of
Kavi Dayarambhal
July 1995
/f h. \
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ABSTRACT
the three greatest poets of Gujarati, brought to an end not only the age of the
great bhakta-poets, but also the age o f Gujarati m edieval literature. After
The three chapters of Part I of the thesis look at the ways of approaching
North Indian devotional literature which have informed all subsequent readings
o f D ayaram in the hundred and fifty years since his death. Chapter 1 is
concerned with the treatm ent by Indologists of the Krsnaite literature in Braj
looks at literary criticism o f his writings in the context of the Gujarati literary
Chapter 4 argues that these texts deserve treatment as literary texts in their own
right and suggests a reading informed by the thought of Mikhail Bakhtin (1895-
lyrics.
Part III is a selection of Dayaram's lyrics. The Gujarati texts are given
2
The thesis introduces a poet scarcely known to w estern scholars and
makes a selection of his work available to those who do not know Gujarati. It
bear on literature of this kind. It finds much which is valuable in them but
highlights some o f their lim itations for a study of this poet; a new critical
approach from literary theory, using the ideas of Bakhtin (in particular those of
the cam ivalesque and the chronotope) allows the thesis to re-exam ine the
3
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Style notes 8
Introduction 11
PART I
PART II
4
C h ap ter 5 T he c a m iv a le s q u e 141
5.1 The camivalesque in the Krsna cult 141
5.2 Developments of camivalesque elements in the Pustimarga 145
5.3 Camivalesque features in the lyrics o f Dayaram 148
5.4 Camivalesque and popular culture 168
C h ap ter 6 T he c h ro n o to p e 173
6.1 The'generic'chronotope 174
6.2 Space and place 176
6.3 Time 182
6.4 Chronotopic motifs 184
6.5 The chronotopes of the author and of the reader 188
6.6 Concluding remarks 191
P A R T III
B ib lio g r a p h y 433
5
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Dr. J.D. Smith for his help with the metrics in Chapter 3; and Dr. R aghuveer
particular to Dr. Subhashbhai Dave and Dr. Bharatiben Dalai who introduced m e to
the Bhalcta Kavisri D ayaram Smarak Samiti, Dabhoi and num erous Dabhoivasis.
M anjuben Jhaveri o f the Forbes Gujarati Sabha provided me w ith much o f the
essential material for this work; Ghanshyambhai Desai and the Bharatiya Vidya
B havan (Bombay) gave further help as did D eepakbhai M ehta (USIS); H.H.
Shyam GosvamijI, Bom bay, and H.H. Indirabetiji, V adodara, m ade available
people in Gujarat and in Bombay that I can mention only a few: in Vadodara, the
household of the late Lalitbhai M aganbhai Patel (in particular A m itaben who
allow ed me to question her about the Pustim arga for weeks on end) and o f
Natubhai (N.C.) and Leelaben Patel; in Bombay, the families of Bhanubhai (B.M.)
Dwyer, and to my parents, Tom and Vivian Jackson. This thesis is dedicated to my
dear father.
6
Thomas Jackson
( 1925- 1994)
P sa lm 1 0 7 :2 3 -4 .
7
STYLE NOTES
A Transliteration
3 Place names:
i Conventional English spellings w ithout diacritics, using spellings of
Muthiah 1991:
e.g. B om bay, D abhoi, Gokul, G ujarat, H anum an G hat, M athura,
M ew ar, M ount G ovardhan, N athdw ara, R ajasthan, V adodara,
Varanasi, Vrindavan, Yamuna;
ii The Hindified spelling is used if more usual:
e.g. Braj.
8
4 Other names:
i Names o f texts with capitals anditalics, with transliteration appropriate to
the language (i.e. inherent -a for Sanskrit etc.):
e.g. Bhagavata Purana, CanrasI vaisnavan k l varta, Brhat kavyadohan;
ii Names of sects with a capital:
e.g. Pustimarga (with inherent -a by 1 above), Svaminarayan;
iii Names of the Was, in italics in Braj spelling:
e.g. balllla, danlila, makhancorilila. Brajffla;
iv Others:
e.g. astachap, Haveli samglt, Holl.
6 Perso-Arabic words:
The transcription of words from Urdu, Persian and Arabic follows the
conventions given by Shackle 1989a:v:
e.g. ghulam. be-hal, maslahat, ma'shuq.
These are according to the num bers and titles in Raval 1953. W hen
referring to the w hole lyric the title is given in transliteration beginning with a
capital. The titles are given without capitals in Chapter 7.
C Metrical conventions
1 In 'strict’ songs1:
looks metrically short but scans long;
^ e e 3.3 below .
9
\/ looks metrically long but scans short;
/£ scans for four matras or more.
D Dates
10
IN T R O D U C T IO N
throughout India. Gujarat,1 which had been ruled as a suba o f the M ughal empire
from 1573-1707, began to suffer Maratha raids from the m id-seventeenth century
when Shivaji invaded Surat in 1664. The Maratha Gaekwad o f V adodara came to
be the greatest pow er in Gujarat and Saurashtra, and the M arathas and M ughals
ruled Ahmadabad jointly from 1738 to 1753, when the M ughals relinquished any
claim to Gujarat.
The British East India Company had been active in southern Gujarat since
establishing their factory in Surat in 1612, gaining political pow er there in 1759.
As the M aratha confederacy declined rapidly after the battle o f Panipat (1761), the
M aratha rulers began to ally themselves to the British. In Gujarat, the Gaekwad o f
Vadodara accepted British protection after declaring his independence in 1782. The
British later annexed Bharuch (1803) and Ahmadabad (1817). After the defeat o f
the last Peshw a at the battle o f Kirkee (1818), the British established the Bombay
region w as consolidated in 1858 when the crown took over the E ast India
Company. Only five Gujarati districts were British: Surat, Bharuch, Panch Mahals,
Kheda and Ahmadabad. The rest of Gujarat was mostly ruled as princely states, the
only significant pow er belonging to the Gaekwad of V adodara who also ruled
This period sees the rise in significance o f the city o f Bom bay, as a
commercial and cultural centre for Gujaratis. In 1687, the East India Company had
transferred its W estern headquarters from Surat to Bombay and the shipping and
trade moved there as a consequence. There was large-scale migration from Gujarat:
shippers, merchants and middlemen from Surat, Bharuch and Kham bhat, bankers
G u ja ra t is used to refer to the area covered by the modem state o f Gujarat established in 1960.
11
Introduction
and commission agents from Ahmadabad; traders from Saurashtra and Kachchh.
The opening of the Suez Canal, steam navigation and the cotton trade o f the
nineteenth century helped to boost Bombay's fortunes. It became the capital of the
and social groups dining the eighteenth century, marking the beginning of the social
order o f m odem India. In the cultural sphere, there was a creative period in
Hinduism and Islam at popular and at formal levels.2 One o f the greatest cultural
changes was in the sphere of education. Bentinck's English Education Act (1835)
marked the victory of Anglicism over Orientalism3 in the separation of the study of
intellectual elite was created, whose influence was felt through the learned societies
they form ed and through the new print culture in new spapers, m agazines,
pam phlets and, o f course, literary publications. Many of the creative and critical
writers in Gujarati in the second half of the nineteenth century were graduates of
Elphinstone and it was through them that English literature was to have its far-
These writers introduced new literary forms into Gujarati, including the
novel and the short stoiy, and western poetical forms such as the sonnet. They
wrote on topics which had not been considered appropriate to literature, such as
social reform and nationalism. Instructed in the values of English literature, they
brought these to their new critical studies of Gujarati literature. The sphere of
production also changed as they no longer sought patrons but printed and sold their
2 B ayly 1988:39-44.
3 Viswanalhan 1989:22-44.
12
Introduction
work, often while pursuing professional careers in the B ritish adm inistration for
W hile these writers and critics were actively developing new literary forms
and criticism, they also began to reinterpret Gujarat's past. The two first poets of
modem Gujarati literature, Kavi Dalpat and Kavi Narmad4 were active collectors of
pre-modem Gujarati poetry and they edited the earliest printed volumes of Gujarati
poetry. Dalpat's was a selection of Gujarati verse published at the request of the
Director of Public Education5 while Narmad's was the first edition of the lyrics of
Nearly every article on Dayaram mentions his canonical status as the last
he travelled widely in India, his work contains no references to the changes that
were occurring as British power spread in Gujarat and its administrative systems
mentioned above, Dayaram belongs to the pre-British world of Gujarat, and indeed
of India. Everything about his life, his activities, his work, fixes him in this world,
and his death brings to an end the creative period of a whole tradition of devotional
poetry, with roots in the whole of North India and in the Gujarati folic tradition.
This status raises a num ber of questions. Firstly, 1852 seems a very late
date indeed for the term 'medieval', by any definition. In Europe the medieval
period is usually taken as ending with the Renaissance, that is several centuries
earlier. This terminology, used also for other Indian literatures in the pre-British
13
Introduction
period,8 has been questioned by Das9 who argues that the term 'medieval' is an
imposition because it suggests a 'dark age' of literature for a period which was one
of India's m ost creative. There may be two justifications for the use o f this term.
The first is that if the Indian renaissance of the nineteenth century is equated with
the European renaissance, by analogy the preceding period may be termed medieval.
The second, which follows from this, is that the pre-renaissance period was obscure
and 'dark.1
Secondly, in the opening line of the first biography of D ayaram ,10 Narm ad
calls him the last poet of the four hundred year old tradition o f sung poetry.
However, the sharpness o f this division between the pre- and the post-British eras
in Gujarati literature m ust be examined. The differences between the two in form,
subject matter, production and consumption suggest that this boundary was wide.
However, the fact that Dayaram remained an important figure in Gujarati literature
and that he was the topic o f the new literary criticism, makes this break seem less
found in Dayaram's own work. Does Dayaram's oeuvre contain elements which
could be reinterpreted by the modern tradition or was it a dead end? M ight there be
connections with the emotionalism of bhakti and that o f the Romantics? W hile
changes in form may be clear, what other features in the text m ark a break between
critics who had been trained in western literary criticism? W as he evaluated in the
teims of his own age or those of the age which followed him? How much does the
biography of Dayaram the bhakta have in common with the Byronic hero? And are
the qualities o f sweetness and love identified by the critics qualities of bhakti
emotionalism or Romanticism?
8Islam and Russell 1991:1-4 discuss the sense of'm edieval' in the context o f three eighteenth-century
Urdu poets.
9 D as 1991:333.
10Narmada£amkar LalSamkar 1912: 476.
14
Introduction
particular, are not m onocultural and most people move between several cultures.
For example, one could be a scientist with a Hawkinian view of time while also
believing in divine time. The implication for this thesis is that the traditional or
devotional views of Dayaram's lyrics are not incompatible with other literary critical
Given that Dayaram's lyrics have already raised a wide num ber of issues, it
clear that this requires not only a survey of existing studies o f Dayaram but also an
context of this thesis. Thus the first possible approach to Dayaram to be considered
Indology.
The study of India (i.e. British India, the area now called South Asia) was
and artefacts of a past, glorious civilisation, rather than the study of a living culture.
The term has come to acquire a pejorative m eaning,11 nam ely the approach of
w esterners who pursue an O rientalist12 study o f India. These senses are not
intended here, where the word ’Indologist1 is used simply to refer to those who
make India and res indica the objects of their academic study. It is not restricted to
westerners, although the majority of such studies are written in European languages
The distinction between literary scholarship and literary criticism m ust also
15
Introduction
taken to do so, except where it seems im portant (as here) to m ake a distinction
...in com m on u sage criticism generally stands for d iscu ssio n s o f literary
w orks that fo cu s on the ex p erience o f rea d in g .13 It is con cerned w ith
describing, interpreting and evaluating the m eaning and effect that literary
w orks have for competent but not necessarily academ ic readers. Scholarship,
on the other hand, stops short of, or goes beyond the experience o f reading, in
that its concern is w ith factors in one w ay or another external to this
experience: the gen esis o f the work, its textual transm ission, or elem en ts
within it that the non-specialist reader need not necessarily take an interest in.
C riticism is not e x c lu siv e ly acad em ic, and often may be p erson al and
subjective, though it is o f course capable o f a detachm ent and rigour o f its
own: scholarship is a specialist activity w hich aim s for the sam e detachm ent
and rigour that characterize other academic disciplines.14
criticism , in that the authors are concerned w ith historical background, with
establishing a text by editing manuscripts, with studying its textual transmission and
nature. Several o f the studies include literary statements about the texts, usually
judgem ents about the literary nature of the works he is concerned about, but these
information.
it is not surprising that there has been very little Indological research on Dayaram or
on Gujarati Vaisnava literature in general. However, over the last few decades there
Krsnaite literature. Dayaram is connected to this tradition, not so much for his Braj
13A lthough 'and listening' is not written, it is understood that oral literature is included here also.
W hile it is obvious that it is not possible to have a 'close listening' as one may have a 'close reading',
w here the reader has sole control over the experience, this problem is not discussed here. There has
been m uch work on the scholarship o f oral performance, but little on the criticism o f it. The Braj
Krsnaite verse is m ostly sung and a critical discussion would have to include the use o f repetition in
performance, the fact that the verses arc heard repeatedly and are learnt and perform ed in other
contexts by the audience etc.
14Jefferson and Robey 1986:8.
15E.g. M cGregor 1984 in his survey o f early Hindi literature.
16
Introduction
poetry (for he is not well known in this tradition, his fame deriving almost entirely
from his Gujarati lyrics) but more because he was a m em ber o f the Pustimarga, a
V aisnava sect w hich practises Braj bhakti. A survey of these studies would
furnishing a large of amount o f necessary background inform ation, but this is not
literature, the majority of these being the work o f Fran^oise M allison, before going
and so does not deal with Indological approaches made by Indian scholars. It finds
here the scholastic apparatus necessary for the initial study of the texts as literature,
considered here belong to a different intellectual tradition. They do not engage with
the rigorous textual study typical o f the Indological tradition but are mostly non
Since these studies of Dayaram are nearly all written by Gujaratis, mostly in
inclusions in histories of religion or literature dating from over fifty years ago) they
have been labelled ’Gujarati', but it must be emphasised that this is not intended as
17
Introduction
em anating from B om bay did not replace all pre-existing literary traditions.
Dayaram’s aksaradeha ('immortal body', i.e. his corpus), has survived to the present
through two traditions, that of his own world and that of the m odem world. On the
one hand, Dayaram 's pupils, their descendants and his followers in Dabhoi have
kept his poetry alive, and on the other, his works were among the earliest Gujarati
differences. W hile both groups praise his lyrics for their sw eetness and pr&ma
('love, affection') for K rsna and describe the poet's life at length, his followers
concentrate on the religious aspects o f his work, while the readers o f his work as
literature try to find value in his work drawing on the modern tradition o f literary
criticism which began after his death. An exploration of these various receptions of
his work seemed likely to illum inate attitudes to literature and to the world in
general. D ayaram 's lyrics are also used in daily worship in people’s homes, but
scholarship and literary criticism, this does not imply any desire to elevate one at the
expense o f another. It should be clear that the scholastic approach is not being
denigrated. For example, in this thesis, although its central portion in Part II is a
study of the lyrics o f Dayaram as 'literature', it has been found necessary first to
particular Chapters 2 and 3). In fact, the situation is quite complicated. The two
disciplines are often mutually dependent: sometimes the editing o f a text can
contribute to the literary study of it, for example, where the text is distorted through
shows that the original Surdas was quite different from the Surdas of modern India.
18
Introduction
Now there is (or, rather, will be, when the text is published) an U r-Sursagar and a
num ber o f verses which will be discarded as later accretions. The difference
between these strata is clear from Hawley's work, and scholastic work may now
establish new inform ation about Surdas' language, religious beliefs, sectarian
affiliation etc. which can then contribute to other areas o f study. It could also be
argued that the later versions o f the Sursagar have a greater validity, because it is
these versions which are read and loved today, and it is the later poems, such as the
balllla group, which are the most loved and best known verses o f Surdas. From the
point of view of criticism, the poems may be assessed in the performance (i.e. their
sung form) for which they were intended as well as in written form, as a play may
be studied both from its script and from its performance. Like a play, these poems
may no longer have a true oral performance, but are becoming fixed as they acquire
content and hence could not provide answers to questions raised in the study as to
the literary nature o f the text, the historical context of the lyrics, an understanding of
and D alpat and Narm ad, and the problem s of reading the lyrics in the present
context. These questions have been raised elsewhere in literary studies, through the
world in the last three decades. A common complaint about theory is that it is
difficult, but w hile some o f the texts are certainly opaque, the difficulty is not
extrem e in com parison with the theoretical texts o f som e other disciplines.
Opinions about the value of such studies tend to be polarised, ranging from the
19
Introduction
opposite extreme, where it is seen as a complete new system o f thought, calling the
whole nature of literature into question and making previous studies redundant. It
is impossible to read without taking a theoretical position, however neutral one may
claim to be, and some awareness o f the ways in which one reads texts, or in other
words o f the theory which underlies one's reading, must be o f some significance.
This thesis is concerned more with the reading of texts than with a study of theory,
but does aim to show how an understanding o f literary theory can inform and
Jefferson and Robey 1986 sum up the questions that a theory o f literature
must ask: What is literariness? W hat is the relation of the author to the text? W hat
is the relation o f the reader to the text? W hat is the relation of the text to reality?
W hat is the status of the medium of the text (language)? The theory should then be
examined to see how it would allow for a theory of literary history, and w hat its
For this study, the first step was to examine the available theories for one
which was based on a theory of language, the medium of literature, and which tied
the text closely to historical reality. This immediately ruled out Indian poetics and
nearly every western theory.16 One of the first to be rejected was post-structuralism
(including deconstruction), which with its ahistorical approach, its loss o f the
subject, lack of truth and its abstract 'philosophy', allows for no interpretation o f
Psychoanalytic criticism was attractive, not least for its operating entirely through
the medium of language, but apart from the considerable cross-cultural implications
16See Jefferson and R obey 1986; Eagleion 1983 for an outline o f the major theories.
20
Introduction
involved in such a study,17 there are serious reservations about the thinking that
underpins the 'science' (with hypothetical mental constructs such as the id-ego-
superego, its biologist essence and its concentration on the individual rather than on
society), let alone the implications involved in using it to study literature. Gender-
based theoryls was a possibility and while interesting readings of Indian literature
have been made from a fem inist perspective,19 a study of the construction o f
femininity in Dayaram would, however rewarding, fail to fulfil the initial criteria.
notably those of com parative literature and of cultural studies, would provide
further insights. These include translation studies, reception studies, the thought of
Foucault, especially as developed by Said in his study o f Orientalism, and the work
o f Bhabha on hybridity.
M any studies o f theory now tend towards the eclectic rather than the
exclusive - notably feminist theory which has been incorporated into many other
system s.20 This study will however be informed by the writings of one theorist,
answers to the questions that must be asked of any literary theory, and w hose
concerns allow many points of departure for suggestive readings o f D ayaram 's
lyrics. His works on philosophy, linguistics and literary theory have as their central
concerns the relation of self to other, o f mind to world and o f the individual to
society. Underlying all his work is the assumption that everything 'means'. He
does not hold, along with deconstructionists and others, that no one has meaning,
nor does he think that meaning belongs to the hum anistic self; rather he sees
meaning as belonging to the com m unity-that is, it is shared and it is multiple. His
theory allows one to analyse texts in ways which are neither subjective, nor
mechanically impersonal. Dialogue underlines his view of truth and o f the world in
21
Introduction
his epistemology o f'd ialo g ism ',21 in his 'translinguistics' (study of language and
discourse), and in his central concepts on which he bases his study o f genre,
author in the text), the 'chronotope' (time and space and the values attached to them)
and the camivalesque (folk influence, humour and the aesthetic o f the grotesque), all
It should be clear, however, that this is ju st one approach out o f the many
'It should be em phasized here that literature is too com plex and m ultifaceted a
phenom enon and literary scholarship is still too young for it to be p ossib le to
speak o f any on e sin gle 'redeeming' method in literary scholarship. Various
approaches are ju stified and are even quite necessary as lon g as th ey are
serious and reveal som ething new in the literary phenom enon being studied,
as long as they promote a deeper understanding o f it.'22
Bakhtin's theory is not systematic, but suggestive, about opening the text to
substantiates his points, but the real interest lies in the further analysis of this
reading which produces an understanding of the text and its context. Bakhtin's
theories do not allow for a close reading of the text, an analysis o f rhetorical and
The object o f this thesis is not a testing o f Bakhtin's theory but a search for
ways in which his theory can aid a critical study of Dayaram. N or does this work
literature. For example, Bakhtin's writing on language does not feature strongly in
this thesis. There are clearly future possibilities for such a study o f Dayaram 's
lyrics. F or exam ple, a study of heteroglossia in his work would discuss the
Dayaram's use o f Braj and Gujarati in his works. The meaning o f the combination
21'D ialogism may w ell becom e the basis o f our time's intellectual structure' Kristeva 1980:89.
22Bakhtin 1986:3.
22
Introduction
of vocabulary from three languages (Braj, Sanskrit and Gujarati) within the lyrics
could be exam ined to see how they relate to one another, perhaps reflecting an
awareness of the old and the new or showing sources in the specialised vocabulary
o f the Krsna cult, the Pustimarga sect and Gujarati folk literature. However, such
aspects lie beyond the scope o f the present study. Nor has any attempt been made
qualities in the texts. Here only two of his main concepts have been used, the
These two forces are not purely literary, but exist in the world outside
literature as social and historical forces. Carnival is a range of activities and cultural
forms which may be seen as centrifugal forces. They enter writing in the west with
the novel, in particular in the work of Rabelais. The chronotope is a term Bakhtin
adopted from natural science, an understanding o f space and tim e and the
relationship between them as a way of perceiving the world. Both of these concepts
are key elements of Bakhtin's concern with the theory of genre, which, as in all his
his work on literature is on a study of its genres. Genre is im portant not only as a
speech. It is not formal or abstract but concrete. His study o f genre makes his
w ork one of the few theories o f literature to try to understand how a history o f
literature may be possible. He is explicit about this aspect o f his work, giving his
essay on the chronotope the subtitle 'Notes towards a historical poetics.'23 In this
essay he traces the roots of the novel to antiquity and to folklore, further back than
is normally the case. Eschewing the approach of textualism, Bakhtin looks instead
at the dialogue between the texts, between the texts and their critics. Bakhtin argues
23Bakhtin 1981.
23
Introduction
that all texts must be seen in context; they have to placed in their historical reality.
They are dependent on what was said/written before and what comes after.
In this study by Bakhtin, the genre changes are gradual and take place over
in the chronotope, which is a way o f perceiving the world, reflect actual historical
transform ations.24 For example, one of the m ost successful genres to emerge in
nineteenth-century India was the novel which has now becom e one o f the main
genres of Indian literature. The rise of the novel in India has been linked to the
with an individual text but about understanding literature in wider terms, a social
and historical force requiring a study of institutional factors and their mechanisms
(the publication and distribution o f books, criticism and the distinction of'high' and
authorial authority, textual meaning and reception allow the various approaches to
analysis, is concerned with textual meaning but also reveals im portant features
needed for the study of the text: Gujarati reception, often a them atic analysis,
concentrates either on the author or on the personal experience of the text, but it
work can never be located in just the author's intention or the reader's interpretation.
24Andcrson 1991 argues that a change in the concept o f tim e from 'simultaneity' to 'm eanwhile' is a
necessary condition for the creation o f nationalism . The exam ples he draws from literature to
illustrate this claim su ggest strong links betw een the change in the con cep t o f tim e, and the
em ergence o f the novel and the idea o f nationalism. H ow ever these are not explored at length. A
com parative study o f Anderson's 'm eanwhile' and Bakhtin's 'fullness o f time' may be a fruitful
project.
25Mukherjee 1985.
26 Watt 1957.
24
Introduction
Works grow in meaning over time as historical and future m eanings emerge as
to present m eanings as the meaning of a text results from these active dialogues,
lyrics.
Vaisnava hagiography as well as to the Romantic view o f the poet as Byronic hero.
The reason Dayaram's lyrics are never seen as independent but always as closely
question of time has already been allowed for in his historical attitude, but for him,
the outsideness of the reader can be an asset rather than an automatic problem. In
the present context it may be hoped that it allows a fresh perspective on the lyrics of
Dayaram.
literature. The social and historical forces of carnival show how the interaction of
high and low cultures is part of the dynamic of bhakti, the K rsna cult and of
Dayaram's lyrics. Early bhakti was a social and religious force, a popular, non-
Brahminical movement. It was here that carnival found an entry into literature as
was reduced by Vallabha whose sect, the Pustimarga, was Brahminical. He wrote
in Sanskrit and the cult became associated with the temple and with ritual. By
27Shephcrd 1989.
25
Introduction
Dayaram, the singing and dancing of the lyrics and the assumption o f roles allows
for more active participation than expected in literature. After Dayaram, carnival is
reduced in Gujarati literature as changes in the concepts o f high and low, and
The im plication o f carnival and the chronotope are relevant not ju st for
Dayaram but for all bhakti literature. However, it is possible that they may also be
not just in literature but in society as a whole. Dayaram shows this most clearly as
he is positioned on the edge o f the 'medieval' and the modern. There are clear
im plications for creating the possibility o f future interactions w ith W estern and
Indian literature and the introduction of new genres to India, notably the novel and
The question of approaches to the study of Indian literatures has also been
discussed in G.N. Devy's award-winning book, A fter amnesia: tradition and change
in Indian literary criticism ,28 He argues that literatures in the bhdsds (i.e. New Indo-
Aryan languages) need to be criticised through their own traditions. He argues that
In order to recover from this amnesia he argues that there is a need to re
examine the British impact on Indian literary traditions and to formulate a pragmatic
literary historiography for bhdsa literatures.30 While these two aims are similar in
many ways to the goals of this thesis, Devy does not achieve the former and falls
into more serious problems with the latter. Unable to find any critical document or
26
Introduction
specifies which theory he is attacking), often at the level o f polem ic,33 makes him
fail to see that he is often arguing against formalism rather than theory itself. I
many of the issues raised by Devy and others in a study o f Indian literatures within
of Gujarat. This is unremarkable in that probably only two other medieval Gujarati
poets are known elsewhere in India, Narasimha Maheta (1414-1481) and Mlratn
(1403-1470). However, the latter is best known outside G ujarat through the Hindi
versions of her songs,34 which makes Narasimha the only known Gujarati medieval
poet. The specific reason for Narasimha's fame seems to be that Gandhi included
some of his songs in his prayer m eetings. Part of the reason for D ayaram 's
obscurity may be that little or none of Dayaram's work has been translated from
Gujarati - again, an unremarkable fact since very little Gujarati literature has been
translated. M ost of the translations from Gujarati into other Indian languages are of
early novels (M unshi and Govardhanram) into H indi.35 W hile some medieval
South Asian literature has become known in India and overseas through its English
translations (notably that of Tukaram, and collections of south Indian bhakti poetry,
collections o f Hindi saints36), the only translations of medieval Gujarati poetry are
those of N arasim ha in French and in English (see below Chapter 1.1 for a
31 D evy 1992:90.
32N em ade 1986.
33For exam ple, 'by inducing Indian critics to undertake an imitative activity o f m indless theorizing, it
[theory] has created a set o f literary prem ises and critical frameworks into w h ich bhasa literature is
coercively being fitted.' D evy 1992:111.
34Sce 2.2 below .
35Govardhanram's Sam svaticandra has not been translated into E n glish , d esp ited its continued
canonical status as the greatest Gujarati novel. See 2.2 below .
36Chitre 1991, Ramanujan 1973, Hawley and Juergensmeycr 1988.
27
Introduction
discussion of these works). Recently the jnanam argl, Alcho (c. 1615-1674) has
been translated into English.37 This meant that the introduction o f a great figure of
one o f the great Gujarati poets barely known outside Gujarat. It may also allow us
to look more closely at the changes that happened to literature at this time and how
this was connected with changes in the world and in the perceptions of the world.
This thesis has its own context as another reading of Dayaram. It resists the
desire for absolute conclusions, but offers instead a new point o f departure for
The thesis is divided into three parts. Part I looks at the four principal
literature, the Gujarati folk tradition and the literature of his sect, mostly written in
Braj Bhasa. It discusses these four topics in the context o f understandings o f North
scholars in the religious as well as the literary Gujarati tradition. Chapter 3 is a veiy
transm ission of the Gujarati texts and examines their place in a history o f the
Gujarati lyric. It then looks at the forms, content and language of Dayaram 's
Gujarati lyrics.
37Krishnadilya 1993.
28
Introduction
verses referred to elsewhere in the thesis. They are given in transliteration to make
the texts accessible to those who know other north Indian languages, thinking in
particular of those who know Braj Bhasa. The translations are intended as working
tools for reading the thesis and no literary considerations of translation have been
38It is surprising that Bakhtin docs not raise the issue o f translation in any o f his work giv en his
study o f language.
