The journey of the Gita Govinda in Indian literature is a tale of prose transcending time, socio-economic and religious barriers. The world Jayadeva lived in has changed drastically in the centuries that followed his yet his tale of yearning, pain and eventual fulfilment continues to charm all who encounter it. His ode to Lord Krishna and Radha epitomises the ethos of ancient India that inspires a deeply self-aware approach to love, faith and life itself.
An epic poem that has influenced Indian art and culture for more than eight centuries, this 12th century classic is considered the greatest love story from India. It portrays the eternal and divine relationship between Radha and Krishna which is not found in any other text written prior to this. It is amazing that text reached all parts of India within less than a century and it continues to influence dance, music, theatre, art, sculpture, painting, craft and literature as well as designs almost all facets of art and culture.
What sets the story of the Gita Govinda apart is that, firstly, its impact is unprecedented among other comparable 12th century works or even older or modern compositions. Precious little is known about the author's origin. The power of Jayadeva’s craftsmanship alone carried it through the centuries. Few classical works in the history of contemporary literature enjoys the privilege of being recited daily at a prominent religious site for over 700 years.
The Gita Govinda allows believers to re-experience devotion more intimately, thereby releasing them from the stranglehold of dogma. In this classic, we find both forms of shringara – vipralambha shringara (love in separation) and sambhoga shringara (love in the union), each strengthening the other. Rasa, tone or flavour, is an important aspect of enjoying art. Of the nine rasas (navarasa) identified by Indian aestheticians, shringara rasa is the most popular. It is called rasa raja, the king of rasas. The Gita Govinda celebrates the sensuous while enriching the devotee’s soul. Jayadeva’s ability to embrace this dichotomy of faith and eroticism truly sets this work apart. The influence of Bharata’s Natyasastra and Vatsyayana’s Kamasutra is evident throughout the work.
Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, Michelangelo’s frescoes, Shakespeare’s plays, Tagore’s Gitanjali. And Agatha Christie’s play The Mousetrap that has been running virtually non-stop for 80 years now. What do they have in common with Jayadeva’s song of devotion and love, Gita Govinda? They are all timeless works of beauty that have granted immortality to their creators! Gita Govinda is perhaps still more special, for it not only remains alive in people’s collective memory but is also an integral part of their everyday life. This beautiful composition is sung and performed at the Jagannatha temple at Puri every single day; a long and unbroken tradition of 800 years! Which other work of art in the world can claim such an impressive record?
In a land where love stories are passed down from one generation to another, the Gita Govinda is considered the greatest. It taught devotees and non-devotees alike that religious experience can be obtained through the medium of the senses too, especially sexual love. This rather unorthodox view has ardent loyalists and equally staunch opponents. However, Vipralambha shringara (love in separation), compared to sambhoga shringara (love in the union), has the more dominant power in Jayadeva’s celebrated poem. This adds to the Gita Govinda's mystique and explains the widespread acclaim it has received.
The plot is neither complex nor convoluted – it depicts the separation and eventual reunion of the eternal lovers, Radha and Lord Krishna. Through the poem, Radha, the lover, goes through seven stages of transformation – from a shy woman, perfumed and bedecked, awaiting her beloved, to a domineering lover who is at her happiest. Such a varied palette of emotions is what makes the story highly attractive.
It also shows a mortal standing up to a celestial being. Radha transforms herself into a kalahantaritha nayika – a heroine who suffers the pangs of separation after she has picked a quarrel with her beloved. Trapped in such a mood, Jayadeva’s Radha is not a coy and bashful heroine anymore but a wilful person who knows her mind. She is not shy about being assertive, getting herself heard, and her desires given due respect. Her quarrelsome nature is shown to drive her sakhi (friend) to exasperation and her Lord to dejection! The sakhi even calls Radha viparita karini (creator of discord). Such behaviour is highly unprecedented in the literature, as usually, mortals are never portrayed as aggressive towards Gods. Her distinct and brazen humanness makes her tale believable and resonates with people after all these centuries.
Though scholars have surmised from Jayadeva’s writings that he was born in a village called Kindubilva, we don’t know exactly where it stands on the present-day map of India. Consequently, three states of India claim ownership over Jayadeva – Bihar (Kenduli village near Mithila), Odisha (Kenduli Sasan village near Puri) and West Bengal (Jaydev Kenduli village). While looking for clues about Jayadeva in his magnum opus, Gita Govinda, scholars came across the names Umapathidhara, Charana, Govardhana, Shrutidhara and Dhoyi in the fourth stanza of the first canto. History tells us they were 12th-century poets who enjoyed the patronage of Laksmana Sena, the ruler of the Bengal region from 1178 to 1206. This, in general, establishes that he was a 12th-century poet who was active in Eastern India. His devotion towards Lord Krishna plays a significant role in his magnum opus.
Little is known about his personal life. Jayadeva himself may have been, as tradition asserts, an ascetic induced to settle into domesticity by marrying the temple dancer, Padmavati. The latter was a model wife, modest and devoted to Jayadeva, and very different from Radha, the typical heroine of classical Sanskrit poetry. The legend goes that Padmavati was the temple dancer at the Puri Jagannath temple, and Jayadeva married her and settled down there to serve the Lord and Padmavati simultaneously. This tradition of Devadasi dance continues at Lord Jagannath Temple to this day.
