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
J
I 'l1n10rr'llh,

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

x
 who collated references
discussions are SUlJplemlented
Because
of references· is
transla-
an:~IVSFS of
selected commentaries de-
edition. References to variant
......'-'Ju. terms are found
.I.AJ.\.,Q..1.

times.

'Barbara
NEW YORK,
 Preface
A Note on Sanskrit IJ~r"n'·lnr1'11t-·IA1t"'l

INTRODUCTION

7
3
4
5 .... "",.... "'"...<t- ......... "" Passion 26
Notes 39

. SANSKRIT

CRITICISM OF

Textual Evidence 177

MJlnu:scn.pts of the Fifteenth and Sixteenth
of the Shorter Recension
1H"'1rl10'n ... .a

3 Selected Commentaries on
4 Previous of
_S
6
7
A GLOSSARY OF SANSKRIT WORDS
A NOTE ON SANSKRIT PRONUN

as
as
c as
are Krishna for convenlence
7
,-",,,--,,,-,,,,-,,,I ,-",,-,,,1-,-,,,,-,,,1- ,-",,-,,,1-,-,,,,-,,,1"-/"-/"-/"-/1 I
"-/ '-'" '---" '--, i '--' "'-" "-/ "-/ '-'" "-/ I- "-/ '-.--/ I- '-'" "'-'. I .- "-/ I - II
 is clear
for the constel-
constellation

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 I. paper-
Nrsimha- back, 200.
Asiatic Society of Bengal; 65, pt.
Because Jayadeva's the
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
Moon: Vai!~laVa-saha#ya Cult of Bengal Univer-
sityof
16. Balabodhini c0111n1entary of Caitanyadasa, Vaishnava scholar
and devotee who lived Vrndavana the late sixteenth century, gives inter-
to it is followed by his intro-
to and con1mentary, as most contemporary
Vaishnava on Gitagovinda.
See Dil110ck, Place of Shashibhushan Dasgupta,
ReHgious Cults 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
its holds title in the temple
of means that he is the singing of dasavatara song These sound patterns occur Sanskrit works, but
before the image at every evening worship and various other songs at See Keith, Gerovv, Glossary
19. Cited from R. Majumdar, "A Century Gitagovinda Ms. Gujarati urej' of Speech pp. 102-7; Warder, Kavya Literature,
Paintings," Journal of the Bombay, Arts and Law, 6, 6 vol. 2, pp.
with plate. this inscription is discussed belo\v in 6. "Song is an attenlpt to put the tenns prabandlza and padiivali.. as ]aY:1deva
critical Gitagovinda. uses then1, in a nleaningful relation.
20. These n1anuscripts basis critical edition of the Gitagovinda; 7· For exanlples of alliteration in verses, see 35, 36; 20; V.19.
they are described and analyzed in detail in critical apparatus in the clothbound Rasikapriya C0111nlentary offers the nlost conlplete analyses' of the standard
edition this book. Evidence of the poem's status the fourteenth century en~lDl()ve~d in verses; see Glossary.
citation of verse as example the poetic "certainty,"
use the ternlS and iLllat/rtta, the 1110St (0111-
pariccheda of the of with notes by
found con1n1entaries on the Gitagovinda) but ternl chandasis S0111e-
Motiial Banarsidass, X.39.
ti111eS in place of as the word for 111eter. Thus 111eters are
See Kulkarni's edition . text and con1mentary and my analysis of the designated ak!arachandas as well Var~lavrtta is also used. Moric nleters
early dated nlanuscripts of Shorter Recension Gitagol/1:nda; see also are designated 111atravrtta and l1ultrachandas, as well as t{zla,vrtta; ga~lachandaJ is
Majumdar, "15th Century Gitagovinda Ms. used of moric n1eters the beats are organized into 111easured units
22. See edition; also Sul- nletrical analysis presented here draws on the studies: Lassen, Gitago-
tanate, vol. V The History and Culture People Bharatiya Bhattacarya
Vidya Bhavan, 332-38; the Introcluc:tlon to Premlata Sharnla's edition of