29
PART I
C H A P T E R 1: T H E IN D O L O G IS T S ' A P P R O A C H E S TO K R S N A IT E
L IT E R A T U R E
There has been no study o f Dayaram in any European language and very
little research has been done on Gujarati V aisnava literature in general by non-
the m ajority o f these being the work o f Frangoise M allison, before going on to
Braj literature.
This chapter does not review these studies, but instead outlines the strategies
literature. It analyses their central concerns and their methods rather than assessing
and Braj Bhasa languages. It does not look at Krsnaite literature in Sanskrit (e.g.
translations have not been checked against the originals, since here the concern is
more w ith the results o f the translation, whether it is literal, literary, in verse, or
monographs, several o f which are reworkings of doctoral theses, provide the most
useful data. There follows a summary of strategies which may be relevant to a neo-
Indologist approach to Gujarati Krsnaite literature in the literary study of the lyrics
30
Chapter 1: The Indologists
m entioning her other work on Islam and Islamic writing in Gujarat (e.g. Mallison
1991b) only when it is relevant to this study, and then sum m arises points o f
broad range of sources, the earliest literature of the movement. She draws attention
to his disciples, w hich w ere collected by his principal devotees. This w ork
provides the philosophical basis for the sect, and is significant for being the first
work in modem Gujarati prose. Mallison also mentions the early poets of the sect1
who wrote of their devotion to Krsna, in the context of the Svaminarayan sect. She
ecrivent un langage sim ple et clair. Ils tiirent les premiers a laisser de cote les
genres litteraires du vieu x gujaiiiti, sans etre encore, a proprement parler, des
ecrivains m odem es. Pour cette raison ils occupent une place de prem ier plan
dans la litterature du Gujarat.2
However, she has little more to say about literature, the main preoccupations
o f the paper being with historico-religious aspects of the sect. Other works on this
sect3 are concerned with religious, philosophical, and social aspects and the literary
M allison 1979 follows the story of Sudama, one o f the greatest Vaisnava
bhaktas, from his anonymous mention in the Bhagavata Purana, through various
this paper is the development of the religious themes and of the storyline; thus there
^ e e 3.1 below .
2 M allison 1974a:439.
3 W illiam s 1984, D w yer 1994.
4 See 3.1 below on the dates o f Narasimha.
31
Chapter 1: The Indologists
is no detailed discussion o f the literary merits of the works, only rather general
The poem reflects in a vivid manner Gujarati society at the end o f seventeenth
century and Premananda proves h im self a good observer o f the hum an mind.
H is m on ologu es and d ia lo g u es are w ell turned w hereas h is d escrip tion s
remain conventional. ^
and
Premananda's genius lies in his capability o f bringing out in a v iv id manner
the moral and the spiritual lesso n o f the old tale, w h ile en liv en in g it and
entertaining h is readers all through w ith h is w itty d ia lo g u e s and racy
description. The character o f Sudama has reached its point o f p erfection in
Premananda’s story, a great classic o f Gujarati literature.6
The second part of the study (Mallison 1980a) examines the evolution of the
such as the mahatmya of the town, given in the Skanda Purana (in Sanskrit), with
archaeological evidence and current practice, she shows how the Krsna cult has
marked by the adoption of the Vallabhite liturgy and the conversion o f the Bava
priests. Using similar sources, she finds evidence of this process o f Krsnaisation in
two m ajor and two m inor temples o f Gujarat (Dwarka, Dakor, Sham alaji and
K rsna-G opala (M allison 1983), and in Dakor (which, after Dwarka, is the largest
pilgrimage centre in modem Gujarat), where a &aivite centre has been taken over by
interpreting Gujarati texts for the p u rp o s e s of studying m odem bhakti. Texts were
transm itted orally until the tim e o f D ayaram and o f the early poets o f the
Svam inarayan sect, when m anuscript transm ission begins. The earliest extant
mainly o f interest for Jain studies, while the earliest extant Krsnaite manuscripts are
very late, e.g. for Narasimha from as late as the seventeenth century. Because the
5 M allison 1979:97.
6 M allison 1979:98.
32
Chapter 1: The Indologists
scribal tradition is very poor from the eighteenth century onwards, there is only a
very short period during which reliable manuscripts were written, many of which
are uncatalogued and untended. Printed editions begin to appear by the m id
nineteenth century, but these were uncritical, often based on only one or two
manuscripts, with no attempts to correct errata. The most famous of these printed
edition o f m edieval verse. M allison claims that due to the w eakness of the
study texts like N arasim ha's and so one m ust also consult the present living
traditions.
the bhakti poets. Many of his padas have been published although they are printed
w ithout com mentary and w ithout critical editing. There are traditionally three
groupings of his songs - the bhakti-jhana type (poems with a generally austere tone,
balllla (poems celebrating the childhood exploits of Krsna) and the Srhgarbhakti
(erotic) type. The eroto-m ystical hymns seem to show the influence o f the
Vallabhite sect, but because Narasimha lived before the foundation o f the sect, and
because they are hardly known in Gujarat, their authenticity m ust be questioned.
Eroto-m ystical poetry eventually becom e the dom inant form w ithin Gujarati
Krsna ism, with even the puritanical Svaminarayan movement generating poetry of
this land.
terms.7 A notable case in point here is the p ra b h a tiy u m , the form for which
N arasim ha is m ost famous. Mallison shows how this term cannot be defined
precisely, but that one can make certain observations about them - they are prayers
sung only in the morning, with no fixed theme, although likely to be of bhakti-jhana
33
Chapter 1: The Indologists
or balllla type, mainly in jhulana metre and sung to a d e il ('folk') tune. Concluding
the paper, she asks why Narasimha's well-known and well-loved prabhatiyam were
transm itted so carelessly. She suggests this is because they did not belong to a
and 1989 concerning the dhola, a religious song (pada), usually Vaisnava, sung
The form o f the dhol is not fixed and it may be a tale, a song o f praise or a
dialogue. Each type has its own set tune, popular and easy to learn. Metrical
considerations do not arise...The them es o f d h o l are Puranic or ep ic, m ost
often drawn from the R am ayan..H ow ever m uch one tries, they remain a
sp ecies hard to define, halfway betw een literature, folklore and h ym nology.
In this respect the dhol are rather representative o f the m edieval short texts
com p osed in the vernaculars, difficult to equate either w ith their classical
sources or with their present-day folk form s.8
She distinguishes three types of dhola. The first, being the folk type, is
sung in housework, and on auspicious occasions etc. The second type is a non
is becom ing rare. The third, the Vallabhite dhola, is part of a thriving tradition and
like the second is sung only at satsamg, This third type is defined in distinction to a
kirtana (H avell samglt) which is sung in the havell, always in Braj, com posed by
the astachapa and sung by official musicians (klrtanakara) during the eight periods
o f seva in the havell. Mallison claims that the dhola, composed by mostly obscure
persons (with the notable exception of Dayaram), in a simple vernacular and sung
by the ordinary devotee, is at the core of the Vallabhite literature in Gujarati. The
oral tradition is now being replaced by printed texts which are widely used by the
devotees. The standard edition was first published in Ahmadabad in 1916, with
many subsequent reprintings. In it the Braj liturgy is intermingled with the Gujarati
dhola.
satsamg where nine songs were performed, including three by Dayaram ( Vaisnava
8M allison 1989:88-9.
34
Chapter 1: The Indologists
avatare) and one by Narasimha (K ukane pagale padharo vhala, the only one o f his
songs used by V allabhites, and that only in Surat). D ayaram 's songs are
distinguished by having more complicated tunes than the usual dhoja. M allison
points out that in singing Premaamsa (which is a pada), the chorus join in only for
the refrain, whereas in others they repeat w hat the leader sings. She mentions
musical instruments and ragas but gives little information on music. The distinction
between dhola and pada would not, however, appear very m arked from Mallison's
data, although it seems that padas have matrachanda metres and are set to ragas,
whereas dholas have tala type metres and are set to desi tunes.
Interesting aspects of this paper include the de-oralising of the texts used in
setting in one sect, and the transition of this form from a folk to a classical tradition
through refinement by trained musicians. She contrasts this with the garabo which
has entered popular culture, and whose current forms are likely to be ephemeral in
given in an article on the garabfs o f Pir Shams (Mallison 1991b),9 and her brief
o f the earliest o f these (1974a) deals with his biography and is later incorporated
into the first chapter of her book on Narasimha (1986a). It is the only substantial
approach may be summarised as follows. The first chapter is the life o f Narasimha
M aheta, subtitled 'The history o f a hagiography'. This chapter has a num ber o f
subtitles covering his autobiography (five poems which cover central episodes of
35
Chapter 1: The Indologists
his life), his legendary life (from hagiographies o f the seventeenth and eighteenth
bhakti-jhana pada), his present following (in the Narasimha M ahetano Coro in
Junagadh), controversies surrounding his biography (his dates, the diversity o f his
inspiration), his sectarian connections (the difficulty o f any link w ith the
Pustim arga), historical references to him elsewhere (of which there is only one),
The second chapter deals with the works o f N arasim ha w ith special
reference to the prabhatiyam. It includes notes on the transmission and the editions
o f his works, and goes on to define the prabhatiyam with ample notes on prosody,
affiliations are discussed in the third chapter, with special reference to vedantic
m onism , and the w orship o f K rsna-G opala, w hile the fourth chapter contains
In the central section of the work, the fifty-one poem s are arranged
thematically, the edited text in Gujarati script is given with alternative readings in the
footnotes and the French translation, again with footnotes, is given on the opposite
page. Appendices include a list of errors in the Gujarati text; an index of first lines;
lists o f common and proper nouns, names o f places and titles o f works; and an
the most famous o f all Gujarati Vaisnava songs, Narasimha's Vaisnavajana to tene
kahie. She analyses the definition, then discusses the authorship of the song (which
N arasim ha, possible sources o f this song in Old G ujarati, and finishes with
Vaisnava is not.
36
Chapter 1: The Indologists
compiled from a vast num ber of sources used in her definition o f genres, and her
work on the rise of Krsnaism in Gujarat and Gujarati Vaisnavaism prior to the rise
Sanskrit, her studies o f the K rsnaisation o f G ujarat and her fam iliarity with
archaeological rem ains shows the extent o f her fieldw ork in G ujarat and her
familiarity with the work o f Gujarati scholars. She neatly unravels tangled data in
her studies of mahatmyas while her work on Narasimha shows the same clarity and
precision, with a solid, scholastic treatment clearly and logically bringing out the
superstratum on the substrata of the worship o f Visnu or o f Siva-D evi12 and of the
which are not developed at length. One might wish to look for a synthesis of local
or folk poetry concerned with the worship o f those deities w hose cult has been
replaced by Braj-Krsnaism. This is borne out clearly in the accretion of the erotic
but why this happened and to what extent the change was completed, following her
remarks in 1980a, which show that she thinks that the V allabhisation of the ritual
Her remarks on the problems o f oral transmission (M allison 1980b) are not
relevant to Dayaram, but her remarks in this paper and in M allison 1986b on the
wide acceptance of a printed volume as a standard validate the decision here to work
volumes of Dayaram's verse,13 this is the one used most frequently when studying
his work for literary or ritual purposes, along with a smaller num ber of his dholas
37
Chapter 1: The Indologists
and padas taken from ritual texts (see M allison 1986b). M allison 1986b also
m entions briefly the performance of Dayaram 's verses in m odem times in this
context. Questions remain as to whether they are ever danced as garabls and as to
whether only the bhakti-jhana type are used in satsamgs, although garabls are found
in some prayer books.14 Recordings o f the erotic garabls are still made occasionally
in India, although they seem to lack the popularity of those of Narasimha Maheta.
It remains unclear if they are ever used in worship or still danced as garabls.
O f particular help for this study is her work on defining term s,15 the most
obvious being that on the garabi (M allison 1991b) which provides a foundation
from which to discuss further definitions. So too will her w ork o f 1986a, where
she also untangles strands of conflicting evidence, sifting through hagiography and
historical information etc. The structure of the book, as outlined above, is o f great
interest and although this thesis differs in its approach to Dayaram's work from that
which she has employed for Narasimha Maheta, it seems that there is m uch to be
of religion rather than as a literary scholar. Little of her w ork has focused on
literary studies per se, such as literary criticism, for she is far more interested in
such scholastic problems as the origins of the work, its transmission, the editing of
texts, the study of literature as a scholarly source (on religion etc.), and problems of
form such as genres and metrics. For example, in her w ork on metre, she never
looks at how the metres are actually used to contribute to the poetic effect of the
38
Chapter 1: The Indologists
followed by the life or hagiography o f Narasimha. The list of N arasim ha's works
does not consider the possibility o f an oral tradition. There follows an account of
the K rsna story and a very b rief note on language, w hich m entions that the
transmission has resulted in the modernising o f the language and that the texts may
well have been changed by the Pustim arga in an attempt to claim him as a poet of
their sect. The translations are based on the standard edition o f Narasimha, that is
DeSal 1886-1913, with each pada identified by the corresponding number. This
selection consists mostly of the erotic padas, which are not well known in Gujarat,
unlike his bhakti-jhana verses. The bibliography is all pre-1968, and does not
include any reference to Mallison's work. This reasonably cheap book is found all
literature. There is no definitive text of her work, but a large num ber o f poem s
bearing her signature are found in Gujarati, Braj and Rajasthani traditions, some
shared by all three. There are certainly arguments for including her in the survey of
Braj literature, but here she is discussed in the context of Gujarati literature.16
G oetz 1966 is concerned with the life of MTram and seem s to have
A lthough he does not quote his sources in his text, he gives a reasonable
bibliography. A historian, he claims to have written the book out o f his deep
adm iration for her. H owever, it seem to be the historical person in whom his
interest lies, for there is scarcely any reference to her work, religious thought or
why he thinks that she is to be ranked along with Jesus Christ as one o f the two
N ilsson 1969 gives a standard coverage of the life and works of M iram .17
She outlines M iram's religious background and discusses her bhava and how she
follows all nine steps o f bhakti,18 Nilsson divides the poems into two types, those
of entreaty or love; lists the emotions M iram describes (hope, attraction, longing,
disappointment, jealousy, anger and joy in union); and mentions her use of forms
such as the barahmasa. She gives little information on the poetic forms or the
language, and does not consider the question of the composition and transm ission
of M iram 's poems in the three languages. H er literary analysis is very general,
mentioning that her poems have a limited range of expression, that her imagery was
strong and that her m erits were the result o f the spontaneous overflow ing o f
emotion:
M ira Bai did not create her songs as literary com positions as Jayadeva and
V idyapati did. E ven Sur D as, w ho, like M ira B ai, w as primarily a bhakta,
used many literary devices. A lm ost each and every pada o f Sur D as could be
scanned in traditional m etres. T he literary quality in M ira Bai's so n g s is
inherent, and it does not obscure the aesthetic enjoym ent by irksom e and
clever contrivances,19
A lston 1980 is prim arily a selection o f M iram 's poem s, although the
introduction provides inform ation on M iram's life, the bhakti m ovem ent and her
position within it and some information on the oeuvre and the religious content of
the poems. The translations are arranged thematically, with notes given at the back,
has shown that this is essentially the work o f one individual, w hose interests have
not been concentrated on the literary value o f the corpus. In order to examine
17The volu m e on Dayaram by Sandcsara 1981, in the sam e national Sahitya A kadem i series, is
discussed not here but in the context o f studies o f Dayaram in Chapter 2, below .
18See 2.2 below .
19N ilsso n 1969:34.
40
Chapter 1: The Indologists
Braj Bhasa.
K rsnaism throughout northern India has been dom inated by Braj bhakti
since the sixteenth century. The continuing significance of this region and its
culture is well covered by Entwistle 19 8 7.20 M allison’s w ork has shown that all
Krsnaism in Gujarat has been dominated by Braj Krsnaism, in particular that of the
Pustim arga, although she has not focused on its im pact in literature beyond
suggesting that the emphasis on Srfigara rasa can be seen in the accretion of erotic
literature are likely to have grown as this Braj Vaisnavism becam e the norm in
Gujarati Vaisnavism. For this reason alone it would seem essential to survey Braj
Krsnaite literature.
The relations of Dayaram to the Braj Vaisnava sect o f the Pustim arga are
exam ined further in 2,2 below. It might be expected that its influence would be
particularly strong in his work since he was a follower of this sampradaya. The
influence of'B rajv asf groups atN athdw ara and of the Braj liturgy (H avell samglt),
would have been sure to have had an affect on any poet o f the sect. As mentioned
in 2.1, D ayaram him self wrote in Braj Bhasa (e.g. the Satasaiya), but this work has
of these works that many Gujaratis believe that he was a reincarnation of one of the
m ost fam ous Braj poets, Nanddas, one of the astachap (the eight poets whose
works form the H avell samglt). Although an identification with a Braj poet is not
than any other poet, who was seen to be closest to Dayaram. There does not seem
to be any particularly close connection between the lyrics o f D ayaram and those
which are attributed to Nanddas21 but it may be that the similarities with works of
41
Chapter 1: The Indologists
N anddas22 lie in the other writings of Dayaram. H owever, these links have not
been researched.
At the time of the great flowering of Braj bhakti, Braj Bhasa (or Braj) came
to be used as the appropriate vernacular for this culture since it is the language
w hich devotees assume that K rsna him self, as a resident o f Braj, would have
A 1'epoque d'Akbar, la tangue braj apparait com m e la plus affin ee des langues
de l'lnde septentrionale, et la langue poetique at m usicale par e x cellen ce. 'Si
une langue indo-aryenne dans l'lnde du N ord pouvait etre a p p elee "langue
royale", dit S.K. Chatterji, ce Hit certainement la langue braj.' 23
Braj soon came to be used all over north India for the worship o f Krsna-
Gopala: 'c’est vraim ent la langue du coeur pour tous les pieux krishnai’tes, du
the sect by the time of Hariray in the seventeenth century. Although Gujarati is
now the second language of the sect, it is not as highly regarded as Braj or Sanskrit.
For example, speaking any language other than Braj or Sanskrit in the havell, makes
the priests ritually im pure.25 The Vallabhite liturgy performed in the havelis (the
Havell samgif) is performed exclusively in the Braj language using the padas o f the
astachap. Braj (or an approximation to it) is also used by Gujaratis in domestic seva
when talking directly to Thakoiji, who is believed to speak Braj, but Gujarati is also
Braj literature (including related performance arts) before going on to look in more
42
Chapter 1: The Indologists
detail at works w hich examine the works from the point o f literary criticism, in
particular Bryant 1978. It then summarises the points of interest o f these works to a
study of Dayaram before a final brief discussion of the styles o f translation used in
these works along with those in the above section on Gujarati. It does not discuss
the m ost im portant form of Krsnaite poetry, namely the pada w hich is discussed
below in 3.3. Nor does it examine studies of the performance o f musicology o f any
o f these traditions26 since this lies beyond the scope of this study of Dayaram.
For reasons m ostly o f space, m uch m aterial w hich could have been
discussed has not been covered. There has been no attempt to include writings on
Avadhi, because these would have had less significance than Braj to Dayaram, as a
follower o f Braj bhakti and a Braj poet. There has been no mention o f the literature
o f the sants such as Dadu, for the same reason. Even much other Braj verse which
does have a strong Krsnaite element such as that o f Raskhan, R ahim etc. has not
been covered, mostly because there has been little Indological writing on their work.
The Vallabhite prose of the Caurasi/Do sau bavan vaisnavan k i varta is not included
M cGregor 1974, which also includes a history of literature in Avadhi and in Khari
Boll. M cG regor gives an account o f the lives and works o f the authors, makes
succinct analyses of the literary merits of these works and gives a vast amount of
2 6 Such as those o f S ch len k er-S on n en sch m id l 1980, M anuel 1989, D e lv o y e 1991 and G aston
[1995].
271991b:32-6.
43
Chapter 1: The Indologists
six of the most famous poets of medieval India - Ravidas, Kabir, Nanak, Surdas,
Tulsidas and MIrabal. Each poet is introduced with his/her pseudo-history and
hagiography and the present use of their works. No information at all is given on
literary aspects of the poems, the notes being concerned m ore with the religious
background than w ith the works as literature. Notes, a glossary and an index
The second part of Barz 1986 contains translations o f four vartas of four o f
expected from the title of the work, namely ' The bhakti sect o f Vallabhacarya.'
Indeed, the first part of the book is solely about the Pustim arga and the foundation
of the sect, the hagiographic accounts of its founders V allabhacarya and his son
them both, and the im portance o f the bhakti-bhavas and the role o f R adha (£ri
early years o f the sect, when the astachap poets flourished. Once more, there is no
literary discussion o f the texts. However, Barz points out in the introduction the
need for a different aesthetic, saying he could not enjoy Surdas' poetry until he
There are two Braj readers available, Thiel-H orstm ann 1983 and Snell
1991b. Thiel- Horstmann is not concerned with Braj-based K rsnaite material but
with three seven teenth-century nirguna authors o f Rajasthani Braj, Dadu, Jangopal
and Sundardas. The introduction covers the life or hagiography of the authors, a
list of their works and the textual transmission and is followed by a section on the
language o f the texts. The texts comprise three very different genres - devotional
44
Chapter 1: The. Indologists
English translations (not parallel texts) and the book ends with a glossary and a
short bibliography.
Snell’s w ork contains Braj literature from outside its hom eland (M ira,
Lallulal etc.), and non-Krsnaite material (by Rahim, Jasvant Simh etc.) as well as
works falling within the scope of this chapter. He gives an account of the grammar
o f the Braj language, a detailed and clear analysis o f the prosody, a history o f the
literature and cultural significance of the Braj region, then a list o f the poets and
textual sources, and an up-to-date bibliography. The texts are given in Devanagari,
with footnotes in the case o f the Braj prose and with parallel translation with
footnotes for the verse. There is an index of epithets and motifs and a complete
glossary. The translations are close but readable. This book is o f great use to
students o f the Braj language, but because of its nature as a textual anthology there
looks at two long poems, the Raspancadhyayl and the B h ra m a rg it The highly
informative introductory chapters give the historical and religious background to the
works, with special reference to the growth o f Krsnaism and the Pustimarga. The
second section covers w hat we know of N anddas, his life and w orks, then
introductions are given to each of the poems, and on the texts, the metres and the
translations. The translations are in verse, and although the texts are not given, an
appendix has tables whereby the line references in the translations may be checked
against the published Braj edition. Extensive footnotes are given after the texts and
M cGregor 1971 and 1986 are concerned with Nanddas' Braj version of the
Sanskrit allegorical drama Prabodhacandrodaya (c. 1040), a text which has been
very important to the Vallabhite tradition. The earlier article lists and describes five
45
Chapter 1: The Indologists
manuscripts of the text, giving reasons which indicate that the author o f this version
is the same Nanddas of the astachap. In the later paper, he mentions three points of
interest in this work from the religious viewpoint. These are the acceptance of an
shows his attitudes and those o f K rsna b h a kti in general, and the historical
W esterners. The introduction contains much valuable inform ation in a short space
introducing the historical background with a brief summary of the major expansion
of Krsnaism at this time, with details of Vallabhacarya and Caitanya. She then
evaluates hagiographic and historical accounts from Hindu and M uslim sources for
Surdas' life before discussing the form and contents o f the Sursagar, in the context
of the K rsnaite tradition. She examines the pastorals and the prayers o f Surdas,
outlining the main themes of the pastorals and discussing the prayers in the text.
The m ain part o f the book is divided into two sections. The first part contains
translations of the pastorals, which she assigns to four main themes - childhood, the
flute, the dance and separation. The second part contains the prayers, the vinaya
songs. There is a short but useful glossary and a table from which the originals in
V audeville argues that Krsna bhakti in north India was not a Hindu revival
against M uslim dominance, and points out that in the sixteenth century the Muslim
rulers were particularly tolerant and were renowned as patrons o f Braj poetry, and
that there is much Sufi influence discernible in bhakti poetry. She argues that
Surdas was a poet in Akbar's court who retired in his old age to the Braj region,
w here he sang vinaya hymns. However, these ideas are presented very briefly and
or the devices prized by the tradition o f courtly poetry, nor its use in the havelis or
46
Chapter I: The Indologists
either good French poetry nor to reproduce the originals. She has tried to avoid
using too many Indian words, however, and produces very readable translations.
not a system atic study o f his w ork, but reconsiders m ost o f the traditions
concerning the poet's life and works before rejecting them as false assumptions. In
the first chapter, Hawley reconsiders the biographical tradition surrounding Surdas
as given in the Caurasi vaisnavan k i varta, then argues that Surdas was probably not
blind,28 and that beyond the hagiography written by a leader o f the sect, there is no
The second chapter deals with the growth o f the text to the traditional
num ber o f one and a quarter lakh padas, o f which 5,000 are found in the standard
edition (NPS). Hawley and Bryant are currently working on a critical edition of the
Sursagar, to discover a core o f verses dating from before the end o f the seventeenth
century, which will be classed as the oldest stratum of Surdas' work. Hawley has
discovered that only the later manuscripts arrange the text according to the divisions
o f the Bhagavata Purana and that this must have been due to the Vallabhite sect's
desire to appropriate the poet. Hawley also rejects the traditional view of the sect
that Surdas' main theme is that o f the balllla, by showing that in the 'older Surdas',
the dominant themes are poems of viraha (yearning) and vinaya (pleading), which
the sect claims that Vallabhacarya himself stopped him from singing.
M odem critics have praised Surdas for his com prehensive view ofR adha,
but Haw ley argues in chapter three that this is part of the later additions, as her
status is elevated in all Braj Vaisnavism, whereas in the older portions Radha is
hardly mentioned at all. He discusses some of the older poems to show that Surdas'
originality lies in shifting perspectives in the narratives, and by setting the scene in
such a way as to require the audience to use its imagination, rather than invading the
47
Chapter 1: The Indologists
privacy o f the lovers. The early texts do not define Radha as svakiya or paraklya,
rather her status remains ambiguous, whereas the late texts give long accounts of
the wedding o f Radha and Krsna. He expands on the themes o f viraha in the early
poem s and the contrast of the simple love (prema) o f the Gopls with the learning
(jnana) of Uddhava. Hawley shows that the terms nirguna and saguna are not
discrete as the traditional taxonomy suggests and that there are m any santmotifs in
these poems, although he does not say whether these decrease in the later poems.
The last chapter is the viewpoint of the poet on the act of singing and of singing as a
way to salvation.
text before publishing a fully edited text. This leaves the reader very m uch in the
position of having to accept what Hawley says without being able to cross-check it.
His inform ation on the transmission o f the text of the Sursagar, the growth in the
poet and on questions of authorship are fascinating and provide many rich findings,
but when, eight years after this book was published, the edited text is still not
available, one may wonder what stage the latter was at when this information was
originally collected.
butter thief, Krsna as N avanitapriya, in which he adds evidence from art and
religion to that from literature, in particular from Surdas. The first part of the book
compares evidence about the butter thief from Sanskrit and Tamil texts of the first
millenium A.D. with that from sculptures dating from 500 to 1500 A.D, He finds
that the butter thief occurs more frequently in vernacular and non-Brahminical texts,
further that the depiction of the closely related dan IIIa appears in sculpture m ore than
48
Chapter 1: The Indologists
a milleninm before the first mention in extant literature. It seems that its origins lie
In the second part, he looks at the portrayal of the butter th ief in the
Sursagar where he indicates that these poems announce the dominant themes in his
work, i.e. vision ( darsana) and com plaint ( urahana). He draws on his w ork in
distinguishing different strata in the Sursagar29 to show that it is only in the later
poem s that the theft of butter is linked to the theft of hearts. H e em phasises the
roles of the sentiments of vatsalya and madhurya, which overlap in these contexts.
However, there is not yet an edited version of the text showing these layers.
Part three deals with the the butter thief in certain raslilas o f Braj, where the
parallels between these two thefts are emphasised. Here, the verse o f Surdas is
woven into the plays. The concluding chapter gives an interpretation o f the myth
and an account of its symbolism by the leaders of rasmandals and then follows it
w ith his own opinion, using many techniques o f psychoanalysis, and draws
comparisons with the mythology of &iva. There are useful and large appendices on
H ein 1972 is the result o f fieldwork from 1949/1950 w hich the author
carried out in Braj. He found five traditional dramas, the jh a m ki (a tableau of living
'deities', w ith songs and dramatic dialogue), the kathak (sym bolic gesture which
illustrate the words of narrative songs), the plays of a troupe called the Bhaktamal
N atak M andall (which dram atise favourite stories of V aisnava saints from the
Bhaktamala of Nabhadas), the Ramllla (a dramatisation of the epic, based on the text
o f Tulsidas), and the Rasllla (which includes the central Krsna myth in dance, with
a semi-operatic performance of a story from the Krsna cycle). (He did not see any
nautam ki,30 svanig or bhagaf performances.) After a survey of other works on the
subject and an account o f the cultural life and history o f the M athura district, his
work concentrates on the RasIIIa, which is unique to this area. Although standard
Hindi prose is used for the dialogues, there are sung verses in Braj, taken from the
m ajor m edieval poets such as Surdas and N anddas. He raises the interesting
question: 'One would naturally like to know to what extent these Braj poets created
their poetry with the needs of the Krishnaite stage as their direct impetus.'31
techniques and must stand as the starting point for anyone looking at dramatic
performances in India. He traces the history o f the forms, gives taxonomies o f the
their structures - who are the performers, the trainers and the writers, the sources,
the media, the religious nature of the performances. He then gives parallel versions
of the Hindi text and an English translation. There are photographs, a glossary and
bibliography is included.
