Srila Jayadeva Gosvami

[Guest guest]

Hare Krishna,

 

Kindly glorify the pastimes of Srila Jayadeva Goswami on his disappearance day

on 13th Jan. Kindly use font type 'Balarama' or 'Sca Goudy' to read the text

below.

 

Your servant in mission of Srila Prabhupada

 

Nanda Gopal Dasa

 

Srila Jayadeva Gosvami

 

 

 

Three hundred years before the appearance of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Sri

Jayadeva Goswami served as the court Pandita of Sri Laksmana Sena, King of

Bengal. Jayadeva and Pedmavati (his wife and an expert dancer) used to worship

Lord Sri Krishna with single-minded devotion. After some time, he left the

opulent royal life to live peacefully in a grass hut in Champahatti, Navadvipa.

Here Jayadeva wrote Gita Govinda.

 

 

 

One day while working on Gita Govinda Jayadeva felt inspired to write, "Krishna

bows to touch the lotus feet of Srimati Radharani." Jayadeva was hesitant to

say something, which might diminish Lord Krishna's position as the Supreme

Personality of Godhead.

 

 

 

He went to refresh himself with a Ganges bath before honoring Radha-Madhava's

maha-prasadam. In his absence, Krishna Himself, disguised as Jayadeva, wrote a

line in the Gita Govinda: dehi pada pallavam udaram. The Lord also accepted

prasadam from Padmavati. Upon returning, Jayadeva cried in spiritual joy and

said, "Padmavati, we are most fortunate. Sri krishna Himself has written the

line, dehi pada pallavam udaram and taken prasadam from your hand.

 

 

 

Gita Govinda expresses the intense feelings of separation that Sri Radhika felt

before the rasa dance. It also describes the most intimate pastimes of

Radha-Symasundara. During Lord Caitaya's Gambhira lila in Jagannatha Puri, He

would thoroughly relish hearing the Gita Govinda sung daily by Svarupa Damodara

and Mukunda.

 

 

 

The author Jayadeva Goswami describes Gita Govinda: "Whatever is delightful in

varieties of music, whatever is graceful in fine strains of poetry, and

whatever is exquisite in the sweet art of love-let the happy and wise learn

form the songs of Jayadeva."

 

 

 

After finishing Gita Govinda Jyadeva visited Vrndavana and then lived his last

in Jagannatha Puri. He introduced daily reading of Gita Govinda in the temple

for the pleasure of Lord Jagannatha. His samadhi is in the 64 Samadhis Area.

 

 

 

CC Adi 13:42

 

TEXT

 

vidyäpati, jayadeva, caëòédäsera géta

 

äsvädena rämänanda-svarüpa-sahita

 

 

 

TRANSLATION

 

The Lord used to read the books of Vidyäpati, Jayadeva and Caëòédäsa, relishing

their songs with His confidential associates like Çré Rämänanda Räya and

Svarüpa Dämodara Gosvämé.

 

 

 

PURPORT

 

Vidyäpati was a famous composer of songs about the pastimes of Rädhä-Kåñëa. He

was an inhabitant of Mithilä, born in a brähmaëa family. It is calculated that

he composed his songs during the reign of King Çivasiàha and Queen Lachimädevé,

in the beginning of the fourteenth century of the Çaka Era, almost one hundred

years before the appearance of Lord Caitanya Mahäprabhu. The twelfth generation

of Vidyäpati's descendants is still living. Vidyäpati's songs about the

pastimes of Lord Kåñëa express intense feelings of separation from Kåñëa, and

Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu relished all those songs in His ecstasy of separation

from Kåñëa.

 

Jayadeva was born during the reign of Mahäräja Lakñmaëa Sena of Bengal, in the

eleventh or twelfth century of the Çaka Era. His father was Bhojadeva, and his

mother was Vämädevé. For many years he lived in Navadvépa, then the capital of

Bengal. His birthplace was in the Birbhum district, in the village Kendubilva.

In the opinion of some authorities, however, he was born in Orissa, and still

others say that he was born in southern India. He passed the last days of his

life in Jagannätha Puré. One of his famous books is Géta-govinda, which is full

of transcendental mellow feelings of separation from Kåñëa. The gopés felt

separation from Kåñëa before the räsa dance, as mentioned in Çrémad-Bhägavatam,

and the Géta-govinda expresses such feelings. There are many commentaries on

the Géta-govinda by many Vaiñëavas.

 

Caëòédäsa was born in the village of Nännura, which is also in the Birbhum

district of Bengal. He was born of a brähmaëa family, and it is said that he

also took birth in the beginning of the fourteenth century, Çakäbda Era. It has

been suggested that Caëòédäsa and Vidyäpati were great friends because the

writings of both express the transcendental feelings of separation profusely.

The feelings of ecstasy described by Caëòédäsa and Vidyäpati were actually

exhibited by Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu. He relished all those feelings in the

role of Çrématé Rädhäräëé, and His appropriate associates for this purpose were

Çré Rämänanda Räya and Çré Svarüpa Dämodara Gosvämé. These intimate associates

of Lord Caitanya Mahäprabhu helped the Lord very much in the pastimes in which

He felt like Rädhäräëé.

 

Çré Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté Öhäkura comments in this connection that such

feelings of separation as Lord Caitanya Mahäprabhu enjoyed from the books of

Vidyäpati, Caëòédäsa and Jayadeva are especially reserved for persons like Çré

Rämänanda Räya and Svarüpa Dämodara, who were paramahaàsas, men of the topmost

perfection, because of their advanced spiritual consciousness. Such topics are

not to be discussed by ordinary persons imitating the activities of Lord

Caitanya Mahäprabhu. For critical students of mundane poetry and literary men

without God consciousness who are after bodily sense gratification, there is no

need to read such a high standard of transcendental literature. Persons who are

after sense gratification should not try to imitate rägänuga devotional

service. The songs of Caëòédäsa, Vidyäpati and Jayadeva describe the

transcendental activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Mundane

reviewers of these songs simply help people in general become debauchees, and

this leads only to social scandals and atheism in the world. One should not

misunderstand the pastimes of Rädhä and Kåñëa to be the activities of a mundane

young boy and girl. The mundane sexual activities of young boys and girls are

most abominable. Therefore, those who are in bodily consciousness and who

desire sense gratification are forbidden to indulge in discussions of the

transcendental pastimes of Çré Rädhä and Kåñëa.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

64 Samadhis @ Vrndavana