Gita Govinda 1

English (machine translation) 1

Language: English

1.0 — 2 parts
1.1 — 49 parts
1.2 — 21 parts
1.3 — 16 parts
1.4 — 23 parts
1.5 — 20 parts
1.6 — 12 parts
1.7 — 42 parts
1.8 — 11 parts
1.9 — 11 parts
1.10 — 16 parts
1.11 — 36 parts
1.12 — 32 parts

1.0.p1

The poem Gītagovinda,
composed by the venerable Jayadeva Gosvāmin.

1.0.p2

The Holy Poem Gītagovinda.
First Sarga:
Joyful Dāmodara.

“The sky is thick with clouds; the forest grounds are dark with tamāla trees;
he is afraid by night; so you alone, O Rādhā, escort him home.”
At these words of Nanda the two departed: victorious along the Yamunā’s bank
are the secret amorous plays of Rādhā and Mādhava beside every bower-tree on the path.

1.1.2

The palace of whose mind is adorned with the deeds of the Goddess of Speech,
an emperor among wandering bards who attend Padmāvatī’s feet,
the poet Jayadeva composes this lyric composition
fraught with tales of the erotic play and love of the holy Vāsudeva.

1.1.3

If your mind is passionate in remembering Hari, if you have curiosity for the arts of amorous dalliance,
then listen to Jayadeva’s eloquence, a sequence of sweet, delicate, and lovely verses.

1.1.4

Umāpatidhara makes his speech sprout; Jayadeva alone knows the pure composition of words;
Śaraṇa is praiseworthy for swiftness in difficult passages; none is renowned to rival
Master Govardhana in compositions on true subjects heightened by erotic sentiment;
and the king of poets, Dhoyī, is a living storehouse of what he has heard.

1.1.4.p1

First Lyric Composition

1.1.4.p2

Sung in Mālava-Gauḍa melodic mode and Rūpaka rhythmic meter. An eight-stanza song.

1.1.5

In the waters of the ocean of cosmic dissolution you upheld the Veda, acting as a boat without distress.
O Keśava who assumed the body of a fish, triumph, Hari, Lord of the world! [Refrain]

1.1.6

The earth rests upon your exceedingly vast back, made rough and heavy with scars from supporting the world.
O Keśava who assumed the form of a tortoise, triumph, Hari, Lord of the world!

1.1.7

The earth stays attached to the tip of your tusk, like a dark mark clinging upon the moon.
O Keśava who assumed the form of a boar, triumph, Hari, Lord of the world!

1.1.8

On your excellent lotus-hand the nail is a wondrous claw that tears apart the bee-like body of Hiraṇyakaśipu.
O Keśava who assumed the form of the man-lion, triumph, Hari, Lord of the world!

1.1.9

With your strides you deceive Bali, O wondrous dwarf, purifying mortals with the water from your toenail.
O Keśava who assumed the form of a dwarf, triumph, Hari, Lord of the world!

1.1.10

You bathe the world free of sin in water consisting of warriors' blood, quenching the fever of worldly existence.
O Keśava who assumed the form of the lord of the Bhṛgus, triumph, Hari, Lord of the world!

1.1.11

In battle you scatter in every direction, pleasing to the guardians of the quarters, the lovely offering of the ten-faced one’s heads.
O Keśava who assumed the body of Rāma, triumph, Hari, Lord of the world!

1.1.11.p1

1.7

1.1.12

On your fair body you wear a garment radiant like a rain-cloud, resembling the Yamunā fearful of the blow of your plow.
O Keśava who assumed the form of the plow-bearer, triumph, Hari, Lord of the world!

1.1.13

Alas, you condemn the mass of Vedic injunctions for sacrifice, showing compassion in your heart at the slaughter of beasts.
O Keśava who assumed the body of the Buddha, triumph, Hari, Lord of the world!

1.1.14

For the destruction of barbarian hordes you wield a sword, terrible like a blazing comet.
O Keśava who assumed the body of Kalkin, triumph, Hari, Lord of the world!

1.1.15

Listen to this noble utterance of the poet Jayadeva, bestowing joy, bestowing auspiciousness, the essence of existence.
O Keśava who assumed ten different forms, triumph, Hari, Lord of the world!