Haw ley 1981 looks at four of the Braj Mas. H e claims that this w ork is
intended for beginners in the study o f K rsna32 and that its concern is with the
chapter he gives a lively account of the setting of the plays and relates the drama to
the religious and em otional world o f the viewers and o f the perform ers. His
The four plays are set during Krsna's sojourn in Braj. Their topics are the
birth of Krsna, the theft of the flute, the great circle dance and the coming of Akrur.
He gives a substantial introduction to each play which sets it in its legendary and
50
Chapter 1: The Indologists
Murari Lala Varma for transliterating the texts and Srivatsa Gosvami for translating
them, but he does not give the text, which is not to be had from any other source,
since this is a transcription o f an oral performance. The translations are into very
out certain folk elements such as the mention of superstitions, colloquialisms, ribald
jests and general boisterousness. As Toom ey 1992, H aw ley suggests that the
appetite o f K rsna is part o f the folk elem ent o f Braj culture. However, unlike
argues that the mythology of Krsna's sojourn in Braj is particularly populist in tone
and points out that Brahmins from elsewhere in India (e.g. Caitanya from Bengal,
Hawley does not develop this idea (of the Brahm inical elite reinventing a
folk religion) and rejects an idea of a pastoral genre in B raj.33 However, it seems
that this attitude of an elite to rural life is very similar to traditions of pastoralism
H arivam Sa, the text w hich form s the theological basis o f the B raj-based
sources for the hagiography and life of Hita Harivamsa and areas of dispute, with a
brief mention of other texts attributed to him. The second chapter is concerned with
the m anuscript tradition while the third is concerned with linguistic matters. The
fourth chapter gives the edited text (in D evanagari) and variants, w hile the
translation follows in chapter 5. The sixth chapter analyses the metres of the text in
33 H aw ley 1981:48-9.
51
Chapter 1: The Indologists
some considerable detail, along with the rhythmic schemes (tala) used in musical
perform ances and the last chapter deals w ith the com position and the sectarian
interpretation of the them es of the text. A ppendices give exam ples o f the
and tables listing concordances, metres, ragas etc. are followed by an index.
compilation o f Braj lyrics, describing the love of Krsna and o f Radha, attributed to
Pustimarga. The eight chapters cover the sources for the study o f the Eighth Gaddi
and the w orks o f K evalram ; the historical and biographical data relating to
Kevalram and the Eighth Gaddi; works attributed to Kevalram; m anuscripts o f the
text; metre; language; observations on the poems and on their translation; and the
edition o f the Hindi text with a parallel, literal translation into English. An index
provides etymologies, glosses and cross-references for all words occurring in the
This volume provides the first account in a European language o f the author
and his sectarian background, so Entwistle has provided a lengthy account o f these.
This work does not concentrate only on the religious background to the text, but
also on the linguistic aspects and the transmission o f the text. By exam ining the
orthography and the meter, looking at archaisms and tadbhava forms, he claims that
'Conclusions reached concerning the presumed archetypal language of the text and
principles formulated for dealing with variant spellings have w ider implications for
It is not surprising then, that these books contain no literary criticism, being
concerned with treating the texts from a philological viewpoint, studying closely the
language and metre of the texts in order to make restored editions from corrupt
52
Chapter 1: The Indologists
Literary studies
There are two works in this selection of studies of Braj Krsnaite literature
which focus very much on literary aspects of the work. These are Entwistle 1991
and Bryant 1978. As mentioned above, M cGregor has always included literary
judgem ents in his work, but these are given in small sum m aries only, w ithout
showing the processes by which he reaches his conclusions. The selections chosen
and the quality o f the translations often indicated that th ere was careful
Entw istle 1991 is included here, not because it is a close reading, but
pastoral and goes on to look at the work o f Nagaridas (1699-1764) in this context.
In the classical European pastoral, rural life was idealised as simple and peaceful,
although by the Renaissance the pastoral became a more com plicated form, often
using Biblical allusions to convey a more serious message as well as being used for
satire. The pastoral is an essentially lyric form, whose main themes are romantic
affairs with simple girls, the seductive power of music and the jo y of natural beauty.
He draws on Empson 1935, who took pastoral to mean any kind o f poetry which
The late R enaissance type is that closest to the Indian pastoral, whose
seduces country girls. The pastoral perfection and joys of Braj are associated with
the childhood o f Krsna, who leaves for the city as he grow s older. This is
highlighted in the Uddhava episode, where a man from the city who has followed
the path of knowledge (jnana) is defeated by the simple peasant girls. Entwistle
points out that Braj never developed the elegiac strain of the European pastoral,
53
Chapter 1: The Indologists
although it has the theme o f love in separation (viraha), and this absence is felt by
the devotee as he/she contemplates the loss of perfection in the land of Braj.
comparisons between Braj and Vaikunth, where Braj is seen as a pastoral paradise,
and at the descriptions o f Holi, a rural festival. E ntw istle's view o f the
sentiment behind much o f Braj poetry. The significance o f this w ork is discussed
Bryant 1978 is the only monograph which uses a literary critical approach to
Braj poetry. He opens the book with a statement of his intent that, using mainly the
standard (rather than critical) edition o f Surdas, that o f the Nagarl Pracarini Sabha
around three hundred poems. These are 'epiphanies,' poems which reveal the child
The introduction outlines the life of Surdas, the background to the Braj
renaissance, the growth of bhakti, and the relation with Vallabhacarya, who is said
to have asked Surdas to sing the balllia. It is from this section o f Surdas' work that
Bryant has chosen his poem. This is of particular interest since it is on this section
B ryant then gives an account o f the life o f K rsna and explains the
Poetry is a means to this end. Through singing,' or hearing, v erses that depict
episodes from the ///a, the devotee seeks to transfono his ow n, private passion
for Krsna into the in fin itely greater passion exp erienced by one o f those
35Bryant 1978:6.
54
Chapter 1: The Indologists
w h om the Lord m ost favored. Through the lo v e felt for Krsna by Krsna's
parents, com panions, or lover, the d evotee aspires to realize h im se lf as the
parent, com panion, or lover o f God.36
Surdas' favourite character was that of Yasoda, in whose role lies the irony
that she is the w om an who treats God like a child and K rsna is the god who
chooses to obey and rebel like any other boy. Bryant points out that Surdas'
characters are portrayed as very human, rather than figures of great seriousness, and
In Part One of the book proper, Bryant analyses structures and strategies in
the poetry of Surdas. He argues that the traditional Indian analysis o f the verse in
terms o f rasa and bhava does not address some of the com plexities of Surdas'
verse, under consideration here. Using the ideas o f Fish and Joyce's theory o f
epiphany, he sets out to show that earlier critics had m issed the point in their
num ber o f critics (Jasumati mana abhilasa karai and Calata dekhi Jasumad sukha
pavai) and shows that the critics had focused on only the vatsalya bhava of the
poems, ignoring the epiphany at the end. He argues that Surdas had aroused this
bhava in order to distract them from Krsna's divinity, w hich he then reveals
suddenly.
1 The poem is a message from a given poet to a given audience, who need to
the Krsna-mythos.
2 A poem, like any verbal message is an event occurring in time and that time
therefore plays a major role in the structuring o f the poetry in the senses of
36Bryant 1978:12.
37Bryant 1978:18.
55
Chapter 1: The Indologists
elements are skilfully manipulated by Surdas. He argues that the richness of Indian
mythology provided an abundant source o f material for Surdas, who then could
introduce epiphany only by deceiving his audience into thinking he was opening
and m aking a contract with some other purpose. For example, a poem can initially
can use alliteration to establish patterns of expectation which are then frustrated. In
these poems, closure is usually marked by the metrical patterns, such as changing
the rhyming scheme or the word boundary used for the rhyme.
The next chapter looks at icons (taking the term from W im satt and
Beardsley, although using it in a wider sense) and how they are contrasted and
compared in the poetry. Surdas' major and m ost unusual rhetorical device is simile
along with pseudo-simile (a term coined by Fish to describe M ilton's similes where
K rsna is not like that to which he is being compared, he is that) and w hat is
Bryant relates these devices to the structures of the whole poems, to show
that the ordering is not sequential, but paratactic. He suggests that this is associated
38Bryant 1978:42-4.
39Bryant 1978:79.
40Bryant 1978:91-2.
56
Chapter 1: The Indologists
with oral poetry and any poetry intended to be sung,41 where verses may be added
and subtracted or rearranged without affecting the thematic coherence of the song.
B ryant goes so far as to argue that parataxis is the structural principle m ost
characteristic of the North Indian bhakti lyric,42 and that even when Surdas is not
using it, he may well give the allusion that he is. The chapter finishes with a section
on the use of irony, when Bryant argues that in all the poem s, the only one who is
aware o f Krsna's true nature is Balarama, the all-knowing narrator, and that Krsna
him self falls victim to his own lila, when his brother knows who he really is.43
The last of the core chapters concentrates on two features bound to the
language o f the poems, the use o f a syntactic device (the relative clause) and the
prosody. He shows how similes are often contained w ithin relative clauses, the
relative clause containing the image o f god, the correlative containing the child. The
section on prosody shoes how Surdas uses parallel metrical patterns. However,
Bryant argues that too little is known about the pada and that it must have had a
statistical norm which requires the gathering o f a large amount o f data. He argues
the relationship between cbanda and tala - betw een, that is, meter as dictated
b y the syllables o f the poem and rhythm as interpreted by an individual style
o f perform ance. In the realm o f prosody, perhaps more than anyw here else,
the student o f literature and the m u sicologist must eventually jo in forces. In
short, what is needed is nothing less than a major reappraisal o f m ed ieval
North Indian metrics, one that goes beyond classification to an exam ination o f
the rhetoric o f prosody. W hile the classical tradition may not provide us with
such a tool, it most certainly encourages us in the search. Indian p oetics has
long regarded poetiy as the union o f sound and sense; one day w e must take
that d efin ition seriou sly, and b eg in to exam ine, w ith all the rigor o f the
alamkarika, just how it is that Sur and his fellow poets effect that u n ion .44
agreeing with her call for a description of form and the need to show how the poem
succeeds. He argues that 'there is uncommon care apparent in the ordering o f Sur's
57
Chapter 1: The Indologists
words ’,46 whereas others have claimed the work is more simple. Vaudeville 47 says
that his verse was ’chansons tombees des levres d'un im provisateur de genie’ and
others, such as van Buitenen and D im ock ,48 have also claimed a general lack o f
work than meets the eye on first acquaintance and that in any case, one should judge
a poet by the quality of his successes rather than the quantity of his failures.
The second part of the book consists o f translations o f Surdas' poems from
a w ider range of subjects than those studied in the first part of the book. Bryant
says that for this, one needs the omniscient audience (i.e. one should keep in mind
the outline of the tale), sequential perception (i.e. one must read them slowly, for
they were meant to be sung and repeated) and lastly one must remember that they
are devotional, requiring a complex o f emotions concerning God. The poems have
been arranged in sections according to the underlying myth and aspects of the tale.
Each poem has a brief set of notes which are listed together by section and poem
number at the end o f Part Two. He has not made it clear w hether he has selected
his text from the NPS version or from Jawaharlal Caturvedi's edition. There is also
As in the coverage of all the other works in this section, there is no intention
to criticise this book for its findings (which are not of great relevance to this study
Although Bryant cites a number of prominent theorists ,49 he does not make
any explicit statement on the theoretical approach he has adopted, beyond citing a
few examples from these writers, who follow a num ber of different, and often
mutually exclusive, literary theories. These are names better known in the United
States, where they are key figures in American literary theory, at a time when
46Bryant 1978:135.
47V audeville 1971:46.
48Quoted by Bryant 1978:135.
49E.g. W im salt, Beardsley, W elleek, Warren, F iye, Fish, Said.
58
Chapter 1: The Indologists
theories. The formalist approach of the American New Critics dominated American
literary theory for many years o f the twentieth century. Although they have fallen
from favour since the late 1950s, their key works and theories have continued
attempt at a more systematic and 'scientific' approach to literature, which has been
This focuses on reader response to and interpretation of the text, but has been
heavily criticised for its relativist approach to literature. Although Bryant uses the
w hich does not dismiss them from the beginning by claim ing any exclusive
ideological viewpoint. In sum, he seems to have collected concepts and ideas from
a variety o f theories w ithout ever m aking clear w hat his overall approach is,
Stephen H ero, and his later rejection of the theory , 51 he does not discuss Frye's
claims that this is similar to the rhetorical device of anagoge as seen in Yeats and
D ylan Thomas, although his quotes from these poets would suggest that he had
read this work. It is also surprising that he has not discussed T.S. Eliot's term
'objective correlative1, a term much used by the New Critics, which has a number o f
There are some problem s inherent in the use o f English literature for
drawing parallels to Surdas. For example, Donne's 'Tem ple ' 52 has the important
similarity o f wonder at God the Absolute as God the child, and Dylan Thomas' 'The
50The term 'American' is used to denote academics working in North America. O f course, Frye w as
Canadian and Said is o f Palestinian origin.
51Bryant 1978:24-5.
52Bryant 1978:57-8.
59
Chapter 1: The Indologists
force that' shows striking parallelisms in epiphany ,53 it is now always clear how
to a text in order to elucidate a closer and fresher meaning. W hile one may have
reservations about his methodology, his was a pioneering and interesting approach
to the art o f Surdas. Certainly, others have found that his approach has opened new
dull lists in Surdas and finds instead a technique of creative enum eration in which
the poet distances him self from and then draws closer to his audience .54
D etails o f forms (in particular the garabo/garabf) and prosody are essential. A
study o f the language of the texts is important although problem atic, especially in
view of the lack o f data about other Gujarati writers with whom one could compare
his language. A study of his sources and his handling o f themes and motifs drawn
from the Pustimarga, from Braj and Gujarati poetry would also be beneficial.
The im portant task of editing the texts is less crucial with Dayaram than
with some of the Braj authors, since they were written down as he composed them,
and many were even printed within a few years of his death. This task is being
53 Bryant 1978:121-4.
54Iiaw ley 1992.
60
Chapter 1: The Indologists
carried out by his followers in Gujarat and the editions are beginning to appear, as
is discussed in Chapter 3.
chapter looks at the reception of Dayaram's works in the Gujarati critical tradition.
61
CHAPTER 2: GUJARATI ATTITUDES TO DAY A RA M
This chapter looks at the reception o f D ayaram 's w ork in Gujarat. All
Gujarati works on Dayaram concentrate heavily on his life and his connections with
the Pustimarga. These topics are discussed in sections 2.1 and 2.2 respectively
while 2.3 gives an overview of the Gujarati critical tradition and contextualises
At the end o f Dayaram's longer texts he gives the names o f his parents, his
own name, his atak ('sub-caste'), his caste, place o f birth and place o f residence etc.
In other texts he attests other important events in his life, such as meeting
his guru, going on pilgrimage, the most detailed information being given in his Braj
text Anubhavamarnjarl In addition, Dayaram left a will, the text of which is given
in Appendix 7 ofR aval 1920. This provides further information about his financial
These are the only prim ary sources used here, this section being based
m ostly on secondary sources in English and in Gujarati .2 These do not give their
1 S ee n.7 below .
2 For this chapter the major E nglish sources used are M unshi 1935, Jhaveri 1914, T hoothi 1935,
Sandesara 1981. In Gujarati: D a b h olvasi 1926, D alai sam . 1980, D arjl 1978, D a v e 1967,
Kamthariya 1924, M odi 1918, NarmadaSamkar 1912, Pamdya 1976, Patela 1967, Raval 1920, Seth
1899, T elivala 1930, Tripathi 1909 and 1957.
62
Chapter 2: Gujarati attitudes to Dayaram
primary sources, but seem to be based on a mixture of references in his own works,
early hagiography and eyewitness accounts and earlier published accounts. The
first life o f the poet was that by Kavi Narmad, published soon after Dayaram 's
death .3 This is based on interviews with his disciples and w ith Ratanbai which
Narm ad made from 1859 onwards in Dabhoi, Vadodara and Bombay. Many other
works soon followed .4 There are few disputes over the major events of his life, and
since these are covered in great detail in the secondary sources, only a brief outline
is given here.
style, but is in the style o f a hagiography. This means that there are episodes
showing the struggles o f the author in accom plishing his goals, m iracles are
presented as everyday facts, Good and Bad are clearly demarcated, and the stirring
the banks o f the R iver N arm ada in the Vadodara district, on Vam anadvadasI
(Bhadrapada sudi 12), samvat 1833 (i.e. 16 August 1777).6 It is said that his
the Pustimarga .7 He was betrothed at eight, but the girl died two years later and he
never married. He was orphaned by the age of twelve and then w ent to live with an
(Kamall), near Chanod, he met a sadhu, KeSavanamd, and wanted to becom e his
3Narmada£amkar 1912:476-490.
4 D ave 1970:18-23 surveys the 'lives' o f Dayaram. Som e felt these were unfair to the poet and so a
life o f one o f his d ev o tees, Sri Nathjibhai (C holalal) GirijaSamkarabhal Jo6i, w as published to
counter the gam da pracar ('dirty propaganda') about Dayaram. Sah 1955.
^ Som e say he was born in Dabhoi, Ms mother's native place.
6 MunsM 1935:231 giv es the date as 1767.
7 D ave 1967:6 argues that he w as called Dayaram from birth on the grounds that his father's name
also ended in 'Ram'. This w ould be plausible were it not for the fact he uses the name DayaSamkar in
Ms chapa. See above Ms chapa in the Rasikavallabha.
8 Sandesara says that he w ent to live with an aunt in Dabhoi when his parents died.
63
Chapter 2: Gujarati attitudes to Dayaram
showed Dayaram Krsna in bodily form and so converted him to his worship.
Iccharam Bhatt, when he was 14 years old. Iccharam was from Petlad, but had
years making three pilgrimages round India before he was 26, visiting sacred places
num ber o f castes which included Brahmins, Banias, Patidars and Sonis. Although
he is often said to have been poor and to have lived on what his disciples could
provide, Dayaram left Rs 518 in his will, not an inconsiderable amount of money in
those days .9
Dayaram followed a daily routine: he rose early and then worshipped for
four hours. At eleven he cooked and at noon he ate his only meal. After resting, he
wrote until the evening when he sang his compositions. He was said to have a
beautiful voice and to have been a skilled musician. A story o f his musical contest
with a bava ('ascetic') in Vadodara is frequently told: one o f Dayaram's pupils made
pointed out this error, Dayaram acknowledged it, but said that it was not important.
The bava said that a true master never made a mistake and challenged Dayaram to a
contest. This lasted all night and the bava eventually made a mistake and had to
accept defeat. Dayaram praised him and gave him his gold necklace.
In V aranasi, Kasi Visvanath, whom Dayaram saw as both Hari and Hara, gave
9 D ave 1970:17.
64
Chapter 2: Gujarati attitudes to Dayaram
D ayaram his gift of poetry. In Rameswaram, D ayaram had an argum ent with a
sadhu as to w hether §iva or Krsna was the greater. A fter exchanging insults, the
sadhu attacked Dayaram, but K rsna intervened and held his stave. This forced the
sadhu to acknowledge that Siva and Krsna were the same. On another occasion
K rsna paid o ff D ayaram 's debts when he bought some things on his way to
Dwarlca.
D ayaram was said to have been handsom e 10 and to have worn refined and
extravagant dress such as fancy turbans from N adiad, dhotis from N agpur and
which he justified by saying that Krsna had had relationships with many women.
From when he was forty-six until his death, he lived with Ratanbal, a goldsmith's
widow. He claimed she had been his wife in a previous birth, but she had treated
him badly in her former birth and was now being punished for her behaviour. They
seem to have lived like a nom ial couple, with a fairly stormy relationship, and she
looked after him all his life although he cooked for both o f them since she was o f a
low er caste. Although he tried to make provision for her after his death, she was
not looked after by his relatives and died in poverty. M ost writers are insistent that
their friendship was not sexual, and that Dayaram remained celibate throughout his
life.
D ayaram suffered from ill health for the last twelve years o f his life. In
great pain, he died on samvat 1908 M agha vadi 5 (9 February 185211). Over two
65
Chapter 2: Gujarati attitudes to Dayaram
D ayaram was the most sectarian of all the poets o f m edieval Gujarat.
W hereas Narasimha, MIram, Dhiro etc. were not members of any particular sect,
and have remained non-sectarian, Dayaram was a keen m em ber o f the Pustimarga
emphasised in the Gujarati tradition. This section accordingly introduces the basic
theological and philosophical concepts of the sect which are necessary for a reading
concludes with some sectarian traditions about Dayaram transm itted by Gujarati
the sixteenth century was the rise of devotional bhakti movements within a strongly
Krsna or Ram acandra) had spread all over India from the south, where the Alvars
(sixth to eighth century) had followed the bhakti of Narayana. In the early years o f
Muslim rule, Hindu society appeared to turn in on itself with stricter caste rules and
fam ily organisation , 12 but the relaxation of anti-Hindu policies in the sixteenth
Hinduism was stim ulated by the m onotheism of Islam, w hile two of the most
important figures of devotional Hinduism emerged at this time: the Bengali Krsna
and east India, and the Telugu Brahmin Vallabhacarya (1479-1531), who attracted a
It seems that Vallabhacarya led an unusual life for the leader o f a religious
sect. He was neither celibate nor monastic. He did not practise austerities or fasts
but rather was a prolific writer and lived as a householder. However, legends about
66
Chapter 2: Gujarati attitudes to Dayaram
him soon sprang up and these are detailed elsewhere in accounts o f his life . 13
Here, we shall look at only those events of crucial importance to his founding o f the
sect.
foot, covering the length and breadth of India. There are traditionally eighty-four
places w here he stopped either to visit shrines or to m ake readings from the
Bhagavata, Ramayana, or the Vedas for three to seven days at places near rivers or
tanks. These are know n as baithakas ('seats') and now have m onum ents to
Vallabhacarya. The most significant events in his life took place on his travels.
near Mathura and to locate his divine svarupa ('self-image') and reveal it as a deity.
The image Vallabhacarya found had previously been worshipped locally as a snake
god. After removing the stone figure from the ground, Vallabhacarya demonstrated
that it was Krsna holding up M ount Govardhan to protect the Braj cowherdsmen
image is regarded as a svarupa (a 'true form') of Krsna, not a m urti ('statue, image').
According to tradition, this is why Vallabhacarya did not house the svarupa in a
mamdira ('temple') but in a haveli, much like the house of a well-to-do landowner or
merchant.
The following night (at m idnight on the eleventh of the light half o f the
to Vallabhacarya at Govinda Ghat, Golcul, and revealed to him how jlv a s ('souls')
m ight be cleansed of their faults. This marks the foundation o f the sampradaya
('sect'). K rsna spoke to V allabhacarya through the agency o f the svarupa, and
67
Chapter 2: Gujarati attitudes to Dayaram
sect to initiate all the followers. The first initiate was V allabhacarya's closest
On the second pilgrim age, at some time between 1501 and 1503 when
Maharashtra, he received an order from the deity to m any and produce descendants
to maintain the doctrines of the sect. Some say it was because the deity wanted to
precept that a guru should lead a life o f celibacy and asceticism . 14 It put
Vallabhacarya into the same a£rama ('life stage') as his disciples, i.e. grhastha§rama
encouraged lay people to follow svadharma ('inherited role or duty') and to live in
this world within the grace of Krsna. However some sectarian sources mention that
death. W orld-rejection was the final stage and end result of his teachings but not a
means to that state. Ascetic regimes were viewed as too self-centred, and the right
course o f action was to overcome the egoism that stands between oneself and God.
He married M ahalaksmi in 1502 or 1504 but she did not come to live with him for
another eight years. They had two houses, one at Adel (near Allahabad) and one at
A fter his death in 1531, Vallabhacarya was succeeded by his elder son
younger son, Vitthalnath (1516-48) took over the leadership o f the sect as regent.
H owever, when Purusottam was eighteen, Vitthalnath refused to hand over the
14E.g. Krsna Caitanya (A D 1485-1533), w ho established his sect o f d ev o tees in V rindavan at the
sam e tim e as Vallabhacarya w as establishing the cult o f Sri NathjI, and w ho required leaders o f his
sect to take a v o w o f celibacy.
68
Chapter 2: Gujarati attitudes to Dayaram
over and banned his uncle from entering the tem ple o f Sri Nathji. In 1550,
Purusottam died suddenly and V itthalnath took over the leadership and, after
imprisoning Krsnadas for a while in Mathura, put him in charge of the temple . 15
only to V allabhacarya in the developm ent o f the Pustim arga. His only m ajor
im portant figure worthy of worship in her own right . 16 His m ajor contributions
w ere to the institutionalisation of the cult and to the organisation o f its leadership.
H e brought the sect firmly under family control as a result o f his teaching that
V itthalnath married twice, and six of his sons by his first w ife and one by his
second survived him. After his death the leadership of the m ovem ent was divided
between them, and each of them became the founder o f one o f the seven major
branches, known as gaddi (’thrones'). These are still occupied by male descendants
The m ost able o f Vitthalnath's successors was his fourth son, Gokulnath
(1552-1641), who made a significant contribution to the literature o f the sect and
left a large collection o f aphorisms which deftly and often w ittily sum up the
the laity. He was the first to switch from writing in Sanskrit to the vernacular, Braj
Bhasa, the other sacred language of the Pustim arga , 17 and is the reputed author of
the lives o f the saints of the sect in Braj prose, Caurasi vaisnavan k i varta and the
V allabhacarya and the 252 o f Vitthalnath respectively. It seems that these were
69
Chapter 2: Gujarati attitudes to Dayaram
called Hariray (1591-1711?). While compiling the text Hariray intercalated his own
wrote the £iksapatra, a collection o f Sanskrit verse with a Braj prose commentary
The liturgy of the sect was composed in Braj by the astachap, but thereafter some
suggest there were no further significant w riters in the sect until D ayaram . 19
Although Dayaram wrote in Braj, it is however for his Gujarati lyrics that he is best
known, and these are the only writings in Gujarati that are o f any great importance
in the sect,
by V isnusvam in ,20 but the sect believes that the teachings w ere not created by
his teaching is called §uddhadvaita vedanta, 'the V edanta o f pure non-dualism .'
('Sixteen books') written in Sanskrit. Since the philosophy and theology of the sect
are expounded in detail elsewhere ,22 the following paragraphs will introduce only
The basic doctrine is that there is nothing other than Parabrahman Sri Krsna
ananda ('joy'). Differences arise in the universe only when these qualities are
70
Chapter 2: Gujarati attitudes to Dayaram
nothing is destroyed.
W ithin this Unitarian universe, there are three levels o f manifestation o f the
original unity. These are adhibhautika ('m aterial'), adhyatmika ('spiritual'), and
adhidaivika ('divine'). O f these, the first is laukika ('worldly') and the other two are
alaukika ('unw orldly ' ) . 23 Krsna him self is revealed at these three levels. At the
as the antaryamin ('the self within all beings’) and as aksara Brahm an 24 (’the source
of the universe and the foundation on which it rests'), while at the adhidaivika level
there is the full revelation of Krsna. Paradise is also at these three levels: Vaikuntha
K rsna performs his Ilia ('play') eternally for his own amusement. Its only
function is to enable Krsna to enjoy his own existence. The term lila covers all of
Krsna's play, whether his eternal lila, manifesting and concealing parts o f him self to
give the illusion of change, or his Brajlila when he appeared on earth in his true
form, or specific lilas or acts, as when one talks about his ballila (his exploits in
As the ja g a t is the manifestation of the sat o f Brahm an, so are the jiv a s
('souls') the manifestation of the sat and cit of Brahman, The ananda of Brahman is
concealed so the jiva s do not feel the divine joy of Brahman. They are am£a ('parts
or fragments') of Brahman and they are to Brahman as sparks are to fire. They are
separated from Brahman because of dosa (’impurities') arising from egoism caused
does uddhara (the lifting of the jiva out of samsara) take place. All the jiv a s are
23The d ivision betw een laukika and alaukika 'can probably never be exp lain ed or even described
fully' (Barz 1976:9).
