Few scholars dispute the fact that Jayadeva,
the Orissan poet, lived in the 12th century. He was a Sansklit
scholar and poet. A br.lhmin by birth, he married Padmavati,
a dancer. She danced to his songs.
Jayadeva's masterpiece is the Gila Govinda,
a poem extolling the love of Radha and Krishna, in erotic
imagery.
There are 24 songs in Gira Govinda. They
are calledAshtapadis, since eaLh song contains eight stanzas.
The terse beauty of the Sanskrit language,
made melodious use of by Jayadeva, invests these songs with
musical magic.
These songs inspired Sri Krishna Chaitanya,
the great Vaisnavite saintofBengal. They also inspired the
artists of Jammu and Kashmir to evolve anew style of painting
called the BasQhlischool of painting.
In the Krishna temple of Guru va yo or in
Kerala,jayadeva's songs are sung daily, set to music in Carnatic
ragas.
In Nepal, they are sung during spring celebrations.
The GHa Govinda ofjayadeva is known as the
Indian Song of songs. Sir Edwin Arnold who was one of the
fIrSt to translate it into English called it; "The Song
Celestial".
Twoofjayadeva'ssongs have been included
by GuruArjun Singh in the Adi Guru Grantha, the holy scripture
of the Sikhs.
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