Natyasutra Online

The Greatest Love Story from India

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.