24Rrahman with only part o f the infinite ananda manifest; the abode or foundation where the world is
manifested.
71
Chapter 2: Gujarati attitudes to Dayaram
equal, except that some have a different potential for liberation . 25 There are three
known as daiva jivas ('divine souls') which alone have the potential for uddhara.
The sect teaches the path of devotion ( bhaktimarga) rather than knowledge
follow er o f Caitanya. The m ajor difference in the treatm ent o f bh a kti in the
Pustimarga is that Vallabhacarya makes the last step o f atmanivedana ('the giving of
oneself to Krsna) into the first step, taken when saying the mantra o f initiation into
the sect.
bhaktibhava ('sentiments of devotion') into four: dasya bhava (the adoption o f the
servant's attitude to his master), sakhya bhava (acting as if Krsna was one's equal in
age and status); vatsalya bhava (acting with devotion as if one were the deity's
the sect; and, lastly, madhura bhava (imagining oneself as one o f the Goplsj, the
One unusual feature o f the Pustim arga is that there is little room for
bhakti, but it has not played an important part in the sect. K rsna is real, saguna, an
avatara in this world, everything in the world is real and the divine is viewed as an
extension of this world. This is reflected in worship o f the guru and the tending o f
The Pustimarga has always been patronised by the urban rich, mostly from
the mercantile communities of Gujarat and Rajasthan .26 Therefore its followers are
found mostly in these areas and in the areas to which members o f these castes have
25See Barz 1976 for a detailed account o f these differences and their significance.
26S ee D w yer 1994 for the underlying factors.
72
Chapter 2: Gujarati attitudes to Dayaram
subsequently migrated, with a small following in Braj. This connection with north
w est India is reinforced by the location in 1669 of the main image o f the sect in
Nathdwara in Rajasthan, near the border with Gujarat. W hile the dominant culture
of Nathdwara is that o f Braj which has been transported to Rajasthan, its leaders are
South Indians while the sevakas ('worshippers') are from different parts o f the
In his will, Dayaram left Rs 80 to continue the seva o f his personal svarup
o f M adanamohana. A num ber of his works expound the tenets o f the sect and
refute the teachings o f other sects, in particular that o f Samkara. Even his short
Mairaj o f Vadodara had built a ghat on the Narmada at Sinor and two temples to
GaneSa, one at Sinor and one at Vadodara. He asked D ayaram to compose verses
to Ganapati, but Dayaram refused and is said to have composed his lyric: Eka varyo
Gopljanavallabha.
However, he was known to have had several disputes with the Maharajas of
the sect, including one with his own Maharaja, Purusottamaj! o f Bundi Kota. The
M aharaja banned him from the temple in Dabhoi on account o f some rumours and
so Dayaram composed some verses attacking him. The Maharaja then went to meet
Dayaram, but Dayaram threw at him his ka m th i (initiation necklace given by the
Maharaja). The M aharaja apologised and Dayaram accepted the necklace back. A
similar episode occurred when another M aharaja came to Dabhoi and Dayaram
D ayaram is known to have met the most celebrated poet of the sect o f
grounds to visit each other, but were said to have met in Dabhoi by chance and to
have had a long conversation. As a result of this encounter the lyric: Ruda diso cho
73
Chapter 2: Gujarati attitudes to Dayaram
Gujarat, but even his nam e is barely known outside Gujarat . 27 In Gujarat, it seems
that his w ork is well known only to m embers of the Pustim arga and to scholars.
His lyrics are used in domestic worship by Pustimargls. For exam ple, one o f the
m ost widely used hymnals, Vaisnavona nitya niyamna path 28 has a section called
'garabi' in w hich all the songs, in Gujarati and in Braj, are lyrics by D ayaram
(including m any o f the Gujarati lyrics given in Chapter 7). D ayaram 's disciples
Dabhoi), and groups which his followers founded, notably the Srijosijini Bhagavad
M a m d a ll, still m eet in D abhoi and publish w orks , 29 but the role o f these
No attempt has been made here to look at the reception o f Dayaram's lyrics
am ong bhaktas and non-academ ic circles; instead the focus is entirely on the
reception of Dayaram's works in the literary critical tradition o f Gujarat. The rest of
this section looks at the background to this tradition before exam ining Dayaram's
place in the history of Gujarati literature and then discussing studies o f Dayaram's
work.
Dayaram marks the end the age of the great bhakta-poets .30 After Dayaram,
Kavi Dalpat31 (1820-1898) is usually seen as bridging the era between the medieval
27IIis Braj w orks have not join ed the canon o f Braj texts perhaps because o f their relatively late date.
F ora survey o f Dayaram's writings in Braj sec Cauhan 1988.
28DcsaI 1986.
29See 3.2 below .
30See 3.1 b elow for a survey o f the Gujarati religious lyric before Dayaram.
3 1 D alpatram D ahyabhal Travadi. Alt the personal nam es o f this p eriod h ave m ore or less
standardised E nglish spellings, w hich are given in the text. Transliterations o f the Gujarati nam es are
given as footnotes.
74
Chapter 2: Gujarati attitudes to Dayaram
and the m odem while Kavi N arm ad 32 (1833-1886) is the first o f the m odem s,
This divide is significant, not only for a history of Gujarati literature, but
also for an understanding o f how D ayaram 's work has been read in a changed
intellectual and literary climate in the century and a half or so since his death. Thus
few critics have based their work on traditional Indian literary theoiy but most have
assessed his work in the light o f new ideas and values resulting from contact with
English literature and the Romantic movement. In fact, the earliest criticism o f
Dayaram is very much a medieval poet in the tradition of medieval Braj and
Gujarati poetry as regards subject matter, form, life as a poet etc. and he seems to
have been untouched by the British presence. However, because o f his position as
the last o f the medieval writers, criticism of his work has always been informed by
m odem thought. D ayaram 's w ork was received initially by critics who w ere
reception of his w ork in literary circles. The implications o f the dom inance o f
need to be examined in this section, including the ways in which such encounters
with English literature affected Gujarati literature in the nineteenth century. This
was the time when the most dramatic changes occurred and was the period in which
century literary trends, for although the subject m atter o f literature changed
somewhat, the high value placed on lyricism and Rom anticism prevailed in the
criticism o f this period also. Most o f Dayaram's critics are profoundly influenced
by this critical tradition. The m odernist and postm odernist m ovem ents have
Baroda (Vadodara), or among intellectuals in Bombay, but these critics have not
75
Chapter 2: Gujarati attitudes to Dayaram
used these approaches to read Dayaram 's lyrics. They have directed them at
twentieth-centu 17 writers rather than trying to reclaim Dayaram from the Victorian
critics.
Bom bay and soon spread all over the province. In 1825 the first English school
opened in Bombay, and 1834 saw the founding of the Elphinstone Institution for
teaching English and the arts, sciences and literatures of Europe. In 1856 it was
divided into Elphinstone High School and Elphinstone College, with degrees
awarded by Bombay University. Bombay University had only three colleges when
it was founded in 1857, but by 1903-4 it had sixteen o f which Gujarat had four,
were opened in the princely states, including Vadodara (Baroda College, 1882) and
B havnagar (Sham aldas College, 1885). Since the m edium o f education was
English, and given that the literature, politics and history o f Europe were the major
subjects, and the teaching heavily criticised Indian life and society, this education
As was the case with other South Asian languages, the products of this new
education filtered the literary canon. The new standards for literature were based
partly on the literary texts which they read at college. At Bom bay University,
where Gujarati was not on the syllabus until 1921 (although Sanskrit was taught),
the set book for English poetry was Palgrave's Golden Treasury, w hose fourth
section on the English lyric had the greatest impact on the aspiring poets. The poets
included in this section were W ordsw orth, Shelley, K eats, Byron, Tennyson,
Brow ning and Dante Rossetti. Although influence is a complex process ,33 these
poets may be isolated as having had the greatest influence, not only through traces
33The process o f influence is discussed by B loom 1975, but the theoretical im plications and actual
mechanism s lie beyond the scope o f this thesis.
76
Chapter 2: Gujarati attitudes to Dayaram
of their works in the Gujarati poets, but also in translation, rewritings, and mentions
England when poets like N arasinhrao 34 (1859-1937) were students, but this
movement may have appealed to them more that the modern poets ,35 because the
English lyric is the type which is m ost similar to Gujarati poetry, which has been
m ainly lyrical, even actually sung and accompanied by dance. H owever, the
dffierences between English Romantic poetry and the original Gujarati lyric and the
on the one hand and of Gujarati lyricism on the other remain to be explored.
D alpat was the first of the Gujarati poets to have his works printed soon
after they were written. Previously, poem s had been transm itted orally with
m anuscripts being w ritten later (e.g. those o f N arasim ha), or w ritten down
immediately by the author or his disciples (e.g. those of Dayaram), but not available
for the general public . The poet no longer lived on donations from his audience or
from a patron, but either tried to make a living through the publication of his poetry,
poetry in his spare time. The work was published either in periodicals or in
monographs. The first anthologies of Gujarati literature appeared at this time, the
appeared between 1886 and 1913. The impact of printing on Gujarati literature
A change in language was to have been expected at this time, at least in part
as a symptom of printing. The Gujarati lyric had always been written in a clear and
simple style and since English Romantic poetry was usually written in a colloquial
form of language, there was no pressure to change the style. However, there seems
77
Chapter 2: Gujarati attitudes to Dayaram
the language by replacing tadbhava and defya words w ith tatsama words, using
English for things which had been introduced by the British, and a Sanskrit
equivalent for western abstract ideas. Sometimes English phrases and idioms were
translated alm ost literally and even syntax showed the influence of English.
Attempts were made to remove Perso-Arabic words. Even in the ghazal, a Persian
verse-form, very few Persian words were used. This tendency is seen to a marked
The major tendency of this new poetry was the shift from the religious to
the secular, to the idea of man as being at the centre of the universe, accompanied by
a move from the general to the subjective. The subjective is found in the bhakti
poets, but the difference between this and the new subjectivity can be illustrated
love through the twelve months of the year') with W ordsw orthian nature poetry
where it is the affect of nature on the individual that is so important. The subjective
first seen in Narmad was rejected by Thakore and N hanalal 41 (1877-1946), who
New subjects for poetry were introduced. Topical poetry began with
Dalpat's Hunnarkhannf cad M f'T h e invasion o f Lord Industry' and poems about
love, nature and patriotism were written with vigour and intensity. Even when
forms were taken from non-European traditions, the Romantic spirit prevailed. For
78
Chapter 2: Gujarati attitudes to Dayaram
example, the ghazals of Klant and of Kalapi show Sufi m astI ('intoxication') but this
principles o f Gandhiism and other social movements and m ore recently m odem
Western literary theories have had some impact in major cultural centres. However,
these views do not seem to have affected on criticism o f Dayaram, although they
may have led to his writing being viewed as 'irrelevant1 in the m odem world.
by the study of the western canon and the advent o f printing. It was achieved partly
through the compiling of anthologies and through the writing of literary histories of
Gujarati literature. Pre-em inent among the anthologies o f pre-m odem poetry is
1886-1913. N arasim ha Maheta, Premanand, and Carnal Bhatt are given pride of
place, but there are large selections from many other poets. W hile some poets are
found in several volumes, Dayaram's lyrics appear only in Volume 6 ,42 where only
nine pa das are given, taking four pages, whereas the m ore obscure D evidas
Dayaram's status was assured by his allocation of 110 pages in Volume III (1936),
fewer than Narasimha's 247 in Volume I (1924), but many more than the 40 given
to Mirarn. The reason for this shift in emphasis may be due to the Victorian
sensibilities about possible lewdness reinforced by the 1862 Maharaja Libel Case 44
42De£aI 1909:821-5.
43DeSm 1909:415-52. Only volum es 1-3, 6-8 have been available to me.
44M ulji (Karsandas M ulji), a Gujarati Kapol Bania and follow er o f the Pustimarga, educated at
Elphinstone, wrote an article in his magazine Satya PrakaS, October 1860, 'The Primitive R eligion o f
the Hindus'. This attacked the Maharajas for licentiousness and in particular for adultery with the
w iv es and daughters or the devotees. Yadunatha Brijratanju, the Maharaja o f Surat filed a libel
action against M ulji. The case lasted for forty days, during w hich many w itn esses w ere called and
questions ranging from th eological truth to the divinity o f the M aharajas w ere raised, w ith the
eviden ce centring on the im m orality o f the doctrines and the Maharajas. Finally the legal victory
went to Mulji. See Mulji 1865 for an account o f these events.
79
Chapter 2: Gujarati attitudes to Dayaram
but this remains open to discussion. However, it is d e a r that from being regarded
their day, Jhaveri (1914 and 1956), Munshi (1935), and Josi (1973 and 1976).45
All these works accept the division of Gujarati literature into medieval (ending with
Dayaram ) and m odem (beginning with D alpat and the influence o f European
literature). It is clear that by the time of Jhaveri's book (1914), D ayaram had
achieved his canonical status as the last and one of the greatest poets of medieval
Gujarati. This view was supported by Narasinhrao, who began a second career in
(Divatia 1921 and 1932). Here he describes Dayaram as 'unquestionably the most
M unshi and Jhaveri's books are very much in the spirit o f V ictorian
Romanticism, although they also show the influence o f Gandhian thought. The
tensions that these conflicting value systems produced can be seen in all Munshi's
introductory sections and one on metre and form. Pamdya's essay on Dayaram
gives lists o f his works, refers to other works, and has a more analytical approach
but still fails to position Dayaram clearly in a history o f literature. Dayaram is only
ever located at the end of the medieval tradition and no attempts are ever made to
O ther works which take a history o f literature as their basis are the
Sahityako £,47 which is useful as a reference tool mainly for names o f works and
45Since this thesis does not assum e a know ledge o f Gujarati by the reader, the quotations from the
critics given in the follow in g pages w ill all be from sources written in E nglish, although there are
references given to the Gujarati texts.
46Divatia 1932:264.
47Kothari and Gadil 1989, a n d jo p iv a la 1990.
80
Chapter 2: Gujarati attitudes to Dayaram
dates, andD eepak Mehta's short survey of the history of Gujarati literature (1991),
There is no theoretical basis for the history of Gujarati literature apart from
simple historicism. No one has discussed such basic problem s as the historical
dimensions of literature itself, or the issue of influence. These histories suffer from
their lack of scholarly apparatus, such as bibliographic inform ation, and much
prosodic analysis, literary forms, use of language etc. Even so, they do provide a
useful stalling point for understanding the Gujarati critical tradition .48
Vaisnavas of Gujarat49 is one of the few which is aware of the importance o f non-
The critical evalation of Dayaram began soon after his death. Kavi Narmad,
besides being Dayaram's first editor, also played a major role in shaping Gujarati
literary criticism, but it seems that he never reconciled the tensions he felt between
his adoration of a Byronic ideal and the new puritanism .51 He actively supported
Mulji in the 1862 M aharaja Libel Case which brought the sect into disrepute.
W hether this case was a symptom or a cause of the hostility of the new puritans
towards the sect remains unclear. It is undoubted that the issue o f the immorality of
4 8 It has to be hoped that the forthcom ing volum e by M allison in the H arrassow itz series (cf.
M cGregor 1974 and 1984, and GacfTkc 1978) will be available before much longer.
49Thoothi 1935.
50Thoothi 1935:257-8.
51Sanjana 1950 discusses in a satirical manner the contradictions in Narmad's life and work.
81
Chapter 2: Gujarati attitudes to Dayaram
the sect extended to the condemnation of the eroticism o f Dayaram 's lyrics, even
though this is very m ild indeed in comparison with Sanskrit erotic poetry. This
view can be seen in the influential opinion o f Tripathi which extended into most
assessments of Dayaram.
the Pustimarga, looking mostly at his Rasikavallabha, but in his English work 53 he
Tripathi 54 (18 5 5-1907) was an eminent critic as well as being (as he remains) the
m ost highly esteem ed Gujarati prose writer, the author of a four-volum e novel
Sarasvatlcandra (1887-1901). This is the first great novel of real life in Gujarati. It
exemplifies the literary values that dominated creative writing at the end o f the
tradition. However, its characters are all good or all bad, it has no humour, uses an
exaggeratedly Sanskritic form of language, and is full o f dull dialogues and moral
His poem s o f Krishna and the maids o f Gokul are a stream o f burning lava o f
realistic passion and love, and if lew dness o f writings do not take aw ay from
the merits o f a poet, he is a very great poet indeed. Pie has a w eird and
fa scin a tin g w a y o f b o d y in g forth a host o f o v e r -fo n d le d sp irits o f
uncontrollable w ill in a language w hich is not only at o n ce popular and
poetical but drags society after him to adopt, as popular, the language he
creates for them anew. He introduces the men and w om en o f Iris country to
luxuriance o f metres, w h ose w ild m usic m akes them bear w ith the flam e o f
his sentiments, and there is a subtle naivete in everything that com es out from
him. He, too, no doubt, p hilosophises and rises to the beautiful and sublim e
o f the Bhakti Marga with equal pow er, but he is also an open advocate o f
Vallabha at times, and even the greatest master o f advocacy needs must fail in
a hopeless cause.55
52Tripathi 1909.
53Tripathi 1958.
54Govardhanram Madhavram Tripathi.
55Tripathi 1958:53.
82
Chapter 2: Gujarati attitudes to Dayaram
This passage shows the direct link between the prevailing view of the
Pustim arga as immoral and the condemnation o f Dayaram 's poetry as lewd. The
and uncontrollable forces, rather than making any suggestion o f an air o f lightness
and play. This opinion of Dayaram had reached the British. In the 'Annual report
on native publications for the year 1899', page 4, a certain Mr. Giles alleges that
Dayaram's
natural talent w as frequently prostituted in lew d and lasciviou s w ritings. The
influence o f his w orks has not been altogether w h olesom e, ...[yet]., his poetic
talent was undeniably great...56
ease during the 1930s. The em phasis on the condem nation o f his supposed
immorality diminished although the Gandhian principles and the social concerns of
literature and criticism which prevailed at this time kept Dayaram's works marginal.
D ayaram is adm ired m ostly for his short ly rics , 57 in particular the
garabo/garabi form, rather than his padas ,58 M unshi's assessm ent o f Dayaram 's
...in his fam ous gartiis he vividly portrays w ith great depth o f feelin g , rich
pictures and idylls connected with the early life o f Krishna as depicted in the
B hagvat lore; and he wrote many K irtans (hym ns) o f great lyrical value, rich
in depth o f thought and em otion , attuned to the self-su rren d er and the
dedication o f the d evotee...n o longer sung in these tem ples, but they have
been stirring the very heart-strings o f Vaishnava men and w om en w ho recite
them with ardour and devotion before their dom estic altars.
83
Chapter 2: Gujarati attitudes to Dayaram
Some critics try to avoid engaging with the texts by saying that the sound
D ayaram 's strength is h is lan gu age. It is sim ple, chaste, cla ssic a l and
expressive. H is so n g s are superior to th ose o f others, both o n accou n t o f
their language and their rhythm. To appreciate their lilt, they m ust be heard,
w h en la d ies w ell-k n o w n in h is lin e lead the garb a-circles o f Surat or
Baroda.61
Other critics attempt to validate Dayaram for their own time. For example,
critics such as M unshi argue that Dayaram had to write about Krsna because of his
times, but that his real subject was human love . 62 This is clearly untrue, but the
post-V ictorian critical tradition has allowed the religious elem ent to reappear .63
Applying standards of their own time, critics such as Navalram (1836-1888), cited
... his poem s are defective in so far as they do not 'paint pictures'. 'One third
o f them consists o f pure em otion, and the rest is superficial em bellishm ent,
w h ich to the experienced e y e o f the real p oet appears to b e taw dry and
useless.' 'he is inferior to Premanand even in &ringar...' Dayaram fails to be
con sid ered a m aster poet in N avalram 's e y e s, in sp ite o f h is im m en se
popularity, the reason o f w hich, he thinks, is the subject matter o f his poem s,
nam ely, the life and loves o f Radha and K rsna.64
Suresh D alai (1932-), have acknow ledged his influence on their w ork and
Dayaram 's status as one o f the greatest poets of Gujarat is still unquestioned, his
place in the Gujarati literary canon assured .65 There have, however, been few
There are few studies o f Dayaram's corpus .66 Those which exist have a low
60Thoothi 1935:257-8.
61 Jhaveri 1914:247-8.
62'Madhyakalno sahilyapravah' p. 389, quoted by Pamdya 1976:n.l9.
63See, e.g., D ave 1967:26. w ho argues that Krsna is the only subject o f Dayaram's lyrics.
64 Jhaveri 1914:249-50.
65For exam ple, his lyrics form part o f the literary curriculum in Gujarati schools.
66See n.2 above for the works used in this section.
84
Chapter 2: Gujarati attitudes to Dayaram
criticism or a firm grasp o f Indian literary theory. They tend to give Dayaram's
hagiography, then divide his works into several categories, then list them by name.
The focus is on bhaktakavi Dayarambhal, i.e. Dayaram as a religious poet and the
way in which his religious belief in the teachings of the Pustim arga is seen to be
expressed in his poetry. The emotion of bhakti which he so vividly portrays is seen
as the strength of his work, with little attention paid to literary critical topics.
the m ajor source being the volume edited by Sah (1990). In this work, m odem
Gujarati writers have each selected a poem of Dayaram which is printed along with
two or three pages of comments. In the introduction, Shah makes it clear that the
purpose of this volume is not to produce a critical analysis of Dayaram's works, but
an appreciation. The essays on the poems are diverse and are indeed appreciations
reconcile the values o f such different traditions, its serious om issions m ust be
noted. No one has examined formal aspects of Dayaram 's texts - genre, form,
critics has attempted to analyse his language to show its distinctive features and
poetic devices. No one has analysed the personae of the texts and their roles, nor
looked at Dayaram's position within the text. His powers of description have been
discussed, but no one has shown how they w ork and how his dramatic dialogues
The filling of each of these various lacunae in the study o f Dayaram would
itself be a major study and lies beyond the scope of this thesis, although there is a
this chapter, there are a number of features which emerge in this critical tradition
which are mentioned here before being reexamined at the end of the thesis.
85
Chapter 2: Gujarati attitudes to Dayaram
trend may be identified, which tries to try to show how every lyric was composed at
an appropriate m om ent in his life .67 For exam ple, D ayaram is said to have
composed the lyric: Eka varyo Gopijanavallabha when asked to compose a hymn to
Ganapati, This feature may be a residue of the hagiographic tradition, where great
importance is given to the lives of the bhaktas. These accounts serve a num ber of
purposes, such as the creation of role models and the reinforcement o f the power of
the satsamg, the company of the good. However, this does not seem to be the case
with the presentation of the life of Dayaram. Dayaram often challenged the norms
of good behaviour by his quarrels, his vanity, and in particular, by his relationship
with the goldsmith's widow, Ratanbai. It may be that two strands may be identified.
One is from the sectarian tradition, making D ayaram seem to be one o f the
bhaktakavis and to create a hagiographic account of his life. The other is from the
A closer reading of these critical texts reveals key w ords and phrases,
notably those associated with sweetness (the forms are all connected with mlthurri).
Although not explored by the critics, this theme of sweetness occurs frequently in
Dayaram 's own life and his works. For example, he rejects the term kadavum for
the verse form used in his akhyanas, since its homonym means 'bitter', and he calls
it m lth u m 'sweet' instead .68 His own appearance and his voice w ere said to be
'sweet' and in the texts there are constant references to sweetness although these are
Saurya 'heroism, m asculinity1, and seriousness espoused by Kavi Narmad and his
86
Chapter 2; Gujarati attitudes to Dayaram
successors. Since these ideas are latent but not developed in the critical texts, they
will not be discussed further here. In Chapters 5 and 6 , however, the question will
87
CHAPTER 3: DAYARAM 'S LYRICS
The previous two chapters looked at the approaches o f two traditions, that
of the Indologists and that of the Gujarati literary sphere. This chapter discusses
earlier Gujarati lyrical poetry, then the forms, content and language of Dayaram's
Gujarati poems.
(c. 9th or 10th century AD), and its first major literary work was the Gitagovinda,
com posed in Sanskrit in the tw elfth century by Jayadeva. The com bination of
eroticism and m ysticism 1 o f the latter was to become the classical model for m uch
of the later bhakti literature. In Maharashtra, the movement was connected with an
ascetic tradition, but in Bengal the passionate love songs o f Candidas and the
made Braj the active centre of the bhakti cult. In Gujarat, although Krsna poems in
the forms o f phagu and rasa existed, there was no bhakti poetry until the sixteenth
Indisputably, the greatest Gujarati poet is Narasimha M aheta .2 His dates are
gives in his own writings, he has been the subject of numerous hagiographies, the
first being by ViSvanath Jam, composed in 1652. He was born in the village of
^ e e Siegel 1990.
2 Jhaveri 1914:39; Tripathi 1957:52.
3 M unshi 1935:149.
4 M allison 1986:32.
Chapter 3: Dayaram's lyrics
son, Samala. He had a difficult family life, largely because o f disputes with his
M ahadeva, who granted him the boon of seeing Krsna's rasllla. After this, he left
his brother's house and set up in on his own in Junagadh. His house, now known
as Narasim ha Mahetano Coro has since been maintained. He sang his devotional
verses to Ram a and Krsna, and his philosophical and ethical padas, while playing
his small cymbals (karatalas). Many m ythical stories surround his life, the m ost
famous of which are the story of his daughter's mamerum, the ritual giving of gifts
could not afford to give the necessary gifts, Krsna appeared and gave them himself.
Equally famous is the story about the time when he was excom m unicated by the
N agars for eating with the Dheds, which resulted in a Dhed appearing between
The m ajor source for his life is his own $amala£ano vivaha, a poem about
his son's wedding to the daughter of a rich merchant. Traditionally he is said to have
composed one and a quarter lakh padas,5 comprising poems on grngara ('love'),
poem s on the life o f K rsna (mostly from incidents in the tenth book o f the
Bhagavata Purana), akhyanas and padamalas.6 The best know n are his padas of
bhakti and jnana ('knowledge'). Transmitted orally, the text of his poems has been
corrupted.
The following pada is the most loved of all his verses. It draws on Jain
traditions in the description of the true religious person, and has becom e widely
probably the best know n Gujarati lyric and, since it is non-sectarian, being a
5 Jhaveri 1914:41. This is the standard number for long anthologies. Cf. the Sursagar.
6,Garland o f padas1, a special literary form for a collection o f verses; see Maheta 1976:22-3.
89
Chapter 3: Dayaram's lyrics
followers of Svaminarayan.7
T h e tru e V a is n a v a is th e o n e w h o f e e ls an o th er's s u f fe r in g s a s h is
ow n.
H e p r a ise s e v e r y th in g in th e w h o le w o r ld , h e d o e s n o t s p e a k ill o f
an yth in g ,
b le sse d .
H e lo o k s o n e v e r y th in g d is p a s s io n a te ly , h e h a s a b a n d o n e d d e s ir e ,
H e d o e s n o t sp e a k a n y untruth, h e d o e s n ot la y h is h an d o n an o th er's
w ealth .
D e lu s io n an d ig n o r a n c e do n ot en te r h im , d e ta c h m e n t is fir m in h is
m ind.
and anger.
N a r a s a im y o s a y s at th e sig h t o f h im , th e fa m ily is s a v e d fo r s e v e n t y -
o n e g en era tio n s.
90
Chapter 3: Dayaram's lyrics
N arasim ha1s poem s are m ostly p a d a s but he is m ost fam ous for his
prabhatl. One of the m ost popular is the following, which evokes vatsalya bhava in
its listeners:
In w h a t w a y c a n I d e s c r ib e th e lo v e l in e s s o f h is fa c e ? It lo o k s
L o o k in g at th e m o v e m e n ts o f h is lo tu s e y e s , M a n m a th a 's m in d is p u t
to sh am e.
a m inute.
S h e h a s fo u n d th e lord o f th e w o r ld w h o is c o m p a s s io n a t e to h is
d e v o te e s , th e lord o f N a ra sa iy o .
9 M allison 1986:38-42.
10Jesalpura 1989:102.
91
Chapter 3: Dayaram's lyrics
The legacy o f a rich and varied vocabulary and language o f great pow er and
beauty which he left, exercised great influence on literature. H is padas, cast
into slo w -m o v in g and elastic prabhatia metre generally reserved for early
m orning prayers, m oulded the lan gu age and sen tim en ts o f su cce ed in g
generations. H is taste is often loud and vulgar. He lacks the d elica cy o f
Mirari, the in ten sity o f Suradasa, the cla ssic d ign ity o f T u lsld asa. H is
language is too rhetorical to permit o f that light, lingering touch w hich m akes
for great poetry. But he broke aw ay from the lifeless literary tradition o f his
days. He changed Gujarati poetry from an impersonal to a personal art. Poet,
bhakta, ap o stle o f A ryan culture - Narasiriha w a s, and is, u n iq u e in
Gujarata.11
One o f the most popular bhakti poets of western India is M iram (c. 1500-
1547). M uch of her life story is given in her poems, but there are conflicting
versions o f her biography. She was the granddaughter of Rao Dudaji, a devout
to older sources, she was queen o f Kumbha Rana of Chittor, grandfather o f Rana
Samgo, which places her between 1403 and 1470.12 M ore recent versions o f her
life based on Rajput genealogies 13 say that she married Bhojraj, the son o f Rana
Samgo of Chittor, who died young. In 1532, his younger son V ikram , who
disapproved of her eccentric behaviour in her religious practices, came to the throne.
