Shreekrishna Kirtana
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Shreekrishna Kirtana Kabya ( bn, শ্রীকৃষ্ণকীর্তন কাব্য) or Sri Krishna Kirtana Kabya is a pastoral
Vaishnava Vaishnavism ( sa, वैष्णवसम्प्रदायः, Vaiṣṇavasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu denominations along with Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. It is also called Vishnuism since it considers Vishnu as the ...
drama in verse composed by
Boru Chandidas Chandidas (born 1408) was a medieval poet of Bengal, or possibly more than one. Over 1250 poems related to the love of Radha and Krishna in Bengali with the ''bhanita'' of Chandidas are found with three different sobriquets along with his name, ...
. It is considered to be the most significant work after
Charyapada The Charyapada (IAST: Caryapāda, Assamese language, Assamese/Bengali language, Bengali: চর্যাপদ) is a collection of mystical poems, songs of realization in the Vajrayana tradition of Buddhism from the tantra, tantric tradition in ...
in the history of
Bengali literature Bengali literature ( bn, বাংলা সাহিত্য, Bangla Sahityô) denotes the body of writings in the Bengali language and which covers Old Bengali, Middle- Bengali and Modern Bengali with the changes through the passage of time ...
and Mixed Assamese literature. These verses are believed to be written in the pre-Chaitanya era of the later half of 14th century CE.


History of publication

In 1909, Basanta Ranjan Roy Bidvatballava retrieved the ''punthi'' (manuscript) of Sri Krishna Kirtana from a shelf in the cowshed of Debendranath Mukhopadhyay, a resident of Kankilya Village,
Bankura Bankura () is a city and a municipality in the state of West Bengal, India. It is the headquarters of the Bankura district. Etymology In the Mahabharata, Bankura was described as Suhmobhumi. The word or (in Nagari: rāḍh) was introduced af ...
. Since the ''punthi'' was found shorn of its pages including the opening and ending ones, its original name could not be ascertained. A slip inside the ''punthi'' reveals that it was initially preserved in the royal library of Bishnupur under the name of Sri Krishna Sandarva. However, the ''punthi'', edited and rechristened as Shreekrishna Kirtana by Bidvatballava, was published by
Vangiya Sahitya Parishad Bangiya Sahitya Parishat is a literary society in Maniktala of Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Established during the time of the British Raj, its goal is to promote Bengali literature, both by translating works in other languages to Bengali and ...
in 1916.


Origin

The Sri Krishna Kirtana of Boru Chandidas was deeply influenced by the
Vishnu Purana The Vishnu Purana (IAST:, sa, विष्णुपुराण) is one of the eighteen Puranas#Mahapuranas, Mahapuranas, a genre of ancient and medieval texts of Hinduism. It is an important Pancharatra text in the Vaishnavism literature c ...
, the popular folk-literature of the periodSen, Sukumar (1991, reprint 2007). ''Bangala Sahityer Itihas'', Vol.I, , Kolkata: Ananda Publishers, , pp.120-154 and the Gitagovindam by Jaydeva. The influence of other
Purana Purana (; sa, , '; literally meaning "ancient, old"Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature (1995 Edition), Article on Puranas, , page 915) is a vast genre of Indian literature about a wide range of topics, particularly about legends an ...
s like the
Padma Purana The ''Padma Purana'' ( sa, पद्मपुराण or पाद्मपुराण, or ) is one of the eighteen Major Puranas, a genre of texts in Hinduism. It is an encyclopedic text, named after the lotus in which creator god Brah ...
and the
Brahma Vaivarta Purana The ''Brahmavaivarta Purana'' ( sa, ब्रह्मवैवर्त पुराण; ) is a voluminous Sanskrit text and a major Purana (''Maha-purana'') of Hinduism. It is an important Vaishnavism text. This Purana majorly centers aroun ...
and the Vaishnava scriptures is also substantial. There is a strong affinity of popular folk literature of the time in the style of the verse. These books are also influenced by Assamese language. Assamese words such as বাটে বাটে, আছিলা, আই, পেলাইয়া etc. were used in the original book, and the Assamese letter 'ৰ' is also used.


Contents

Sri Krishna Kirtana consists of 418 Bengali ''pada''s (verses) and 133 (total 161, 28 shlokas are repeated twice) Sanskrit ''shloka''s, which were also probably composed by the poet. Among these 418 verses, 409 verses have the name of the author in them. The extant work is divided into 13 ''khanda''s (sections), namely, ''Janma'' (birth), ''Tamvula'' (piper betel which was considered as a token of love in that time), ''Dana'' (tax-collection), ''Nauka'' (boat), ''Bhara'' (burden), ''Vrindavana'', ''Yamuna'', ''Bana'' (arrow), ''Vamshi'' (flute) and ''Radha Viraha'' (estrangement of Radha) (the last khanda is not named by the poet). ''Yamuna khanda'' is further divided into three sub-sections. The first sub-section is ''Kaliya Damana khanda'' (coercion of Kaliya, the snake-demon section), and the third sub-section is ''Hara khanda'' (necklace section). The name of the second sub-section has not been found in the manuscript, but its subject matter is Radha's ''vastraharana'' (stealing Radha's robes). ''Bhara Khanda'' consists of a sub-section, named ''Chatra khanda'' (umbrella section). Three characters,
Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one ...
,
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 ...
and Badayi, the messenger interrelate the plot of the play. Dialogues and counter-dialogues in ''payar'' and ''tripadi'' meters have added to the dramatic quality of Sri Krishna Kirtana.


Story

Shrikrsnakirtan is a lyrical composition involving Radha and Krishna; its storyline is not based on the
Bhagavata Purana The ''Bhagavata Purana'' ( sa, भागवतपुराण; ), also known as the ''Srimad Bhagavatam'', ''Srimad Bhagavata Mahapurana'' or simply ''Bhagavata'', is one of Hinduism's eighteen great Puranas (''Mahapuranas''). Composed in Sa ...
, but the popular erotic folk-songs, known as the ''dhamali''s. However, Baru Chandidas managed to add substantial originality, making it a masterpiece of medieval
Bengali literature Bengali literature ( bn, বাংলা সাহিত্য, Bangla Sahityô) denotes the body of writings in the Bengali language and which covers Old Bengali, Middle- Bengali and Modern Bengali with the changes through the passage of time ...
. He gives the yearning of Radha a distinctly
Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...
i rendition, and in the process captures much of the social conditions of the day.


Notes


External links

* {{Culture of West Bengal Bengali-language literature Vaishnavism Music of Bengal Indian styles of music