), tongue (rasanā), nose (ghrāṇa)
हें पंचविध जाण	know these five-fold
इंद्रियें गा	as the indriyas

Literal translation

English: External: skin, ear, eye, tongue, nose — know these five-fold as the indriyas.

मराठी (आधुनिक): बाह्य — त्वचा, कान, डोळा, जीभ, नाक — हे पंचविध इंद्रिये आहेत असं जाण.

Metaphor-unfold

No extended metaphor in this ovi.

Nāth-yogic layer

No Nāth-yogic referent in this ovi.

Cross-references

Internal: Completes the karaṇa-inventory begun at 18.498 (inner four + outer five); summed as instrument at 18.506.
Tukaram parallel: (none specific to this ovi)
Source citation: Bhagavad Gītā 18.18 — the five outer jñānendriyas completing the karaṇa-inventory is Jñāneśvar's amplification.

Modern application

When you map how an experience reached you. Five outer doors, four inner processors — that is the entire apparatus. Knowing the inventory makes the machinery less mysterious and the "self" that seemed to own it less solid.

Sādhanā

Today, for one experience, trace it from outer door (which sense?) to inner processor (which of the four?). Watch the whole thing assemble through nine instruments — and notice none of them is "you."

Arc

18.499 lists the five outer instruments; 18.500 begins the operational account — first the inner instrument estimates the deed.

Ovi 18.500

Original (Marathi): तेथ आंतुले तंव करणें । कर्ता कर्तव्या घे उमाणें । मग तैं जरी जाणें । सुखा येतें ॥५००॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
तेथ आंतुले तंव करणें	there, with the inner instruments
कर्ता कर्तव्या घे उमाणें	the doer takes the measure (umāṇa) of the deed-to-be-done
मग तैं जरी जाणें	then, if it is known
सुखा येतें	[that it] issues in pleasure

Literal translation

English: There, with the inner instruments, the doer takes the measure of the deed to be done; and then, if it is known to issue in pleasure...

मराठी (आधुनिक): तिथे आतल्या करणांनी कर्ता कर्तव्याचा अंदाज घेतो; मग जर ते सुखात येणारं आहे असं कळलं...

Metaphor-unfold

No extended metaphor in this ovi (उमाणें "estimate" is a single appraisal-term).

Nāth-yogic layer

No Nāth-yogic referent in this ovi.

Cross-references

Internal: Begins the operational karaṇa-account (18.500-504): inner appraisal → outer mobilization; the pleasure-branch leads to 18.501-502, the pain-branch to 18.503.
Tukaram parallel: (none specific to this ovi)
Source citation: Bhagavad Gītā 18.18 — the उमाण "estimate/measure" appraisal-function of the antaḥkaraṇa is Jñāneśvar's operational psychology.

Modern application

When you catch the inner cost-benefit estimate that runs before every act. Before you reach, the inner instruments have already "taken the measure" — will this pay off in pleasure? Most of this appraisal is invisible; the practice is to make it visible.

Sādhanā

Today, before one chosen action, catch the silent estimate underneath it: what pleasure am I computing this will bring? Say the computed payoff out loud to yourself. Notice how often the estimate is the real driver.

Arc

18.500 has the inner instrument appraise the deed as pleasure-yielding; 18.501 sets the outer ten springing into action.

Ovi 18.501

Original (Marathi): तरी बाहेरीलें तियेंही । चक्षुरादिकें दाहाही । उठौनि लवलाहीं । व्यापारा सूये ॥५०१॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
तरी बाहेरीलें तियेंही	then those outer ones too
चक्षुरादिकें दाहाही	the ten (dāhā), beginning with the eye
उठौनि लवलाहीं	springing up in haste (lavalāhī)
व्यापारा सूये	are thrust into activity

Literal translation

English: Then those outer ones too — the ten, beginning with the eye — springing up in haste, are thrust into activity.

मराठी (आधुनिक): मग ती बाहेरचीही — डोळ्यादी दहाही — झटकन उठून व्यापारात लागतात.

Metaphor-unfold

No extended metaphor in this ovi.

Nāth-yogic layer

No Nāth-yogic referent in this ovi.

Cross-references

Internal: The outer-organ mobilization following the inner appraisal of 18.500; the labour continues at 18.502.
Tukaram parallel: (none specific to this ovi)
Source citation: Bhagavad Gītā 18.18 — the "ten" (five jñānendriyas + five karmendriyas) mobilized for the deed is Jñāneśvar's operational karaṇa-account.

Modern application

When a decision instantly conscripts the whole body. The inner "yes" hasn't finished before the hands, eyes, feet are already in motion. Once the estimate clears, ten organs leap up "in haste" — the deed is staffed before you've fully consented.

Sādhanā

Today, after one inner "yes," notice the speed with which the body mobilizes — the ten organs springing up. Try to feel the half-second between the estimate and the mobilization.

Arc

18.501 sets the ten organs to work; 18.502 has the whole troop labour until the fruit of the deed comes to hand.