She claims that attempts were made on her life, so she fled to Dwarka. Some say
that it was her husband who tried to poison h er . 14 She was merged into K rsna
It was m entioned above that M iram has been claim ed by the literary
traditions o f Gujarat, Rajasthan and Braj. H er poems have been preserved orally
and they vary between Gujarati, Rajasthani and Hindi versions. Therefore, it is
difficult to reconstruct the original texts. In her poems, mostly padas, often called
She has only one thing to say, and, in consequence, her range is lim ited. Her
poem s have elegance and delicacy rather than variety. Her heart is capable o f
deep feelin g , but its exp ression is lim ited by her com parative ignorance.
Mirari is not ego-centric, only intense: not voluptuous, nor profound.15
n M unshi 1935:148.
12Jhaveri 1914:29 and Tripathi 1958:14-5.
13Maheshwari 1980:149-50.
14Jhaveri 1914:31 and Tripathi 1958:16.
^ Q u o te from L. Munshi M ln lm bai e k drst. Quoted in Munshi 1935:134.
92
Chapter 3: Dayaram's lyrics
But passion, grace, delicacy, m elody - Mlran has all these gifts. Her longing
is exquisite; it seizes all hearts, penetrates all souls. Her poetic skill p o ssesses
the suprem e art o f bein g artless. Som etim es she brings natural beauty to aid
sense and sound in producing harm ony.16
The following poem is one o f Miram's most famous stanzas in the Gujarati
and the bhaktas and her lack of interest in the mundane world. Its language is
93
Chapter 3: Dayaram's lyrics
grace, delicacy, m elody - Mlrati has all these gifts. Her longing
t seizes all hearts, penetrates all souls. Her poetic skill p ossesses
art o f being artless. Som etim es she brings natural beauty to aid
jnd in producing harm ony.16
amaro17
93
Chapter 3: Dayaram’s lyrics
love;
b rid eg ro o m is fa u ltless.
that fraud.
originally from the nearby village of Jetalpur. He was head o f the royal mint, but
false charges o f dishonesty made him bitter, and he left his w ork to seek
knowledge. He travelled to Gokul where he joined the Pustimarga, but was rapidly
disillusioned with the sect. He went to Varanasi where he heard about the teachings
of Sankara, which suited his belief in v a ir a g y a (’detachm ent1) and his search for
jn a n a ('knowledge'), which are the topics of all his writings. He wrote in Gujarati
and also in H indi, on philosophy in his A k h e g lta , but he is famous for his
epigrammatic stanzas on life, in his sixty padas and his seven hundred or more
ch appas.
94
Chapter 3: Dayaram's lyrics
H is Chhappas are not the Chhappas recognised by prosody but are another
name for Chopais, rounded o ff with six instead o f four lines (cho(four) pais -
lin es).19
In these small poem s, he fights the accepted formulae o flife , bitterly, brutally,
m aking all kinds o f ugly comparisons to bring his point hom e. But the fight
is not for a v ig o ro u s and full life, but for an arid d etach m en t....H e w as,
how ever, very poorly equipped for literary w ork. The w ords w h ich he used
w ere very often inappropriate. H is k n ow led ge o f prosody, gramm ar and
syntax w as meagre. H is m eaning w as often shrouded in obscurity.20
Although the references may be obscure, these verses show a simple, clear
and colloquial form o f Gujarati which is well suited to the sharpness of their tone.
Four C happas
19Jhaveri 1914:63.
20M unshi 1935:180.
95
Chapter 3: Dayaram's lyrics
Premanand (late seventeenth century) rivals Narasimha M aheta for the title
of the greatest poet o f G ujarat .21 A Brahmin from Vadodara, he was orphaned
young, and in the company of a sannyasin, Ramcaran, toured north India learning
Sanskrit and Hindi. Like many other poets he saw H indi as the appropriate
his guru's behest. He began his career in Surat as a gagariyo bhata, a Brahmin who
recites puranic stories while playing a metal pot. A popular poet, he divided his
Even today many people know by heart some o f his fifty-seven works of
the Bhagavata Purana, from the Markandeya Parana and from the Ramayana. He
also continued the tradition o f composing akhyanas on the life o f N arasim ha ,22 as
M unshi's words:
■ H is com m and over the resources o f the language w as unequalled; and, so was
his know ledge o f contemporary life. H e w as a profound observer; no detail
escaped him. He depicted passion, situation and character in a vivid style. He
w as a m aster o f the art o f gaining broad effects; and cou ld p lay u pon an
em otion to the point o f saturation. H e e x c e lle d in m aking an old plot,
how ever jejune, throb with new life. A m ong the literary artists o f the period,
he alone was truly a creative artist, and could give a glim pse o f actual life .23
Premananda took the old rasa form o f the akhyana as he found it - a long,
poetic com position divided into kadavahs in dcsi and rounded by tw o lin es o f
valana. But he used it with freedom and vigour. In his best w orks, the story
w as a rapid and interesting narrative; but he broke it up at frequent intervals to
m ake room for long descriptions instinct w ith real life, or padas or garabis
infused w ith feelin g, hom ely but rich. He used his art so sk ilfu lly that the
21Tripathi 1957:30.
22Cf. Haramala (1645) anon., and V isvanath Janl (1 6 2 5 -7 5 ) M osa laca ritra , K rsnadas Haracaritra
(1655) and Hundf (1657).
23M unshi 1935:189.
96
Chapter 3: Dayaram's lyrics
akhyana becam e, like the modern novel, an elastic m edium for all literary
purposes.24
He wrote with vitality and humour, in folk-metres (de£!) rather than classical
metres ( chand). Several plays are attributed to him, although their authorship has
including his own sons, who wrote works o f a limited quality. His followers still
continue his tradition, and his own compositions were rew orked by later writers,
including Dayaram.
M aheta's life, based on Maheta's own akhyana. This selection shows Premanand's
characteristic humour and lightness, his vivid thumbnail sketches, and his shifting
perspective on M aheta and his followers. They are depicted as the objects o f
humour they would have appeared as to outsiders, eccentric religious figures who
have to improvise a simple cart and yet have all the accoutrements of seva to hand.
These are w hat they take to the m osalum , the gift-giving cerem ony by m aternal
relatives to a girl in her first pregnancy, rather than gifts appropriate for
tradition o f describing the life of the bhaktas who are themselves seen as objects of
devotion. As in the other examples we have seen, the language is in a simple and
colloquial style:
F rom K u m v a rb a ln u m m a m e ru m 26
97
Chapter 3: Dayaram's lyrics
Narasimha Maheta invited all his relatives to his house - they were
Vaisnava sants.
' Let's go with the mosajum - it's time for my daughter's slmamt.'
The cart was old and the yoke was bent, the axle was bust,
The shafts were borrowed from one person, the mudguards form
another, the pair of bullocks was borrowed from someone else.
MehtajI went to the mamerum, he remembered &ri JagadiSa.
Three female sants were in the crowd, there were a dozen renouncers.
His Balamukumda was in a casket made of a copper box.
At his throat he'd made a necklace where he kept Damodara
Namdanamda.
At the back of the cart he'd tied a bag, full of musical instruments;
A bag of sacred clay, and the sacred tulsi wood;
Stamps, tilaks and cymbals made up this mosahim !
Narasaimya's mind was free from fear, thinking that God will enjoy
them.
The weak bullocks could barely move so the company of Vaisnavas
pushed.
They shouted as they went up the hill, 'Praise Vaikumthanatha!'
One bullock weakened and sat down, and the other pulled on its own.
They pulled the tail of the fallen one to make it get up. Many such
incidents happened.
Every joint on the cart was loose, the cart was crooked
The body of the cart groaned, the wheels grated
98
Chapter 3: Dayaram's lyrics
They got in, sat down and got out again, saying, 'He Rama!' and 'He
Krsna!'.
At midday MehtajI arrived, and the whole town came to see.
Samal Bhatt (bom c. 170 027) was a Srigod M alvi Brahm in o f Venganpur,
w riter o f original fiction and a peer of Premanand, but now it is clear that he also
took his stories from old Gujarati fiction as is usual in oral traditions. His works
were mainly narrative and didactic, Madan Mobana being the best-known narrative
and Ratnamala the best-known didactic work. The latter sets out merits and demerits
of classes o f people, while the former tells of a Rajput princess's love for a Bania
minister, their marriage and adventures, with the use o f stories within stories found
in folk narratives.
Samal's works are o f interest here because he is the first Gujarati writer to use a
large admixture o f Persian words. Persian was the language of the Ahmadabad
Sultanate and o f the later M ughal court, but Persian, Arabic and U rdu were used
m ainly by the ruling elite , 28 for w hom some authors from G ujarat w rote in
Persian .29 Persian was used also by Parsis for writing m ythological and historical
narratives, although they also composed in their own dialect o f G ujarati .30 Some
Sufis w rote in Persian, while on the other hand, a B ohra w om an, R atanbal,
com posed Gujarati songs (garabis and padas) in honour o f K ayam -din Plr, and
other M uslim sects, such as the Khoja Ismaili followers of the Aga K han ,31 also
99
Chapter 3: DayaranVs lyrics
W hile the Gujarati lexis was being influenced by Persian, literary forms
were being drawn from Gujarati folk sources rather than borrow ed from Braj and
Sanskritic traditions. From this period, we find the first written exam ples o f the
garabo folk song, the garabos of Vallabh B hat addressed to the m other goddess,
Mata. These are chronicles of the major seats of the goddess in Gujarat at Arasur,
Chunval and Pavagadh, and can be dated from his descriptions of the famine o f
1731. The m ost famous of these garabos are the lam ents o f a young woman
A num ber o f bbagats 32 were active during this period, and their work
shows the continuing enrichments made on the Gujarati language from Persian.
specific kind of pada called kafP 3 on bamboo which he floated on the River Mahi.
H is best known w ork is the Svarupnl k a fi which shows his 'clear, homely and
telling style, and [has] the sentiments o f A kha without his lashing bitterness .'34
Patidar w hose philosophical verse in simple and charm ing language was very
popular. H is language is also notable for using m ore U rdu than any o f his
contemporaries, so much so that it was alleged that he had a M uslim teacher .35
composed many padas o f which the most important collection is Cabkha ('Lashes'),
in which he attacked social vice with great bitterness. He died at V irpur and left a
large num ber of follow ers, who w orship his footprints. R aje B hagat (early
3 2A1 though bhagat is a tndbhava form (Prakritic) o f bbakta it has the sp e c ific m eaning o f jn a n a -
m a rg l-k a v i rather than bh a k ta . In this sen se it is used more frequently to describe a group o f
eighteenth century Gujarati poets (see below ). Cf. M allison 1992:94.
33See Shackle 1972 and Shackle 19S9b:85.
34M unshi 1935:212.
35Jhaveri 1914:175.
100
Chapter 3: Dayaram's lyrics
practices are both Hindu and Muslim, although they call themselves Muslim. He
mentioned in most histories of Gujarati literature and his connections with Dayaram
have never been explored. This omission is significant. Not only do the histories
Gujarati Muslim communities, but it seems that the writings of a M uslim author are
The m ost celebrated o f D ayaram 's contem poraries w ere follow ers o f
introduced Gujarati as an official language at an early date ,38 unlike the Pustimarga
where Sanskrit and Braj are the only official languages. The m ajor poets o f the
sect 39 were M uktanand (1761-1824); Brahman and (d. 1849), a Bhata who also
w rote in Hindi; and the m ost popular of all, Prem anand Saklri (1779-1845) of
K rsna or o f Svam inarayan. Brahm anand is renow ned for his skilful use of
language, thought to be better than all his contemporaries except Dayaram ; but
Premanand is considered to be a better poet, and wrote verse full o f intense feeling
in which he imagined him self to be the lover of Svaminarayan. M ost o f these poets
are known only by followers of the sect, the bulk o f whose hymnal is formed by
their w ork .40 In fact, the only other poets included in this hymnal are Kabir, MIram
10 1
Chapter 3: Dayaram's lyrics
Although best known for his lyric poems, 89 other works by Dayaram are
identified by Dave 41 and there may be further works in m anuscript collections. His
coipus has been divided into various categories, the m ost rigorous division being
that o f Dave 1970, who divides the corpus into dar$anika krtio (philosophical
didactic w orks), akhyana ane padam ala (narrative w orks), anudita krtio
krtio (miscellaneous works). This section looks briefly at the m ajor works in these
sections other than the lyrics, which are to be examined in closer detail from 3.3
onwards.
Philosophical works
Events in Dayaram 's life showed him to be a critic o f the practices o f the
P ustim arga, but his philosophical w orks adhere closely to the doctrine of
Vallabhacarya. The best known and m ost important of this part of Dayaram's work
between a teacher and his pupil. It expounds the major doctrines o f the Pustimarga
(the nature of Brahma, jiva, jagat, maya, moksa, and the importance of bhakti) while
refuting the kevaladvaita philosophy of Samkara. It uses simple terms, with many
the sect in simple and clear terms. The P ustipatharahasya 'The secret of the
Pustim arga', is written in Gujarati in 183 duha and rasavala verses and advocates
41 D ave 1970:287-90.
42A detailed account o f the contents is given in Sandesara 1981:34-8.
102
Chapter 3: Dayaram's lyrics
their descendants and the great V aisnava bhaktas. The B h a ktip o sa n a 'The
D ayaram 's other philosophical w orks all deal w ith philosophical topics
relating to the sect (e.g. in Braj: the Rasikaramjana 'The delight o f the rasikas' , a
A large number o f Dayaram's works are concerned with the form of bhakti
known as namasmarana (reciting the name), and are mostly written in Gujarati in a
kum daliya metre, with every verse beginning and ending with the same proverb.
Also included here are the poems describing the lives of the great Vaisnava bhaktas,
such as the Vaisnavanum dhoja (in Gujarati) and the Pustibhaktarupam alika (in
nataka consisting of 70 kadis in the duvaiya metre in the form o f a verbal contest
between two Brahmins, one a devotee of Visnu and one of §iva, who conclude that
Garuda samvada, a quarrel between Rama's bhakta and Visnu's vehicle which ends
when they realise the unity of Ram a and Krsna; and the M anamati samvada nataka,
a debate between the mind and the intellect as to their roles in devotion.
103
Chapter 3: Dayaram’s lyrics
episode in the life of a great bhakta, historical or legendary. D ayaram built on the
style developed by Bhalana (fl. c. 1450) and Premanand (c. 1634-1700), but he is
generally considered to have composed rather poor akhyanas in com parison with
these two m asters .44 Many of these draw on themes from Bhagavata Purana, such
as R u k m in lv iv a h a , R u k m in ls lm a n ta , S a ty a b h a m a v iv a h a , O k h a h a r a n a ,
in the lives o f the great Gujarati bhaktas, such as Kumvarabalnum mamerum, based
Mlramcaritra.
The padam alas are groups of poems which may stand individually but
Krsnalila. Dayaram wrote poems on eight lllas: Patrallla (the lila o f the letter),
M urallllla (the lila o f the flute), R upallla (the lila o f the form o f K rsna),
Premarasagita (the song o f love), Balalila (the lila of childhood), Sadrtnvarnana (the
separation through the twelve months of the year), and Kamalallla (the lila o f the
lotus).
Translations
absence o f autograph m anuscripts ,45 but they are widely accepted as his by other
the sect from Sanskrit, and two of the works of Surdas, the primary poet of the sect,
104
Chapter 3: Dayaram's lyrics
Prose works
Dayaram 's prose w orks are also strongly sectarian and are w ritten in the
m ahatm ya), or on forms o f god (Hariharadi svarupa taratmya); or else they are
prose com mentaries on texts (Satasaiyani gadya tika). These early examples of
m odem Gujarati prose are given in the form o f dialogues and so represent attempts
to write spoken forms of the language rather than to create a specifically prose style.
Miscellaneous works
in Braj of more than 700 duha verses with a Gujarati gloss on eveiy verse, blending
didactic and erotic verses and com bining elements of sectarian devotion with
treatises on poetics. The other works in this residual category are technical, a
Pimgalasara (on m etricsj, a Ragamala (on music) and Talamala (on rhythm) while
sectarian and to use a variety of traditional Gujarati and Braj forms. They contain
little o f literary interest and are not w idely know n even in G ujarat. His
philosophical w orks are the best-know n, probably because they explain the
doctrines of the sect in simple and straightforward terms to the followers of the sect,
to whom the Sanskrit texts are available only through katha perform ances which
offer vernacular commentary. Some of his other works seem to have been rather
mediocre or inferior and have been neglected in favour of the superior handling of
such genres by others, notably in the case o f his akhyanas w hich are inferior to
those o f Premanand.
105
Chapter 3: Dayaram's lyrics
works including one o f the Rasikavallabha. It is not clear w hether these were
w ritten by D ayaram him self or by his disciples. Sandesara describes the way he
composed:
D ayaram 's hand-w riting w as neat and shapely and he w a s an ex cellen t
orthographer, as is evident from the extant manuscripts w ritten or cop ied
dow n by him. First copies o f many o f his works were, presum ably, prepared
by him self. But he had developed an alternative method o f writing, especially
for the com p osition o f his lyrics. He kept by his seat a w o o d e n board
coloured w ith chalk and sprinkled w ith G ulal (sligh tly fragrant reddish
pow der). There w ere alw ays one or tw o Vataranas (w ood en pens or sm all
thin sticks for w riting on the board) nearby. W henever he w as in a creative
m ood he spoke the words aloud and a person sitting by his side w rote dow n
his w ords on that board; Dayaram heard the w riting o n ce or tw ic e , and
corrected, am ended and revised the sam e. Then finally he asked that it be
written dow n on paper. Even before dictating anything he used to murmur, as
i f thinking som ewhat aloud or conversing w ith h im self and h is lips w ou ld be
quivering, as i f m easuring the pow er and propriety or w ords in the p oem
under com position.46
It is not clear what happened to these manuscripts after his death. It seems that they
remained in the hands of his pupils, and Taraporewala 47 believed that a considerable
num ber o f his poems (perhaps the greater part) are still unpublished. His disciples
regard them as too sacred to be disseminated in print am ongst those who m ight
scoff at them. However, some o f them have been given to scholars o f Dayaram's
w ork 48 and his pupils (like JoSi) and their descendants have produced printed
m any o f the scholars who have studied D ayaram are also his castem en from
106
Chapter 3: Dayaram's lyrics
Sample of handw ritten manuscript, said to have been written by Dayaram: the
x _ .0 . .
13f))) )3 ^^?''*7]^ ^ ^
rp1^ 3 =1 1 17’
r> f(l 1 nJ *
m$}j n
W)f^K p rK 3*^ X .*71
< 1 * 3 ,
»h.
107
Chapter 3: Dayaram's lyrics
by K avi N arm ad, and first published in 1860. N aim ad describes 49 how he
collected this material in the decade after Dayaram's death. He w ent to Dabhoi and
Vadodara where he m et Dayaram's disciple Ranchod Jo£i. W hen Jo§i later came to
with some of Dayaram's songs. Ranchod did not write anything down for Naimad,
but Narmad's pupils wrote down the verses which Ranchod sang. I have been able
to obtain a copy of volume of Volume One only and it is not clear if other volumes
were ever published. The 577-paged volume is divided into several sections. The
First, which is unnam ed, contains some o f his longer texts: religio-philosophical,
akhyanas, and longer lyrics, such as padas, dhojas, and garabos. The second
section, of 116 lyrics, consists m ostly o f garabfs but contains a few padas. The
third section is o f nlti-bhakti dhojas. The fourth section gives three 'Hindustani'
texts, then there are three more sections in Hindustani: grmgara padas, bhakti padas
and five nltkvairagya padas. The book ends with two padas in Marathi.
Jo£i (with V.H. Sastri) edited Dayaramakrta kavyam anim ala (1900-), w hich
contains m ost of Dayaram 's extant works. Subsequent editions include various
selections o f his lyrical w orks and may also contain som e o f his religio-
published by the Sastum Sahitya V ardhak K aryalaya .51 This book is called
Dayaramnam bhajano and although the B haktiposan forms a large part of the
volum e, the book includes a large num ber of padas and very few garabos and
garabis. In view of the fact that the manuscripts are kept in private collections, it is
108
Chapter 3: Dayaram's lyrics
likely that these later editions are probably not based on m anuscript sources, but on
The best know n o f all the collections of Dayaram's lyrics is that o f Raval
literary editing in the Gujarati sahityano itihas.52 This edition has become standard
among scholars and K rsnabhaktas alike. Many of the D abhoivasis who keep
Dayaram's tradition alive have a copy o f this volume in their homes. It is used as
Shastri, has collaborated with the son of one o f D ayaram 's disciples (JIvanlal
D ayaram 's texts . 53 U nfortunately, the lyric poems are not yet available in this
D ayaram w rote his own Gujarati commentary to his Braj Satasaiya but
otherwise no lengthy commentaries have been made, except that o f Sastri 1961 on
translations o f his w ork (by C. Shulda) of which I have not been able to locate a
copy.
Gujarati publishers such as the Gujarat Sahitya Sabha, Ahmadabad and the Gujarati
Printing Press, Bombay, others have been published by his followers. For example
Dayaram 's work was also carried out by the Bhakta Kavi fsri D ayaram Sahitya
52Parikh 1981:229.
53Sastri and J o £ 1973-.
54Munshi 1935, Jhaveri 1914.
109
Chapter 3: Dayaram's lyrics
Pram anam ddas Sah, D abhoivala). These books are distributed through m ajor
Sripustimargly Pustakalaynl DIpo and through the Bhakta KaviSri Dayaram Smarak
Samiti, Dabhoi.
philosophical works show that he had some knowledge, w hether direct or indirect,
of the Prasthana catustaya, the four core Sanskrit texts o f the Pustimarga. These are
the Vedas, the Bhagavadgita, Vyasa's Brahmasutras and the ultimate authority, the
the Braj writings o f the astachap through hearing the H avelisam glt ('the temple
songs'), the songs of eight Braj poets used in the liturgy o f the Pustimarga.
The sources for the lyrics are likely to have been B ook 10 (D atiam a
astachap, the works o f Narasimha Maheta, and the folk literature of Gujarat. It is
therefore not surprising that many of the features shared by m ost Krsnaite poetry
are found in his lyrics: the personae are the same (K rsna, Radha, the Gopls,
Uddhava), as are the locations (Braj, Gokul, V rindavan and the River Yamuna),
and the them es 55 (Krsna's ballfla, murallllla, raslila, danllla,viraha and reunion,
Krsna's tricks and the Gopls' displeasure). As with the Braj lyrics, they draw on
the shared range o f reference o f the poet and his audience rather than being in a
D ayaram 's padas are thus very similar in their structure and contents to
those of the Braj Krsnaite poets. They usually consist of between five and fifteen
55See V audeville 1971, H aw ley 1984; Bhayani and Y agnik 1991 etc.
56See Bryant 1978 for a discussion o f possible im plications o f this situation.
110
Chapter 3: Dayaram's lyrics
verses, spoken as if authored by the poet himself. The chapa is o f the form Daya!
'Daya!' or Dayo kahe... 'Dayo says...'. While sharing the same themes as Dayaram's
garabolgarabls (to be discussed below), his padas include a num ber o f prayer-type
lyrics (e.g. 184 Eka vinamti) and m ore 'philosophical' topics (e.g. 142 Prema, 163
Marum dhanakatum dhora, 164 NEcayana mahelamam) and the definition of a true
V aisnava (175 Vaisnava nathi thayo turn re!), a theme seen in the work of other
As each of his predecessors was famed for one verse form (Narasimha for
his prabhatiyam, M iram for her padas, Akho for his chappa), Dayaram's reputation
as one o f the greatest poets o f Gujarat is for his Gujarati lyrics, especially his
in Braj and in other Indian languages. There are many, often conflicting, definitions
of the verse forms he used. This section looks at definitions of pada, garabo and
garabi then attempts to define these terms in the the context of Dayaram's lyrics.
The pada verse form is used by all the poet-saints o f N orth India. In
Narasimha. The primary meaning of the word pada in Sanskrit is 'step, pace, stride;
footstep, trace' but it means 'a portion of a verse, quarter or line o f a stanza' as early
as the Rgveda and 'word or an inflected word or the stem of a noun' by the time of
Panini. In the vernaculars pada came to mean a fairly free verse form. The contents
and the performance are seen as being among its defining qualities:
The pada uses a restricted range of m etres , 59 of which the m ost popular in
Gujarati padas seem to be the diiha, the copal and the jhulana. M any pada metres
57See for exam ple Narasimha Maheta's Vaisnavajana in section 3.1 above.
58Sandesara 1981:58-9.
59See, e.g., Snell 1991b:24-6.
Ill
Chapter 3: Dayaram's lyrics
have a sixteen-mafra base and can be set to the sixteen-beat tintal, the most common
...custom arily contains an even number o f lin es - m ost often six to ten, but
occasionally as few as four or as m any as a hundred - o f w h ich all lin es but
the first, the teka, are o f equal length. T w o com m on rhym e sch em es are
em ployed: couplet-rhyme, and a single rhyme sustained throughout the pada.
The metrical basis is quantitative; the unit o f quantity is the matra (m ora).61
'prop' - the half-line w hich usually begins a pada, and w hich is, in m ost styles
o f performance, repeated several tim es during the course o f the poem (usually
at the end o f every cou p let). T he rhetorical function o f the teka in the
performance o f a pada has been described by GauriSarikar MiSra, w h o in turn
cites his debt to BrajeSvar Varma: 'By presenting the central m ood o f the
entire pada in a few concise and w ell-constructed words in the form o f a tek,
the poet produces a particular charm in his pada, ’62
A further feature of the pada is that the final or penultimate line normally includes
die signature (chapa) of the composer. For example 206 Vediyo vaiyakaramya:
The garabo and garabi forms are unique to Gujarat. Although the terms are
used for lyrics, they were originally used for dances perform ed on auspicious
rhythm ical hand-clapping. The term s derive from the garabo, an earthen lamp
w hich is either placed in the circle or earned by the dancers. There are many
definitions o f these two terms ,63 with some critics despairing of finding a definition:
Garabi is, in fact, almost a synonym o f the literary form o f Pad d evelop ed in
Old Gujarati literature with a slightly specialized connotation.64
112
Chapter 3: Dayaram's lyrics
H owever Sandesara does not explain what these connotations are. It seems that
In fact, the Gujarati poet and singer cannot quite see the sp ecific distance and
dissimilarities between the garabo and the garbi, and had b een em p lo y in g his
w its, k n ow in gly and u n k n o w in g ly , to fu se the tw o by im p artin g rasa
characteristics to the garabo, and garabo elem ents to the garbi w hich is really a
Gujarati daughter o f the rasa.65
performance, noting a distinction between the garabo and garabi in the worship o f
the goddess and then demonstrating that there is a secondary type o f garabi which
has its origins in the K rsnaite rasa dance. The follow ing is an abbreviated
The garabo and the garabi are ritual circular dances in honour o f the goddess,
specific to Gujarat w hich are sung to dh 5/as 67 rather than ragas. In the garabo,
the deity is signified by an oil lamp placed in a pot, w h ich is p laced either in
the m iddle o f the dancers, or on the heads o f the dancers. T he g a ra b i has a
m a m d vi w here m illet or rice have been sprouted before the celebration and
w here there are im ages o f the deity. A gain, this representation o f the deity
may be placed in the middle o f the circle or on the heads o f the dancers.
The term garabi may be used also when the garabo is danced by m en. Apart
from in Saurashtra, the garabo is usually danced by w om en and is perform ed
by m en only for festivals in honour o f the D ev i, never for d om estic rituals.
M en and w o m en n ev er dan ce to g eth er (apart from m arried c o u p les
occasionally). Garabos are danced during Navratri, marriages, slm an ts etc.
It seem s that the garabo!garabi were originally connected to the cult o f Kalika
Mata68 at Pavagadh (cf.'The Fall o f Pavagadh' by Samaja Bhatta, com posed
in the eighteenth century6 9 ). The first author w h o se w ork is extan t is
Bhanadasa (17th century). V allabha Bhatta (c. 1700) w as a d e v o te e o f
Bahucaraji, but he also sang o f the exp loits o f Krsna and o f so cia l even ts.