1.1.16

To you who rescued the Vedas, who bear the worlds, who lifted up the terrestrial globe, who tore the demon asunder, who deceived Bali, who brought about the destruction of the warriors,
who conquered the descendant of Pulastya, who wield the plow, who spread forth compassion, who confound the barbarians, who fashioned the ten forms—homage to you, O Kṛṣṇa!

1.1.16.p2

Lyric Composition 2

1.1.16.p3

Sung in Gurjarī melodic mode and Niḥsāra rhythmic meter.

1.1.17

You who rest on the orb of Kamalā’s breasts, wearing earrings, O!
adorned with a lovely garland of wild flowers,
triumph, triumph, O divine Hari!

1.1.17.p1

[Refrain]

1.1.18

Ornament of the sun’s orb,
destroyer of worldly existence, O!
swan in the minds of the sages,
triumph, triumph, O divine Hari!

1.1.19

Subduer of the venomous Kāliya serpent,
delighter of people, O!
sun to the lotus of Yadu’s race,
triumph, triumph, O divine Hari!

1.1.20

Destroyer of Madhu, Mura, and Naraka,
whose seat is Garuḍa, O!
cause of the sport of the gods,
triumph, triumph, O divine Hari!

1.1.21

Whose eyes are spotless lotus petals,
liberator from worldly existence, O!
treasure of the three worlds,
triumph, triumph, O divine Hari!

1.1.22

Adorned by the daughter of Janaka,
conqueror of Dūṣaṇa, O!
who quelled the ten-necked one in battle,
triumph, triumph, O divine Hari!

1.1.23

Handsome like a fresh rain-cloud,
upholder of Mount Mandara, O!
cakora bird to the moon of Lakṣmī’s face,
triumph, triumph, O divine Hari!

1.1.24

“We bow at your feet”:
thus consider, O!
Bring well-being to those who bow!
Triumph, triumph, O divine Hari!

1.1.25

May this auspicious and luminous song
of the poet Jayadeva
create joy, O!
Triumph, triumph, O divine Hari!

1.1.26

Imprinted with saffron from embracing the slope of Padmā’s breasts,
may the chest of Madhusūdana fulfill your desire—
a chest whose stream of sweat from the fatigue of playful Bodiless One
seems to make his passion manifest.

1.1.27

In springtime, to Rādhā, wandering in the forest with limbs delicate like vāsantī flowers,
pursuing Kṛṣṇa in many ways, her torment mounting violently
with anxiety born of the fever of Kandarpa, a companion passionately spoke as follows:

1.1.27.p1

NOTE: {“calat” is an alternative reading.}

1.1.27.p2

Lyric Composition 3

1.1.27.p3

Sung in Vasanta melodic mode and Yati rhythmic meter.

1.1.28

When the breeze from the Malaya mountains is soft from caressing tender clove creepers,
and bower-cottages resound with cooing cuckoos mingled with swarms of bees,

1.1.28.p1

Hari sports here in the passionate spring;
he dances together with young women, O confidante, in this season hard to bear for those separated from a lover. [Refrain]

1.1.29

When laments are drawn from wives of travelers by desires of maddening Madana,
and clusters of bakula blossoms are stirred into frenzy by swarms of gathered bees,

1.1.30

When lines of tamāla trees put forth fresh foliage yielding to the rich fragrance of musk,
and clusters of kiṃśuka flowers gleam like nails of mind-born love to tear the hearts of youthful men,

1.1.31

Where blossoms of the keśara flower bloom with the splendor of the golden scepter of King Madana; / where the swarms of bees gathered on pāṭala flowers take on the amorous beauty of Smara's quiver;

1.1.32

Where tender compassion seems to mock the gaze of the universe stripped of shame; / where the directions are bristling with ketaka blossoms shaped like lance-tips to pierce those separated from lovers;

1.1.33

Delightful with the fragrance of mādhavikā, perfumed with fresh mālatī and jasmine, / infatuating even the minds of sages, a kin to youthful passions;

1.1.34

Where mango trees bud and thrill with horripilation at the embrace of trembling atimukta creepers; / in the forest of Vṛndāvana, purified by the waters of the Yamunā winding through its borders.