Ovi 18.502

Original (Marathi): मग तो इंद्रियकदंंबु । करविजे तंव राबु । जंव कर्तव्याचा लाभु । हातासि ये ॥५०२॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
मग तो इंद्रियकदंंबु	then that cluster of senses (indriya-kadamba)
करविजे तंव राबु	is made to drudge (rābu)
जंव कर्तव्याचा लाभु	until the gain (lābha) of the deed
हातासि ये	comes to hand

Literal translation

English: Then that cluster of senses is made to drudge until the gain of the deed comes to hand.

मराठी (आधुनिक): मग तो इंद्रियांचा समूह राबवला जातो, जोवर कर्तव्याचा लाभ हाती येत नाही.

Metaphor-unfold

No extended metaphor in this ovi (इंद्रियकदंब + राब is a labour-figure compressed, not a sustained image).

Nāth-yogic layer

No Nāth-yogic referent in this ovi.

Cross-references

Internal: Continues the pleasure-branch labour (18.500-502); the pain-branch obverse follows at 18.503.
Tukaram parallel: (none specific to this ovi)
Source citation: Bhagavad Gītā 18.18 — the sense-cluster drudging toward the goal is Jñāneśvar's.

Modern application

When the senses are flogged toward a payoff. Once a goal is set, the whole instrument-cluster is "made to drudge" until the gain is in hand — late nights, strained eyes, pushed body. The deed conscripts the organs as labourers and works them till the lābha lands.

Sādhanā

Today, notice one pursuit where your senses are being driven toward a gain. Ask honestly: who is the driver, and is the lābha worth the drudgery you're imposing on your own instruments?

Arc

18.502 has the senses labour toward the wanted deed; 18.503 gives the obverse — if the deed bodes pain, the doer turns those same organs to rejection.

Ovi 18.503

Original (Marathi): ना तें कर्तव्य जरी दुःखें । फळेल ऐसें देखे । तो लावी त्यागमुखें । तियें दाहाही ॥५०३॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
ना तें कर्तव्य जरी दुःखें	but if that deed, in pain (duḥkha)
फळेल ऐसें देखे	he sees will fruit
तो लावी त्यागमुखें	he sets [them] toward rejection (tyāga-mukha)
तियें दाहाही	those ten

Literal translation

English: But if he sees that the deed will fruit in pain, he sets those ten toward the task of rejection.

मराठी (आधुनिक): पण ते कर्तव्य जर दु:खात फळेल असं दिसलं, तर तो ती दहाही इंद्रिये त्यागाकडे लावतो.

Metaphor-unfold

No extended metaphor in this ovi.

Nāth-yogic layer

No Nāth-yogic referent in this ovi.

Cross-references

Internal: The pain-branch obverse of 18.502; both show the same ten organs serving take-up or cast-off per the foreseen fruit.
Tukaram parallel: (none specific to this ovi)
Source citation: Bhagavad Gītā 18.18 — the same-ten-organs serving tyāga (rejection) is Jñāneśvar's symmetric account.

Modern application

When you mobilize just as hard to avoid a painful outcome. Rejection is not passivity; the same ten organs are flung into the work of getting-away-from. Notice that your avoidances are as effortful and as driven as your pursuits.

Sādhanā

Today, catch one thing you're working hard to avoid and see that it's the same machinery in reverse — the ten organs set "toward rejection." Name the avoidance as the labour it actually is.

Arc

18.503 turns the organs to rejection of the painful; 18.504 gives the king-and-trader image — the doer keeps the senses running until the seat of pain dissolves.

Ovi 18.504

Original (Marathi): मग फिटे दुःखाचा ठावो । तंव राहाटवी रात्रिदिवो । विकणवातें कां रावो । जयापरी ॥५०४॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
मग फिटे दुःखाचा ठावो	until the seat (ṭhāva) of pain is dissolved
तंव राहाटवी रात्रिदिवो	he keeps [them] plying, night and day
विकणवातें कां रावो	as a king [sets] a trader (vikaṇavā)
जयापरी	in the manner of

Literal translation

English: Until the seat of pain is dissolved, he keeps them plying night and day — just as a king sets a trader to business.

मराठी (आधुनिक): दु:खाचं मूळ फिटेपर्यंत तो त्यांना रात्रंदिवस राबवतो — जसा राजा व्यापाऱ्याला व्यापाराला लावतो.

Metaphor-unfold

Literal image	Philosophical referent	Modern equivalent
A king setting a merchant to trade [on his behalf]	The doer commissioning the instruments to ceaseless, profit-seeking work	The principal who keeps the agents working round the clock toward an outcome he wants

Metaphor-family: king-and-servant (commissioning-image; the doer as principal, the senses as commissioned agents).

Nāth-yogic layer

No Nāth-yogic referent in this ovi.

Cross-references

Internal: Closes the operational karaṇa-account (18.500-504); the kartā-definition is sealed at 18.505.
Tukaram parallel: (none specific to this ovi)
Source citation: Bhagavad Gītā 18.18 — the king-commissions-trader image of the doer driving the instruments is Jñāneśvar's.

