Govindadasa (1535–1613), was a Bengali

Vaishnava Vaishnavism () ), also called Vishnuism, is one of the major Hindu traditions, that considers Vishnu as the sole supreme being leading all other Hindu deities, that is, '' Mahavishnu''. It is one of the major Hindu denominations along wit ...

poet known for his body of devotional songs addressed to

Krishna Krishna (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God (Hinduism), Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, c ...

. Living in an atmosphere of Krishna-bhakti preached by Sri Chaitanya (1486–1533), he composed extensively on the

Radha Radha (, ), also called Radhika, is a Hindu goddess and the chief consort of the god Krishna. She is the goddess of love, tenderness, compassion, and devotion. In scriptures, Radha is mentioned as the avatar of Lakshmi and also as the Prak� ...

-Krishna love legend. He is also known as Govindadasa Kaviraja.

Life

Govindadasa came from a Bengali Baidya family. The younger son of Chiranjeeva and Sunanda, Govindadasa was born in his mother's ancestral home in Srikhanda, a village in Purba Bardhaman district which was one of the centers of

Gaudiya Vaishnavism Gaudiya Vaishnavism (), also known as Chaitanya Vaishnavism, is a Vaishnavism, Vaishnava Hindu denominations, Hindu religious movement inspired by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1486–1534) in India. "Gaudiya" refers to the Gaura or Gauḍa region o ...

. His grandfather (Sunanda's father) Damodar Sen was also a poet, the author of ''Sangit Damodar''. His brother Ramachandra Sen was a noted philosopher-poet. After the death of his father, Ramachandra went to live in Srikhanda with his maternal grandfather (even now the members of his family live here and everyone knows them as Karta Roy), for a short duration, Ramchandra along with his younger brother Govindadasa went to live in the village of Telia Budhuri (now Bhagawangola) in

Murshidabad district Murshidabad district is a district in the Indian state of West Bengal. Situated on the left bank of the river Ganges, the district is very fertile. Covering an area of and having a population 7.103 million (according to 2011 census), it ...

, district. This place has the distinction of being his Shripat. According to the

Chaitanya Charitamrita The ''Chaitanya Charitamrita'' (; ), composed by Krishnadasa Kaviraja in 1557, is written in Bengali with a great number of Sanskrit verses in its devotional, poetic construction, including '' Shikshashtakam''. It is one of the primary biogr ...

, in his early life, Govindadasa was at a

shakta Shaktism () is a major Hindu denomination in which the deity or metaphysical reality is considered metaphorically to be a woman. Shaktism involves a galaxy of goddesses, all regarded as different aspects, manifestations, or personificatio ...

, a worshiper of the goddess

Shakti Shakti (Devanagari: शक्ति, IAST: Śakti; 'energy, ability, strength, effort, power, might, capability') in Hinduism, is the "Universal Power" that underlies and sustains all existence. Conceived as feminine in essence, Shakti refer ...

, (

Durga Durga (, ) is a major Hindu goddess, worshipped as a principal aspect of the mother goddess Mahadevi. She is associated with protection, strength, motherhood, destruction, and wars. Durga's legend centres around combating evils and demonic ...

Kali Kali (; , ), also called Kalika, is a major goddess in Hinduism, primarily associated with time, death and destruction. Kali is also connected with transcendental knowledge and is the first of the ten Mahavidyas, a group of goddesses who p ...

). (her worshiped Durga is still regularly worshiped at Srikhand)

Poetry

Govindadas is one of the leading poets of the Vaishnava Padavali movement, a flowering of Bengali poetry from the 14th to 17th centuries, based on the Radha-Krishna legend. The Padavalis reflects an earthy view of divine love that, starting in South India, spread rapidly as part of the

Bhakti ''Bhakti'' (; Pali: ''bhatti'') is a term common in Indian religions which means attachment, fondness for, devotion to, trust, homage, worship, piety, faith, or love.See Monier-Williams, ''Sanskrit Dictionary'', 1899. In Indian religions, it ...

movement. The literary movement was also marked by a shift from the classical language of

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

, to the local languages ( Apabhramsha) or derivatives, e.g. the literary language of

Brajabuli Brajabuli (), is an artificial literary language popularized by the Maithili poet Vidyapati. His Brajabuli lyrics about the love for Radha Krishna is considered to his best of works. Other poets emulated his writing, and the language became estab ...

