Gitagovinda of Jayadeva: Love Song of the Dark Lord (UNESCO collection of representative works)

a

century sUllJC()ntln(~nt in

of India. Its literature into Kerala Portions of the

IS

p.vr~p.nt-H.n.,I

continued to "'~~"''':>r''1''''+-'''' variations on the

fies tion of introduction. of the poem from

'Il'liY'1,t"rt"'ll1nrr

I J d l l ! U I.... lLd

songs consultation and century 1.1..-11111-1~_,rlll rrlanlusc:rUJt

sundari

x

J

I 'l1n10rr'llh,

discussions are SUlJplemlented Because of references· is translaan:~IVSFS of selected commentaries deedition. References to variant ......'-'Ju. terms are found

who

.I.AJ.\.,Q..1.

times.

'Barbara NEW YORK,

collated

references

Preface A Note on Sanskrit

IJ~r"n'·lnr1'11t-·IA1t"'l

INTRODUCTION

7 3 4 5 Notes

.... "",.... "'"...
Passion

26

39

. SANSKRIT

CRITICISM OF Textual Evidence 177 MJlnu:scn.pts of the Fifteenth and Sixteenth of the Shorter Recension 3 Selected Commentaries on 4 Previous of _S 6 1H"'1rl10'n ... .a

7 A GLOSSARY OF SANSKRIT WORDS

A NOTE ON SANSKRIT PRONUN

c

as as as

are

Krishna

for

convenlence

7

,-",,,--,,,-,,,,-,,,I ,-",,-,,,1-,-,,,,-,,,1- ,-",,-,,,1-,-,,,,-,,,1"-/"-/"-/"-/1 "-/ '-'" '---" '--, i '--' "'-" "-/ "-/

'-'" "-/ I- "-/ '-.--/ I- '-'" "'-'. I .-

"-/

I

I - II

is clear for the constelconstellation

rite. 19

the Sattasai of .21

From 22

23

to criticized for its authors of the J:j1J~ap·avlata cowherdess-consort In

"Evolution of Love-

33

32

sOl1th,w~lrd from

JI.:ll..£lL"JlJlJl ... ,AJl&,

• 33

was wonder-struck.

sees every person goes wherever can arrest eyes ens;na:red

half

the chest of Vishnu

II

Sangitarajet by MaharafJa Kun2bhii

University

PP·2g-7°·

is NrsimhaAsiatic Society of Bengal; 65, pt.

paper-

I.

back,

200.

the

Because Jayadeva's relations an10ng tentative.

15th and 16th Centuries," 88-104; see Misra, Cult oj by S. Bengal see also E.:C. The Place of the H£dden Vai!~laVa-saha#ya Cult of Bengal Univer-

Moon: sityof

Vaishnava scholar 16. Balabodhini c0111n1entary of Caitanyadasa, interand devotee who lived Vrndavana the late sixteenth century, gives his introto it is followed by most contemporary to and con1mentary, as Vaishnava on Gitagovinda. See Dil110ck, Place of ReHgious Cults

Shashibhushan Dasgupta, pp. 115, 118.

18. See Cult of laganntltha; p. Kali Cha-ran Patnaik, the Oriya poet who has an Oriya lyric version Gitagovinda Das, and froln have much about Oriya traditions the poen1 holds title in the temple its of means that he is the singing of dasavatara song before the image at every evening worship and various other songs at 19. Cited from R. Majumdar, "A Century Gitagovinda Ms. Gujarati Paintings," Journal of the Bombay, Arts and Law, 6, 6 with plate. this inscription is discussed belo\v in critical Gitagovinda. 20. These n1anuscripts basis critical edition of the Gitagovinda; they are described and analyzed in detail in critical apparatus in the clothbound edition this book. Evidence of the poem's status the fourteenth century citation of verse as example the poetic "certainty," pariccheda of the of with notes by Motiial Banarsidass, X.39.

. text and con1mentary and my analysis of the See Kulkarni's edition early dated nlanuscripts of Shorter Recension Gitagol/1:nda; see also Majumdar, "15th Century Gitagovinda Ms.

22. See tanate, vol. V Vidya Bhavan,

edition; also SulThe History and Culture People Bharatiya 332-38; the Introcluc:tlon to Premlata Sharnla's edition of

These sound patterns occur See Keith, urej' of Speech vol. 2, pp.

