meghair meduramambaram
vanabhuvah syamastamaladrumair
naktam bhirurayam tvameva tadimam
radhe griham prapaya
ittham nandanide
satas chalitayoh pratyedhvakunjadrumam
radha-madhavayor jayanti
yamunakule rahah kelayah
The Bhagavata Purāṇa made the Radha-Krishna love as much a facet of the Hindu world as the Vedas and the Upanishads. It is a more tangible expression of the worship (bhakti) of the Divine. True, it is especially pronounced in the Vaishnṇava tradition.
Countless poets and singers have verbalized this allegory of God-Human bond. One of the foremost among them was Jayadeva (Joydeb): This sage-poet wrote in Sanskrit. His birthplace has made Bengal count him as one of her own. The Guru Granth Sahib of the Sikhs has selections from the poems of Jayadeva. The poet is venerated in Bengal as divinely inspired.
As per the tradition Jayadeva was born in Kenduli sometime in the twelfth century. This modest village in the district of Birbhum has become a place of pilgrimage. In mid-January every year, a fair is held in this village in the poet’s honor, at which many minstrels congregate and bring joy to the people: an example of experiential religion at its best.
The poem that has immortalized Jayadeva is Gita Govinda: a spiritually uplifting title to Hindu ears. Siegel’s Love Songs of Radha and Krishna (Siegel, 2009) sounds better than an earlier translation of the work as the Song of the Cowherd. The work is a moving narration of the story of the amours of Krishna and the jealousy of his love-mate Radha. The very first stanza tells us how this love started:
My own rough translation of the stanza above::
Thick clouds darken the skies above
The woods are somber with tamala trees
The darkness of night frightens the lad.
Radha, take him to his home, please!
Thus spake the herdsman Nanda,
Prompting the love of Radha and Krishna.
They strolled in the woods, played in the shades
On the banks of the River Yamuna.
As we course through the verses, we read about Krishna’s frolics with gopis in vernal splendor, of Radha’s frustrations with Krishna’s dalliance, her complaints to a confidante; about Krishna’s sympathies for Radha, and his sorrow at the thought that she was upset.
One of Radha’s female friends describes her torments to Krishna and her interminable pining. Krishna sends a message to the effect that he would be at a certain orchard expecting her arrival. By now Radha has grown very weak; yet, she manages to keep the rendezvous at the appointed moonlight hour. But Krishna does not show up. Radha fears he is sporting with some other damsel. Indeed he was, as confirmed by Radha’s maid. The abandoned Radha spends a sleepless night of anguish in the woods. When, at crack of dawn, Krishna appears and sits by her feet, she breaks out in rage and orders him to return to his paramours. Krishna leaves; Radha becomes sadder still. Later that evening Krishna returns, and cajoles her back to his affections by recalling their past love plays. Radha’s companions urge her to relent and accept him back.
After the companions leave, Krishna and Radha get into amorous intimacies. Here we find erotic poetry let loose, not just innuendos of intercourse, but explicit descriptions of sweats of exertion.
Lines like these could shock readers unaccustomed to such literature. Some classical commentators on Jayadeva’s masterpiece went into more explicit descriptions of the Radha-Krishna intimacies. Jayadeva’s theme is commonplace but his lyrics are uncommonly powerful. No translation can do justice to the sculpture of words in the original, with its rhymes, meters and alliterations. It is said that Goethe wasn’t satisfied with the English and German translations, and once toyed with the idea of producing his own version. Sir Edwin Arnold’s version is of very high quality.
For the non-Vaishṇava, Gita Govinda may be just fine poetry. But its essence and power are lost if one fails to see spiritual joy here, or the metaphor that is superimposed on the music. The details strike only the superficial reader as prurient, for there is profound symbolism in the allegory. Radha and Krishna are like jivatman and paramatman, playing hide and seek as it were, until they merge in rapture. erotic poetry, art, and tantric practice are intrinsic to certain Hindu schools in this framework.
Jayadeva’s classic is heart-warming music. It has been beautifully choreographed in Odishi and Manipuri modes. It has inspired paintings in Gujarat, Rajasthan and elsewhere. Tamil saint-poets have been inspired by it. Gita Govinda concludes with this thought:
“Whatever is delightful as music, whatever is divine, whatever is exquisite in sweet love, whatever is graceful in fine poetry: let the happy and wise learn all these from the songs of Jayadeva whose soul is united to the feet of Narayana.”
Spurts of Thought 