Modern application

When you run yourself "night and day" until a discomfort is gone. The doer keeps the senses trading round the clock until the seat of pain dissolves — the restless overwork that won't stop until the itch is scratched. Notice the king who never gives the trader rest.

Sādhanā

Today, find one "night and day" drivenness aimed at dissolving some discomfort. Grant the trader (your senses) one deliberate hour of rest, even with the seat of pain not yet gone. Watch what the king feels about that.

Arc

18.504 has the doer drive the senses ceaselessly; 18.505 concludes the kartā-definition — bearing the senses' leadership in take-up/cast-off, the knower is called the doer.

Ovi 18.505

Original (Marathi): तैसेनि त्याग स्वीकारीं । वाहातां इंद्रियांची धुरी । ज्ञातयातें अवधारीं । कर्ता म्हणिपे ॥५०५॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
तैसेनि त्याग स्वीकारीं	thus, in rejection-and-acceptance
वाहातां इंद्रियांची धुरी	bearing the leadership/yoke (dhurī) of the senses
ज्ञातयातें अवधारीं	the knower — mark it (avadhārī)
कर्ता म्हणिपे	is called the doer

Literal translation

English: Thus, bearing the leadership of the senses in rejection-and-acceptance, the knower — mark it — is called the doer.

मराठी (आधुनिक): अशा रीतीनं त्याग-स्वीकारात इंद्रियांची धुरा वाहणारा ज्ञाता — हे लक्षात घे — 'कर्ता' म्हटला जातो.

Metaphor-unfold

No extended metaphor in this ovi (धुरी "yoke-leadership" is a single harness-term).

Nāth-yogic layer

No Nāth-yogic referent in this ovi.

Cross-references

Internal: Seals the kartā-definition (the knower presiding over the instruments' take-up/cast-off); the karaṇa-definition follows at 18.506.
Tukaram parallel: (none specific to this ovi)
Source citation: Bhagavad Gītā 18.18 — the धुरी "yoke-leadership" of the senses constituting kartā directly defines the verse's doer.

Modern application

When "being the doer" turns out to mean carrying the harness. The doer is not some extra entity — he is just the knower who has taken up the leadership of the senses in their accepting and rejecting. Doership is a load borne, not a self possessed.

Sādhanā

Today, in one act, feel the "yoke" — the leadership of the senses you're carrying. Ask: if I set down the harness for a moment (still acting, but not claiming to be the leader), what changes?

Arc

18.505 fixes the doer; 18.506 defines the instrument — because the senses serve the doer like tools, we call them the karaṇa.

Ovi 18.506

Original (Marathi): आणि कर्तयाच्या सर्व कर्मीं । आउतांचिया परी क्षमी । म्हणौनि इंद्रियांतें आम्ही । करणें म्हणों ॥५०६॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna (the first-plural आम्ही...म्हणों "we call" anchors Kṛṣṇa's expository voice)

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
आणि कर्तयाच्या सर्व कर्मीं	and in all the doer's works
आउतांचिया परी क्षमी	serviceable (kṣamī) after the manner of tools (āuta)
म्हणौनि इंद्रियांतें आम्ही	therefore the senses, we
करणें म्हणों	call the instruments (karaṇa)

Literal translation

English: And since in all the doer's works they are serviceable after the manner of tools, therefore we call the senses the instruments.

मराठी (आधुनिक): आणि कर्त्याच्या सर्व कर्मांत ती अवजारांसारखी उपयोगी पडतात, म्हणून आम्ही इंद्रियांना 'करण' म्हणतो.

Metaphor-unfold

Literal image	Philosophical referent	Modern equivalent
The senses serving "after the manner of tools" (āuta)	The senses as instrumentality (karaṇa) — means, not agents	The implements through which work gets done — neither the worker nor the work, just the tools

Metaphor-family: implement/tool (defining karaṇa as instrumental serviceability).

Nāth-yogic layer

No Nāth-yogic referent in this ovi.

Cross-references

Internal: Fixes the karaṇa (= the antaḥkaraṇa-four + indriya-five of 18.498-499); the deed-definition follows at 18.507.
Tukaram parallel: (none specific to this ovi)
Source citation: Bhagavad Gītā 18.18 — करणें (instrument) precisely renders karaṇa; आउत "tool" fixes its instrumental sense; the first-plural म्हणों confirms the expository krishna-to-arjuna voice.

Modern application

When you re-see your faculties as tools, not as your self. The senses are implements the doer uses, no more "you" than a hammer is the carpenter. Holding them as tools loosens the grip of "my seeing, my mind, my desire."

Sādhanā

Today, for one hour, refer to a faculty as a tool: "the eyes are looking," "the mind is judging" — instead of "I see," "I think." Notice the small but real distance this instrumental framing opens.

Arc

18.506 defines the instrument; 18.507 turns to the deed — the activity the doer raises on these instruments, what it pervades, is the karma.

