My Views: Jaya Deva's Ashtapathi/Gita Govinda

Monday, July 23, 2018

Jaya Deva's Ashtapathi/Gita Govinda

Though I didn’t learn music formally but listen to classical songs and Bhajan from my teenage. Sampradaya Bhajana or Dakhshina Bharatha Sampradaya Bhajana is the tradition of Bhajans in India and as the name suggests particularly in South India. It's the collection of Kirtanas and Namavalis in specific order. This is very simple and can be done thought the day and night without any effort or rules. Added to it, if the Naama is uttered with Music (Sruti, Raaga and Thaala), it gives a soothing effect and takes the mind to "layam". It, therefore, makes it easy to get one pointed attention and at the same time, it is more pleasant to the ears that singing or listening to Ashtapadi.

Ashtapadi (Gita Govinda) itself is a very popular Maha-Kavyam, being sung and heard sung for years and holds a prime position. one would have rarely understood the importance and influence of singing/listening to the Ashtapadi. I found especially interesting to learn Gita govind until much later, by learning all these songs Though I am able to find the explanation I try to find word to word meaning of the ashtapadi. So I started reading Books about Gita Govinda and Meaning. I refers books of, Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja who translate sankrit to english. Translation and notes by Colin John Holcombe and various books. in upcoming weeks you will find a collection of different renditions and meaning of Jayadeva’s Gita Govinda Ashtapadis.
The Ashtapadi is a work by Jayadeva, a great devotee of Krishna. It is replete with elements conducive to bhakti rasa—music and dance. It was composed by Jayadeva at the Jagannatha Kshetra of Puri, while his wife, Padmavati, danced to its music. Both music and dance are among the sixty-four kinds of offerings made to god at the time of pooja or worship. Each of these offerings helps us to invoke the Lord’s karuna or compassion on us. Of these, music and dance have very intense, personal significance. The Lord is of the form of music. The art of dance is a mingling of music with the ambient air

Since it is a song (geetha) about Govinda, it is called the Geethagovinda. Since it is composed in eight padas (in keeping with rhythms of dance), So it is also called the Ashtapadi. Several slokas are added to the songs in the beginning and in the end. Many writers have specified the raga and tala in which these verses are set. Yet others sing these as taught by their gurus. This work has been composed in twelve sargas, bearing the Dvadashakshari mantra (twelve-syllable mantra) of Krishna. The names given by Jayadeva to each of these sargas are also unique and meaningful. They bestow grace upon devotees.

The basis for this work is the 5 chapters 29 to 33 of Srimadbhagavatam (known as Rasapanchadhyaayi) which describe the events leading to the rasaleela, the great dance on the banks of the Yamuna where each gopi thinks that Krishna is with her in Srimadbhagavatam, however, does not specifically talk about a gopi named Radha though Radha is described as the very heart of Krishna in some of the other Puranas. the predominant sentiment is sringara(erotic sentiment) in all its various moods in relation to the divine love between Radha and Krishna. The ecstasy of union, the agony of separation, the anxious moments of wait for the loved one are all treated with sensitivity and poetic excellence. The whole work is divided into twelve chapters ( sargas), each chapter containing one or more prabandhas. There are 24 prabandhas each containing couplets grouped into eight called Ashtapadis, songs with refrain specific to that Ashatapadi. There are in all 24 Ashtapadis in Gita Govindam. Each Chapter may have one or more slokas in different metres of Sanskrit poetry interspersed with the Ashtapadis. It is said that the Poet-devotee Jayadeva would sing the Ashtapadis and his wife Padmavati would dance to the music. There have been many choreographic works to enact and present the Ashtapadis as a dance drama.