Sant Dnyaneshwar one of the children of Vitthal Govind Kulkarni and Rukmini who were from Apegaon near Paithan on the banks of the river Godavari. Vitthal had studied Vedas and set out on pilgrimages at a young age. Sidhopant, A local Brahmin was very much impressed with him. Vitthal married his daughter Rukmini. After some time, with Rukmini's permission, Vitthal went to Kashi where he met Ramananda Swami. Lying about his marriage, Vitthal requested to be initiated into sannyas. But Ramananda Swami later ordered Vitthal to return home to his family. The couple was excommunicated from the Brahmin caste as Vitthal had broken with sannyas, the last of the four ashrams. Four children were born to them. It is believed that later Vitthal and Rukmini ended their lives hoping that their children would be accepted into the society. The orphaned children approached the Brahmin community to accept them but the Brahmins refused. A farmer takes the children in to live with his family where Dnyaneshwar translated the Bhagwat Gita into Marathi language and performed many miracles.