Sanskrit works, but Gerovv, Glossary pp. 102-7; Warder, Kavya Literature,

6. "Song is an attenlpt to put the tenns prabandlza and padiivali.. as ]aY:1deva uses then1, in a nleaningful relation.

7· For exanlples of alliteration in verses, see 35, 36; 20; V.19. Rasikapriya C0111nlentary offers the nlost conlplete analyses' of the standard en~lDl()ve~d in verses; see Glossary. use the ternlS and iLllat/rtta, the 1110St (0111found con1n1entaries on the Gitagovinda) but ternl chandasis S0111eti111eS in place of as the word for 111eter. Thus 111eters are designated ak!arachandas as well Var~lavrtta is also used. Moric nleters are designated 111atravrtta and l1ultrachandas, as well as t{zla,vrtta; ga~lachandaJ is used of moric n1eters the beats are organized into 111easured units nletrical analysis presented here draws on the studies: Lassen, GitagoBhattacarya

43

are The Ineter of 13 has coumeasures, last of which is a cretic cadence Ineter of song 19 has couplets of six n1easures followed dence _); the cretic pattern (_ "-'" _) In the fourth measure of gives n1eter a distinctive meter of song 21 has three five-beat measures, the each couple is lengthened addition of a final heavy syllable. The of song divides into three seven-beat measures' fixed sequence _ "-'" ,_/ "-'" , followed trochaic cadence (_ Song 10 is expressed n1etrically identical asymn1etrical stanzas. The all differ in syllable moric while consistently a hi a verse of the song shows the fixed pattern:

I

vahatt' malayasamire nzadana1n upanidhdya kusumanikare virahahrdayadalanaya

II '-/"-"'''-''''-...../''-'''''-'''''-''' - -'''-'''''-'''''-''',,--",'''-'''''-''' -'-../ I

"-'" 1\ . A.D.

the gaf}a organization of the

'7, which

mea-

should be noted that the repetition of conSUj~gt~stlng comparison with Prakrit see Gerow on gramyanu-

47

Love Ralnaswarny Sastrulu, of the breasts of a \VOnlan revealed; in Dlzvanyitlokalocana p. 138, says:

used the exthey are only half lJatat71Tva:' Varanasi: Kashi

... gopyanzanal'n SaJ7fli:lWRa!(u'ca'YUjr:[aLam iva mallarglzatanl upayad /Jhll/1~n"\JI'ltp II 1\1asson,

in Sanskrit Literature," lvl ah fill

J. Masson and M. V. Patwardhan, ,-~antarasa and of Aesthetics (Poona: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, nA ..

Phipp. 56 fl.

~' ..."':.rl"I"'I" of the friend is later codified into the elaborate esthetic theory

Bengali Vaishnavis1n; the relevance of this Shashibhusan Dasgupta, Obscure Religious Cults

to the K.

8. The technical verse is vastunirdesa. It is possible that much-debated on the type of this verse, to is nanda which is '-""~'-,. '''''''A'''-.''-1 as Krishna hinlself in the final Gitagovinda) he is addressed by the two epithets Yadunandana and J-lrdayr;znandana. J

9·

Kavijayadeva 13 62 ), Harekrishna analysis of this verse. B.S.

0

"

srigitagol1inda (Calcutta: Gurudas 1957, devotes an entire chapter to the conl1nentators gives it detailed consideration.

10. Kunlbhakan)a gives an elaborate statelnent on poetic propriety in support of this interpretation. glosses \vith nandasamipat. points to the combination of and tJllaV,UU,I/?a

Manari.ka interprets the speech as the slhlgatam of Radha, spoken frol11 excessive love, as alternative Nanda as speaker. is l110st interpretation. It is related to the story that the child followed NanJa into the woods one evening at dusk and becanle afraid. Sankaranlisra this story in its fornl. See Suniti Kun1ar layadetlCl of lnd';an Literature Delhi: Akadenli, J

spoken by Radha's friend are intended foster thus rell10ved frOln any involvement relatlonshJ:p between Radh~i and Krishna and is replaced by the con-

14· so' bibhet tasmad bibheti sa h{lyanl ikftltn cakre yan anyan nasti kaf man nu tJa'12enutt tata evasya bllayaril t/iyaya kasrnad hy abhe!yat d-l/itiy,id vai bhavati. was afraid. Therefore one who is alone is afraid. This one then thought to hinlself, "since there is else than myself, of \vhat am I afraid?" Thereupon his fear, verily, passed away, for of \vhat should he have afraid? Assuredly it is froln a second that fear arises.