43
 are The Ineter of 13 has cou-
measures, 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:
vahatt' malayasamire nzadana1n upanidhdya I
kusumanikare virahahrdayadalanaya II
'-/"-"'''-''''-...../''-'''''-'''''-''' - -'''-'''''-'''''-''',,--",'''-'''''-''' -'-../ I
"-'" 1\ .
A.D.

the gaf}a organization of the

'7, which

mea-

should be noted that the repetition of con-

SUj~gt~stlng comparison with Prakrit
see Gerow on gramyanu-

47
 Love

Ralnaswarny Sastrulu, used the ex-

of the breasts of a \VOnlan they are only half
revealed; in Dlzvanyitlokalocana lJatat71Tva:' Varanasi: Kashi
p. 138, says:

... 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 Phi-

of Aesthetics (Poona: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, pp. 56 fl.
nA .. ~' ..."':.rl"I"'I" of the friend is later codified into the elaborate esthetic theory
Bengali Vaishnavis1n; the relevance of this to the
Shashibhusan Dasgupta, Obscure Religious Cults K.

8. The technical verse is vastunirdesa. It is possible that

much-debated on the type of this
verse, to is nanda J
which is
"

'-""~'-,. '''''''A'''-.''-1 as Krishna hinlself in the final Gitagovinda) he is ad-

dressed by the two epithets Yadunandana and J-lrdayr;znandana.
9· Kavijayadeva 0 srigitagol1inda (Calcutta: Gurudas 1957,
B.S. 13 62 ), Harekrishna devotes an entire chapter to the
analysis of this verse. 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 exces-
sive 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
J of lnd';an Literature Delhi: Akadenli,

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?" There-
upon 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 2

1t'Yl'"lY",..t"1,rth'",,,"'"l is with
is renowned for his subtle
But the pure of words.
is famed as of poets for his musical ear,
no one rivals master
For poems of erotic mood 3

If Hari enriches your

his arts of seduction arouse you,
to I av'aa~~va
these sweet soft 4
 sung

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

of the World! 1 3
6

steps,

world in a flood of 'lXl'"lll"lI"1',",\1l"C"

eXlsteJ[lCe is eased.
 Poet •~'H'1nl""'U':l
sung
song of invocation
a.u.:nJ..I. ...~ ... prayer.
'U' ..... U'

.JL _ _ .. God of .JL'" & p--,

men.
18

20

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

21

22

73
72
 LCIJlUCI-IIU Hlt:l I Radha wandered Tender buds into as creatures aD~lnCion """"'r,r1i<::oC'lt'''T

creeper the forest

...... ...., .......... "A.Jl= Cactus the to wound deserted lovers.
his many haunts. When mood is Hari roams
of love increased To dance with young women,
iIIrll"Y'lliPnt-1nrrher with fevered t-Ihr",.n-'hf-C' A cruel time for deserted lovers.
friend sang to the mood.
Scents of creepers with of fresh jOO, .

Intimate bonds with young bewilder even

mood is Hari roams here
Third sung with To dance with young women, friend-
cruel time for deserted lovers.
Soft sandal mountain winds caress vines of clove.
hum with bees and cuckoos. Kll,rl.rlllnnr mango trees tremble from VInes.
mood is, roanlS here Brindaban forest is washed river waters.
To dance with young friend- When mood is Hari roams here
A cruel deserted lovers. To dance with young women, friend-
2 7
A cruel time for deserted lovers. 33
wives of travelers in love's mad fantasies.
swarm over flowers clustered to fill mimosa branches. the potent memory of Hari's
mood is Hari roams here mood
(.'!"\f·,n,n-t"l't'YliP Love's presence.
To dance with young women, friend- When mood Hari roams here
A cruel time for lovers. To dance with young women, friend-
A cruel time deserted lovers. 34
trees' fresh leaves strong scents of deer musk.
Flame-tree nails of tear at young hearts.
When mood is Hari roams here Wind the forests with fine
To dance with young women, friend- Shaken loose from
A for lovers. As it blows Love's breath
To torture every heart it touches here. 35
~1"",q1'Y" ..... r .. saffron flower are scepters of Love.
like wanton bees Love's sounds of ~n..u'v.:),
'l...u. ...

mood is roams Shaken as bees seek

dance with young women, friend- Raise fever the ears of
time for deserted lovers. Somehow survive these
the of lovers' union
C!Una:XIng moments of meditation.