1.1.35

This utterance of illustrious Jayadeva shines forth, containing the essence of meditating on Hari's feet, / describing the forest in the passionate spring season, attended by the stirs of Madana.

1.1.36

Perfuming the woodlands with garments of scent made visible by the pollen shaking from slightly blossomed jasmine creepers, / here the breeze, kin to the fragrance of ketakī, burns the mind like the life-breath of the Bodiless One spreading abroad.

1.1.37

With a fever in their ears stirred by the soft chirping of cuckoos sporting among mango shoots shaken by bees greedy for opened honey-scent, / these days are somehow passed by travelers through the joy of the nectar of union with their beloved's life, attained in a moment of absorbed meditation.

1.1.38

Pointing out nearby Murāri, who yearned for charming amorous dalliance shining forth in the flurried embrace of many women, / that confidante spoke again to Rādhikā before her eyes:

1.1.38.p1

|| Lyric Composition 4

1.1.38.p2

Sung in the rāga Rāmakarī and the tāla Yati.

1.1.39

His dark body anointed with sandal, clad in yellow garments, wearing a garland of wild flowers, / smiling, his cheeks adorned with jeweled earrings swaying in play—

1.1.39.p1

Here Hari sports playfully among the throng of infatuated women, intent on erotic play. || Refrain

1.1.40

Embracing Hari passionately with the full weight of her swelling breasts, / a certain cowherd woman sings along in the raised pañcama pitch.

1.1.41

Another simple cowherd woman deeply meditates on the lotus face of Madhusūdana, / which stirs mind-born love through the play of his eyes restless with amorous dalliance.

1.1.42

Another woman of shapely hips, drawing near to his cheek to whisper something at the base of his ear, / sweetly kissed her beloved, who was responsive with thrills of delight.

1.1.43

And another, out of curiosity for erotic art, on the bank of the Yamunā's waters, / pulled him by his fine cloth with her hand as he stood in a charming cane bower.

1.1.44

Intent on dancing with Hari in the joy of the rāsa, / a maiden was praised by him as the flutes softly sounded in harmony with the trembling bracelets keeping beat with her palms.

1.1.45

He embraces one woman, kisses another, delights another lovely girl; / he looks at another who smiles most charmingly, and follows after another graceful maiden.

1.1.46

Spoken by illustrious Jayadeva, may this delightful secret of Keśava's wondrous erotic play / in the forest of Vṛndāvana extend auspiciousness and renown.

1.1.46.p1

NOTE: {And “valitam” is also a reading.}

1.1.47

Creating bliss by delighting all beings, bringing about a festival of the Bodiless One with limbs soft and dark as blue lotuses, / embraced freely on every limb on all sides by the beauties of Vraja, infatuated Hari sports in spring like the erotic sentiment embodied, my friend.

1.1.48

As if from the distress of being swallowed by serpents dwelling on his slopes, the breeze from the sandalwood mountain seeks Mount Kailāsa, desiring to plunge into snow; / moreover, seeing the tender shoots at the crest of the mango trees, the shrill, melodious cries of the cuckoos burst forth in rising joy: “Kuhū! Kuhū!”

1.1.49

Embracing tightly against his chest the beloved of the cowherd women filled with grace in the exuberance of the rāsa, / Rādhā, blinded by love, kissed him boldly under the pretense of a hymn of praise, crying, “How sweet is your face, full of nectar!”; may that Hari, captivating with his smile, protect you.

1.1.49.p1

NOTE: {smṛta (?)}

1.1.49.p2

|| Thus ends the first sarga, entitled “Joyous Dāmodara,” in the illustrious Gītagovinda.

1.1.49.p4

Second Sarga
Carefree Keśava

1.2.1

While Hari sported in the forest, his love shared equally with all, Rādhā, feeling her own preeminence diminished, went elsewhere overcome with jealousy; / hidden in a vine bower whose topmost foliage hummed with swarms of bees, dejected though she was, she spoke in secret to her confidante:

1.2.1.p1

|| Lyric Composition 5

1.2.1.p2

Sung in the rāga Gurjarī and the tāla Yati.

