Govindadasa (1535–1613, bn, গোবিন্দদাস) was a

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

Vaishnava poet known for his body of devotional songs addressed to Krishna. Living in an atmosphere of Krishna-bhakti preached by

Sri Chaitanya Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (; born Vishvambhar Mishra) was a 15th-century Indian saint who is considered to be the combined avatar of Radha and Krishna by his disciples and various scriptures. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's mode of worshipping Krishna ...

(1486–1533), he composed extensively on the

Radha Radha ( sa, राधा, ), also called Radhika, is a Hindu goddess and the chief consort of the god Krishna. She is worshiped as the goddess of love, tenderness, compassion, and devotion. She is the avatar of goddess Lakshmi and is also de ...

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

Life

Govindadasa came from a Baidya family. The younger son of Chiranjeeva and Sunanda, Govindadasa was born in his mother's ancestral home in Srikhanda, a village in Bardhaman district which was one of the centers of Gaudiya Vaishnavism. His grandfather (Sunanda's father) Damodar Sen was also a poet, the author of '' Sangit Damodar''. His brother

Ramachandra Rama (; ), Ram, Raman or Ramar, also known as Ramachandra (; , ), is a major deity in Hinduism. He is the seventh and one of the most popular ''avatars'' of Vishnu. In Rama-centric traditions of Hinduism, he is considered the Supreme Being ...

was a noted philosopher-poet. After the death of his father,

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) , Damodar Sen, who was a disciple of Narahari Sarkar. Later, for a short duration, Ramchandra along with his younger brother Govindadasa went to live in the village of Telia Budhuri (now

Bhagawangola Bhagawangola is a village, with a police station, not identified in 2011 census as a separate place, in the Bhagwangola I CD block in the Lalbag subdivision of Murshidabad district in the state of West Bengal, India. History Bhagwangola was a ...

) in Murshidabad district, district. This place has the distinction of being his Shripat. According to the Chaitanya Charitamrita, in his early life, Govindadasa was at a

shakta Shaktism ( sa, शाक्त, , ) is one of several major Hindu denominations, wherein the metaphysical reality is considered metaphorically a woman and Shakti (Mahadevi) is regarded as the supreme godhead. It includes many goddesses, all ...

, a worshiper of the goddess Shakti, ( Durga/ Kali). ( Her worshiped Durga is still regularly worshiped at Srikhand)

Poetry

Govindadas is one of the leading poets of the

Vaishnava Padavali The Vaishnava Padavi ( bn, বৈষ্ণব পদাবলী) movement refers to a period in medieval Bengali literature from the 15th to 17th centuries, marked by an efflorescence of Vaishnava poetry often focusing on the Radha-Krishna legend ...

movement, a flowering of

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'' ( sa, भक्ति) literally means "attachment, participation, fondness for, homage, faith, love, devotion, worship, purity".See Monier-Williams, ''Sanskrit Dictionary'', 1899. It was originally used in Hinduism, referring to d ...

movement. The literary movement was also marked by a shift from the classical language of Sanskrit, to the local languages ( Apabhramsha) or derivatives, e.g. the literary language of

Brajabuli Brajabuli is an artificial literary language popularized by the poet Vidyapati. His Brajabuli lyrics about the love which were turned out to be for Radha Krishna later on these are considered his best work. Other poets emulated his writing, and t ...

. Starting in the 14th century with Chandidas (1339-1399), the ''Padavali'' poets included Govindadas, Jnanadas,

Maladhar Basu Maladhar Basu ( bn, মালাধর বসু; c. 15th century) was a Bengali poet. He wrote ''Sri Krishna Vijaya'' (শ্রীকৃষ্ণবিজয়, ''Triumph of Lord Krishna''), the earliest Bengali narrative poem that can be assign ...

Sheikh Faizullah Sheikh (pronounced or ; ar, شيخ ' , mostly pronounced , plural ' )—also transliteration of Arabic, transliterated sheekh, sheyikh, shaykh, shayk, shekh, shaik and Shaikh, shak—is an honorific title in the Arabic language. It commonl ...

Syed Sultan Syed Sultan ( bn, সৈয়দ সুলতান) was a medieval Bengali Muslim writer and epic poet. He is best known for his magnum opus, the ''Nabibangsha'', which was one of the first translations of the Qisas Al-Anbiya into the Bengali la ...

, Balaram Das, Lochan Das, Basudev Ghosh,

Murari Gupta Murari Gupta ( fl. 16th century) was born in a Baidya family in Sylhet. He was a physician and noted Bengali Vaishnava poet. He became a devotee of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and moved to Nabadwip. In 1513, he composed in Sanskrit the ''Shri Krishna C ...

, 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 Maithils (Tirhuta: মৈথিল, Devanagari: मैथिल), also known as Maithili people, are an Indo-Aryan ethno-linguistic group from the Indian subcontinent, who speak the Maithili language as their native language. They inhabit the ...

poet

Vidyapati Vidyapati ( – 1460), also known by the sobriquet ''Maithil Kavi Kokil'' (the poet cuckoo of Maithili), was a Maithili and Sanskrit polymath-poet-saint, playwright, composer, biographer, philosopher, law-theorist, writer, courtier and ...

, 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 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 Kirtana ( sa, कीर्तन; ), also rendered as Kirtan, is a Sanskrit word that means "narrating, reciting, telling, describing" of an idea or story, specifically in Indian religions. It also refers to a genre of religious performance arts ...

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 Jiva Goswami ( sa, जीव गोस्वामी, Jīva Gosvāmī; ) was an Indian philosopher and saint from the Gaudiya Vaishnava school of Vedanta tradition, producing a great number of philosophical works on the theology and practice ...

. Chaitanya Charitamrita, 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 Bharatchandra Ray Gunakor ( bn, ভারতচন্দ্র রায় গুণাকর; 1712–1760) was an 18th-century Bengali and Sanskrit Sakta court poet and song composer. He is mostly known for his poetic work, '' Annadamangal'' or ...

's ''Annadamangal''.

References

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

Life

Poetry

See also

References