Jayadeva

Topic: Bhakti and Sufi Traditions · NCERT: Class 7, Ch 4 "Turning Tides: The 11th and 12th Centuries"

Meaning

Jayadeva was a Sanskrit poet of the late 12th century. He lived at the court of King Lakshmana Sena of the Sena dynasty of Bengal, and he wrote the Gita Govinda ("Song of Govinda", Govinda being a name of Krishna), a long poem on the love of Krishna and Radha. He matters because the Gita Govinda became one of the most loved texts of Krishna bhakti (devotion to Krishna through love). It also shaped later temple music, Odissi dance and miniature painting.

Explanation

Background: bhakti in north India before the 14th century

• In south India, the Alvars (devotees of Vishnu) and Nayanars (devotees of Shiva) had written devotional poems in Tamil from about the 6th century.
• In north India, nothing like this appears until the 14th century. Vishnu and Shiva were worshipped, but mostly in big temples that kings paid for.
• Why: in the Rajput states, Brahmanas had both secular and ritual importance.
• Kings and Brahmanas supported each other.

• Religion stayed in Sanskrit, at court and in temples.

• The groups that questioned this order, the Naths, Jogis and Siddhas, spoke the languages of ordinary people. But kings and nobles did not support them.

• Jayadeva belongs on the court side of this picture. He wrote devotional poetry, but in Sanskrit and for a royal court. He was not a saint writing against caste and ritual in the local language.

The Gita Govinda: form and content

• Language: Sanskrit. But it is meant to be sung, so it reads more like a set of songs than a classical epic.
• Structure: 12 cantos (sargas, or chapters). They contain 24 songs called ashtapadis, each normally built of eight couplets ("ashta" = eight).
• Story: Krishna and Radha love each other, are parted and then come together again, in the forests of Vrindavan.
• Religious meaning: the poem uses human love as a picture of the soul's longing for God. Radha stands for the devotee and Krishna for the divine.
• Dashavatara hymn: an opening song praises the ten avatars (descents) of Vishnu. It lists the Buddha as one of them.
• Radha at the centre: the poem made Radha central to Krishna devotion in eastern India.

Later spread and influence

• Odisha: the Gita Govinda came to be sung in the Jagannath temple at Puri. It became a core text of Odissi dance.
• Bengal: Chaitanya (16th century) and his followers loved the poem. Through them it fed the Radha-Krishna devotion of the Gaudiya Vaishnavas (Bengal's Krishna devotees).
• Mithila: later poets such as Vidyapati, writing in Maithili, took up the Radha-Krishna love theme.
• Punjab: two hymns credited to Jayadeva are included in the Guru Granth Sahib of the Sikhs.
• Art: the Gita Govinda became a favourite subject of Rajput and Pahari miniature painting (small detailed paintings from the hill kingdoms), for example in the Basohli and Kangra schools.

Time, place and evidence

• Period: late 12th century (dates are approximate).
• Dynasty and ruler: the Sena dynasty of Bengal, under Lakshmana Sena. Lakshmana Sena was the last major Sena king before the Turks raided Bengal in the early 13th century, the same decades in which the Delhi Sultanate was founded (1206) [2].
• Birthplace: a place called Kenduli (Kindubilva). Historians disagree about where it was. Some place it in Birbhum (West Bengal) and others near Puri (Odisha). Both regions claim him.
• Court circle: by tradition he was one of the leading poets at Lakshmana Sena's court. The others named include Govardhana, Dhoyi and Umapatidhara.
• How we know:
• The Gita Govinda itself. Its verses name the poet, and tradition names his parents as Bhojadeva and Ramadevi and his wife as Padmavati.
• The temple tradition of singing the poem at Puri.
• Later manuscripts and paintings of the text.
• Two hymns credited to him in the Guru Granth Sahib.

Don't confuse with

• Bhagavad Gita: Krishna's teaching to Arjuna, part of the Mahabharata. The Gita Govinda is Jayadeva's 12th-century love poem about Krishna and Radha.
• Vidyapati: a later poet who wrote on Radha and Krishna in Maithili, a local language. Jayadeva wrote in Sanskrit.
• Pala dynasty: the earlier Bengal dynasty known for supporting Buddhism. Jayadeva's patron was the Sena dynasty, which followed the Palas and was Brahmanical.
• Nath / Siddha poets: vernacular, anti-Vedic, with artisan followers and no royal support. Jayadeva wrote in Sanskrit and was a court poet supported by the king.

Prelims Hooks

• Jayadeva = author of the Gita Govinda, in Sanskrit, on Krishna and Radha.
• Patron: Lakshmana Sena, Sena dynasty, Bengal (late 12th century).
• The Gita Govinda has 12 cantos and songs called ashtapadis ("eight couplets").
• Its Dashavatara hymn counts the Buddha among Vishnu's ten avatars. This is a common "which of the following" fact.
• The Gita Govinda is sung in the Jagannath temple, Puri, and is central to Odissi dance.
• Two hymns of Jayadeva appear in the Guru Granth Sahib.

Mains Points

• Court bhakti versus popular bhakti. Jayadeva shows that Krishna devotion did flourish in 12th-century north and east India. But it flourished in Sanskrit, under a king and within Brahmanical culture. The vernacular, anti-caste saint poetry like that of the Alvars and Nayanars came only from the 14th century. This supports the point that patronage decided what kind of devotion was written down and kept.
• Continuity across centuries. The Gita Govinda's love-devotion (madhurya bhava) passed to Chaitanya, Vidyapati and Bengal Vaishnavism. It also reached the Sikh scripture. So a court text in Sanskrit later became part of popular bhakti.
• One text, many arts. The Gita Govinda shaped temple music at Puri, Odissi dance and Pahari miniature painting. This makes it a strong example for GS-I answers on how literature, religion and the performing and visual arts are linked in Indian heritage.

Related concepts

• Naths, Jogis and Siddhas
• Nimbarka
• Gita Govinda
• Lal Ded

Read more

• Religious ferment in north India