1.2.2

His enchanting flute resounding with the sweet tone of the nectar of his moving lips, / his head swaying with trembling glances from the corners of his eyes, his earrings dangling against his cheeks— / my mind remembers Hari here, laughing and sporting in the rāsa. || Refrain

1.2.3

His hair encircled with a crown of lovely eyes from peacock feathers, / splendidly arrayed like a dense cloud illuminated by an abundant rainbow;

1.2.4

Eagerly longing to kiss the faces of the shapely-hipped cowherd women, / the sprout of his sweet lower lip red as a bandhujīva flower, radiant with an open smile;

1.2.5

Encompassing thousands of young cowherd women with his sprout-like arms thrilled with intense horripilation, / dispelling the darkness with rays from the gem-encrusted ornaments on his hands, feet, and chest;

1.2.6

His forehead marked with a sandal tilaka mocking the moon gliding through cloud banks, / the portal of his broad chest ruthless in pressing against the swell of full breasts;

1.2.7

Noble, his cheeks adorned with charming earrings shaped like jeweled sea-monsters, / clad in yellow garments, attended by an assembly of sages, mortals, gods, and demons;

1.2.8

Gathered beneath a fair kadamba tree, removing fear born of the impurities of the Kali age, / and delighting me as well in his mind with eyes restless and trembling with love;

1.2.9

This utterance of illustrious Jayadeva, portraying the exceedingly beautiful and enchanting form of the enemy of Madhu, / is now suitable for the righteous to remember the feet of Hari.

1.2.10

It counts his multitude of virtues, does not seek anger even by mistake, / carries contentment, and casts faults far away. / Though Kṛṣṇa's thirst roves among young women as he sports without me, / my contrary mind yet longs for him—what can I do?

1.2.10.p1

|| Song 6

1.2.10.p2

Sung in the rāga Mālava-gauḍa and the tāla Ekatālī.

1.2.11

To him who had entered a secluded bower-home and was dwelling hidden in secret at night, / glancing timidly in all directions, laughing in the rush of amorous passion—

1.2.11.p1

O friend, make the generous slayer of Keśin delight / passionately with me, who am transformed by the longing of desire! // Refrain

1.2.12

To him who was soothed with hundreds of clever flatteries when I was shy at our first encounter, / whose loin-cloth loosened as I spoke with a soft, sweet smile—

1.2.13

To him who was placed upon a bed of tender sprouts and lay for a long time on my very breast, / who embraced me and drank my lower lip after I had embraced and kissed him—

1.2.14

To him whose cheeks were adorned with bristling hair while my eyes were languidly closed, / who grew utterly restless from the intoxicating frenzy of supreme desire while my whole body was wet with sweat—

1.2.15

To him who mastered the lore of the mind-born god as I cooed with the soft sweet call of a cuckoo, / who scored my dense, heavy breasts with nails while my hair was disheveled with loosened flowers—

1.2.16

To him who fully spread the canopy of lovemaking as the jeweled anklets on my feet jingled, / who bestowed kisses while grasping my hair as my jingling girdle came loose—

1.2.17

To him whose lotus eyes were half-closed, languid with the flavor of the time of erotic pleasure, / to Madhusūdana, whose desire was awakened as my creeper-like body fell down helplessly—

1.2.18

May this utterance of Śrī Jayadeva, portraying the consummate love-play of the enemy of Madhu, / playfully spread joy as told by the longing cowherd maiden.

1.2.19

His playful flute slipped from his hand; his sidelong glances were turned aside by the cowherd women with curved eyebrow-creepers; his cheek was moist with excessive sweat. / Seeing me, he was embarrassed, his sweet mouth in the forest charming with memories of nectar: I behold Govinda surrounded by the beauties of Vraja, and I rejoice.

1.2.20

Even the wind from the garden pool pains me with the blossoming of fresh aśoka creepers with small, dazzling clusters; / and, O friend, this crowned sprout of mangoes, lovely with the humming of wandering bees, brings no joy.

1.2.21

Having secretly observed the gopīs with meaningful smiles, their braid-knots utterly loose and falling, their eyebrow-creepers raised, and their armpits and half their breasts deceitfully exposed with hands; and having his desire awakened, long meditating within on what is enchantingly lovely: may the youthful Keśava remove your distress!

