Tender Krishna
Radha’s Friends Describe Her Sorrow on Her Separation From Her Love
This fourth chapter of Geet Govind in Barbara Miller’s translation is titled "Tender Krishna," though the subject of the chapter is Radha alone. It contains two songs, the eighth and the ninth. The content and the mood in these two songs are identical, only the verse structure differs.
Radha’s Agony
Radha’s friends tell Krishna that Radha is suffering unbearably because she is separated from him. If he does not remedy the situation as soon as possible then she will lose her sanity. This sentiment is described again and again using appropriate metaphors.
Accessories and accomplices that used to abet their romance have now turned against her. The soft mountain winds that once aroused her passions are like the bites of venomous snakes. A bed of tender buds on which Krishna and Radha had spent many happy moments now scorches her skin.
Radha’s agony reaches its peak in the following lines:
"She evokes you in deep meditation to reach your distant form.
"She laments, laughs, collapses, cries, trembles, utters her pain."
Explanations of the Separation
There have been several interpretations of the separation of Radha and Krishna. Theists have likened it to the separation between a devotee and God. When an ardent devotee is compelled to engage in the mundane tasks of living he or she is ill at ease. There is a burning desire to get the tasks done with so that the devotee can return to interacting with the divine.
Poets have taken a more metaphorical view. A contemporary poet, Dharmavir Bharati, has written his own epic on Krishna and Radha in Hindi. The epic is titled Kanupriya, which means Krishna’s Loved One. In this epic there is a chapter that describes Radha as Krishna’s colleague in his act of creation of the universe. Hinduism advocates that the creation and destruction follow each other endlessly.
The created world functions as has been observed for eons and then after destruction there is nothingness for eons. The breaking away of Krishna and Radha symbolizes destruction and the period of their separation the period of nothingness. Then Krishna and Radha unite again signifying a new creation of the universe.
Persephone and Demeter
This kind of association of natural cycles with the divine deeds is not restricted to Hinduism. Ancient Greek mythology recounts the story Persephone and her mother Demeter, who is the Goddess of crops.
From September for a third of the year Persephone is forced to stay with Hades in the underworld by the diktat of Zeus. During this period Demeter goes into a depression and does not allow crops to grow on the earth. It is only when Persephone returns to earth the agricultural cycle begins anew.
Hindus, Christians, Muslims, Pagans all live in the same world and all observe the same phenomena but use different models to describe them. There is a saying in Hinduism: “The Truth is one. We state it differently.”
Sources:
- Barbara Stoller Miller; The Geet Govind of Jayadeva - Love Song of the Dark Lord (p. 87); Published by Motilal Banarsidass, India, 1984.
- Dharmavir Bharati; Kanupriya (pp. 41-4); Published by Bharatiya Gyanpeeth Prakashan, India, 1978.
Latest Articles