Other writers after this w ere N atha B havana (1 6 8 1 -1 8 0 0 ), M ithu (1 7 3 8 -
1791) and Ranachoda Divana (1768-1851).
The rasa (distinguished from the rasabamdba 'heroic poem') is danced on any
occasion and is m ostly Krsnaite. It has o rigin s in the M a b a ra sa o f the
B hagavata Purana, sim ilar to the garabo, m ay use d a m d a s to mark tim e
(dam dia rasa), and is danced by m ixed groups o f men and w om en.
There is another sense o f g a ra b i w hich is that o f short poem s sung about the
lo v es o f Krsna and the G opls, lyric p oem s w h ich may be danced. T hey
originate in the rasa although h om on ym ou s w ith g a r a b i-g a r a b o . The
con fu sion has arisen becau se o f the garabos b ein g about the ex p lo its o f
Krsna.
65Thoothi 1935:332-3.
66M allison 1991b: 122-5.
67See below .
68Mata, Ambaji, Becaraji, Kali or Durga.
69D ave 1954.
113
Chapter 3: Dayaram's lyrics
discussion o f the use o f the term garabo for some of Dayaram's lyrics is taken up at
the end of this section. To avoid confusion with the Sakta-garabl/garabo, the term
garabi will be used here to cover both groups.) In fact, the K rsnaite garabi is so
closely associated with Dayaram that it has even been suggested that he was its
creator .70 However, the form seems to predate him by several centuries. Among
the Ismaili ginans are included a number of garabls attributed to P ir Shams (c. 14th
century ) . 71 I f these garabls had been composed by Pir Shams, then they would be
the earliest extant garabls. However, they can be dated from their language to the
seventeenth or eighteenth century 72 and so are no earlier than the extant Hindu
garabls.
The garabi has been used successfully by a num ber o f other writers, both
before and after Dayaram, For example, it was used by his predecessors to sing the
Dalpatram's son, Nhanalal (1877-1946), who wrote Krsnaite garabls and also used
the form for the theme o f secular rom antic love. It is claim ed he wrote some
m odem versions of Dayaram's garabls,14 but I have found no evidence for this in
his works. R aval 75 also thinks this claim is unlikely since N hanalal is too
influenced by the new Puritanism o f the late nineteenth century to write erotic
It was mentioned above that the definition of the garabi has not been made
clear. However, using Mallison's untangling of the garabo/garabl and the Krsnaite
garabi, the rest of this section is concerned with establishing a firmer definition of
70Divatia 1932:280.
71 S ee Shackle and M oir 1992:128-33 for an example.
72M allison 1991b:127.
73Dvarkadas wrote the first Pustimarg! garabis.
74Munshi 1935:292-305.
75Raval 1981:41.
114
Chapter 3: Dayaram's lyrics
this form and with contrasting it with the pada. It elaborates the basic definition of
the Krsnaite garabi: it is short, usually four to eight lines, although occasionally
fifteen to eighteen, and deals w ith a single episode, passion or situation drawing
looking at formal features, mostly metre, musical performance and narrative voice.
It was stated above that the pada form uses traditional matrika metres set to
tala cycles for performance. The varnika or matrika metres are however not used in
the garabi type, which instead use fa/a-style de£I metres. These consist of patterns
of beats, with no fixed matras or syllables which fit into these tala cycles. Although
some of the metres in Dayaram 's garabi lyrics have traces of matrika-metres, none
fits a matrika metre entirely. Therefore the garabi can be distinguished from the
Dayaram's garabls always have a teka ('refrain'), which may be the whole of
the first verse, or a pada ('section, foot') from the first verse. A line may consist of
one or two padas. The verses are sometimes single lines (w ith an aa rhym e
throughout, e.g. 18 Syama ramga16), but are more often couplets (with aa rhymes,
e.g. no 1 Ubha raho to kahum ), less frequently tr iplets (with aaa rhym es, e.g. 8
Vamsaladlne £abde), still more rarely quatrains (with bb rhymes, e.g. 32 Etalum
kahejo). Further variations are rare. The pada does not use the triplet form which
suggests that its origins may lie in the dance rhythms of Gujarat.
M ost padas, whose ends are marked by a yati ('caesura'), are an a vartana
('cycle') o f four (sometimes three) caranas ('feet'). The foot usually has eight time
nearly always ends with a word break. These rhythmical patterns can be set to 4:8
time, which fits the com monest fa/a, the sixteen-beat tlntal, which is used for the
circular dances.
76The numbers preceding lities o f Dayaram's lyrics are those o f Raval 1953. S ee also the selections
in Chapter 7.
115
Chapter 3: Dayaram's lyrics
All these dances have special dhalas ('folic tunes') each o f which has its own
rise and fall in a scale of musical notes, based not on classical ragas but on their folk
equivalent, called degls . Thoothi 77 says there are only four dhalas for the garabi,
which he lists as the titles o f the following four garabls. He calls these 'classical';
H ow ever, it seems that there are m any more types than this even for
D ayaram 's garabls: 62 various dhalas are listed for the selection printed in Raval
1953, many of them new and composed by Dayaram himself. Bhayani and Yagnik
do not m ention specific dhalas but their definition o f deSl w ould seem to include
dhalas w ithin the category of de£I. They trace the listing o f de£ls to Jain songs,
whose authors:
had the practice o f indicating at the beginning o f every tex t-sectio n o f the
poem s the particular De£l (i.e. one o f the then current popular m elod ies or
tunes) in w hich the poem w as to be sung. For that purpose, either the initial
words, line, stanza, etc., o f that popular song, or its name w hich w as based on
its theme or the character described etc. were given 78
Bhayani and Yagnik then point out that they have collected over two hundred lines
which 'give a rare and valuable glimpse into the Krsnaite songs that were in popular
vogue during the period covering the fifteenth to the eighteenth century . '79
Unfortunately, this list and any recordings of the songs are not yet available.
...a garabi is not the sam e thing as the songs accepted in the art o f m usic. The
m usical flourishes known to these songs arc not easily w orkable in garabls
w hich, so far, are o f limited musical power and generally do not fully develop
77Thoothi 1935:329.
78Bhayani and Y agnik 1991:43.
79Bhayani and Y agnik 1991:43.
116
Chapter 3: Dayaram's lyrics
any individual raga as know n to m usic, but m ostly contain elem en ts, o f
different ragas in stray forms, though artistically com bined.80
music, but of course it is impossible to assess this claim in the absence of further
information.
general light North Indian classical style rather than in a distinctive Gujarati folk
style . It is on this recording that the following remarks are based. It is clear that
there are two totally distinct styles of fitting the words to the tunes .82 These styles
of w ord-fitting may be called 'strict' and 'free,' according to the extent to which the
singer is permitted to distort natural word rhythm in order to fit the words to music.
Songs in strict forms may have refrains that are free. This is the case with 184 Eka
In a 'strict' song, the detailed rhythm o f the tune is n ot determ ined 'in
advance' but is constituted by the rhythms o f the words sung to it, rhythms which
may w ell change from stanza to stanza. This is very much along the lines o f the
Sanskrit Arya metre and related later metres. M ost of the examples o f 'strict' songs
on the tape use caturmatra or similar four-square divisions of syllable, but there are
quirks , 83 each syllable will be sung to its natural length, i.e. one or two matras as
appropriate (e and o may of course be short, as may I and 0.) No syllable will be
extended beyond two m atras, no 'rest' will occur, and there w ill be no forcible
184 Eka vinam ti, as m ost of the 'strict' songs follow s a ca tu rm a tra
underlying pattern. It is in fact simply a caupal, with a free refrain mujane mukaSo
117
Chapter 3: Dayaram's lyrics
m a added to the first line and a free refrain avasara cuka£o ma added to the second
line;
Some strict songs follow a trimatra pattern. For example, 140 SauthIpara is
In 'free 1 songs, the singer takes the opposite course and gives up natural
word rhythm whenever convenient. All the restrictions drop away: there are three-
matra syllables as a m atter o f course, there are 'rests', and syllables are arbitrarily
shortened and lengthened. For example 18 £yama ramga is a free song in 3 ;8 time:
T- 1 } 2 - 1 1 I V i ‘ / > *1 1 a fh'l 1 21
1 fyama ramgj sa m p e najjavumj, maretijajthaklfeyama ramga samipe na
javurn.
84See Style N otes C above Tor an explanation o f the metrical conventions used.
85Raval 1953: 160 has sam bam dha vicaro.
86See n. 83 above.
118
Chapter 3: Dayaram's lyrics
3 a 2-/2_/3 1 i / a. ( 2 . 1 / Z . Z /
1 je m a m k a la sa te sa u 87eka sa ra k h u n i, saifakam am k a p a ta ha£e a vu n i.
3 3 3 3fia z , 3 ' Z I } *2.2- ( 2 1 2- /
3 k a stu n n i birn di ^Jk a n u n n ah im , kajala na a n ik h a m a n i a m ja v u m .
3 ^ 3 3 3 2 ' 2. /2 -1 / 2 1 ("2 / 2- /
4 k o k ila n o s a b da su n u rn n a h im ,yu k a g a v a n l £ a k u n a m a m na la v u m ,
2 2 1 ) 3 3 2. 12 J ? 3 / / 22 Z.(Z / *2- /
5 m larn bara k a li k a n ic n k in a p e h n im , ja m a n a n a m m ra m a m na n h a vu m .
lengthening syllables:
i Line 2 contains a one-beat rest after te (the singer does not sing the to in line
2 or 3).
sung to three beats each; Line 4 does the same (note that the second syllable
iii Numerous forced metrical adjustments are made, e.g. mare (line 1), kaja£a,
kali; the singer has to spread the six syllables out over 12 beats. The first
time, the beats are assigned as 2-2-1 -1 -3-3; the second as 3-3-1 -2-1 -2.
The differences between these styles o f singing are not reflected in the
official titles o f the songs, so padas, garabls and garabos m ay be free or strict.
However, when the style of singing is checked against the inform ation provided
about each song , 92 a pattern emerges in that free songs seem to be set to a fixed
dhala, whereas strict ones are more likely to have inform ation on raga.93 This
m akes sense because free songs are sung to pre-existing tunes with their own
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Chapter 3: Dayaram's lyrics
rhythm ic patterns, whereas strict songs are sung to 'potential' tunes whose mode
the poem voices personal feelings through the persona o f a woman, one o f the
Gopls, often Radha. Many of the garabls are in the form o f m onologues, but the
addressee is usually specified. The vast majority are composed as being the words
of a GopI addressing Krsna, followed by her addressing her fem ale friend and
lastly by her addressing Uddhava. Nearly all those in dialogue form have a GopI
and Krsna as the speakers. No other male is allowed to speak and Dayaram him self
appears only in the chapa, even then usually only indirectly as he turns the emphasis
onto Krsna, calling him 'the Beloved of Daya' (Dayana Pritama etc.). Since this
dramatic form is also found in some of his padas, its presence does not define them
as an exclusive category although the absence of this feature is not possible in the
The them e o f the lyric is always introduced in the refrain given at the
m a r u m m a n a m o h y u m v a m s a la d ln e s a b d e K a n a d a ! kaja,
h u m to g h e lf thal, m ara g h a ra m a m n a th l ga m a tu rn m ara V hala!
T h e so u n d o f the flu te en ch a n ted m y m in d , 0 dark K anada!
I b e c a m e m ad, I don't lik e it at h o m e, m y V hala! (R )
It may be structurally the same as the subsequent verses (as this example above), or
94Parndya 1976:657.
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Chapter 3: Dayaram's lyrics
The refrain is then repeated after each verse, sometimes in its entirety, sometimes
just a key phrase. The whole refrain is often repeated at the end of the lyric. Each
line is a com plete syntactic unit and very rarely runs over to the next line. In a
dialogue, the usual speech unit is one verse. For exam ple in 14 M ahlarlo, the
The last verse almost always contains the poet's chapa and usually returns to
the narrator's voice for this last verse after a dialogue. For example, 15 KahanagopI
has six verses of dialogue between Krsna and the GopI then ends:
s u n l e v l v a n lr ljh y a m R a d h ik a ,
m a n a g a m a tn m g o ra sa G o v im dan e p a y u m j o .
b a lih a iiD a y a ! e ju g a la sv a ru p a n i;
p a ra m a p a v itra caritra m e m P riya n u m g a y u m jo .
H a v in g heard su c h a sp ee c h , R ad h ik a w a s d elig h ted ,
S h e g a v e G o v im d a m ilk to his heart's co n ten t,
I am b le s se d b y th e true form o f th is c o u p le , sa y s D a y a ,
I sa n g about the u ltim a te, pure d e ed s o f th e B e lo v e d .
The padas and the garabls often show a difference in the narrative voice.
A lthough some of the padas are similar to that o f the garabitype in that they are
where the narrator is no longer one of the Gopls but is Dayaram him self (appearing
in the chapa as 'Daya', sometimes a vocative, sometimes the subject or object o f the
A garabi will how ever always end by referring to K rsna as D ayaram 's
beloved. For example, 18 £yama ramga ends with the GopI saying:
D a y a n a P n ta m a s a th e m u k h e n lm a lld h o , m a n a k a h e j e 'p a la k a na
n ib h a vu m !'
M y m ou th m a k e s th is v o w ab o u t D aya's b e lo v e d , b u t m y m in d s a y s it
w o n 't last a m inute!
Mallison distinguished the Krsnaite garabi from the Sakta garabl/garabo not
only in term s of the deity addressed but also in perform ance context and in
historical origins. They also differ in that the $akta-type has a long, diffuse
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Chapter 3: Dayaram's lyrics
narrative, often more in the character of a bardic epic, while she points out that the
However, a num ber of Dayaram's lyrics are labelled garabo. There is no clear
difference between these lyrics and those labelled garabi, w hether in metrical
to have a strongly narrative form and a longer length than the garabi: This
I make a distinction betw een garabo and gara b i. The form er is a lengthy
piece, heavy, and regardless o f com pactness o f subject matter, w h ile garabi is
a delicate and refined formation o f mould and com pact, co n cise in its subject
matter...the term garabo sign ifyin g the perform ance itse lf is again another
sense o f the word.96
The use of the term garabo may have been used for these longer lyrics for
two reasons. It may be because o f their narrative being longer in the style o f the
Sakta garabl/garabo, rather than going around a central point like the garabls. Or, it
may be simply because it is a feature of the Gujarati language, that some nouns have
masculine and feminine forms which contrast large or coarse (masculine) with small
longer garabi.
information about the language of the texts under study. Some o f the studies give
full accounts of the grammar of the text 96 but something closer to McGregor's brief
study.
95Divatia 1932:281.
96E.g. Snell 1991a:92-l 13.
97M cG regor 199 1 :184-5.
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Chapter 3: Dayaram's lyrics
The language of the text is similar to that of New Standard Gujarati (NSG).
This section w ill note only the m ajor variants from this standard rather than
Nouns and adjectives have regular forms, w ith nouns having frequent
occurrences of the suffix -dum, which is a western Indian lyric feature (e.g. vatadi,
jatadf, maragado, lokadiyam, mukhado etc . ) .98 While clitics in -nuni (genitives) are
frequent as in NSG, variants are found in tanum and kerum. The clitic -Sum
Plural pronouns are used with singular reference throughout the lyrics. The
only male voices in the texts (Krsna and Dayaram) do not use plurals to refer to
them selves, w hereas the fem ale voices use singular and p lural form s
interchangeably even within a single line. Four stems o f the first and second
singular pronouns are used {hum, ma-/mu-, mar-/mor~, muj-; turn, ta-/tu-, tar-/tor-,
tuj-)} while the first and second singular plurals which, as in NSG, have two stems
(i.e. am-, arnar-; tarn-, tamar-), use both endings before clitics (e.g. amathl, cf. NSG
amarathi), while kona uses a stem in ke- in the agential form kene (cf. NSG kone).
The pronominal adjectives and adverbs show the same forms as those of
NSG, but with variant spellings (kyama for kem; kyahum, kyaham; and kahlm for
The interrogative adjectival pronoun 6um almost always shows regular agreements,
whereas in NSG it has become semi “invariable, rarely changing for gender although
it takes indirect endings before clitics (cf. NSG 6a mate?, but 6um khabar che?, not
The preferred tenses for verbs are the indefinite present (or subjunctive) and
the simple past (perfective, mostly without auxiliaries used as a narrative tense).
The verb dekhvum 'to see' is used where NSG would prefer jo v u m . In the same
way su n vu m 'to hear' is used for sa m b h a lvu m . These two verbs are Gujarati
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Chapter 3: Dayaram's lyrics
shibboleths in North India and the use o f the more distinctively Hindi form is a
for hatum), and has a future form ho£e (cf. NSG ha£e) when needed to rhyme with
yoie. The negatives are as NSG, with the occasional use of nava, and regular use of
ma with imperatives. Besides NSG nathl, non-standard forms such as che nahlrn
The future tense shows first person singular forms in -e£a for NSG Ua (e.g.
muke£a, de£a). It uses these forms also for the second person singular, a frequent
feature of the Charotari dialect (e.g. turn jiff kare£a). First person plurals in -gum are
Im perfective forms are rarely used, apart from invariable forms of the
participle to show action concurrent with the main verb (e.g. jotam ). Perfective
forms are almost all in -yu m , standard in NSG, with only one or two occurrences of
perfectives in -elum (e.g. bharelf). Other forms are as NSG: infinitives in -va are
used mostly for purpose, while gerunds in -i(ne) and gerundives in -vanum are rare.
The reasons for the use of these various forms are not clear. They may be
chosen for metrical reasons. The last reason is however unlikely in the verses
forms, which is not in itself very remarkable. Tatsama forms dominate, although
they are sometimes compounded with tadbhava words (e.g. dadhlmakhana), or used
verse which did not survive into later nineteenth-century literature, although it
continued in other domains. There are some morphological changes, such as -a for
expected -fin bchala, masata, and -ffor expected -a in gulabt. In the following lists,
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Chapter 3: Dayaram's lyrics
the m eaning in the original language is provided where different from that in
Gujarati.
ajabagulamaherl ('N. of mythical bird1) < (A) 'ajab 'wonder(fiil)' + (P) gul flower'
125
Chapter 3: Dayaram's lyrics
126
Chapter 3: Dayaram's lyrics
Some o f D ayaram 's verses are w ritten in so-called 'H industani.' For
d e k h l m u jh e n igh a bhara ta b a so e du h kh a p h e la
to m a in i u sl p a la k a j a y a p a k a d a tl p a la . ek a....
m ila o k o l m e h e b u b a d u sa rl na h a i sala
"LalaSamkara 1909:540.
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Chapter 3: Dayaram's lyrics
for (NSG vina), saba (NSG sau), milna (NSG m alvum ); in postpositions: ka (for
NSG -nuni), se (NSG -thT); in pronouns and pronominal adjectives: m era (NSG
manim), maim (NSG hum); in verbs: hai (NSG che), m arum gl (NSG marif) and in
num erals dusari (NSG bljum). There is a predictably high incidence of Perso-
128
P A R T II
Part I exam ined studies of Krsnaite poetry and o f D ayaram then showed
understanding o f D ayaram ’s lyrics. It was clear, how ever, that these critical
other forms of literature, such as 'pre-colonial' literatures. At the end of this chapter,
these readings will be extended to the critical literature, the problems of which were
The life and tunes of Mikhail Mikhailovich Bakhtin (1895-1975) have been
covered in extensive detail by Clark and H olquist 1984, who have skilfully
interwoven his biography, his work and his thought, while a useful summary o f the
m ain events in his life is presented by M orson and Em erson . 2 Due to political
circum stances, including persecution by Stalin, Bakhtin lived m ost o f his life
outside the intellectual centres of Moscow and Leningrad, and he was an obscure
figure w ith few published works (at least under his own nam e). A fter his
rehabilitation in the 1960s, his works were published and he enjoyed a period o f
rising fame, which has flourished after his death. Bakhtin first emerged in the west
1 This problematic term here includes so-called 'Commonwealth literature1 and refers to the discipline
o f comparative literature. For a discussion o f these terms see Bassnett 1993.
2 M orson and Emerson 1990:xiii-xv.
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Chapter 4: Mikhail Bakhtin
in the late 1960s in two different contexts. In the USA, the translation of Rabelais
and his worlcP gave him fame as a critic o f popular culture, while in France, two
Bulgarian cultural critics, K risteva and Todorov, interpreted his w ork at a time
when intellectuals were exploring M arxism and high structuralism. His popularity
spread rapidly as critical works began to appear in the 1980s and the 'Bakhtin
industry '4 began, as his theories are seen as providing an alternative to the current
the role he played in the writing of the works o f his friends, m ost importantly the
Clark and H olquist 9 believe that these works were authored by Bakhtin, but
published under the nam es of friends who were acceptable to the censors, whereas
Morson and Em erson 10 argue that they were written not by him but by the authors
the absence o f any clear resolution, and given that much o f their content underlines
his thought, they will be included in a discussion of his ideas, even if they were not
written by him directly and even if they contain some un-Bakhtinian attitudes.
Bakhtin's m ajor works are his two monographs. The first, Problems in the
work o f Dostoevsky^ was first published in 1929, later revised and expanded and
3Bakhtin 1968.
4 M orson 1986c.
5 See G ellner 1992 for a lively d iscu ssion o f the dom inance o f these three d iscou rses in the late
twentieth century.
6 V oloshinov 1976.
7 M edvedev 1978.
8 V oloshinov 1973.
9 1984: Chapter 6.
101990: Chapter 3.
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Chapter 4: Mikhail Bakhtin
his concept o f 'polyphony' and of the novel's origins in carnival. The second is
Rabelais and his world, which was written as a doctoral thesis but not published
until more than a decade later in 1965 because of political problems. In this book he
develops his theory of carnival and here again the text is both a reading o f the text
and a theoretical approach. He is best known in the w est for his essays on the
theory of the novel published in the volume, The Dialogic imagination,n His other
writings are being translated into English and published by the University of Texas,
whence three volumes have appeared to dated 2 The secondary literature on Bakhtin
writings are rem arkably free from jargon and are lucid and pleasant to read.
However, several factors make the study of Bakhtin's work particularly difficult.
The central problem is trying to distinguish between the various Bakhtins that arise
in his own writings and from the readings o f the various authors. Although the
problem has been exacerbated by his difficult life and the resulting difficulties with
the publication of his works, the root of the problem m ay be that his w ork is
concerned with becoming and process rather than being and stasis. He believed that
nothing was final and there was no last word on any matter. Over his long life, his
and the evolution of the novel, social theory and the philosophy o f language; his
M arxism and Stalinism), perhaps as the result of his changing ideas, perhaps for
contradictions. These problems are complicated further because Bakhtin does not
^ B akhtin 1981.
12Bakhtin 1981, 1986 and 1990.
13Hirschkop 1989.
14IIolquist 1990.
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Chapter 4: Mikhail Bakhtin
define his term s, and hence his elusive definitions o f even key terms have been
As a result, it seems that one can find whatever ideology one is looking for
in Bakhtin, whether neo-Kantian and Christian (Clark and H olquist 1984, Holquist
1990), apolitical and semiotic (Danow 1991, who links Bakhtin w ith the Prague
S chool and the M o sco w -T artu S chool), S tru c tu ra list (K ristev a 1986),
postm odernist (Carroll 1983 com pares his work with that o f Lyotard), M arxist
appropriation 1 of Bakhtin's work, although he him self has been accused of making
such an approach . 16
The problems raised in the above section require one to take an overview of
Clark and H olquist 1984 and of Morson and Emerson 1990. These clearly show
the different ideological approaches and methodologies of the authors. The foimer
uses a biological m odel and weaves together Bakhtin's life, tim es and work,
whereas the latter separates the strands o f his thought and deals in various ways
w ith his basic or key concepts, periods of his thought, and his central theories. In
Part One o f their study, M orson and Emerson introduce his three key concepts
('prosaics ' , 18 unfmalisability and dialogue19), then divide his thought into four major
15Hirschkop 1989:3.
16M orson 1986a.
17I-Iolquist 1990 concentrates on the dialogical thought underlying Bakhtin's work.
18A neologism o f M orson and Emerson 1990.
19In their third sense o f the word, i.e. as the global concern underlying dialogism .
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Chapter 4: Mikhail Bakhtin
they discuss his m etalinguistics, views on psychology, and his new concept of
'polyphony'; in Part Three, 'Theories of the novel', they introduce his theory of
genres, prosaics, the chronotope and laughter and the cam ivalesque. These two
Since such excellent introductions to Bakhtin's theories and key concepts are
generally available, these will not be discussed in detail here, although this study is
unfinalisability 21 and prosaics ,22 and a partial acceptance of his psychology .23
discourse, polyphony, the chronotope and the cam ivalesque, before going on to
Bakhtin uses the term 'dialogue' as a global concept in his view o f truth and
the world, hence his theory has been called 'dialogism '. 24 He also uses the term in
two other w ays 25 in his study o f language, called 'translinguistics '. 26 In the first
meaning in his discourse typology to refer to some dialogues which may be dialogic
or m onologic according to their tasks. It is this latter use o f the term which is
201-Iolquist 1990; with the important qualifications o f M orson 1986b. S ee also de M an 1989 w ho
sees dialogism as having two basic spheres - mctalinguistics and alterity.
2 l M orson and Emerson 1990:32-43.
22M orson and Emerson 1990:1-31.
23In the psycholinguistics o f V ygotsky 1962. For V ygotsky's relations w ith the Bakhtin circle see
M orson and Emerson 1990:484.
24A s can been seen in the titles o f studies o f Bakhtin, e.g. D ialogism (ITolquist 1990) and The
dialogic imagination (Bakhtin 1981).
25M orson and Emerson 1990:131-2 make this essential point.
26In Bakhtin's w ork the study o f lin gu istics is disp laced by the study o f com m u n ication and
discourse, hence his view s are better called m etalinguistics or rather translinguistics. Bakhtin's term
'metalinguistics' is confusing because o f the accepted use o f this term in linguistic term inology, hence
'translinguistics.’ The term is Kristcva’s (Kristeva 1986:37).
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Chapter 4: Mikhail Bakhtin
two senses o f the term. The first is social diversity o f speech types where creative
tension results from the interaction o f centripetal and centrifugal forces w ithin a
the dominant literary language and extra-literary, oral, everyday languages. The
second meaning, dialogised heteroglossia, is that of each language having its own
view on the world and that o f the relations between this and other varieties of
language.
B akhtin 28 suggests two main categories of discourse, the first type being
1 Single-voiced words
person)
i unidirectional
ii varidirectional
text, when he allows the characters to speak above him. It is essential to Bakhtin's
27S ee Bakhtin 1981: 263, D anow 1991:25 and Morson and Emerson 1990:139-45.
28Bakhtin 1984:199.
29The w ords o f the narrator in D ostoevsky's 'Notes from the underground’ sh o w this tendency to
such a d egree that his w ords may be said to be triply-oriented or to present a further type o f
discourse, 'the word with a loop h ole1, where one uses the inner experience o f o n e se lf in the act to
escape from the g iven n ess o f nature. Untranslated work o f B akhtin, quoted by M orson and
Emerson 1990:160.
30Bakhtin introduced this term in Bakhtin 1984. Morson and Emerson 1990:231-68 give a thorough
exposition.
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Chapter 4: Mikhail Bakhtin
theory o f authorship and creativity. Polyphony 31 does not imply any sense of
relativism , nor does it m ean that the author fails to express his ideas and values,
which he can do through the ideologies of the characters or through the ideology of
the work itself. W hile many literary works are heteroglot, very few are polyphonic.
In a m onologic work, only the author has the pow er to express a truth
directly, w hile the characters are given w ords o f the second type (see
translinguistics above). The authorial ideology dominates the w ork and creates its
variety o f characters, w hile nonauthorial truths are rep resen ted as m ere
author m eet as equals 33 and engage in dialogue that is, in principle, unfmalisable.
The characters are 'not only objects of authorial discourse but also subjects o f their
reevaluation of the status of the plot which it subsumes to dialogue and allows the
remain open;
135
Chapter 4: Mikhail Bakhtin
w ords. The m ore com plex the w eave, the better the plan; and the better the
plan, the better the work. 36
Balchtin accepts that this model is suitable for reading certain kinds of
works, such as lyric poems and monologic narratives, but denies its appropriateness
Literally, 'tim e-space.1 A unit o f analysis for studying texts according to the
ration and nature o f the temporal and spatial categories represented. T he
distinctiveness o f this concept as o p p osed to m ost other u ses o f tim e and
space in literary analysis lies in the fact that neither category is privileged; they
are utterly interdependent. The chronotope is an optic for reading texts as x -
rays o f the forces at work in the culture system from w hich they spring 38
It is concerned with time and space and the relationship between them. While Kant
saw time and space as forms of cognition, Bakhtin argues that they are forms of
immediate reality and that, rather than being neutral abstractions, they have meaning.
