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Gita Govinda 1.1

English (machine translation) 1.1

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English

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1.1.1

“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

Translations (1)

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