74
IJ.n.'nt- ........... to Mura's defeater
in his seductive game
JL,...Y'-,JU.F-"lL ..l lIl.J.J.Jl.F-,
He one, kisses ~""'U''''''JL'''''',
He stares at one's C'11crrrp,«:,t", .. rp.
in many women's p,1rY'\h .. nJr4:>'C'

revels here as the crowd of r h , l l r n.... ' nrr

sang to make Ra:dha: look back. 37
Revels him

wondrous mystery of Krishna's sexual

'The Fourth sung Is song. Let its celebration
Hari revels crowd of ~ r h '....... ..... ...,.nr

Revels in to 45

To create bliss in the

soft black sinuous lotus limbs
festival of
beautiful cowherd
Wind in their bodies.
39

sandalwood mountains

to
.JJ-iI'<J ...... j;"JllL ... k

After weeks of . lIr ... 'It-h'I ..... .nr

the bellies of
Melodious voices of . . . loA'''''JI.'-\.JUJ

Raise their sound

When spy the buds
On mango branches. 47
is first

77
 a mass of clouds.
sVv'elll.nfl breasts.

While Hari roamed in the forest

love to the women,
.a.YJI. .........,..JL.a..l.1'O.

Radha's hold on
And envy drove her away.
she retreat
'1ln'lr'txrhplr'p

her thicket of wild

Sounds of bees circles overhead
her-
Bpn.rpC'C'prf

She told her friend the secret.

8

The sung with

r>,,··' .... ...,.nr flute echo nectar from his 9

His restless eyes his head sways, at his
heart recalls Hari his

II
79
 ways, the of
he draws my hair to kiss me.
Kesi's sublime tormentor to revel with me!
tiPlr"il'UlnO" his I've gone mad for his fickle love to
he steals away without me
To his open.
For more young ~~L."=,"A."U in my love.
perverse heart me!
wants Krishna back.
What can ? 10
love with Madhu's killer.
Let the story of a in his fOi." , ..

Kesi's sublime tormentor to revel with me!

The mad for his fickle love to 18
I've

The flute in his hand

Lies fallen coy ~J.u. 'u,
..... "" ....

II Sweat of love wets his

be1Nllde:red face is ~rnll Hl v--
when we meet; coaxes me with Hn'I-I-.o'............. words. "InI7'l,trlnln,O' him
as he loosens the silken cloth
t"Ar.rlA'9'"I .. ,

Kesi;s sublime to revel

I've gone mad for his fickle love to

from a lakeside
buds on new asoka branches
......VUAJLJ..l;;;

clusters of scarlet flowers

to me.

on his cheek.

20

"Careless Krishna" is the second part in Cititaf:J'OV;lnara

80 8f
 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,

she say

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?"

CIOUn-11 f(:~ forms

come," she says.

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!

teethmark she
does it evoke
Damn you, Madhava!
Don't lies with me!
Go after
She 6

Love?

now,

the to consurne weak

2 your childhood for women.
Madhava! Go! leave me!
your lies wi th file!
Krishna!
8

lament deceived
3 Heaven such sweet elixir.
Damn you, Madhava! leave me!
Don't your lies with nle!
on saclohlre. Go after Krishna!
She ease your 9

eAbashed 106 107

IS part

2
 6

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

IX
 8

feet
 is

27
9
 She told

20

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

17

18
 SUI? Jj~alJUt'lanave I
HVVU~fHf(U 11'11.1t..,n'l.Jn manlfJ,nRena miahttJhu1a II
does refer

10
were
l?ant~'lsammttaJtavof)'aaei~'lVUle II
 On basis of available evidence of seems reasonable
to assert that the music theorist K.llmbhak;ar(lla
version of the which he based his connmen-
version was then followed other COlnnaell-
whose commentary
This accounts
m,lnllSClnplts after sixteenth
been
and
h.o,.,.~ .. t-.+-.... I cowherds'
V.I8

devakina;naanal} II
 a

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

VIII.lo
 II
II

X.I2 omits verse.

nfl"""'" ,("fl (""lIn !?otalzatan II

Xl

XLIO

XLII

two

200
 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.