Ovi 18.507

Original (Marathi): आणि हेचि करणेंवरी । कर्ता क्रिया ज्या उभारी । तिया व्यापे तें अवधारीं । कर्म एथ ॥५०७॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
आणि हेचि करणेंवरी	and upon these very instruments
कर्ता क्रिया ज्या उभारी	the activity (kriyā) which the doer raises up
तिया व्यापे तें अवधारीं	what that pervades (vyāpe) — mark it
कर्म एथ	is here the deed (karma)

Literal translation

English: And the activity which the doer raises up upon these very instruments — what that pervades, mark it, is here the karma.

मराठी (आधुनिक): आणि याच करणांवर कर्ता जी क्रिया उभारतो, ती जे व्यापते, ते — लक्षात घे — इथे 'कर्म' होय.

Metaphor-unfold

No extended metaphor in this ovi (व्यापे "pervades" is the term the next two ovis will illustrate).

Nāth-yogic layer

No Nāth-yogic referent in this ovi.

Cross-references

Internal: Defines karma as the pervasion of the doer's activity; illustrated by the pervasion-similes of 18.508-509, sealed at 18.510.
Tukaram parallel: (none specific to this ovi)
Source citation: Bhagavad Gītā 18.18 — कर्म (deed) renders the verse's karma; व्यापे "pervades" frames the deed as the pervasion-locus of the doer's activity.

Modern application

When you separate the deed from both the doer and the tools. The karma is not you and not your faculties — it is what your activity suffuses: the email written, the meal cooked, the words spoken. The deed is the pervaded result, standing apart from the one who did it.

Sādhanā

Today, after completing one action, look at the deed itself (the thing made or done) as separate from you who made it. Notice the karma has its own standing, distinct from its doer.

Arc

18.507 defines karma as the pervasion of the doer's activity; 18.508 illustrates pervasion — moonlight in the rays, the goldsmith's design in the ornament, grace in the vine.

Ovi 18.508

Original (Marathi): सोनाराचिया बुद्धि लेणें । व्यापे चंद्रकरीं चांदणें । कां व्यापे वेल्हाळपणें । वेली जैसी ॥५०८॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
सोनाराचिया बुद्धि लेणें	the goldsmith's idea (buddhi) [pervades] the ornament (leṇē)
व्यापे चंद्रकरीं चांदणें	moonlight (cāndaṇē) pervades the moon-rays (candra-kara)
कां व्यापे वेल्हाळपणें	or, [as] lithe-grace (velhāḷapaṇa) pervades
वेली जैसी	the creeper (velī), just so

Literal translation

English: As the goldsmith's idea pervades the ornament, as moonlight pervades the moon-rays, or as lithe-grace pervades the creeper.

मराठी (आधुनिक): जसं सोनाराची कल्पना दागिन्यात व्यापते, चांदणं चंद्रकिरणांत व्यापतं, किंवा लवचिकपणा वेलीत व्यापतो.

Metaphor-unfold

Literal image	Philosophical referent	Modern equivalent
Moonlight in the rays, design in the ornament, grace in the creeper	The deed (karma) inhering in / suffusing the doer's activity	The intention saturating the artifact — the maker's idea visible in every part of the made thing

Metaphor-family: pervasion (a signature Dnyāneśvarī image-cluster for inherence; continued at 18.509).

Nāth-yogic layer

No Nāth-yogic referent in this ovi.

Cross-references

Internal: First set of pervasion-similes for karma; continued at 18.509, applied at 18.510.
Tukaram parallel: (none specific to this ovi)
Source citation: Bhagavad Gītā 18.18 — these inherence-images for how the deed suffuses the activity are Jñāneśvar's.

Modern application

When the doer's stamp is visible all through the deed. The goldsmith's idea pervades every curve of the jewel; your intention pervades the thing you make. The deed carries the maker's signature without being the maker.

Sādhanā

Today, look at one thing you made (a message, a meal, a tidy room) and find your "design" pervading it. Then note the distinction: the design is in the deed, but you are not the deed.

Arc

18.508 gives three pervasion-similes; 18.509 adds two more — radiance in light, sweetness in juice — and the space-in-sky image.

Ovi 18.509

Original (Marathi): नाना प्रभा व्यापे प्रकाशु । गोडिया इक्षुरसु । हें असो अवकाशु । आकाशीं जैसा ॥५०९॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
नाना प्रभा व्यापे प्रकाशु	or, radiance (prabhā) pervades the light (prakāśa)
गोडिया इक्षुरसु	sweetness (goḍī) [pervades] the sugarcane-juice (ikṣu-rasa)
हें असो अवकाशु	let this be — [as] space (avakāśa)
आकाशीं जैसा	in the sky (ākāśa), just so

Literal translation

English: Or, as radiance pervades the light, sweetness the sugarcane-juice; let this be — as space pervades the sky.

मराठी (आधुनिक): किंवा प्रभा प्रकाशात व्यापते, गोडी उसाच्या रसात; हे असो — जसा अवकाश आकाशात व्यापतो.

Metaphor-unfold

Literal image	Philosophical referent	Modern equivalent
Radiance in light, sweetness in juice, space in the sky	The deed's complete inherence in the doer's activity — inseparable yet distinguishable	The quality that wholly saturates its medium: warmth in heat, flavour in food — everywhere in it, not identical to it

Metaphor-family: pervasion (continued from 18.508; the आकाश-अवकाश space-image is a recurring Dnyāneśvarī inherence-figure).

