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Gita Govinda 1.7

English (machine translation) 1.7

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English

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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.

1.7.2

As the moon's orb spread its light and Mādhava lingered,
the distraught maiden, burning with grief, raised a manifold lament aloud:

1.7.2.p1

|| Lyric Composition 13

1.7.2.p2

Sung in the melodic mode Mālava and the rhythmic meter Yati.
Note: [Pratimaṇṭha-]

1.7.3

Even at the appointed time, alas, Hari has not come to the forest;
this flawless beauty of mine and my youth are in vain.

1.7.3.p1

To whom shall I go for refuge here, betrayed by the words of my confidantes? || Refrain

1.7.4

To follow him I braved even the deep forest at night;
by him this heart of mine has been pierced by the uneven arrows [of love].

1.7.5

“My death alone is preferable,”—thus disappointed in her meeting place,
Note: [iha is an alternative reading for iti]
Note: [ativitatha-cetanā is a variant reading preserved in the commentary]
how can I, insensible with grief, endure here the fire of separation?

1.7.6

"Alas, the sweet spring night tortures me, / while some passionate woman of meritorious deeds enjoys Hari.

1.7.7

Alas, I consider jeweled ornaments like bracelets / to be a great affliction through bearing the burning fire of separation from Hari.

1.7.8

Upon my body, delicate as a flower, by the play of the Bodiless One's arrows, / even a garland strikes me upon the heart like a most jagged stone.

1.7.9

Here I dwell, ignoring the reeds of the forest, / yet Madhusūdana does not remember me even in his mind."

1.7.10

May the speech of the poet Jayadeva, whose refuge is Hari's feet, / dwell in the heart like a tender maiden skilled in the arts.

1.7.11

"Has he gone to meet some other passionate woman? Or is he held fast by friends with artistic games? / Does he wander in the dark forest near here? / Is my beloved weary-minded, unable to walk even a little along the path, / since he has not come even to the bower of charming vāñjula creepers agreed upon for our rendezvous?"

1.7.12

Then, seeing her confidante returned without Mādhava, silent with despondency, / she, suspecting that Janārdana was dallying with another woman, spoke this as if she had seen it:

1.7.12.p1

|| Lyric Composition 14

1.7.12.p2

Sung in the melodic mode Vasanta and the rhythmic meter Yati.

1.7.13

Her adornment fashioned fit for the battle of Smara, / her hair slightly disheveled with fallen flowers,

1.7.13.p1

some young woman of superior charms sports with the foe of Madhu. ||Refrain

1.7.14

Her passions stirred by Hari's embrace, / her necklace swaying over her pitcher-like breasts,

1.7.15

the moon of her face made lovely by tremulous curls, / overcome with languor from the haste of drinking his lips,

1.7.16

her cheeks grazed by dangling earrings, / swaying in the movement of her hips whose girdle of bells rings out,

1.7.17

smiling with bashfulness when looked at by her lover, / murmuring in many ways, relishing the aesthetic flavor of amorous pleasure,

1.7.18

interrupted by broad horripilation and violent trembling, / sighs and half-closed eyes revealing mind-born love,

1.7.19

her body lovely under a shower of perspiration drops, / fallen upon his chest, brave in the battle of amorous pleasure!

1.7.20

May Hari's dalliance, sung by the illustrious Jayadeva, / bring about the complete pacification of the impurities of the Kali age.

1.7.21

Having the luster of Murāri's lotus face pale in separation, yet veiling its pain, / this moon, the friend of mind-born love, intensifies to the utmost the torment of Madana in my heart, alas!

1.7.21.p1

|| Lyric Composition 15

1.7.21.p2

Sung in the melodic mode Gurjarī and the rhythmic meter Ekatālī.

1.7.22

When Madana has arisen on the lovely woman's face, her lips turned for a kiss, / thrilling with joy, he paints a musk forehead mark, like the hare on the moon.

1.7.22.p1

Now the victorious Murāri sports in the groves of the Yamunā's banks. ||Refrain

1.7.23

In her locks of hair charming as a cluster of clouds, over her trembling youthful face, / he arranges kurubaka blossoms with lightning-like splendor in the deer forest of the Lord of Amorous Pleasure.

