The Gitagovinda of Jayadeva

The Gitagovinda of Jayadeva
Author: Barbara Stoler Miller
Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass
Total Pages: 246
Release: 2016-01-01
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 8120803663

Jayadeva's dramatic lyrical poem Gitagovinda is a unique work in Indian literature and a source of inspiration in both medieval and contemporary Vaisnavism. It concentrates on Krsna's love with the Cowherdess Radha. Intense earthly passion is the example Jayadeva uses to express the complexities of divine and human love. It describes the loves of Krsna and Radha in twelve cantos containing twenty-four songs. The songs are sung by Krsna or Radha or Radha's maid and are connected by a brief narrative of descriptive passages. The appropriate musical mode and rhythm for each song are noted in the text. This poem is really a kind of drama, of the ragakavya type, since it is usually acted. Critical acclaim of the poem has been high, but its frank eroticism has led many Indian commentators to interpret the love between Radha and Krsna as an allegory of the human soul's love for God. Learned and popular audiences in India and elsewhere have continued to appreciate the emotional lyricism the poem expresses in its variations on the theme of separated lover's passion.

Gita Govinda

Gita Govinda
Author: Jayadeva
Publisher: NYU Press
Total Pages: 260
Release: 2017-12-01
Genre: Literary Collections
ISBN: 0814740790

Jayadeva’s Gitagovínda is a lyrical account of the illicit springtime love affair of Krishna and Radha, a god and goddess manifesting on earth as a cowherd and milkmaid for the sake of relishing the sweet miseries and rapturous delights of erotic love. The narrative framing their bucolic songs was composed under royal patronage in northeastern India in the twelfth century. It was to be performed for connoisseurs of poetry and the erotic arts, for aesthetes and voluptuaries who, while sensually engaged, were at the same time devoted to Krishna as Lord of the Universe. The text at once celebrates the vicissitudes of carnal love and the transports of religious devotion, merging and reconciling those realms of emotion and experience. Erotic and religious sensibilities serve, and are served by, the pleasures of poetry. In the centuries following its composition, the courtly text became a vastly popular inspirational hymnal. Jayadeva's songs continue to be sung throughout India in fervent devotional adoration of Krishna.

Gītagovinda

Gītagovinda
Author: Amulya Kumar Tripathy
Publisher:
Total Pages: 210
Release: 2006
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN:

Study of Gītagovinda, Sanskrit lyric poetry by Jayadeva, 12th cent.; includes Sanskrit text with English translation; based on historical and archaeological research in Orissa.

Jayadeva's Gitagovinda

Jayadeva's Gitagovinda
Author: Ke Jayakumār
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2008-04
Genre: Krishna (Hindu deity)
ISBN: 9788182901179

Generations have marveled at the exquisite beauty, lyricism and literary valueof Geetagovinda. At once sacred and profane, its appeal is universal. While aninimitable felicity of diction and an intensity of passion distinguish the workin its original Sanskrit, no less significant is Jayadeva s intensity of devotion toHari. The work portrays the nuances and complexities of love in all its dimensions.Krishna and Radha, as portrayed by Jayadeva, endear themselves to thereader by their human and divine attributes. Jayadeva s Krishna is human inhis follies while divine in his intensity of love. Radha is infallible as a goddessin devotion while human in her susceptibility to anger and grief.By its celestial perfection and extraordinary beauty, Geetagovinda has alwayschallenged and lured translators and commentators. Every generation deservesto rediscover the eternal spell and charm of this great work that combinessensuous beauty with devotional fervour.

Erotic Love Poems from India

Erotic Love Poems from India
Author: Amaru
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
Total Pages: 144
Release: 2004
Genre: Poetry
ISBN: 1590300971

"A single stanza of the poet Amaru," declared a ninth-century poetry critic, "may provide the taste of love equal to what's found in whole volumes." Graceful and yet remarkably playful, intensely passionate, and at times hinting of divine transcendence, the poems translated here offer poignant glimpses into the many faces of erotic love. This collection, known in Sanskrit as the Amarushataka ("One Hundred Poems of Amaru"), was compiled in the eighth century and remains to this day one of India's finest collections of love poetry. It has never been fully translated into English poetry before. Legend connects the poetry's authorship to King Amaru of Kashmir, while present-day scholars generally consider it an anthology of the verses of many poets. Poet and translator Andrew Schelling's artful translations render the ancient verses with freshness and immediacy. Schelling's compelling introduction and afterword offer musings on the colorful background and history of the original Sanskrit text.