aamc~aarejrttam

II

II

II

FIRST

"Clouds thicken the T amala trees darken the forest. The him. you take him home!" leave at N anda's trees in thickets on the way, Until secret of Radha and Madhava on the riverbank. of bards at Padmavatl's his heart ""h~,t-hY\",,C' of the And he made this F rom tales of the pa~~SlOlna;te When Krishna loved 1t'Yl'"lY",..t"1,rth'",,,"'"l

is

2

with

is renowned for his subtle the pure of words. is famed as of poets for his musical ear, no one rivals master For poems of erotic mood

But

If

3

Hari enriches your his arts of seduction arouse you, to I av'aa~~va

these sweet soft

4

sung

5 Moved That ordains animal slallg11lter You take form as the enJJgtlteiled .JL.J1U,'\..4'\..4.11..IL"~ of the World!

6

steps,

world in a flood of eXlsteJ[lCe is eased.

'lXl'"lll"lI"1',",\1l"C"

way "'

.

1

3

Poet •~'H'1nl""'U':l song of invocation a.u.:nJ..I. ...~ ... prayer. God of .JL'"

sung

'U' ..... U'

.JL

_ _ ..

&

p--,

men.

18

20

.... ,......-', ,'-_...... eyes,

21

22

72

73

Tender buds into as creatures aD~lnCion Cactus the to wound deserted lovers. When mood is Hari roams To dance with young women, A cruel time for deserted lovers.

LCIJlUCI-IIU Hlt:l I Radha wandered creeper the forest his many haunts. of love increased her with fevered

...... ...., .......... "A.Jl=

t-Ihr",.n-'hf-C'

iIIrll"Y'lliPnt-1nrr

friend sang to

Third

the mood. Scents of creepers with of fresh Intimate bonds with young bewilder even mood is Hari roams here To dance with young women, friendcruel time for deserted lovers.

sung with

Soft sandal mountain winds caress vines of clove. hum with bees and cuckoos. mood is, roanlS here To dance with young friendA cruel deserted lovers. wives of travelers in love's mad fantasies. swarm over flowers clustered to fill mimosa branches. mood is Hari roams here To dance with young women, friendA cruel time for lovers. trees' fresh leaves strong scents of deer musk. Flame-tree nails of tear at young hearts. When mood is Hari roams here To dance with young women, friendA for lovers. ~1"",q1'Y"

.....

r ..

saffron flower

are

like wanton bees mood is roams dance with young women, friendtime for deserted lovers.

""""'r,r1i<::oC'lt'''T

scepters of Love. Love's

74

2

7

Kll,rl.rlllnnr mango trees tremble from Brindaban forest is washed When mood is Hari roams here To dance with young women, friendA cruel time for deserted lovers.

Wind the forests with fine Shaken loose from As it blows Love's breath To torture every heart it touches here. sounds of ~n..u'v.:), Shaken as bees seek Raise fever the ears of Somehow survive these the of lovers' union C!Una:XIng moments of meditation. 'l...u. ...

.

VInes. river waters.

the potent memory of Hari's mood When mood Hari roams here To dance with young women, friendA cruel time deserted lovers. (.'!"\f·,n,n-t"l't'YliP

jOO,

33

Love's presence.

34

35

IJ.n.'nt- ...........

to Mura's defeater in his seductive game in many women's sang to make Ra:dha: look back.

JL,...Y'-,JU.F-"lL ..l lIl.J.J.Jl.F-,

'The Fourth

He one, kisses ~""'U''''''JL'''''', He stares at one's revels here as the crowd of r h , l l r n.... ' nrr Revels him C'11crrrp,«:,t", .. rp.

p,1rY'\h .. nJr4:>'C'

37

Is

sung

wondrous mystery of Krishna's sexual song. Let its celebration Hari revels crowd of ~ Revels in to r h '.......

39

..... ...,.nr

45

To create bliss in the soft black sinuous lotus limbs festival of beautiful cowherd Wind in their bodies.

sandalwood mountains to After weeks of . the bellies of Melodious voices of . . . Raise their sound When spy the buds On mango branches. .JJ-iI'<J ...... j;"JllL ...

k

lIr ... 'It-h'I ..... .nr

loA'''''JI.'-\.JUJ

is

first

77

47

a mass of clouds. sVv'elll.nfl breasts.