Nāth-yogic layer

No Nāth-yogic referent in this ovi.

Cross-references

Internal: Completes the pervasion-similes (18.508-509); applied to fix karma at 18.510.
Tukaram parallel: (none specific to this ovi)
Source citation: Bhagavad Gītā 18.18 — the light/juice/sky inherence-images are Jñāneśvar's; the space-in-sky figure recurs across the work.

Modern application

When something is wholly in a thing yet not the same as it. Sweetness saturates the juice but is not the juice; space fills the sky but is not the sky. The deed pervades the activity this way — total inherence, real distinction. A useful template for "in but not identical."

Sādhanā

Today, pick one experience where a quality wholly saturates its medium (sweetness in a fruit, warmth in sunlight) and use it as a contemplation: fully present, not identical. Then apply it: the deed in the doing; the doing in you.

Arc

18.509 completes the pervasion-similes; 18.510 applies them — what is pervaded by the doer's activity, that is the karma.

Ovi 18.510

Original (Marathi): तैसें कर्तयाचिया क्रिया । व्यापलें जें धनंजया । तें कर्म गा बोलावया । आन नाहीं ॥५१०॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna (the vocative धनंजय anchors the address)

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
तैसें कर्तयाचिया क्रिया	so, by the doer's activity
व्यापलें जें धनंजया	what is pervaded, O Dhananjaya
तें कर्म गा बोलावया	that, to call it karma
आन नाहीं	there is no other [word]

Literal translation

English: So, what is pervaded by the doer's activity, O Dhananjaya — that is the karma; there is no other word to call it.

मराठी (आधुनिक): तसं कर्त्याच्या क्रियेनं जे व्यापलं जातं, हे धनंजया — त्याला 'कर्म' म्हणण्यावाचून दुसरा शब्द नाही.

Metaphor-unfold

No extended metaphor in this ovi (it applies the prior similes).

Nāth-yogic layer

No Nāth-yogic referent in this ovi.

Cross-references

Internal: Seals the karma-definition; the whole second triad is summed at 18.511.
Tukaram parallel: (none specific to this ovi)
Source citation: Bhagavad Gītā 18.18 — कर्म renders the verse's karma; the धनंजय vocative confirms the voice.

Modern application

When you finally name the deed precisely — neither doer nor tool. The karma is exactly "what the doer's activity pervaded," nothing more. This precision is freeing: the deed is bounded, it is over, and it was never you.

Sādhanā

Today, take one completed action and say of it: "this is the karma — what my activity pervaded — and it is not me." Let the deed be finished and separate.

Arc

18.510 seals the karma-definition; 18.511 sums the second triad — the marks of karma, kartā, karaṇa have now all been told to you.

Ovi 18.511

Original (Marathi): एवं कर्म कर्ता करण । या तिहींचेंही लक्षण । सांगितलें तुज विचक्षण । शिरोमणी ॥५११॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna (the honorific vocative विचक्षण शिरोमणी "crest-jewel of the discerning" anchors the address to Arjuna)

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
एवं कर्म कर्ता करण	thus, deed, doer, instrument
या तिहींचेंही लक्षण	of these three too, the mark
सांगितलें तुज विचक्षण	has been told to you, O discerning one
शिरोमणी	crest-jewel [of the wise]

Literal translation

English: Thus, of deed, doer, and instrument — of these three too the mark has been told to you, O crest-jewel of the discerning.

मराठी (आधुनिक): अशा रीतीनं कर्म, कर्ता, करण — या तिघांचंही लक्षण तुला सांगितलं, हे विचक्षणशिरोमणी.

Metaphor-unfold

No extended metaphor in this ovi.

Nāth-yogic layer

No Nāth-yogic referent in this ovi.

Cross-references

Internal: Closes the second triad's definition; juxtaposed with the first triad at 18.512.
Tukaram parallel: (none specific to this ovi)
Source citation: Bhagavad Gītā 18.18 — करण-कर्म-कर्ता are exactly the verse's karaṇa-karma-kartā; the विचक्षण-शिरोमणी honorific confirms the krishna-to-arjuna voice.

Modern application

When you can finally separate the three you used to fuse. Most distress conflates doer, deed, and instrument into one blur of "I-am-doing-this-and-it's-all-me." Pulling them apart — there is the tool, there is the deed, here is the one who claims to do — is the start of freedom from the blur.

Sādhanā

Today, take one stressful action and explicitly name its three: the instruments used, the deed produced, the doer claiming it. Just the three-fold sorting loosens the knot.

Arc

18.511 closes the second triad's definition; 18.512 lays the two triads side by side — impulsion-triad and aggregate-triad.