1.2.21.p1

Thus ends the second canto, entitled “Unvexed Keśava,” in the great poem Gītagovinda.
|| 2

1.2.21.p2

(3)
Third Canto
Enamored Madhusūdana

1.3.1

Placing in his heart Rādhā, who was the bond of the chain of his worldly longing, / even the enemy of Kaṃsa abandoned the beauties of Vraja.

1.3.2

Following after that Rādhikā here and there, his mind afflicted by the wounds of the Bodiless One's arrows, / full of repentance, Mādhava sat despondent in a bower on the bank of the daughter of Kalinda.

1.3.2.p1

|| Song 7

1.3.2.p2

Sung in the rāga Gurjarī and the tāla Yati.

1.3.3

“Seeing me surrounded by a throng of young women, she departed; / and being in the wrong, I too did not restrain her out of great fear.

1.3.3.p1

Hari, Hari! Because my regard was ruined, she went away as if enraged! // Refrain

1.3.4

What will she do? What will she say after long separation? / What use is wealth to me, what use are people, what use is my life, what use is my home?

1.3.5

I imagine her face with knitted brows from the weight of anger, / like a red lotus agitated by a bee hovering above it.

1.3.6

I constantly and deeply take delight in her who has entered my heart; / why do I follow her into the forest, why do I lament here in vain?

1.3.7

O slender woman, I know your heart is pained with resentment; / yet I do not know where you have gone, and so I cannot conciliate you.

1.3.8

You appear before me, coming and going before my eyes; / why do you not give me a passionate embrace as before?

1.3.9

Forgive me! I will never again do such a thing to you; / show yourself, O beautiful one, for I am tormented by Manmatha.”

1.3.10

This was composed about Hari by humble Jayadeva, / the moon born from the ocean of Kindubilva.

1.3.11

“This garland of lotus-fibers on my heart is not the king of serpents; the row of blue lotus petals on my neck is not the luster of poison; / this sandal-powder is not ash: why do you rush in wrath, O Bodiless One, to strike at me bereft of my beloved, mistaking me for Hara?

1.3.12

Do not put that mango arrow in your hand! Do not string your bow! What manly prowess is there in striking one who has fainted, O you who have conquered the universe in play? / O mind-born one, shattered by the streaming arrows of flickering sidelong glances from that deer-eyed maiden herself, my mind does not revive even a little even today.

1.3.13

Did Smara bestow his world-conquering weapons on her, the walking deity of victory for the Bodiless One— / the sprout-like eyebrow as bow, the wavering sidelong glances as arrows, and the line of the ear as bowstring?

1.3.14

Let the sidelong arrow set on the bow of your brow cause agony to my vitals; let your mass of dark, curly hair make an assault of love; / let this red bimba lip spread bewilderment, O slender one! But why do your well-rounded breasts play with my life?

1.3.15

Those pleasures of touch, those unsteady, tender coquetries of her eyes, the fragrance of her lotus face, and that nectar-distilling curvature of her words, / and that sweetness of her bimba lip—alas! when my mind is in deep meditation fixed on her alone even in the midst of sensual objects, how does this disease of separation still grow?

1.3.16

May the waves of sidelong glances of Madhusūdana—unnoticed by hundreds of thousands of women attentive to the pitch of the song rising from his flute, / his crest-ornament tremulous on his head tilted with crooked neck, sprouting long on the enchanting, sweet, nectar-filled moon-face of Rādhā—grant you welfare!

1.3.16.p1

Thus ends the third sarga, entitled “Enamored Madhusūdana,” in the great poem Gītagovinda. ||3

1.3.16.p3

Fourth Sarga
Affectionate Madhusūdana

1.4.1

To Mādhava, who lingered quietly in a cane arbor on the bank of the Yamunā, bewildered by the weight of love, Rādhā's confidante spoke:

1.4.1.p1

|| Lyric Composition 8

1.4.1.p2

Sung in Karṇāṭa melodic mode and Ekatālī rhythmic meter.

1.4.2

She reviles sandalwood paste, and upon the moonbeams finds anxious distress; / through contact with the home of serpents, she reckons the breeze from the Malaya mountains to be like poison.