This allows evaluation, and thus the chronotope defmes parameters of value.
Although Balchtin him self does not make the following distinction clearly, it
is necessary to see that he has three major types o f chronotope: the chronotope of
genre, the chronotopic m otif and the chronotope of the author and of the reader.
Bakhtin sees the chronotope as a defining feature of genre, which marks the
each chronotope:
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Chapter 4: Mikhail Bakhtin
Bakhtin gives nine generic chronotopes in this essay, show ing how they are
essential to the existence of the plot, as places where the 'knots o f narrative are tied
and untied '40 rather than being part of the plot themselves. The treatment o f time
and space in texts and their function in human lives give an insight into the relations
between art and reality. This has a significant implication for the possibilities o f an
historical poetics, in that these relations are, to some extent, historically determined,
However, there still exist the transhistorical chronotopes, such as that o f adventure
time ,41 found in ancient romances and in modem comics and films.
In the later section of this essay, 'Concluding remarks ',42 Bakhtin introduces
the chronotopic motif, which is often an echo of the generic whole. Such motifs are
often found w ithin generic chronotopes, but with different scopes and values. The
example he gives of the chronotope of the road 43 as a public place for encounter and
for m ovem ent in time, occurs in a variety of generic chronotopes with differing
significances.
the author and of the reader. This section has important implications for the activity
of authorship and creativity, in his discussion o f the biographical author and the
'im age' (rather, activity) of the author as creator. No less significant are the
implications for the creative process of reading, as the potentials of the genres are
author. These meanings may be explored by later readings, which create a dialogue
betw een the w ork's potentials and the interpreter's unforeseeable and unique
perspective. This view takes into account the creative processes o f reading and
writing, and the presentness of these activities, along with the interrelations o f the
40Bakhlin 1984:250.
41H olquist 1990:111-3.
42Bakhtin 1973, whereas the original essay w as written in 1937.
43 Bakhtin 1981:243-5.
137
Chapter 4: Mikhail Bakhtin
real and the represented worlds (unlike many other literary theories ) , 44 and has
useful implications for the reading of texts from other ages and cultures.
Bakhtin has been best known in the West, or at least in the English-speaking
West, for his monograph, Rabelais and his world,45 perhaps because it was the first
of his works to be published in English, but also, perhaps, because it suited the
spirit o f the late 1960s, with its somewhat utopian approach to society and its praise
of the collective and of the common people, and the pow er o f folk laughter to
overcome the serious and the restrictive. However, in many ways, this monograph
is not typical of his work and indeed contradicts much of his other writing .46
Bakhtin discusses laughter in three of his essays, 'Epic and novel', 'From the
novel ' 47 His central work on the concept of the camivalesque is in Rabelais and his
world, with further developments in his second edition of the D ostoevsky book,
the grotesque ,49 Bakhtin's key argument is that the novel is a 'cam ivalised' genre,
with its roots in the spirit of carnival, with its laughing truth, its im ageiy o f the body
and its themes o f openness, incompletion, mockery, uncrow ning and inversion.
There are m any serious flaws in this book ,50 notably that in this antichronotopic
w orld, tim e and space becom e valueless, and unfinalisability is taken to such
extremes that it can be interpreted as pure loophole .51 However, the points it raises
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Chapter 4: Mikhail Bakhtin
Bakhtin's theory. Bakhtin him self provides us with very few readings of texts: in
his m onographs he uses the texts of Dostoevsky and o f Rabelais to illustrate his
theoretical points, rather than giving close readings o f the texts. H olquist gives
readings o f various literary texts ,53 but the only example of the reading of a poem is
It is the third application that is the subject o f the next two chapters, since the first
lyrics is that Bakhtin's work was concerned with the novel and so his literary theory
can be called a ’prosaics' of literature rather than a 'poetics.' However, 'prosaics' can
that Bakhtin never discussed drama, which would have supplemented this reading
of dram atic lyrics. Taking D ayaram 's short lyrics as a corpus has m ade this
analysis easier and has allowed us an enriched reading of the poems as part of a
52Berrong 1986.
53IIolquist 1990, passim .
54M orson and Emerson 1989:24-8.
139
Chapter 4: Mikhail Bakhtin
larger text. This reading supplements any reading of the text according to traditional
universe and its portrayal in the works o f Dayaram, but it is clear that Krsna
performs his Ilia to enter into dialogue with the jiva s and in Dayaram 's works, the
bhaktas can enter into an actual dialogue with Krsna himself. Also beyond the
scope o f this literary study is the concept of unfinalisability, but the creation theory
of revelation and concealment, the performance of the 111a, and the reincarnation of
Q uestions m ust be asked about the creativity o f the author, God as the
superaddressee ,55 the implications of polyphony in authoring God, who always has
Dayaram's talcing up a Krsnaite discourse in Braj and using Gujarati, his use of a
Gujarati literary form (the garabT), his presentation o f m eaning in the form o f
dialogue and m odes o f representing male and female speech, his emphasis on
by a reader from another culture, and lastly, the dialogue of criticism in this thesis
The focus o f the next two chapters is an analysis of genre, and so although
some m ention will be m ade of discourse in the lyrics it w ill not be discussed at
length. Although discourse may be a feature of the garabi genre, it is not central to
the analysis offered here . Instead, the concentration will be on the chronotope and
the camivalesque as ways of defining the genre of Krsnaite bhakti literature and of
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CHAPTER 5: THE CARNIVALESQUE
version o f pastoral. He sees the m ajor differences from w estern pastoral in the
emotional approach ( bhava), and in the nobility of Krsna and Radha which occur
because this is not a Golden Age, but 'out of space and time altogether', in the
adopting 'folk' elements into the Krsna cult. This chapter looks at cam ivalesque
features in the earlier literature of the Krsna cult (5.1), then in the Pustimarga and
modem Braj Vaisnavism (5.2) and, at greater length, in the poetry o f Dayaram (5.3)
and then 5.4 shows why 'carnivalisation' may be a more appropriate term than
to the lyrics of Dayaram, but is better analysed through the chronotope. It will be
Lim itations of space and the existence of previous studies 2 m ean that a
survey of the developm ent of the Krsna cult is not required here. Ingalls 3
distinguishes three Krsnas in the early texts ,4 Krsna the lover, K rsna the hero and
K rsna the god. The songs of Dayaram used in this study are concerned only with
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Chapter 5: The camivalesque
the first form, that of Krsna the lover, Krsna-Gopal. This aspect of Krsna is often
Bakhtin argues that, with some exaggeration, one may view the movement
peculiar world outlook, his "spiritual joy" (laetitia spiritvalis), his b lessin g o f
the material bodily principle, and its typically Franciscan degradations and
profanation.6
C am ivalesque elem ents can be seen in the cult of K rsna-G opal, the God who
laughs, dances, jokes and steals in his (dis)guise as a child. W hile humour has its
place in classical Indian religion ,7 this form of Krsna has his own specific type of
emotion o f joy, which is reflected in his devotees as the spirit o f bhakti. Bhakti
was the ’unofficial’ religion of the people with its rejection o f the orthodox and its
removal o f social barriers (and even human and divine banders) through its spirit of
comic and associated w ith freedom and w ith unofficial truth and is opposed to
intolerant, dogmatic seriousness, rather than as other forms o f hum our such as
trickery or tick lin g (he tricks the cow h erd s and teases [teasin g b ein g a
nontactile mode o f tickling] their w ives and daughters); seeing deform ities (he
taunts the hunchback Kubja for her crooked form); e x c e ss iv e desire and
audacity (he rapaciously m akes lo v e to sixteen-thousand w om en); w earing
inappropriate clothes or ornam ents (he dresses in w om en's cloth es to gain
secret access to Radha); lying prattle and declaring faults (he steals butter and
curds, outlandishly lies about it, and blam es others for the h avoc his pranks
create).11
5 Vaudeville 1980.
6 Bakhtin 1968:57.
7 Siegel 1987.
8 Hardy 1983.
9 See T oom ey 1992:136-8.
10Bakhtin 1968:120.
^ S ie g e l 1987: 340 the section 'Benny I-Iil! in Vrndavan'.
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Chapter 5: The camivalesque
Siegel sees this as humour, and shows how the humour works on both sacred and
profane levels. There is much of value in his discussion of the laughter of the child
and his dem onstration o f how the heroic exploits, mostly dem on-slaying, can be
incorporated into the humour of the child. W hen discussing the sexual exploits of
Krsna, he demonstrates the point he had made earlier that 'everything to do with sex
is funny ' . 12 Although he explains the actual mechanisms of hum our and links this
humour w ith devotion to the divine (as suits the purpose of his book), an approach
through the spirit of carnival would put this in a deeper historical perspective.
One aspect o f the Krsnalila which shows many items o f the camivalesque is
the m otif o f m ilk and m ilk products. This m otif occurs mainly in two lilas, that of
makhancori (butter-stealing) and that of the danllla (Krsna's demand for a tax of
yoghurt from the Gopis). The first has been described exhaustively by Hawley
1983 in Sanskrit, P rakrit and Tamil works and in the sculptural traditions, in
W hile O 'F laherty 13 dem onstrates symbolic sexual links betw een m ilk
products and sexual fluids in her analysis of Vedic and Puranic texts, m ilk is a
function and archetypal symbol of maternity and so may be seen in the context of
the K rsnalila as a m etaphor o f love, as indeed are other forms o f food in other
aspects o f this cult . 14 As a concentrated form of milk, butter may thus be seen to be
butter, the m otivation for Krsna's stealing, the complaints m ade by the Gopis, his
excuses and how these link to vatsalya bhava and madhurya bhava. He argues that
a god who steals provides an im age of inversion and becom es one who
transgresses boundaries, while the accusations and excuses form a 'dialect o f the
12Siegel 1979:355.
130 ’Flaherty 1980: 17-61.
14T oom ey 1990 and 1992.
15I-Ia\vley 1983 Part IV.
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Chapter 5: The camivalesque
language o f love . '16 Hawley explores the connections made by O'Flaherty between
sexual and maternal aspects in the symbolism o f m ilk and finds that the boundary
between the two bhavas becomes even fuzzier. It seems that the elements o f the
makhancorilila are found again in the danllla in a more overtly sexual form, with
greater emphasis on the sexual symbolism of the milk products and the breaking of
pots than in his childhood escapades . 17 This symbol of m ilk is also seen in the
story of Putana , 18 the demoness who tried to kill Krsna by offering him her breast,
but was sucked dry by him and so achieved release. She is a killer mother, but she
Thus in the sym bol o f m ilk are found m any key features o f the
camivalesque: the image o f the child, the orality and excessive appetite o f Krsna,
images of death and regeneration, or rather, salvation, the abundance o f food and its
connection with sexuality, the inversion of authority as the child demands a tax on
m ilk and hence on love, and the jo y produced both by this abundance of m ilk and
Many further elements of the carnival are found in the Krsnalila as depicted
in the Sanskrit texts. Krsna him self appears as all three stock comic characters of
carnival (the fool, the clown and the rogue), the narratives describe popular festive
forms, uncrownings and inversions, images of food, of the body etc. Limitations of
space preclude a study o f these elements in the earlier texts, but these elements are
^ H a w le y 1983:278.
17Kakar 1 9 8 1 :1 4 0 -5 3 , u sin g a p sy ch o a n a ly tic approach, s e e s the tw o l i l a s as d ifferen t
representations o f the desire o f the mother for her son,
18lt is significant that this is the only one o f Krsna's dem on-slaying exp loits to occur in Dayaram's
poetry.
19See Kakar 1981: 146-51 for a psychoanalytic interpretation o f this myth. He sees it as being a
condensation o f the son's desire to kill the 'bad mother'.
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Chapter 5: The camivalesque
The bhakti m ovem ent was originally a folk m ovem ent, but it was soon
dom inated by the upper castes. The Pustim arga seems to have m arginalised or
rejected many of the unofficial aspects o f Krsna bhakti The official aspects o f the
sect are its leadership (hereditary and Brahminical), its observance of caste , 20 its
philosophy (orthodox in that it accepts the Vedas), its official languages of Sanskrit
and Braj, the sophistication of the arts (its music, painting etc. are 'high' rather than
folk forms), and the expense and elaboration of ritual and its food restrictions.
However, there are aspects o f the sect which suggest a form of worship
which may be open to elements of carnival such as the centrality o f the aesthetic of
pleasure and the lack of emphasis on asceticism, sin and suffering. The m ajor
bhavas for approaching Krsna are madhurya bhava and vatsalya bhava and their
physicality of children, their orality, their narcissism and delight in the body and its
functions, their lack of discipline and their ability to turn all values upside down.
The parental relationship, in its idealised Indian form, which so largely emphasises
the maternal, gives rise to pleasure and joy in the love and care o f a child and can
never approach a strict or official form (the paternal). Possibilities o f inversion are
also seen in the relationship of lovers, where the obsession with the body of the
loved one, the emphasis on beauty and the physical relationship between the bodies,
along with the possibly adulterous nature of this relationship, are likely to involve a
There is clear evidence for the survival or intrusion o f folk elements. The
m ost important o f these concerns the central image of the sect, that o f Sri Nathji.
This image is of Krsna as Giridhara, the holder of M ount Govardhan. This exploit
of K rsna's is linked with his overthrow of the official worship or Indra and the
20Burger 1992.
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Chapter 5: The camivalesque
establishment of the worship of the mountain of Vraja and of a pastoral religion .21
This can be seen to show how a folk or popular religion came to overthrow an
official or established religion and how it was then incorporated into a mainstream
tradition. V audeville 1980 argued that M ount Govardhan was a theriom orphic
divinity associated w ith bulls and snakes. She later identified the divinity with
B hairava him self , 22 although Entw istle 23 has argued that the m ountain god is
connected with Skanda and his peacock rather than Siva and his bull. Further folk
elements, such as N aga worship, are attached to the discovery o f the image of Sri
food' or Govardhana puja. Here Krsna (as G od-Gopa) is also identified with the
food and w ith M ount Govardhan itself. Toomey 1992 shows that this festival is a
'reversal ritual', which shows an inversion o f high and low, and o f pure and impure,
as is seen clearly in the downplaying of the role of the pujari, the ritual stealing of
food perform ed by tribals and the use of kacca food as an offering. He mentions
Bakhtin 1963 in the context of food hyperbole and Krsna's lim itless appetite, but
notion of the camivalesque, as his model of analysis. However, this festival may be
analysed as camivalesque because o f the folic history, the excess and elaboration of
food, the linking o f food with the seasons through its being a harvest festival, the
association o f food and emotion, the image o f a crack in the m ountain as Krsna's
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Chapter 5: The camivalesque
Other festivals of the Pustimarga are also reversal rituals, notably Holi, a
popular festival in all m odem forms of Braj Vaisnavism. M arriot 1966 gives an
account of this festival which shows many camivalesque elements in the inversion
of hierarchies (caste, young and old, male and female, servant and m aster), the
burning of the demoness Holika, the lighting of the bonfire by the village fool, the
'King of H olf riding backwards on a donkey, the traditional debasing and fertility
gestures o f m ud, the urine and dung flinging, the use of colours symbolising
fertility, the wearing of necklaces of dung and of shoes, the language of abuse ,26 the
taking o f intoxicants, and its occurrence as a spring and new year festival,
symbolising destruction of the old and the welcoming o f the new with an emphasis
on love. He writes:
The raslilas 28 are not true forms o f carnival since they are organised
However, they all have traces o f 'folksy' forms of worship o f Krsna, such as the
folk elem ents have also clearly penetrated the sect, such as the prevalence of
inexpensive and popular chromo-lithographs rather than the traditional elaborate and
lithographs) now found mostly in havells. One area where there has been clear
influence from the non-official is in the area of language, many Gujaratis using their
own tongue rather than official Sanskrit or Braj in all but official have/i-rituals. The
songs of the astachap ,29 which were in the vernacular of their own time, are still
26This and the inversion o f hierarchies arc also seen at other rituals such as at Gujarati weddings,
where w om en sing phatanani ('songs o f abuse') referring to the other fam ily.
27Marriot 1966:210
28SceI-Iein 1972, H aw ley 1981, 1983 and 1991.
29See 1.2 above.
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Chapter 5: The camivalesque
used in the liturgy, but Gujarati has entered popular songs, m ost famously in the
This section exam ines closely cam ivalesque elem ents in the poetry of
The spiritual jo y of the K rsna cult pervades D ayaram 's poetry and is its
characteristic m ode, often m anifesting itself as hum our .31 H um our is usually
centred on K rsna him self who takes the forms of the three archetypical figures of
carnival, the fool, the clown and the rogue .32 These public characters have a
literally. They are all Others and so can exploit any position they can get, wearing
their own masks and fulfilling their function o f ripping o ff everyone's masks. The
fool and the clow n are laughed at and they laugh at them selves as a m eans o f
externalising a person. These two characters can be seen as epicene, whereas the
W ith Krsna, all these characters combine to some extent and the change in
sexual desire of others. Krsna fills this role as a small boy when he pretends not to
understand the sexual feelings of others and thereby exposes them. For example, in
30It should be clear that 'grotesque' is used here in the sen se given by Bakhtin 1968:30-6 and in no
w ay im plies a sense o f revulsion (see the C oncise O ED for support for this separation o f m eanings).
31 See for exam ple 14, 15, 18, 42 etc.
32See Bakhtin 1981: 158-167 on the functions o f the rogue, clow n and fool in the novel.
33 Siegel 1987:325.
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Chapter 5: The carnivalesque
H e takes on the role of the clown, who m ocks others, m aking everyone
laugh through his actions, in particular his stealing and smashing pots. The laughter
involved with this character is always naive and devoid o f anger, although anger is
As the rogue, Krsna is the witty and cheerful deceiver, catura&romani (’the
false. He puts on this m ask when he appears as a merry liar, a cheat, a molester of
girls etc .34 In this role, Krsna is associated with the chronotope o f the road, as will
be seen in 6.4 below. Krsna is always unm asked and revealed as divine in the
bhanita and everyone is am used when they find that once again they have been
deceived and they are invited to join in his laughter at his own exposure.
K rsna's disguises cause further humour, such as K rsna and the Gopi's
swapping of clothes (102 Mara raja!). Similar humour is seen when the dishevelled
appearance of the GopI reveals that she has returned from lovemaking with Krsna,
despite her feeble excuses (31 Samde£o). In 53 Pyarlne m anava, where Krsna
appears in disguise as a woman, the GopI fears 'she 1 will be a rival so tic k s her into
taking an oath, only to find that once again Krsna has got the better o f her, to the
farcical land when the great ascetic becomes sexually aroused by Krsna in the guise
Further humour is seen in the disguise of the fool in the poems where Krsna
pretends to be a child who has slept through the night, although the marks o f sexual
activity are clear on his body (e.g. 41 K oni samge?); of the clown when the Gopis
are angry with him for breaking the pots; and of the rogue, when the Gopis berate
him for obstructing the road (15 Kahanagopf). Anger is used to humorous effect in
numerous poems when the Gopis display indignation 35 (mana), such as the Gopi's
anger w ith the colour black (18 £yam a rarnga), w ith the flute (26 M a n itl
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Chapter 5: The camivalesque
vam saladlne), and w ith K rsna him self when he has com pared her face to the
considering its origins in the festive form itself. An essential feature of these
festivities is that they have no spectators, for the whole crowd has to participate .36
D ayaram 's poetry contains m any m entions o f festive forms. H olt, the m ost
Krsna can spread his rule over all others, the Gopis in particular. For example, 107
Gulale mar amkha bhari!, 123 H olm e fane, 138 kyama bhariye re jalajamananam
nira? and also 9.5. Other festivities mentioned include weddings (10 Radhanam
(113 Katyayamvrata). Krsna takes the leading role in all these festivities, much to
Balditin suggests that one o f the essential features of carnival is that it uses
origin, and in m any o f these verses he uses colloquial vocabulary rather than
privileged over all other forms of experience (see below on the eye and sight in
Dayaram ). W ords cannot express the em otions and experience of the Gopis
towards Krsna:
kahyasamajhyamam na avc e vasti/Jane jene hoy a vitatl vat/. Odhavajl!
T his thing can't be obtained by speaking and understanding, on ly on e w ho
has undergone it realises what it is. Odhavajl! (17.5)
36Bakhtin 1968:257.
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Chapter 5: The camivalesque
The words of others are usually regarded as evil but the Gopis are willing to ignore
frequently abused by the Gopis (see 15 K ahanagopi), and he enjoys this abuse
(35.1), but he never abuses them verbally. Abuse requires dialogue (for reported
speech can abuse only in the third person) and although the abuse is not overt, there
is some fairly strong teasing and any mention o f Holi would bring to mind images
of ritual abuse. The words of people other than the Gopis and K rsna are seen as
abusive. 39 Sam o samajho is concerned with the need to avoid being seen and
heard by others, w hether people in the street or the Gopi's in-laws. If they are
Praise of Krsna and the Gopis is frequent and there are lengthy descriptions,
often o f the nakhiikh type, o f the perfect beauty of Krsna (19 Mohanamarn mohini)
and of Radha (10 Radhanam vakhana). Also characteristic are riddles and puns.
These feature throughout the corpus (e.g. 4 Panaghata para), as does innuendo,
such as in 15 K ahanagopi and 127 Sacum bolo ji. Lists are a feature of the
cam ivalesque used to show excess and the heaping up o f plenty 37 such as in 14
Mahiano.
renew al. This is seen in the m ilk m otif discussed in 5.1 above and in the
presentation of Krsna as a child, the greatest symbol of these features. Krsna is the
archetypal male child, who in Dayaram's verse has no male companions and seems
to be the only child of his age in V raja .38 The Gopis do not seem to have any
children so Krsna is the sole focus o f their maternal and sexual love.
37Sce H aw ley 1992 For an interpretation o f the function o f lists in devotional poetry.
38The only exception is in his childhood butler stealing. Sec 63.8.
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Chapter 5: The camivalesque
D ayaram 's poetic imagery does not differ widely from that o f the Braj
R rsnaite poets, nor is it very extensive, poetic imagery being unsuited to the
such as the lotus (7.6), and the moon (24.7), the main images are o f carnival and of
fertility. The most frequently recurring images are of milk (already described in 5.1
above), colour (black as the colour of Krsna, e.g. 9 M ujane ada£o ma!; colours of
Holl in 107 Gulale m an anikha bhan!\ and red specifically associated with sexuality
in 15 Kahanagopi), and the ocean o f joy (which usually boils up in passion, for
o f penetration, cutting and entering into the bodies o f the Gopis is found
throughout. The weapons of love are the eyes (banasankhi 8.2; nenakatan 10.8;
nenatana...bhala 12.1; anJyalt anikha kalajakora 24.1) and the flute. K rsna is a
hunter who lays traps (12.1), oppresses the Gopis with his power (Julami jora 24.3)
and whose absence bums them with the fire of viraha (1.3).
Although Dayaram 's poetry does not refer to the A nnakuta festival, nor
does it contain any thalas (poems describing food offered to K rsna39), the poems
abound in oral imagery with constant reference to food, drink and swallowing. The
cam ivalesque links food with the body and procreation and uses it to show the
unfinished nature of the body. In Dayaram as elsewhere, sadness and food are
there are m entions o f honey (58.14), pan (15.3) and sugar (39.4). Gruel is
mentioned as an image of inferior love, contrasted with milk which symbolises true
love (13.2). Love is drunk (13 Pao premarasa), often as lip-nectar (9.1), and can be
exchanged as a commodity for yoghurt (15 Kahanagopi). Poison, sent from the
eyes, is drunk, being preferable to the Gopi than separation from K rsna (3.5).
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Chapter 5: The camivalesque
In 2.3 above, it was seen that Dayaram's lyrics were m ost highly praised for
their quality o f sweetness. This oral im age is found throughout the lyrics
them selves. Sweetness pervades the Gopis (51.3) and Krsna. His words are
always sweet:
Sw eetness is associated w ith K rsna and his love (see in particular, 146
Once this sweetness o f saguna Krsna has been tasted, other approaches to God are
tasteless like gruel (13.1), or likened to salt (58.14) when one wants sugar. The
imagery of sugar is used in likening flirting in public to eating sugar in the market-
square:
Sweetness is also associated with the flute (55.2), whose close connection
to K rsna's m outh is often deplored by the Gopis (26 M a n lti vam saladine, 27
Vam saladlno vam ka), but this sweetness is a disguise for the poison of viraha
(55.3):
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Chapter 5: The camivalesque
This is the paradox o f the flute whose sound marks the absence o f the sight
of Krsna, leading to viraha, but it also marks his unseen presence .40
collective body, with emphasis given to its sensual, material and profane images. It
emphasises its corporeality through eating and sex, whose status as the primary
Dayaram's lyrics, Krsna is a loving and beautiful child, the child being the greatest
symbol of renewed life and also one which revels in its own physicality, delights in
the body, has little control over the body and needs nurture, having an unlimited
appetite. The need for Krsna's bodily presence seen throughout the K rsna cult is
emphasised in these lyrics whose central theme is the love o f K rsna and the Gopis.
There is a strong sense o f the collective body throughout the lyrics. The
G opis seem to be one body in poems such as the description o f the rasa (11
Rasamanidalane dar£ane), and Radha and Krsna are one as the yugalarupa (143
V rnidavanam ani), and she is always with him in the form o f his clothing and
jew ellery (51 Sacum manaje). This unity is emphasised in n akhtikh descriptions,
where Dayaram presents archetypes of m ale and female bodies, with hyperbolic
H arinl bajallla; also 1.13, 19.70), whether o f Radha (129 Srinathajlf), Krsna as
MohinI (130 Mohinlsvarupano garabo) or Krsna him self (19 Mohanamam mohinl).
All of these bodies are o f extreme beauty with little imageiy of ugliness, even in the
Gopis' m entions of Kubja. The only reference to ugliness is 11.16, where a Gopi
says her friend is ugly, but this is only a ruse to dissuade Krsna from dancing with
her.
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Chapter 5: The camivalesque
The cam ivalesque is concerned with boundaries o f the body and their
transgression, in particular with its apertures, notably the mouth, nose, anus etc. In
these lyrics, the only two apertures which feature extensively are the m outh and the
eyes, whose m ain function is to win the beloved through words, through playing or
heaiing the flute, through seeing the beloved or being seen by the beloved. Bakhtin
argues that the eyes are non-cam ivalesque since they are features o f the
individualised body. However, it seems that in the contexts outlined below the eyes
do have a cam ivalesque function (see below). Images o f food and their function
were discussed above and so here the focus is on sex, love and courtship.
In Dayaram's lyrics, the mouth is a central image though not only for eating
but also for the purposes of lovemaking such as talking, kissing, smiling and Krsna
playing his flute .41 Here it m ust reiterated that language is seen as being unreliable
in love, especially w hen used by Krsna, and 'body language', w hich m ust be
Krsna's smile, usually accompanied by darts from his eyes (43.6), is gentle
tarl hasanl mamdana phamdamam gheri, marya nenetana tem bhala re.
Y o u r s m ile o v e r c a m e u s in a g e n tle trap, y o u fired th e darts o f y o u r
eyes ( 12 . 1 )
His m outh is red (11.7) from eating betel which he rubs onto the G opis 1
clothes (15.3), the established link of red and fertility here being associated with
bodily secretions. Krsna offers the Gopis pan then invites them to m ake his face
41Talking was discussed above in the context of camivalesque language while food and orality were
discussed in the context of images of food in this section.
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Chapter 5: The camivalesque
Further images o f kissing, often called the 'drinking of lip-nectar’ (43.4), are
associated with the camivalesque mouth. Food features as a way o f allowing rasa,
mostly that o f love, or m ilk as a symbol of love, to enter the body through the
mouth.
The drinking of these milk products is taken as a bond between K rsna and
the Gopi (14 Mahlarlo and 15 K ahanagopi), and when K rsna drinks it, he sells
In 13 Pao premarasa, the drinking o f the rasa o f love is seen as the only
valid way o f approaching Krsna, other ways such as know ledge being seen as
suffering from the pain o f viraha, the Gopis do not eat (8.3).
It was m entioned above that Bakhtin has argued that the eye is a non-
cam ivalesque part of the body, seen as representing the individual rather than the
collective body, the epitome of w om an, and since K rsna is Purusottam a, the
ultimate male, it could be argued that the eye here is not a m arker o f individuality,
but a collective eye. The pleasure of sight is universal, and the im portance of the
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Chapter 5: The camivalesque
dartfana, has been discussed elsew here .42 In Dayaram's lyrics, where it is one of
the m ost frequently m entioned parts of the body, the eye is the m ost privileged
organ. Seeing Krsna is essential (64.6); the eye sees K rsna and leads to love;
words fail where the eye succeeds (41 K onI samge?); words m ay be false (87.3),
but the eye is true (unless Krsna is in disguise). The validity o f sight and of bodily
locana manano, where the issue is the relative importance o f sight and emotion in
K rsna's eyes are the archetypal eyes of the lover. They are enchanting (6 8
A m khanam kamana) and mischievous (6.4), and m ake secret invitations to the
Gopis (94.4):
However, Krsna's eyes are dangerous weapons, whether because they are pointed
(24.R), or because they send forth arrows (locananam bana, 34.2), daggers
the hearts of the Gopis. Sometimes these looks are accompanied with words and
smiles:
42Eck 1981.