1.7.24

Upon the sky of her pair of firm breasts, smeared with the sheen of musk / and adorned with the moons of nail-marks, he sets an immaculate pearl necklace, a cluster of stars.

1.7.25

Upon her pair of tender arms, which surpass lotus-stalks, with palms like lotus leaves, / soothing as snow, he bestows emerald bracelets, like a swarm of bees.

1.7.26

On her broad hips, the chamber of amorous pleasure, the golden throne of mind-born love, / adorned with fragrant unguents, he drapes a jeweled girdle that derides an archway.

1.7.27

On her sprout-like feet, the dwelling of Kamalā, worshiped by rows of jewel-like nails, / when joined to his chest, he applies an outer coating, an adornment of red lac.

1.7.28

While the brother of Haladhara, rogue that he is, delights some beautiful-eyed woman intensely, / tell me, confidante, why have I dwelt here in vain for so long, tasteless in the hollow of a tree?

1.7.29

In this recitation of aesthetic flavor, this recitation of Hari's virtues, in the king of poets Jayadeva, / servant of the feet of Madhu's foe, let not the evil deed of the Kali age dwell!

1.7.29.p1

[Note: {“composed” is seen in some places.}]

1.7.30

"Confidante, if that cruel cheat has not come, messenger, why are you distressed? / He enjoys himself at will, beloved of many; what fault of yours is there in that? / Look, drawn by the virtues of my beloved, / this heart of mine will go of itself today for union with my darling, as if bursting from the weight of longing's agony!"

1.7.30.p1

|| Lyric Composition 16

1.7.30.p2

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

1.7.31

"By him whose eyes are blue lotuses fluttering in the wind, / she does not burn on a bed of sprout-leaves,

1.7.31.p1

O confidante, she who is enjoyed by the wearer of wild-flower garlands! ||Refrain

1.7.32

By him whose face is charming as a blooming lotus, / she is not pierced by the arrows of mind-born love.

1.7.33

By him whose speech is softer and sweeter than nectar, / she does not burn from the sandal-scented breeze.

1.7.34

By him whose hands and feet have the beauty of land and water lotuses, / she does not writhe beneath the rays of the cold-maker moon.

1.7.35

By him who is lovely as a mass of rainclouds, / she does not shatter in her heart from prolonged separation.

1.7.35.p1

[Note: {“from the weight of separation” in Haridāsa's edition.}]

1.7.36

By him whose pure garment has the luster of a golden streak on a touchstone, / she does not sigh under the mocking laughter of companions.

1.7.37

By him who is the finest youth among the people of all the worlds, / she does not bear a most pitiable affliction.

1.7.38

Through these words uttered by the illustrious Jayadeva, / may Hari also enter the heart!"

1.7.39

"O delighter of mind-born love! O sandal breeze from the south, be gracious! Abandon your perversity! / O breath of the world, having placed Mādhava before me for a moment, you may take my life!"

1.7.39.p1

[Note: {“having placed” is an alternate reading.}]

1.7.40

"When he has entered my mind, this company of confidantes pains me like an enemy, the cold breeze like a fire, the nectar-rayed moon like poison; / yet toward that merciless one, my heart does not turn away by force; / perverse is desire toward blue-lotus-eyed women, entirely unrestrained!"

1.7.41

"Inflict torment, breeze from the Malaya mountains! O five-arrowed god, take my life! I will not seek refuge in my home again! / Why this forbearance, O sister of death? Drench my limbs with your waves, let the burning of my body be quenched!"

1.7.42

In the morning, seeing Acyuta wrapped in a blue cloak and Rādhā's chest covered in a yellow garment, / when the circle of confidantes laughs freely with astonishment, / casting the tremulous corner of his eyes upon Rādhā's face with shame, / may this son of Nanda, with his sweetly smiling face, be for the joy of the world!

1.7.42.p1

Thus ends the seventh sarga, / entitled 'Nāgaranārāyaṇa' (The Sophisticated Nārāyaṇa), / in the great poem Gītagovinda, in the description of the disappointed heroine. / ||7

1.7.42.p2

(8)
Eighth Sarga
Lakṣmī's Lord Abashed

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Commentaries (4)

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