1.4.2.p1

O Mādhava, as if from fear of the arrows of mind-born love, she has dissolved in thought of you; / she is wretched in separation from you. || Refrain

1.4.3

As if to protect you from the incessantly falling arrows of Madana, / she makes a broad armor upon her heart's vital core with a screen of wet lotus leaves.

1.4.4

Her bed of flower-arrows, lovely with the abundant arts of erotic dalliance, / she makes into a flower bed as though practicing an ascetic vow for the bliss of your embrace.

1.4.5

And her noble lotus face bears streams of water from her trembling eyes, / like the moon bearing streams of nectar dripping from the tearing teeth of fierce Rāhu.

1.4.6

In secret, with musk, she paints you in the form of the Bodiless One with his uneven arrows; / placing a sea-monster beneath you and a fresh mango sprout as an arrow in your hand, she bows down.

1.4.7

Having conjured you before her through absorption in meditation, though exceedingly hard to attain, / she laments, she laughs, she desponds, she weeps, she trembles, she casts off torment.

1.4.8

At every step she declares this too: “O Mādhava, I have fallen at your feet; / when you are turned away from me, instantly even the storehouse of nectar creates a burning of my body.”

1.4.9

If this utterance of Śrī Jayadeva is to be performed intensely by the mind, / the speech of the cowherd maiden’s confidante, agitated by separation from Hari, should be recited.

1.4.10

Her dwelling behaves like a wilderness, even the circle of dear companions behaves like a snare, / and the heat [of passion], through her sighing, behaves like the mass of flames of a forest fire; / alas, through separation from you, she too behaves like a doe. Ah, why does even Kandarpa behave like Yama, playing the sport of a tiger?

1.4.10.p1

|| Lyric Composition 9

1.4.10.p2

Sung in Deśākhya melodic mode and Ekatālī rhythmic meter.

1.4.11

Even the magnificent necklace placed upon her breasts, / she, with her wasted body, deems to be a burden.

1.4.11.p1

O Keśava, Rādhikā [suffers] in separation from you! || Refrain

1.4.12

Even the wet and smooth sandalwood paste upon her body / she regards with apprehension, as though it were poison.

1.4.13

The breath of her sigh, matchless in extent, / she bears, full of burning, like the fire of Madana.

1.4.14

In every direction she scatters a shower of tear-drops, / as if casting out eye-lotuses with severed stalks.

1.4.15

She does not remove her cheek from the palm of her hand, / like the young crescent moon resting motionless at dusk.

1.4.16

A bed of sprouts, though falling within the range of her eyes, / she considers equivalent to a blazing fire.

1.4.17

“Hari! Hari!” she mutters passionately, / as if utterly brought to death by separation.

1.4.18

May this song uttered by Śrī Jayadeva, / offered at the feet of Keśava, bestow delight.

1.4.19

Her hair bristles, she makes whistling cries of pain, she laments, she trembles violently, she languishes, / she meditates, she wanders in confusion, she closes her eyes, she collapses, she rises up, and she even swoons. / In such intense fever of love, would that slender-bodied woman not live through your passion, / O you who resemble the physician of the gods, if you show grace? Otherwise, her hand has been abandoned [as dead]!

1.4.20

O you who are dear as the heavenly physician, if you do not free from affliction / Rādhā, sick with love and curable only by the nectar of contact with your limbs, / you are harsher even than the thunderbolt of Indra.

1.4.21

It is a wonder that, though her body is tormented by the burning fever of Kandarpa, / her heart languishes constantly in thoughts of sandalwood, the moon, and lotus ponds; / yet, overwhelmed by exhaustion, meditating in secret solely upon you, her cooling-bodied beloved, / the wasted maiden somehow breathes for a moment.

1.4.22

Formerly, distressed even by the closing of her eyes, she could not bear separation from you for even a moment; / how then can she breathe in prolonged separation, beholding the mango branch with flowering tips?

1.4.23

Lifting Govardhana out of passionate love for the forest of Gokula agitated by torrential rain, / kissed lingeringly out of boundless delight by the lovers of the cowherds, / and marked, as if with pride, by the red vermilion seals of their lower lips impressed upon it, / may the arm of the enemy of Kaṃsa in his cowherd form bestow welfare upon you!

