Geet Govind - I

Geet Govind is an epic poem, written in Sanskrit by Jayadev in the eleventh century. Jayadev was the royal poet in the court of King Lakshmansen of Bengal. In this poem he unabashedly describes the love affair of Krishna and Radha. Jayadev does not symbolise or rationalise or philosophise this love. On the other hand he portrays the physical aspect with a candour and explicitness perhaps never done before or since. There is no doubt that Jayadev was an ardent devotee of Krishna and considered both Krishna and Radha as divine. Perhaps that is why he does not question the morality of this romance. He does not pass judgment on the divine and does not apply the “human” standards of ethics to their behaviour. He merely records every nuance of the myriad emotions the couple goes through. Jealousy, sorrow, bitterness, regret, loneliness, longing, companionship and ecstasy - all have a place in this epic.

When Radha would see Krishna flirting with the gopis of Vrindavan, a pang of jealousy would engulf her.

"The love intoxicated gopis, each proud of her beauty would embrace Krishna, And he would eagerly succumb to their desires, while Radha helplessly looked on."

The cool breeze would burn her body, the melody of Krishna’s flute would shatter her eardrums and the soft grass of the madhuban would prick her feet. On one such occasion she could not bear the torment within her soul and stormed out. Krishna saw her leaving and wanted to stop her, but the other gopis had pinned him down and he could just watch his love leave him.

As soon as he could free himself from the grasps of the gopis he set out to look for Radha. He could feel her pain in his heart and his own for being separated from her and he promised to make amends. Though he searched everywhere he could not find her. Ultimately he sat down in a lonely grove by the river Yamuna dreaming about Radha.

Radha’s friend approached him and began to describe Radha’s troubled state. Love has driven Radha crazy. She lies down to sleep but unable to do so she gets up, walks a while as if in a trance, sits down for some time then tries to sleep again. This cycle has been repeating all evening. She creates your image with flowers and inscribes “love” in it. Sometimes she startles from her reverie thinking you are next to her and realising that she is alone she goes back into her thoughts. Radha has asked me to seek you and find out if she alone is the victim of this love or it has affected you as well.

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