While Hari roamed in the forest love to the women, Radha's hold on And envy drove her away. she retreat her thicket of wild Sounds of bees circles overhead her.a.YJI. .........,..JL.a..l.1'O.

'1ln'lr'txrhplr'p

Bpn.rpC'C'prf

She told her friend the secret. 8

The

sung with

9

r>,,··' .... ...,.nr flute echo nectar from his His restless eyes his head sways, at his heart recalls Hari his

3

4 II

79

the of he draws my hair to kiss me. Kesi's sublime tormentor to revel with me! for his fickle love to I've gone mad

ways,

tiPlr"il'UlnO"

his

he steals away without me To his For more young perverse heart wants Krishna back. What can ?

open. ~~L."=,"A."U in my love.

me! 10

love with Madhu's killer. Let the story of a in his Kesi's sublime tormentor to revel with me! mad for his fickle love to I've fOi." ,

The

..

18

The flute in his hand Lies fallen coy ~J.u. 'u, Sweat of love wets his be1Nllde:red face is ~rnll Hl v-..... "" ....

II

when we meet; coaxes me with as he loosens the silken cloth Kesi;s sublime to revel I've gone mad for his fickle love to

Hn'I-I-.o'.............

"InI7'l,trlnln,O'

words.

him

t"Ar.rlA'9'"I .. ,

from a lakeside buds on new asoka branches clusters of scarlet flowers to me.

......VUAJLJ..l;;;

on his cheek. 20

"Careless Krishna" is the second part in

80

8f

Cititaf:J'OV;lnara

6 As

for

..Il.'o.c:l.'\..J.1!. .ll..i..n..a

of love

Madhava rer::lenrea thicket on

Seventh saw me

v

'-J

A

of women,

.......

3

she say

9 4

10

mlsta.KlI1lg me

IV

IS

5

7

Hllmmln2: to

.IlAJl.AAA ......... AJL..

He 'makes your bed at it empty confusion. your lover Passion's mental 10

v

v

93

18 As you cast your lrlgnterlea As you stop at every tree,

part

Radha suffers in

£'ot/e

to

me?"

6 CIOUn-11

f(:~

forms come," she says.

7

8

10

woods.

II

VII

97

5

me,

his

18

20

Her rapt face With deer musk

In a sarldt>anJ<: Mura's foe makes love

He smears makes woods foe makes love

Her He

lotus.

33 like blossoms. her writhe. W jlldj:io'1VeI~-~~lr l~ln(lea Krishna

34

1°3

39

of red lac from her lotus feet force tree of love to Damn you, Go! leave lies with me!

5 teethmark she does it evoke Damn you, Madhava! Don't lies with me! Go after She

6

Love? now,

7 2

your Madhava! Go! your lies wi th file! Krishna!

the to consurne weak childhood for women. leave me!

8

3

on saclohlre.

eAbashed

106

lament Heaven Damn you, Madhava! Don't your lies with nle! Go after Krishna! She ease your

deceived such sweet elixir. leave me!

9

107

IS

part

2

6

7

8

is tender you are is you are When is you are When he looks expectant you turn away, leave when he is Your perverseness Turns your sandalbalm to Cool moon rays to ice of to torments of IS

3

IX

8

5

feet

is

27

9

She told

20

"Ecstatic

17

18

.lI.~&J...,.Ul.Ula IS

SUI? Jj~alJUt'lanave

HVVU~fHf(U

11'11.1t..,n'l.Jn

manlfJ,nRena miahttJhu1a

II

I

does refer

10

were

l?ant~'lsammttaJtavof)'aaei~'lVUle

II

On basis of available to assert that the version of the

evidence of seems reasonable music theorist K.llmbhak;ar(lla which he based his connmenversion was then followed other COlnnaellwhose commentary This accounts m,lnllSClnplts after sixteenth been and

h.o,.,.~ .. t-.+-.... I

cowherds'

V.I8

devakina;naanal}

II

a

I

sal? ntma~uJate srtt!(')vzn,aa/Jtlaarl'lVznaam asul'Jhas,/?ant'lava vanC4~amane

VIII.lo

II

II

II

omits verse.

X.I2

\

nfl"""'" ,("fl (""lIn

!?otalzatan

Xl

XLIO XLII two

200

II

ver-

XII.I

XII.IO

II

II

II

II

feet.

rasaste

1

II

p

Amar

Kamasut

KD KS Millat!

NS

vv

vililsa.

vasal{'lua112:kii

II

vt

vesa.

subha.