1.4.23.p1

Thus ends the fourth sarga, entitled “Affectionate Madhusūdana,” in the glorious Gītagovinda. ||4

1.4.23.p2

(5)
Fifth Sarga
Longing Lotus-Eyed One

1.5.1

“I abide here; go, conciliate Rādhā with my words and bring her here.” / Thus appointed by the enemy of Madhu, the confidante herself went and spoke once more to Rādhā:

1.5.1.p1

|| Lyric Composition 10

1.5.1.p2

Sung in Deśīvarāḍi melodic mode and Rūpaka rhythmic meter.

1.5.2

While the breeze from the Malaya mountains blows, bringing near Madana, / and clusters of blossoms burst open to shatter the hearts of separated lovers,

1.5.2.p1

in separation from you, O friend, the one who wears a garland of wild flowers languishes! || Refrain

1.5.3

When the moon burns, he imitates death; / when Madana’s arrow falls, he laments, utterly bewildered.

1.5.4

When a swarm of bees hums, he closes his ears; / with separation lodged in his heart, night after night he falls into torment.

1.5.5

He dwells beneath the canopy of the forest, abandoning his charming abode; / he rolls on his bed of earth and laments your name repeatedly.

1.5.6

As the poet Jayadeva sings of the sports of separation, / may Hari arise through your merit in a mind rich with longing!

1.5.7

There where previously, together with you, the accomplishments of the Lord of Love were attained, / in that very bower, the great sacred ford of Manmatha, Mādhava once more, / constantly meditating on you and chanting the series of sacred mantras of your words alone, / yearns again for the nectar of tight embrace with the pitchers of your breasts.

1.5.7.p1

|| Lyric Composition 11

1.5.7.p2

Sung in Gurjarī melodic mode and Ekatālī rhythmic meter.

1.5.8

He who is the essence of amorous pleasure has gone to the rendezvous in attire captivating to Madana; / do not delay your going, O wide-hipped woman, follow that lord of your heart!

1.5.8.p1

Where gentle breezes blow on the bank of the Yamunā, in the forest dwells the one who wears a garland of wild flowers, / his pair of hands restless to stroke the swell of your plump breasts! || Refrain

1.5.8.p2

Note: [This line does not seem to be in all versions. Prabodhānanda does not comment on it.]

1.5.9

He plays his gentle reed flute calling your name, indicating the rendezvous;
he honors greatly, O slender one, even the dust stirred up by the wind that has touched your body.

1.5.10

When a wing flaps or a leaf rustles, he imagines your arrival;
he prepares the couch and with anxious eyes looks along your path.

1.5.11

Discard your noisy, restless anklet like a foe of passionate erotic play;
go to the bower, O confidante, dense with darkness, and wrap yourself in a dark cloak.

1.5.12

On Murāri's chest adorned with a necklace, as on a cloud with fluttering cranes,
like yellow lightning in inverted amorous play, you shine as the fruit of good deeds.

1.5.13

Offer your hips, their garments fallen away and girdle cast aside, uncovered;
on the couch of sprout-tendrils, O lotus-eyed woman, like a treasure that is a trove of joy.

1.5.14

Hari is proud, and this night too is coming to an end;
heed my words, prepare swiftly, fulfill the desire of the foe of Madhu.

1.5.15

As the illustrious Jayadeva, devoted to the service of Hari, recites this supremely delightful verse,
bow to Hari, his heart rejoicing, profoundly compassionate, attainable through merit.

1.5.16

He heaves sighs again and again; he looks ahead in every direction again and again; he enters the bower again and again, humming; he grieves deeply again and again;
he prepares the couch again and again; he looks around anxiously again and again; exhausted by the torment of Madana, O beloved, your lover waits.

1.5.17

Along with your obstinacy, the hot-rayed sun has entirely set;
and along with Govinda’s longing, the darkness has grown dense;
my lengthy entreaty matches the plaintive cry of the cakravāka birds;
so, O innocent woman, delay is in vain—this is the charming moment for the amorous rendezvous.

1.5.18

After an embrace, after a kiss, after scratch-marks of nails,
after the stirring of mind-born love, after agitated flurry, after the onset of lovemaking, when the lovers,
having set out on other errands, meet by chance in the dark and recognize each other by their words—
what rasa mixed with bashfulness is not experienced by the couple here?

