Gita Govindam, lyrical poetry in Sanskrit celebrating the love between Krishna and the gopis, specifically Radha, is authored by Jayadeva, the 12th century devotee-poet from Orissa. The basis for this work is the 5 chapters 29 to 33 of Srimadbhagavatam (known as Rasapanchadhyaayi) which describe the events leading to the rasaleela, the great dance on the banks of the Yamuna where each gopi thinks that Krishna is with her. Srimadbhagavatam, however, does not specifically talk about a gopi named Radha though Radha is described as the very heart of Krishna in some of the other Puranas.
above theme has been developed in Gita Govindam to such an extent that
it is known as ‘Sringara Mahakavya’
wherein the predominant sentiment is sringara
(erotic sentiment) in all its various moods in relation to the divine love
between Radha and Krishna. The ecstasy of union, the agony of separation, the anxious moments
of wait for the loved one are all treated with sensitivity and poetic
excellence. The whole work is divided
into twelve chapters ( sargas), each chapter containing one or more prabandhas.
There are 24 prabandhas each containing couplets grouped into eights
called Ashtapadis, songs with a
refrain specific to that
Ashatapadi. There are in all 24 Ashtapadis
in Gita Govindam. Each Chapter may have one or more slokas
in different metres of Sanskrit poetry
interspersed with the Ashtapadis. It is said that the Poet-devotee Jayadeva
would sing the Ashtapadis and his wife Padmavati would dance to the music. There have been many choreographic works to enact and present the Ashtapadis as a
text of the Twelfth Chapter (द्वादशः सर्गः) with a prosaic
translation in English for those who cannot follow the Sanskrit of the
original. The translation in no way can do justice to the poetic excellence or
the beauty of expression of the original.
दृष्ट्वा राधां मुहुर्नवपल्लव-
निक्षिप्ताक्षीमुवाच हरिः प्रियाम् ॥१॥
her friends left her alone with Krishna, Radha, overcome by shyness and
tormented by Cupid’s arrows, was glancing frequently at the bed of tender
leaves with a smile on her lips which showed that her heart was in love sport. Hari then speaks to Radha thus:
lotus-feet on this bed of tender leaves. Let these tender leaves experience
their defeat from the tenderness of your feet-leafbuds. For a moment O Radha!
follow me, who am Narayana, even as I have followed you.
long way on foot. Let me stroke those
feet with my lotus-hands. Place these
anklets of yours on the bed just like me. For a moment….
sweet words like nectar dripping from your moon-like face. Just as I am casting off viraha
(separation) now, I am taking away the clothes which bar access to your
breasts. For a moment…
embrace and which are unavailable to others, and allay the Cupid’s heat in my
heart. For a moment……
जीवय मृतमिव दासम्।
from your lips and bring to life this servant of yours who is almost like dead,
who has surrendered his heart to you, whose body is burnt by the fire of
separation, deprived of love sport.
For a moment……
face! create sweet tinkling sound from your gem-studded girdle similar to your
sweet voice and allay the suffering of my ears which have been tortured by the
coos of the cuckoo for long. For a moment……
O Radha! Your eyes want to look at me but they tend to
close as if by shame because of your spurning me with purposeless anger. Therefore retire now and leave the effort of
the joy of the enemy of Madhu at every step.
Let this song generate in the heart of connoisseurs of poetry the joy of
shringara rasa (erotic sentiment)
embrace, closed eyes, playful glances, savouring the nectar of lips, humorous, witty and sweet talk etc., although
pleasurable, both Radha and Krishna
felt, were obstacles to their
commencement of love sport.
embrace of Radha, pressed against her full breasts, hurt by her nails, lips
bitten by her, knocked by her hip, faced pulled down by the hair and
intoxicated by the dripping honey from the lips, Krishna experienced a kind of
pleasure from all this. It seems
everything is reversed in love (where otherwise painful activities seem to give
to score victory over her lover and, in
a reversal of roles, is on top of Krishna and excitedly commenced the
fight. But the region of her hip became motionless,
her creeper-like arms went limp, breasts trembled and eyes closed. How can woman get man’s pleasure in love
sleeplessness, lips had lost the reddish tinge, hair was disheveled, flowers
were falling from garlands, girdle and clothes at hip were loose. These very
things acted as Cupid’s arrows and pierced Krishna’s heart; it was a wonder
drank the kalakuta poison as He could not not win your hand at the
shores of the milky ocean since you chose me as your life partner”, narrating
this story to Radha and diverting her mind, Krishna pulled her upper clothes
and directed his roving eyes on her breasts.