Ovi 18.512

Original (Marathi): एथ ज्ञाता ज्ञान ज्ञेय । हें कर्माचें प्रवृत्तित्रय । तैसेंचि कर्ता करण कार्य । हा कर्मसंचयो ॥५१२॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
एथ ज्ञाता ज्ञान ज्ञेय	here, knower, knowing, knowable
हें कर्माचें प्रवृत्तित्रय	this is the impulsion-triad (pravṛtti-traya) of action
तैसेंचि कर्ता करण कार्य	and likewise doer, instrument, deed
हा कर्मसंचयो	this is the karma-aggregate (karma-saṃcaya)

Literal translation

English: Here, knower, knowing, knowable — this is the impulsion-triad of action; and likewise doer, instrument, deed — this is the aggregate of action.

मराठी (आधुनिक): इथे ज्ञाता, ज्ञान, ज्ञेय — हे कर्माचं प्रवृत्तित्रय; आणि तसंच कर्ता, करण, कार्य — हा कर्मसंचय.

Metaphor-unfold

No extended metaphor in this ovi.

Nāth-yogic layer

No Nāth-yogic referent in this ovi.

Cross-references

Internal: Sets the two triads explicitly in parallel (cf. 18.494's earlier transformation-account); the aggregate's latency follows at 18.513-514.
Tukaram parallel: (none specific to this ovi)
Source citation: Bhagavad Gītā 18.18 — प्रवृत्तित्रय renders trividhā karma-codanā; कर्मसंचय renders trividhaḥ karma-saṃgrahaḥ — the two halves of the verse set in parallel.

Modern application

When you grasp the whole architecture of any action at once. Two triads: what impels (the seeing of subject-object) and what constitutes (doer-tool-deed). Every act you have ever performed fits this six-fold grid. Seeing the grid demystifies the apparently personal urgency of doing.

Sādhanā

Today, map one action onto the full six: knower/knowing/knowable that impelled it, doer/instrument/deed that constituted it. Notice the "you" is just two of the six slots, not the whole.

Arc

18.512 names the karma-aggregate; 18.513 begins the latency-similes — karma lodged in the aggregate as smoke in fire, tree in seed.

Ovi 18.513

Original (Marathi): वन्हीं ठेविला असे धूमु । आथी बीजीं जेवीं द्रुमु । कां मनीं जोडे कामु । सदा जैसा ॥५१३॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
वन्हीं ठेविला असे धूमु	smoke (dhūma) is lodged in fire (vanhi)
आथी बीजीं जेवीं द्रुमु	as the tree (druma) is [present] in the seed (bīja)
कां मनीं जोडे कामु	or, as in the mind desire (kāma) is found
सदा जैसा	always, just so

Literal translation

English: As smoke is lodged in fire, as the tree is [latent] in the seed, or as desire is ever found in the mind.

मराठी (आधुनिक): जसा अग्नीत धूर साठलेला असतो, बीजात झाड असतं, किंवा मनात काम सदैव वसतो.

Metaphor-unfold

Literal image	Philosophical referent	Modern equivalent
Smoke in fire, tree in seed, desire ever in the mind	Karma lying latent within the doer-instrument-act aggregate	The outcome already implicit in the setup — the result folded invisibly into its conditions before it manifests

Metaphor-family: latency/potentiality (fire-and-smoke, seed-and-tree — classic Indian potency-images for the effect dormant in the cause).

Nāth-yogic layer

No Nāth-yogic referent in this ovi.

Cross-references

Internal: First latency-similes for the karma-saṃcaya (18.512); applied with the gold-in-ore image at 18.514.
Tukaram parallel: (none specific to this ovi)
Source citation: Bhagavad Gītā 18.18 — the smoke-in-fire / tree-in-seed / desire-in-mind images of karma's latency are Jñāneśvar's amplification of saṃgraha.

Modern application

When the result is already present, folded into the conditions. The tree is in the seed; the karma is in the aggregate before it shows. Recognize that the outcome of a situation is often already latent in how the doer-tools-deed are set up — visible to whoever can read the seed.

Sādhanā

Today, look at one situation you've "set in motion" and ask what tree is already in this seed — what result is latent in the way I've configured the doer, tools, and deed? Name the dormant outcome.

Arc

18.513 gives three latency-similes; 18.514 applies them with the gold-in-ore image — karma lies in the grip of doer, activity, instrument.

Ovi 18.514

Original (Marathi): तैसा कर्ता क्रिया करणीं । कर्माचें आहे जिंतवणीं । सोनें जैसें खाणी । सुवर्णाचिये ॥५१४॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
तैसा कर्ता क्रिया करणीं	so, in doer, activity, instrument
कर्माचें आहे जिंतवणीं	the karma lies in [their] conquering-grip (jintavaṇī)
सोनें जैसें खाणी	as gold [lies] in the mine
सुवर्णाचिये	of gold (suvarṇa)

Literal translation

English: So in doer, activity, and instrument the karma lies held in their grip — as gold lies in the gold-mine.

मराठी (आधुनिक): तसं कर्ता, क्रिया, करण यांच्या पकडीत कर्म असतं — जसं सोनं सोन्याच्या खाणीत असतं.

Metaphor-unfold

Literal image	Philosophical referent	Modern equivalent
Gold latent within the gold-ore	Karma held latent within the doer-activity-instrument aggregate (saṃgraha)	The value already present in the raw deposit, awaiting extraction — the deed implicit in its three-fold collocation

Metaphor-family: ore-and-metal (gold-in-the-mine; latency/extraction image completing the 18.513 series).