While looking for clues about Jayadeva in his magnum opus, Gita Govinda, scholars came across the names Umapathidhara, Charana, Govardhana, Shrutidhara and Dhoyi in the fourth stanza of the first canto. History tells us they were 12th-century poets who enjoyed the patronage of Laksmana Sena, the ruler of the Bengal region from 1178 to 1206. But who were these five contemporaries to Jayadeva? His rivals? Fellow-competitors? Was Jayadeva a court poet to Lakshmana Sena when he composed Gita Govinda? Scholars can’t seem to agree! Some believe that Gita Govinda was written earlier. Certain others think that the aforementioned stanza was not penned by Jayadeva but inserted by an admiring disciple to indicate the greatness of his guru. We may never have enough or absolute proof to substantiate or oppose these claims. But there is one thing we all can agree on – that Gita Govinda is one of the greatest Indian love songs of all times!
Like archaeologists sweeping through a promising site for hidden treasures and artifacts, scholars painstakingly went through works of literature with a metaphorical fine-toothed comb. When such dedicated academics scanned the Gita Govinda, they found certain vital clues. The fourth stanza of the first canto of this timeless love song contained a key, a poetic signature that revealed to them that Jayadeva lived in the 12th century!
The Gita Govinda made Vaishnavism more romantic than Shaivism, socially safer, and more acceptable than Tantrik Buddhism. The language was easy to understand throughout India. Its vocabulary and syntax were rhythmic and perfectly lyrical to sing. On the wings of its content and form, it was not long before the Gita Govinda spread to different regions at an amazing pace. It acted as a unifying beacon of faith and enjoyment for medieval India.
The first dated manuscript comes from Nepal (1248 CE). The Gita Govinda was sung in Vaishnavite centres of Patan in Gujarat at the end of the 13th century. Manank of Gujrat and Rana Kumbha of Rajasthan wrote major commentaries on the Gita Govinda. The Gita Govinda provided material for artistic creations in Western and Central Asia. Along with the Gita Govinda, Radha travelled to temples and became a favourite subject in the art studies of artists in painting and textiles.
The emergence of the Jagannath cult and the critical importance of Puri as a centre of pilgrimage attracted Shree Chaitanya in Bengal. The Gita Govinda and the worship of Radha became the central themes of the theology, doctrine and rituals of the Goudiya Vaishnav followers of Chaitanya and the Vaishnavs of Odisha. In some temples, the Gita Govinda was sung in front of the image of Krishna; in some of the temples, it was sung in front of the image of Radha; and in many others, it was sung in front of both. At Puri, where the epic was created, it was sung and performed in dance form in front of the images of Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra.
Today, there is a centuries-old tradition at the Jagannatha temple at Puri called the Gita Govinda seva. Every day, as a form of worship, Jayadeva’s beautiful song of devotion and love, the Gita Govinda, is sung in front of the sanctum sanctorum. This unbroken tradition which has been preserved for over 700 years is most visible in modern-day Odisha.
The ancient and medieval Indian works of devotional poetry are well-crafted stories, impressive in themselves because of their sheer musical beauty and literary elegance. What make them even more interesting are the beautiful tales that swirl around their creation! The ability to compose divine poetry may be a God-given gift, but even the most gifted of poets are sometimes at a loss for words. Yet all is not lost, as devotional poets of the bygone era would agree, for God works in wonderous ways!
Perhaps nothing can better describe this amazing phenomenon than the fascinating tale that swirls around how Poonthanam Namboodiri composed his famous poem, Jnaanappaana. Poonthanam, the incomparable bhakt-kavi of Kerala and devotee of Lord Krishna (Guruvayoorappan) once struggled when he was unable to describe Vaikunta, the abode of Lord Vishnu. One night Guruvayoorappan Himself appeared in Poonthanam’s dream and showed him the celestial realms! The roadblock removed, the poet could easily complete his work!
A similar story is said about the composition of Jayadeva’s celebrated devotional song, Gita Govinda. Such is the depth of God’s valsalya or tender love towards His poet-devotee! Jayadeva was deeply troubled by a phrase he had written for Prabandh (Ashtapadi) 19, where he presented Sri Krishna as subservient to His devotees. The poet was plagued by doubts: Would it be inappropriate? Or worse, irreverent to his beloved Lord? Was he taking undue freedom in the portrayal of his idol? Confused, Jayadeva went out to take a bath. When he returned, lo and behold! There it was, the line he had not added yet: – dehi pada pallava mudaram . In Jayadeva’s absence, Lord Jagannath had entered the house disguised as the poet and added the phrase Himself, thereby giving Gita Govinda His divine endorsement!
Anyone who has read or heard Gita Govinda, one of the greatest poems of devotion and love ever composed, can guess the 12th century poet Jayadeva’s depth of devotion for his Lord. Legend has it that he once wanted to make a special offering to the deity of Puri, Lord Jagannatha. Jayadeva asked the weavers of Kindubilva, his native village, to weave clothes carrying the motifs of the twelve cantos of his poem Gita Govinda as an offering to the deity of Puri. They agreed but laid a condition. They would weave as Jayadeva himself sang the divine song. The devotee-poet was only too happy to oblige and the weavers kept their word. But by the time Jayadeva reached the seventh canto, he was transported by his own lyrics into spiritual ecstasy, and his singing came to a stop. Just then, a cheerful-looking ascetic appeared and claiming to be Jayadeva’s elder brother sang the rest of Gita Govinda. He said he knew the whole poem by heart. When Jayadeva emerged into consciousness, he was taken aback at the weavers’ tale. As he had no elder brother, Jayadeva was convinced it was Lord Jagannatha Himself who had come to His devotee’s assistance!
Nearly eight centuries have gone by, and Jayadeva’s epic love song is still sung across the country and enjoyed...
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