1.5.19

Casting fearful, startled glances along the dark path,
stopping at every tree, advancing her steps slowly,
somehow arriving at the secret bower, her limbs trembling with desire—
O lovely-faced one, seeing you, may that blessed youth attain fulfillment!

1.5.20

The honey-bee to the charming lotus-face of Rādhā, the blue gem befitting the ornamentation on the diadems of the three worlds,
the destroyer of the burden of the earth, he who brings moonrise-joy to the minds of the fair women of Vraja at will,
a comet of destruction to Kaṃsa—may that son of Devakī protect you!

1.5.20.p1

Thus ends the fifth sarga, entitled “The Lotus-Eyed One Full of Longing,” in the description of the woman going to meet her lover, in the illustrious Gītagovinda.
|| 5

1.5.20.p3

Sixth Sarga:
Longing Vaikuṇṭha
Note: [dhanya-vaikuṇṭha-kuṅkumaḥ is read in some editions]

1.6.1

Then, seeing her, who had long loved him, unable to go to the bower of vines,
the confidante reported her condition to Govinda, who was languid with mind-born love:

1.6.1.p1

|| Lyric Composition 12

1.6.1.p2

Sung in the melodic mode Guṇakarī and the rhythmic meter Rūpaka.

1.6.2

In secret she sees you in every direction,
drinking the sweet nectar of her lips.

1.6.2.p1

O Lord, O Hari, Rādhā pines away in her dwelling of longing. || Refrain

1.6.3

Rushing out in her eagerness to go meet you,
she takes a few steps and falls down.

1.6.4

Wearing bracelets made of white lotus-fibers and tender sprouts,
she lives here solely by the art of your amorous pleasure.

1.6.5

Repeatedly inspecting her play of ornaments,
she is possessed by the fancy: “I am the foe of Madhu.”

1.6.6

“Why does Hari not come swiftly to the amorous rendezvous?”
so she repeatedly asks her confidante.

1.6.7

Thinking Hari has arrived, she embraces and kisses
the deep darkness, resembling a raincloud.

1.6.8

When you delay, her modesty falling away,
dressed for union, she laments and weeps.

1.6.9

May this utterance of the poet Śrī Jayadeva
bring immense joy to discerning lovers.

1.6.10

Her hair standing intensely on end, her deep hissing sighs uttering words faltering with inner numbness,
immersed in an ocean of aesthetic flavor, fixing her meditation on you after intense longing inspired by Kandarpa, O rogue, the doe-eyed woman remains absorbed.

1.6.11

She puts ornaments on her limbs again and again; at the stirring of a single leaf she suspects you have arrived;
she spreads the couch; she meditates for a long time;
thus engrossed in a hundred fancies of dressing, doubting, preparing the bed, and longing, without you this slender-limbed woman cannot survive the night.

1.6.12

“Why do you rest, O traveler, in the Bhāṇḍīra tree, an abode of black serpents? Do you not see the joyful home of Nanda from here?”—
hearing these words of Rādhā from the mouth of a traveler and concealing them before Nanda,
victorious are Govinda’s evening words concealing praise of hospitality to guests.

1.6.12.p1

Thus ends the sixth sarga, entitled “Blessed Vaikuṇṭha,” in the description of the woman going to meet her lover, in the illustrious Gītagovinda.
|| 6

1.6.12.p3

Seventh Sarga:
Nārāyaṇa the Clever Lover

1.7.1

Meanwhile, as if bearing a sin born from obstructing the path of unchaste women, its mark distinctly visible,
Note: [pāta- is a variant reading]
the moon, like a drop of sandalwood on the face of the maiden of the quarters, illuminated the interior of Vṛndāvana with rays of light.

Translations (1)

The Indian Song of Songs — Edwin Arnold 1875, English

Commentaries (4)

Rasikapriyā — Kumbhakarṇa, Sanskrit
Commentary of Mānāṅka — Mānāṅka, Sanskrit
Rasamañjarī — Śaṅkara, Sanskrit
Śrutirañjanī — Lakṣmīdhara 1567, Sanskrit

Linked texts (1)

Gītagovinda — Jayadeva, Sanskrit

Gita Govinda 1

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