Nāth-yogic layer

No Nāth-yogic referent in this ovi.

Cross-references

Internal: Completes the latency-account of the karma-saṃcaya; leads directly to the cluster's decisive turn at 18.515.
Tukaram parallel: (none specific to this ovi)
Source citation: Bhagavad Gītā 18.18 — this renders trividhaḥ karma-saṃgrahaḥ (the threefold collocation in which karma is held) with the gold-in-ore image.

Modern application

When the deed is inseparable from its three-fold setup until "mined." The gold is real but bound in the ore; the karma is real but bound in the doer-tool-act. This is the last image before the turn — everything so far has bound action ever more tightly into its apparatus, precisely so the next ovi's release will land.

Sādhanā

Today, hold one deed as "gold in the ore" — value bound in its conditions. Then notice the suspense the verse is building: all this binding of action into its machinery is about to be answered by a single freeing move.

Arc

18.514 shows karma latent in the aggregate; 18.515 draws the cluster's decisive turn — wherever "I am the doer of this" arises, the ātmā stands far from all action.

Ovi 18.515

Original (Marathi): म्हणौनि हें कार्य मी कर्ता । ऐसें आथि जेथ पंडुसुता । तेथ आत्मा दूरी समस्ता । क्रियांपासीं ॥५१५॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna (the vocative पंडुसुता anchors the address)

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
म्हणौनि हें कार्य मी कर्ता	therefore, "this deed — I am the doer"
ऐसें आथि जेथ पंडुसुता	wherever such [a thought] arises, O son of Pāṇḍu
तेथ आत्मा दूरी समस्ता	there the ātmā is far (dūrī) from all
क्रियांपासीं	from the actions

Literal translation

English: Therefore, wherever "this deed — I am the doer" arises, O son of Pāṇḍu, there the ātmā is far from all the actions.

मराठी (आधुनिक): म्हणून 'हे कार्य मी करतो (मी कर्ता)' असं जिथे (मनात) उठतं, हे पंडुसुता, तिथे आत्मा त्या सर्व क्रियांपासून दूरच असतो.

Metaphor-unfold

No extended metaphor in this ovi. The force here is doctrinal, not imagistic — the whole metaphor-machinery of the preceding 54 ovis is precisely what this bare statement now sets aside.

Nāth-yogic layer

No Nāth-yogic referent in this ovi. The detachment of the ātmā from action is Vedāntic sākṣī-doctrine (the witness-Self), not Nātha cakra-technique.

Cross-references

Internal: The doctrinal payload of the cluster, releasing the whole 18.461-514 apparatus; reinforced as a refrain at 18.516.
Tukaram parallels:
Abhang 1583 — सरतें कर्तुत्व माझ्यानें । परि मी त्याही हून भिन्न ("doership passes by my will — but I am distinct from that too"). The same witness-distinct-from-doership resolution: where "I am the doer of this act" arises (हें कार्य मी कर्ता), the ātmā stands apart (दूरी) from all action. Both lodge the real Self behind doership — Jñāneśvar by spatial distance (दूरी), Tukaram by the term bhinna (distinct). (Verified verbatim against corpus/1583.md.)
Abhang 3913 — मानसाची देव चालवी अहंता । मी चि एक कर्त्ता म्हणों नये ("Deva moves even the ahantā of the mind — don't say I alone am the kartā"). This debunks the very doership-claim the cluster diagnoses — the jīva mistakenly assuming हें कार्य मी कर्ता. Where 18.515 detaches the ātmā from the kartā-claim, Tukaram dissolves the claim by referring even the I-am-ness to the Lord; the same dismantling of self-as-agent. (Verified verbatim against corpus/3913.md.)
Source citation: Bhagavad Gītā 3.27 — अहंकारविमूढात्मा कर्ताहमिति मन्यते (the ego-deluded thinks "I am the doer," while action proceeds from prakṛti's guṇas). 18.515 restates this in Marathi. A different verse from this cluster's own BG-18.18, invoked as the doctrinal background that detaches the ātmā from the karta/karaṇa/karma machinery. Bhagavad Gītā 18.18 — the close of the verse's own kartā-analysis, turned to release rather than bind.

Modern application

When the thought "I am the one doing this" arises — that is exactly the moment the Self is furthest from the action. The verse makes a startling claim: the louder the "I-am-the-doer," the more the witnessing-Self stands apart. Pride of authorship and the truth of who you are point in opposite directions.
When taking credit (or blame) for a deed, notice the "I-am-the-doer" thought as a posit, not a fact. The doership is a superimposition on action that was already running through the apparatus; the real you was never in the machinery.
When you over-identify with your work to the point of suffering. "I am the doer of this" is the knot. The verse offers the loosening: the ātmā is dūrī — far — from all of it, always was, even now.

Sādhanā

Today, the next time the thought "I am the one doing this" arises clearly (in pride, in stress, in blame), pause and silently complete the verse: ...and right here, the one I truly am stands far from this action. Just place the witness where the doer-thought was, once.

