Poetry Chaikhana
Sacred Poetry from Around the World

India
(Indian Subcontinent)

Jayadeva

Timeline (12th Century)

Poems by Jayadeva
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Jayadeva's Gitagovinda is quite passionately erotic, but it is also considered a highly spiritual work, sung daily in many Indian temples dedicated to Krishna.

For many in the Krishna bhakti tradition, the Gitagovinda is revered in a way similar to the Song of Songs in the Judeo-Christian tradition.

Through song, it tells of the love play, separation, and union between the God-man Krishna and the cowherdess Radha.

On an esoteric level, Radha is understood to be the individual soul that petulantly feels abandoned by God (Krishna) who, in turn, loves all souls (and is therefore accused of infidelity by Radha). But Radha finally overcomes her hurt and rejoins her lover in passionate union. Using the hugely magnetic power of desire, this bhakti classic describes a pathway to return to Oneness with the Divine.

Little can be said with historical certainty about the life of Jayadeva, though legend suggests that he was born into a Brahman family and educated in literature and sacred texts before he abandoned scholarship for the life of a sadhu, a wandering ascetic. It is said that he later married Padmavati, a high caste temple dancer, and as he wrote his masterpiece the Gitagovinda, Padmavati danced -- a dynamic play between conception and expression, mirroring the classical balance between the transcendent Male and the manifesting Female.

Jayadeva's name can be translated as "God triumphs" and he often plays with this meaning in his poetry.

A couple of Jayadeva's songs are also gathered in the Sikh holy book The Adi Granth.

Poems by Jayadeva

	Raga Gujri
	Raga Maru
	When he quickens all things (from The Gitagovinda)
	[2] You rest on the circle of Sri's breast, (from The Gitagovinda)
	[3] When spring came, tender-limbed Radha wandered (from The Gitagovinda)
	[6] My heart values his vulgar ways, (from The Gitagovinda)

Recommended Books

Love Song of the Dark Lord: Jayadeva's Gitagovinda, Translated by Barbara Stoler Miller

Amazon.com

Songs and Saints from the Adi Granth, Translated by Nirmal Dass

Amazon.com

Related Links:

	Gita Govinda - Digital General Collection http://www.hti.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=genpub;idno=AEG4039.0001.001 The complete text of the Gita Govinda in scanned form.
	Gita Govindam of Jayadeva http://www.geocities.com/giirvaani/gg/gg_intro.htm Several selections of the Gita Govinda along with an introduction.

Please support the Poetry Chaikhana, as well as the authors and publishers of sacred poetry, by purchasing some of the recommended books through the links on this site. Thank you!

Poetry Chaikhana Sacred Poetry from Around the World

Jayadeva

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Poetry Chaikhana
Sacred Poetry from Around the World