Natyasutra Online

Poet Jayadeva

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.