. Starting in the 14th century with

Chandidas Chandidas (1339–1399, ) was a medieval Bengali poet from India, or possibly more than one. He wrote over 1250 poems related to the love of Radha and Krishna in medieval Bengali. The poems of Chandidas with ''bhanita'' are found with three di ...

(1339–1399), the ''Padavali'' poets included Govindadas, Jnanadas, Maladhar Basu, Sheikh Faizullah, Syed Sultan, Balaram Das, Lochan Das, Basudev Ghosh,

Murari Gupta Murari Gupta (floruit, fl. 16th century) was born in a Baidya family in Sylhet. He was a physician and noted Bengali language, Bengali Vaishnava poet. He became a devotee of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and moved to Nabadwip.He is incarnation of hanuman ...

, and Narahari Das. The movement flowered in the 16th century with poets like he also wrote poems in the Brajabuli literary canon influenced by Vidyapati, and is often called "the second Vidyapati". More than others in the movement, Govindadas was influenced by the work of Maithali poet Vidyapati, and he travelled to Vidyapati's village of Bishphi in Madhubani to collect his works. His poetic oeuvre is preserved in two texts, the ''Sangita-Madhava'' (songs of Krishna) and ''Gitamrta'' (nectar songs). His poems reflect a focus on the lovers' trysts, their anxiousness, and Radha's unhappiness, particularly at Krishna's wanton ways. The poem ''Shyam Abhisare Chalu Binodini Radha'' (the lover Radha goes to meet Krishna) talks of how Radha comes to the woods to meet Krishna; when at last they find each other, each gazes on the other and their hair bristles with excitement. In ''rasabatI Radha rasamaya kAnhA'', the lovers fight and exchange angry words, but it all ends in an embrace. Quite often, Govindadas will enter the scene himself, and directly address one of the characters, as part of the vanity (''bhanita'') line at the end, a traditional line introducing the name of the poet. His poetry influenced many future generations. In 1884,

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Thakur (; anglicised as Rabindranath Tagore ; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengalis, Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter of the Bengal Renai ...

composed the opera ''Bhanusimher PadavalI'' in this genre. Writing under the disguise of an unknown 17th-century bhakti poet, Tagore also included a song by Govindadas ''sundari radhe Aoye bani'' (beautiful Radha comes to the forest), which he set to music. Govindadas continues to be popular today, and his songs are regularly sung as

kirtan Sikh ''kirta''n with Indian harmoniums and '' Kenya.html" ;"title="tabla'' drums (a common and popular pairing), in Kenya">tabla'' drums (a common and popular pairing), in Kenya (1960s) ''Kirtana'' (; ), also rendered as ''Kiirtan'', ''Kirt ...

s, especially among Vaishanavas. Govindadasa's poetry has been translated into English by Arun Biswas, Denise Levertov, and others. Here is a poem on Radha's anguish, where Govindadas personally enters the fray with some (not very sympathetic) advice for Radha: : The marks of fingernails are on your breast : and my heart burns. : Kohl of someone's eyes upon your lips : darkens my face. : I am awake all night : your eyes are red. : So why do you entreat me, Kaan, : saying that you and I have but one heart?... : Go home, then, : says GovindadAsa. - trans. Edward C Dimock and Denise Levertov, ''In praise of Krishna''. Govinda Das is also the author of the play ''sangIt sAdhak''. He was listed as a ''kavirAj'' (''kavi''=poet; ''rAj'' = king) by Jiva Gosvami.

, Adi lila 12:51 Another poet by the name of Govindadasa from the 18th century is associated with one of the mangalkavyas of Bengal, ''kalikAmangala'' of Govindadasa - a devotional song seeking blessings of the goddess. This is a later (18th century) work, showing the influence of Bharatchandra's ''Annadamangal''.

References

{{authority control Bengali male poets Bengali Hindus 1535 births 1613 deaths Poets from West Bengal

Life

Poetry

See also

References