May that Krishna protect you.
cheeks sweating, lips bitten, necklaces defeated by the beauty of pot-shaped
breasts, girdle displaced from its position, covering her breasts and hip by
her hands, Radha looks at me abashed with a garland from which flowers are falling. Even in this state, Radha captivates my
smile, unclear playful speech because of sighs, lips washed with the radiance
of teeth, breasts slightly trembling by faster breathing, the heightened
pleasure of embrace and the yielding of the body – fulfilled is the lover who
drinks at the doe-eyed one’s lips.
Krishna under her control desired to dorn herself. Krishna was tired but contented and joyful at the end of sport .
Radha’s limbs were extremely tired. She spoke to Krishna thus:
hands cooler than sandal paste anoint deer-musk on my breasts which are like
the auspicious kalasha (pitcher) of the Love-god” – Thus spoke Radha to
Krishna who was delighting her with his sport.
my eyes which send out arrows of Cupid has lost its sheen by your kisses. Brighten it by applying kajal which is
darker than the colour of honey bees” – Thus spoke Radha to Krishna who was delighting
her with his sport.
restrict the playful activities of my doe-eyes, with ear-globes which are like
the ropes of Love-god.” – Thus spoke Radha to Krishna who was delighting her with
hair falling like a swarm of bees on my
face which is more beautiful than the
lotus and blemishless” – Thus spoke Radha to Krishna who was delighting her with
lotus-face! put a round mark with
deer-musk on my brow resembling the half-moon and with drops of perspiration on
it because of the effort.” – Thus spoke Radha to Krishna who was delighting her
with his sport.
tresses which are beautiful as peacock feathers and are, as it were, like the
flag of Cupid”. –
Thus spoke Radha to Krishna who was delighting her with his sport.
thoughts! replace the gem-studded ornaments, waist-string, clothes etc on my hip,
cave of the elephant Cupid” – Thus spoke Radha to Krishna who was delighting her with his sport.
auspicious words of Jayadeva which are sweet as the nectar of remembering the
lotus feet of Hari and which destroy the sins of Kaliyuga- Thus spoke Radha to
Krishna who was delighting her with his sport.
decorate my breasts and cheeks, arrange the girdle on my hip, adorn the hair
with garlands of flower, replace the bracelets on my hands and the anklets on
my feet “ Thus told Krishna happily carried out her request.
on the bed of Adisesha and his form is reflected in the gems on the thousand
hoods of Adishesha creating the impression of his pervasiveness. It also looks
as if He wants to see Lakshmi, who is serving his lotus feet, with a hundred eyes and it seems that he has created the many
reflections for this purpose. May that Hari potect you all.
intelligent men critically and joyfully examine Gita Govindam of poet Jayadeva,
whose mind is fully engaged in Krishna, and evaluate the poet in terms of his
skill in the fine art of music, his understanding of Vaishnavism, his handling
of the shringara rasa (erotic
sentiment) in his work.
कांताधर धरणितलं गच्छ यच्छान्ति भावं
work of Jayadeva, full of shringara rasa, (erotic sentiment) is around, O Madhweeka (a kind of sweet)! your worry is wasted; O Sugar! You are hard; O
Grapes! who will look at you? O nectar! (amruta)! You are as good as
dead (mrita); O Milk! Your taste is like water; O makanda (flower
honey)! You cry; O lips of the loved one! go to the nether world [ the idea is all these other things are
insipid in comparison with the shringara rasa in this work of Jayadeva]
by Jayadeva, son of Bhojadeva and Radha Devi be dedicated to sri Parasara and
other poets of yore.