Arc

18.515 detaches the ātmā from doership; 18.516 reinforces it as a refrain — again and again, the ātmā is separate — and closes the cluster.

Ovi 18.516

Original (Marathi): यालागीं पुढतपुढती । आत्मा वेगळाचि सुमती । आतां असो हे किती । जाणतासि तूं ॥५१६॥ Voice: krishna-to-arjuna (the address सुमति "O wise one" + जाणतासि तूं "you yourself know" anchor Kṛṣṇa addressing Arjuna)

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
यालागीं पुढतपुढती	for this reason, again and again (puḍhata-puḍhatī)
आत्मा वेगळाचि सुमती	the ātmā is separate (vegaḷā), O wise one (sumati)
आतां असो हे किती	now let this be — how much [more]?
जाणतासि तूं	you yourself know

Literal translation

English: For this reason, again and again — the ātmā is separate, O wise one. Now let this be; how much more [need be said]? You yourself know.

मराठी (आधुनिक): म्हणून पुन्हा पुन्हा — आत्मा वेगळाच आहे, हे सुमति. आता हे असू दे; आणखी किती सांगू? तू स्वतः जाणतोसच.

Metaphor-unfold

No extended metaphor in this ovi.

Nāth-yogic layer

No Nāth-yogic referent in this ovi.

Cross-references

Internal: Closes the cluster by repeating 18.515's detachment-claim as an emphatic refrain (पुढतपुढती "again and again"), sealing the 56-ovi analysis.
Tukaram parallel: (none specific to this ovi — the substantive parallel lands at 18.515)
Source citation: Bhagavad Gītā 18.18 — the पुढतपुढती refrain underscores the ātmā's detachment; सुमति + जाणतासि तूं ("you know") confirm the krishna-to-arjuna address closing the analytic.

Modern application

When the teaching has been laid out and the rest is yours to recognize. Kṛṣṇa stops: "how much more? you yourself know." After all the analysis, the seeing of the separate Self is not delivered by more words — it is recognized, again and again, by you. The repetition (puḍhata-puḍhatī) is the practice: not one insight but a returning.
When you sense a truth has been pointed at, not handed over. The verse models the limit of explanation: the ātmā's separateness must be known, not merely told.

Sādhanā

Today, return to the one claim — "the ātmā is separate" — not once but again and again: set three small reminders through the day, and at each, simply note "the one who knows this is not the one doing it." Let the refrain do its work by repetition.

Arc

18.516 closes the 56-ovi action-analysis: the entire knower→doer machinery was anatomized precisely in order to set the ātmā free of it — and the next śloka (BG-18.19) takes this completed anatomy and begins sorting knowledge, action and doer into their three guṇa-grades.

Cluster summary

Core teaching: BG-18.18 gives the anatomy of action in two parallel triads — knowing-knowable-knower as the impulsion (trividhā karma-codanā) and instrument-deed-doer as the aggregate (trividhaḥ karma-saṃgrahaḥ). Across 56 ovis Jñāneśvar films the whole process by which the bare witnessing-Self appears to become an agent: knowing splits into a knower and a known (the impulsion-triad), the knower meeting a liked-or-disliked object turns into a doer wielding instruments upon a deed (the aggregate-triad) — and then he releases the Self from the entire machine he has built: wherever "I am the doer of this" arises, the ātmā stands far from all the action (18.515), repeated as a refrain (18.516). The anatomy was constructed in order to be transcended.

Chapter arc position: BG-18.18 opens adhyāya-18's guṇa-classification block (BG-18.18-40). Having begun the tyāga/sannyāsa-analysis, Kṛṣṇa first anatomizes action itself (this verse) before sorting jñāna, karma, kartā, buddhi, dhṛti and sukha each into sāttvika/rājasa/tāmasa grades. Jñāneśvar's treatment is one of the work's great analytic set-pieces: the impulsion-triad with its sun-king-and-mango images (18.461-485), the like/dislike pivot with its desire-simile chain (18.478-490), the knower-to-doer hinge (18.491-497), the karaṇa-karma-kartā definitions (18.498-511), the latency of karma in the aggregate (18.512-514), and the detachment of the ātmā (18.515-516).

Connects to BG-18.19: ज्ञानं कर्म च कर्ता च त्रिधैव गुणभेदतः — knowledge, action and doer are each three-fold by the distinction of the guṇas. The anatomy of action completed here becomes the grid onto which the three guṇa-grades are laid in the ślokas that follow; this cluster supplies the terms (jñāna, karma, kartā) that BG-18.19 onward will grade.

The deeper resonance: the cluster's close pivots silently onto BG-3.27 (ahankāra-vimūḍhātmā kartāham iti manyate — "the ego-deluded thinks 'I am the doer'") and lands on the same resolution Tukaram reaches independently: kartutva passes by my will, but I am distinct from it too (1583), and Deva moves even the mind's ahantā — don't say I alone am the doer (3913). Three voices, one recognition: the Self is not the agent; doership is a superimposition that the witness, rightly seen, stands forever apart from.