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Chapter 5: The camivalesque
tarum mukha dekhi sukha thaya che, dulikhadam sau dura palaya che.
I became happy when I saw your face, all my sorrows remain far
away. (84.3)
It is the addictive nature o f this vision (24.7) which makes them long to see him
again and again as in 119 DarSana donl re!. Seeing Krsna leads to a loss o f self-
as Mohinl. In 12 Samum jo!, the Gopi requests Krsna to look at her, to witness the
The Gopis' glances are dangerous to Krsna, and strike his heart like arrows:
The sight of the Gopis in the rasa dances give pleasure to all who see them, as does
The eye can convey other emotions such as risa, the anger o f the Gopi with
Krsna:
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Chapter 5: The camivalesque
M ention has been m ade already of Krsna's deceiving the gaze o f others
through his disguises, but Krsna also blinds the Gopi by throw ing red powder in
her eyes (107 Gulale m arl amkha bharl!, 123 Holine tane). W hen she has lost her
power of sight, Krsna kisses her in public. She fears the gaze o f others who will
blame her, while he disregards the gaze of others. He has the m ost powerful gaze
of all.
A m kham am kamana 'Enchantment in his eyes'. Here the Gopi describes Krsna's
eyes as containing enchantment, she is pierced by his glances, yet she derives great
pleasure from looking at him and from being looked at. Once again, words are seen
to be treacherous. They support the eyes as tools of attraction, but they fail to
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Chapter 5: The camivalesque
Since these lyrics are songs set to music, praised for their sweetness, the
singing o f which inspires love for Krsna, and since K rsna him self is know n as a
lyrics themselves. The m ost frequently mentioned sound is that o f the flute, whose
connection with Krsna's mouth was mentioned above, but w hich is also a way of
The sound o f the flute summons the Gopis to dance (11 Rasamamdalane dartiane)
Sabde describes the effect the flute has on a Gopi. It m akes her m ad and arouses
jealousy as its sound pervades the whole of Vraja. She neglects her milking and
her food, but her pain is relieved by the sight of Krsna. Again, the eye is privileged
round dance (11 Rasamamdalane dartfane and 25 Garabe ramavane), along with the
the Gopi:
The only other instances of hearing which are m entioned are waiting for the
sound o f K rsna's footsteps (1.7), and o f course, hearing the talk o f others (see
section on language).
embracing, catching limbs or to insist that Krsna should stay away (9 M ujane ada£o
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connection with its black colour rather than its smell. The nose is mentioned only in
There are no direct references to the genitals, apart from the symbolic
connections of the flute or the pots of yoghurt, m entioned above, but sexual
explicitly, m ostly in references to the bow er (nikum ja) such as in 25.10. Other
parts of the body of less interest than those specified above are m entioned only in
nakM ikh descriptions as parts of the whole body. Passing references are m ade to
the feet in the context of total submission (the Gopi to Krsna, 5.4), (Krsna to the
or contributing to the total beauty of the person with their lotus-like form ( 1 1 . 1 2 ).
Hands and anus are m entioned once in the lifting of M ount G ovardhan (6.7),
otherwise mostly in the context o f Krsna's harassing the Gopis on the road (14. 15)
('liberation')
other fonns o f asceticism. The only time tapas is mentioned it is performed by the
flute as a stick of bamboo in the jungle, which mocks the whole idea o f the ascetic
perform ing tapas in the wild (28 Vanisaladmo uttara). The only serious way in
which the body is seen to suffer is in love, mostly through viraha but also while
under attack from Krsna. Pain and love are closely associated in both the presence
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Chapter 5: The camivalesque
and the absence of Krsna (see 16 Premam pida). In fact it is said that there is no
The supreme pain of love (1.16) comes, as it were, to replace tapas as a way o f
This pain of love is extended to images o f violence, pain and death. Violent
love-m aking leaves visible m arks (41 K o n i samge?) and love itse lf causes
metaphorical wounds:
It is torture:
and it may kill (12.2, 16.7, 16), but it is worse than death itself:
The Gopis view Krsna as a hunter (59.6). Radha's m other also complains:
There is a recurring image o f his outer sweetness and his deceptive nature:
hum £um janum je modhe mltha, haiye jutha? janeje hoya manameladl
Chablla!
What can I know (about you) who are sweet by mouth, false in your
heart? Only the cunning can know. Chablla! (72.2)
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Chapter 5: The camivalesque
This image of the doctor is a common image of carnival, the healer, the person who
The w ar of love is a recurring theme through the lyrics, and there are occasional
clearly have some parallels with death and with mourning, but these are not overt.
Even in these poems, there is no clear mention o f fear, as the world is tom apart, but
other features of the lower stratum 44 are barely mentioned. There are a number of
reasons for the omission o f these ideal themes for regeneration and renewal, o f
which the m ost plausible is the wish to avoid lurking the divine body too closely
infatuation for him (12.R) and sometimes sleeplessness (12.3). The imagery of
madness appears throughout these lyrics. Again, Krsna can act as the doctor who
can cure this madness, as is seen in lyric 145 Rasiye vajadl ramgavasall!
43Bakhtin 1968:179-80.
^ B a k h tin 1968:Chapter 6.
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Chapter 5: The camivalesque
This madness is not viewed in an altogether negative way, because Krsna him self
steals the Gopis 1 minds, while they obtain true sight and knowledge through loving
him, w ithout needing reason or knowledge. This is seen clearly in their debates
with Uddhava.
The unity o f m ind and body (12.5) is dem onstrated in the physical
clear locations within the body. In 1 Ubha raho to kahurn, the Gopi describes how
her emotions are sited and manifested throughout her entire body.
between Krsna and Radha (102 Mara raja/), Krsna's female fo n n as Mohini (130
ornaments (51 Sacurn manaje). Clothing and ornaments are used to add to the
pleasure o f seeing (70 Ruda dlso cho Rajegvara!), to allow exchange and
renegotiated roles, and often to introduce humour, such as the lyric where the Gopi
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Chapter 5: The camivalesque
is clearly returning from love-m aking with Krsna, but pretends she has not seen
Hierarchies are inverted as the official is mocked and defeated by Krsna and
the Gopis. King K am sa is mocked by Krsna in the danlila (14.15) and is later
uncrowned and thrashed, like any carnival Icing. The Gopi as daughter-in-law gets
the better o f her in-laws (22 Sasujinl gikha and 23 Vahujlno javaba), managing to
meet Krsna despite strenuous efforts to prevent her from doing so. The child Krsna
defeats the Gopis whether in the danlila or the m akhancorilila. Uddhava, the
the rustic Gopis who preach bhakti. The god who appears as a child, steals butter,
clothes and hearts (in the refrain to 21: Krsna is called 'mariun citta coranavala) is a
Krsna steals, plays the flute, defeats the older Gopis in verbal battles, gets the better
of his m other and her friends, dresses as a woman and does as he pleases and
In the camivalesque, the important features of the earth are its cavities and
h eig h ts .45 These feature little in Dayaram 's poetry. The only entrances to the
netherworld are that of Govardhan, which is known to be the m outh o f Krsna (see
5.1 above), and through the river, rather than a cavity, w hich the Kaliya legend
The spirit of the cam ivalesque is not necessary for creating the bhava
appropriate to appreciating Dayaram 's poetry, for this may be achieved in many
the K rsnalila by Dayaram allows one a new mode of relationship between the
45Bakhlin 1968:399.
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Chapter 5: The camivalesque
human and the divine. The essence o f the carnival is that one m ust participate, one
outlined in this section and also through the presentation o f the poetry as dialogue,
or as strophic poems with refrains giving a great immediacy and a clear opportunity
for identification with the characters. It is important to rem em ber that garabls are
not to be read in private, but are to be performed, that music and dance are essential
to them, and that their performance is by the people, not by professional performers.
This clearly gives an intrinsic frame to the camivalesque elements o f the poetry.
female role being necessary to approaching god. These may be symbolic in the
exchange of clothes and the donning of disguise, or material in food and sex. The
camivalesque allows one to adopt masks and so men can adopt the mask of women
and participate with no gender distinction. Krsna him self has a specifically female
elsewhere (53 Pyarine manava), which is removed by the revelation o f love to the
Gopis. Krsna transgresses the divide of the generations in that the older women
want to mother him, the younger women want to have sex with him. Krsna refuses
to accept anyone as the archetypal mother or as the archetypal lover, but he can love
all in his role as the archetypal child, with his love which transgresses the divide of
maternal and erotic love, as exemplified in the milk motif and in the makbancon and
danlllas.
W omen have a primary role in this sect in the social context also. This is
one of the non-carnivalesque features of the sect, and of the Krsna cult in general
women ,46 if not a clearly degrading view 47 Although there is no obscenity, there is
a fair amount of innuendo and spicy dialogue in the poems, almost all of it of a
46Bakhtin 1968:239-44
47B ooth 1986.
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Chapter 5: The camivalesque
sexual nature. In Dayaram's poems, the Gopis do indeed have positive roles, but
teased, and even attacked. Some justification for this may lie in that the Gopis
symbolise the soul which is entered by God whether the soul wants it or not and
also that in Vrindavan there is only one man, all other people are women with no
D ayaram him self seems to take the role of a woman in his m ost frequent chapa,
Popular-festive forms look into the future. T hey present the victory o f this
future, o f the golden age, over the past. This is the victory o f all the p eo p le’s
material abundance, freedom, equality, brotherhood. The victory o f the future
is ensured by the people's im mortality. The birth o f the new , o f the greater
and the better, is as indispensable and as inevitable as the death o f the old.
The one is transferred to the other, the belter turns the worse into ridicule and
kills it. In the w h ole o f the world and o f the people there is no room for fear.
For fear can only enter a part that has been separated from the w h o le, the
dying link torn from the link that is born. The w hole o f the people and o f the
w orld is triumphantly gay and fearless. T his w h o le speaks in all carnival
im ages; it reigns in the very atm osphere o f this feast, m aking ev ery o n e
participate in this awareness.48
He quotes Goethe:
’[carnival’s] crow n is love. Only through love can w e draw near to it. It has
placed ab ysses betw een creatures, and all creatures lon g to m erge in the
universal embrace.'49
description of carnival:
the peculiar festive character without any piousness, com plete liberation from
seriou sn ess, the atm osphere o f eq u a lity , freedom , and fa m iliarity, the
sym bolic meaning o f indecencies, the clow nish crow nings and uncrow nings,
the merry wars and beatings, the m ock disputes, the knifin gs related to
childbirth, the abuses that arc affirmations.50
48Bakhtin 1968:256.
49Bakhtin 1968:256.
50Bakhtin 1968:254-5
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Chapter 5: The camivalesque
Thus it is clear that the major attributes of the cam ivalesque are present in
the lyrics of Dayaram. O f course, many aspects appear in Dayaram 's lyrics in a
diluted form. It was noted above that the aesthetic of grotesque realism appears in a
somewhat refined form, but is undoubtedly present in the emphasis on the material
and collective body, and the body's transgression of its boundaries to link it with
other bodies or things. The challenge of traditional social roles, the combination of
the sacred and the profane and the centrality o f laughter are undoubtedly core
literature, Bakhtin not only analysed a literary genre but also opened up the study of
India, both times may be seen as the period in which m edievalism gave way to a
more secular humanist society. Bakhtin outlines some of the dramatic linguistic and
ideological transformations which resulted from this situation . 51 One of the most
important of these is undoubtedly the change in relations between popular and high
cultures, with forms from the popular being adopted by the new high culture.
Care m ust also be exercised in suggesting domains for 'high' and 'low'.
High and low are not polar opposites, but traditions in dialogue with one another ,52
movements.
Moreover, it is not known what would have constituted the nature of'high'
and 'low' culture in Dayaram's time and what was the interaction between them. It
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Chapter 5: The camivalesque
may be assum ed that the high culture was Brahm inical or B anian throughout
Gujarat with a courtly culture in the princely states. However, the major courts, that
is those of Ahmadabad and o f Baroda, were seats not of Gujarati culture, but of
which would look at the Braudelian 'longue duree', and at the history o f'th e people'.
the popular history of this period which does not assume a timeless continuation of
the most basic is that the people cannot speak for themselves-being illiterate they do
not have their own documents. Two main approaches can be followed. One is that
of the Annales historians who recover the life of the people from official
documents. The other is that of Bakhtin which is to use a 'high' text, such as that of
Rabelais. Bakhtin justifies his study o f carnival by asserting that through looking at
to sh ow the on en ess and m eaning o f folk humor, its general id eo log ica l,
philosophical and aesthetic essen ce. The problem can be so lv ed best o f all
w ith the help o f concrete material in w h ich folk tradition is co lle c te d ,
concentrated, and artistically rendered at its highest level...In his [Rabelais's]
creative world the inner on en ess o f all the heterogenous elem en ts em erges
with extraordinary clarity.'55
...liv ely and fundamental book on the relations betw een R abelais and the
popular culture o f his day. Merc it is suggested that Gargantua or Pantagmel,
books that perhaps no peasant ever read, teach us more about peasant culture
than the A lm a n a ck d c s bcrgcrs, w hich must have circulated w id ely in the
French countryside.5^
53As in the gazetteers them selves, F.lphinstonc, Forbes, Commissariat, Kamerkar. Majumdar's work
is not a scholarly history.
54W illiam s 1984 describes social conditions at the time o f Svaminarayan.
55Bakhtin 1968:58.
5<5Ginzburg 1980 :xvi.
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Chapter 5: The camivalesque
confirmed member of the elite Pustimarga sect. In Dayaram's lifetime, Dabhoi was
a frontier town secured against mountain bandits and a resting place for pilgrims on
then’ way to Chandod on the Narmada. It was ruled by the Maratha Gaekwad from
the early eighteenth century, although the British became paramount in the area in
the later part of the century. James Forbes ,58 the Collector there from 1780-3,
described the town in his memoirs. Forbes still features in m odern Gujarati
literature as a lover of Gujarati culture and his name must have been well-known in
Dayaram's time. However, the impact of the British on Dabhoi in Dayaram's time
has never been studied and there is no record of a meeting between Dayaram and
Forbes.
features, such as his use of laughter against the official, the spirit of jo y and delight
in the body etc. This tension makes him out to be a liminal person, high caste yet
living w ith a low-caste woman; on intimate terms with leaders o f the sect, yet
know n as a rebel; neither rich nor poor. One cannot help but notice broad
and in form (at least with the padas). However, it is clear that his poems are also
closely connected to a specifically Gujarati form of literature, that of the garabi and
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Chapter 5: The camivalesque
garabo. There is no full history of these forms, but in 3.3 above their origins in a
folk genre were traced. More significant is Dayaram's use of the Gujarati language
in writing his lyrics. It is likely that the Gujarati language had low status in the sect
then as now, with Braj and Sanskrit being the official languages. Dayaram him self
sometimes used Braj for his other texts and his Gujarati texts even now have a
After Dayaram, Gujarati literature entered a new form of rom antic, private
literature , 60 and folk forms were excluded from the new high art. Poetry saw a
revival of Sanslcritic metrical forms and the Gujarati vocabulary was heavily and
religion was dislodged by the 'high' form o f a more secular hum anism , with
rationalism and neo-classicism being emphasised. This new serious 'high 1 world
was privatised and individualised, with life's basic functions (sex, eating, drinking
defecation etc.) transferred to private and psychological levels, while the folk world
further separation of high and low cultures, so there could never be another poet
like Dayaram who could blend the two successfully. The cam ivalesque taken out
of its popular context becomes trivial. This may be why the term 'sweet' becomes
over-used by the Gujarati critical tradition in its appreciation of Dayaram (see 2.3
above), as it fails to find a new way of describing the virtues of his lyrics.
as history, and culture. Just as madness is always culturally specific, not only in the
definition of what it is, but also in the behaviour of the mad, so in carnival the rules
which are inverted are the rules of that culture and so care m ust be taken when
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Chapter 5: The camivalesque
history. There is no study of humour in Gujarati literature, but it seems that none of
Dayaram's predecessors used the camivalesque mode; Akho used bitter satire and
Premanand tends towards parody and burlesque. Although Siegel 1987 makes an
excellent study o f humour in Sanskrit literature, this is the 'highest' form of literature
in pre-colonial India and he makes very limited use of non-high forms in vernacular
literature.
This chapter has raised a number o f issues which need to be exam ined in
order to illum inate further D ayaram 's lyrics, such as a study of high and low
culture, and of folk humour. Taking Bakhtin as a starting point this chapter has
attempted to put Dayaram 's lyrics into a theoretical framework, to identify the
meeting point of literary traditions and to show that by continuing to exploit the
tension between high and low in the worship of Krsna, D ayaram has voiced the
ideology, the philosophy and the aesthetics o f the cult of Krsna. Bakhtin's concept
o f the cam ivalesque allows the playfulness, laughter and sweetness (providers of
eroticism) in Dayaram's poetry to be revealed .61 These elements have been lost to
the critical tradition o f Gujarat (except in the life of Dayaram which was allowed to
retain some o f these features) and was not of interest to the Indologists.
H ow ever, w h ile usin g Rabelais' work for the understanding o f this culture,
w e do not w ish to transform him merely into a m eans for attaining a goal
outside the sphere o f his w ritings. On the contrary, w e are convinced that
only thanks to this method or research can w e discover the true R abelais, to
show , as it w ere, R abelais within Rabelais. Up to now he had been merely
modernized: he has been read through the eyes o f the new age, and m ostly
through the ey es o f the nineteenth century w hich w ere the m ost shortsighted
in this respect. O nly that part o f his work w as read w hich w as the least
im portant for him and for his contem poraries and w hich, o b jectiv ely
speaking, was the least essential. Rabelais's exceptional charm, w hich w e all
feel, remains unexplained to date. To explain it, it is first o f all necessary to
understand his peculiar language, that is, the language o f the culture o f folk
humor.62
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C H A P T E R 6: T H E C H R O N O T O P E
Accepting Entwistle's argument that there are many elements of the pastoral
in the Krsna cult, one m ay expect that out of the various chronotopes outlined by
B akhtin, the chronotope o f D ayaram 's lyrics w ould be closest to the idyllic
those o f the love idyll and the family idyll, and within these types he outlines further
motifs, on the emphasis on pure narration, and so on. The three distinctive features
of this chronotope are unity of place, unity of human life w ith nature and certain
lim ited themes (love, birth, death, m arriage, work, food and drink). These are
Dayaram 's lyrics2 show the three essential characteristics o f the idyllic
chronotope, although with some qualifications. There is unity of place in that all the
lyrics are located firmly in the sacred land of Braj, with little m ention o f the outside
world, except in the lyrics o f the sufferings caused by viraha w hich arise after
Krsna's departure for Mathura. The Gopis and Gopas are closely tied to this land
through residence and labour, and this tie is reinforced by the frequent use of place
in epithets, such as Vrajanarl, Vrajaraya etc. Human life is linked closely with
nature as is seen clearly in the images and themes, and this is seen at its strongest in
the masa and tithi lyrics. The themes of these lyrics are lim ited to life's essential
realities, with love, especially sexual love, as the dominant theme. Death is the only
B a k h tin 198 1 :2 2 4 -3 6 .
2 A s in the previous chapter, the discussion focuses on the garabo/garabi type.
3 See the discussion o f death above in 5.3.
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Chapter 6: The chronotope
Traces of other types of idyll outlined by Bakhtin are also present, such as
the family idyll, seen in the balllla lyrics. W hen Krsna leaves for M athura, he
shatters this self-contained idyllic world, but the audience knows that he will again
experience family life when he is reunited with his natural parents in Mathura, and
that he will later experience love, marriage and children as king o f Dwarka. There
are also traces o f the agricultural idyll. Although the labour itse lf is barely
mentioned, the products o f this labour are of great importance here as elsewhere in
the K rsna cult, notably as milk and milk products and the offerings m ade at the
annakuta festival.
devices but formed from a cluster o f features which include the chronotope,
concept within the literary genre.4 Genre is a formal entity, a complex o f themes,
visualising the world.5 It is a building block with its own m eanings, potential and
memory. Bakhtin argues that genres do not wear out, but are made obsolete by new
with the spirit of the carnival. In Dayaram's lyrics, the whole space is the land of
Braj which has religious significance and is irreplaceable as the location for the
action. The utopian aspects of the idyll require that it is remote in either place or
time, hence Dayaram enters the world of Braj rather than bring K rsna into his
world. Place is strictly delimited to the sacred world o f Braj, outside o f which none
4 Todorov 1984:83.
5Todorov 1984:80-93.
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Chapter 6: The chronotope
o f this divine lila may occur. The domains of the private, semi-private and public
are locations for specific forms of action: the cosmic is reduced to the human;
ultimate union takes place in the m ost private and enclosed spaces o f all. Meetings
with God take place in the public spaces o f the road and the ghats o f the river and
are associated with motifs of food and drink, the m ilk products and water described
above in Chapter 5.
encounters and discussion. The characters do not develop, they are only revealed in
This is rather like the V aisnava view of the w orld,6 where nothing is created or
destroyed, but change occurs due to certain qualities being manifested (avirbhuta) or
who he is for all time, he is not made by a plot nor defined by his role in the lyrics
in the way that a novelistic hero is. Instead, he is depicted as playing his eternal lila
D ayaram 's lyrics is the PustimargI distinction betw een two m ain divisions o f
existence, the laukika ('worldly), and the alaukika fnon-worldly'). This means that
devotees believe that the historical view of Braj, i.e. that Krsna's lilas took place in
Braj in historical or mythological time, is laukika, whereas the alaukika view is that
the lila is actually still taking place there, being eternal and outside of time. In
addition to this basic distinction, the PustimargI philosophy argues that there are
three attitudes underlying any observation of the universe. These are seeing things
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Chapter 6: The chronotope
carnival, and the audience is brought into the world of Krsna through laughter and
familiarity and the dramatic presentation of the dialogue. The human person is seen
dependency within the idyllic world, while only God may exist outside it. The
lyrics refer to everyday human activities (milking, going to market) and there are
few references to Krsna's miracles, but Krsna's activities allow no one to remain in
the mundane world. Not always invited, he intrudes on everyone’s life and removes
choice. The irony is that Krsna him self remains beyond chronotopic analysis. But
action. Nearly every lyric contains references to place and it is clear that these
Braj is the sacred land of Krsna and it is within Braj that all the action takes
place. Entwistle 1987 explores exhaustively the geography and history o f Braj and
its significance in the K rsna cult, in myth and as a place o f pilgrim age. In
mythological and historical time, this area is important in the life o f K rsna as the
place w here he spent his childhood, between his birth in M athura and his later
return to this town. It was in Braj that he lived as the pastoral K rsna, Krsna-
Gopala, his most popular devotional form, hence it is the m ajor location for the
dramatic action of the lyrics. In the alaukika view, Braj is the site of the eternal lila,
M athura is heard about secondhand, mostly in the lyrics of viraha; also the road on
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Chapter 6: The chronotope
which the danffla occurs seems to be the road from Braj to M athura.8 W ithin Braj
there seems to be little contrast between the settled areas (Gokul, Barasana) and the
wild areas (the forest, the river), the important division being that between private
and public spaces. Public space includes the forest o f Vrindavan, the river and its
ghats, and the road. Private space may be in the settled area, mainly within the
Gopis' houses, which m ay in turn be subdivided into sem i-private space (the
courtyard) and fully private space (the Gopis' inner rooms), or in the open areas,
The images and activities that occur in Braj create a rural and pastoral
atmosphere. The Gopis are gatnara 'rustic' (2.1) and their recollection of their time
The close association between the Gopis and the land is shown in their
epithets, Vrajanan etc, Krsna is also associated with the land through his epithets
(Vrajaraya etc.), but this is ju st the major disguise that he adopts throughout the
lyrics, for he belongs to the royal family of M athura and is the future king of
Dwarka. There is no sense of his being an outsider, for any such acknowledgement
would disturb the idyllic atmosphere. Real outsiders from Mathura, such as Akrura
and Uddhava, are seen as disruptive to this world. This is typical of Bakhtin's
chronotope: 'In the idyll, as a rule, there were no heroes alien to the idyllic world.'9
Even w ithin Braj, Krsna to some extent maintains his royal status in that his
adoptive family is also royal. YaSoda is VrajaranI and Krsna continues to follow a
royal lifestyle in Braj, wandering at leisure and dressed in royal garments.10 This is
8 H aw ley 1983b:281.
9 Bakhtin 1981:231.
10See Enlw istle 1991:87-8.
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Chapter 6: The chronotope
made explicit in 70 Ruda diso cho raje&vara where Krsna is described as dressed in
gold and garlanded w ith roses, in keeping w ith his role w ithin the Pustim arga
where he has royal status (see 2.2 above). After his return to M athura, when he
removes his m ask and is revealed as royal, the Gopis do not m ake any comment
about his change in status, but only indicate that they are inferior to the kind o f
As this verse points out, this is the world of the cowherd. There is irony in
the fact that the dramatis personae of these lyrics are limited in such a way as to
m ake the cowherds insignificant. The m ajor division between the characters in
these lyrics is between those who have voices and those who do not. The only
m ale character who has a voice in Braj is K rsna him self. A lthough D ayaram
includes him self in the last verse, he does this in the position of a woman, where he
calls K rsna ’Daya's beloved,' etc. Krsna never speaks to any m ale character,
although the Gopis address Uddhava and Akrura. These two m en are conquered
verbally by the Gopis; the only other male character who appears other than in an
epithet (as do the fathers o f K rsna and Radha) is Kam sa, who is conquered
physically by Krsna. The Gopis themselves have already been conquered by the
glances and words o f Krsna. It appears that the female gender m ust be adopted as a
All the women in Braj are Gopis, only four of w hom have any separate
ideal o f beauty and Lalita as his go-between has a rather strange role in seeming to
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Chapter 6: The chronotope
the lyrics. Putana is m entioned once in passing (11.13), where she is called m asl
m arl Putana 'my auntie Putana', with no reference to her being a demoness.
associated with it are nearly all negative, and the people associated w ith it (Kamsa,
Uddhava, Akrura, Kubja) are not allowed to speak. These negative attitudes do not
derive entirely from its urban nature (for the contrast between rural and urban is not
simply polarised into good and bad, as is seen in Krsna's epithet nagara 'urbane' and
the fact that he is really from Mathura), but because it lies outside the idyllic world.
This w orld is taken as being complete and self-sufficient. Departure from the land
means leaving the whole culture and, although Krsna is still alive, he is as if dead to
The settled areas o f Braj, usually Gokul, Krsna's village, are mentioned only
Krsna (10 Radhanam vakhana), when it is essential that the bride and groom come
praise o f V rindavan (143.2), otherwise (e.g. 11.6) only in the context of Krsna's
going there to play the flute. No connection is drawn with his heroic exploit of
lifting the mountain, although his epithets relating to this are found frequently (such
as Girivaradhan in 126 Kamanagarl tari vamsall! etc.). This area is the scene for the
overthrow o f Indra's power, whereas Krsna establishes his authority over other
Mohinisvarupano garabo).
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notions o f the area are of the forest, river, and hill rather than the specific village
where N anda's encam pm ent m oved after leaving Gokul. In D ayaram 's lyrics, it
seems that the encampment was still in Gokul and that Vrindavan is used to refer to
notably in the third of the four agramas ('stages of life'), the vanaprastha aSrama (lit.
'the forest-dw elling stage o f life'). It is im portant in V edic texts such as the
Aranyakas (lit.' forest books') as a place for living outside human habitation, usually
for practising religious austerities. In the Krsnalila the m ain im portance o f the
and for dance (94.5) in particular the autumnal rasa (11 Rasamamdalane dargane, 61
Rasalila). Perhaps the mention o f the forest brings to m ind the idea o f tapas which
her own right and she is depicted on paintings as one of the tin ratna ('three jewels')
o f the sect, along with Vallabhacarya and Sri NathjI. As it runs through the forest,
So too is the Bamslbata, the tree on the bank where Krsna summons the Gopis to
the rasa at tw ilight (43 B am sibatane coka, 99 Kahuni eka vata, 108 M ith o
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as is the road13 where Krsna makes the Gopis play the danllla (15 KahanagopI, 65
M ahiyanne etc.).
Private space is subdivided into domestic and into external private space. In
the balllla, Yasoda's house is secure, an abode of joy, full of m aternal love with the
father figure absent (61 Rasalila, 62 Harinf balaliL% 115 Paranum), while the other
Gopis' houses are locations for Krsna's butter stealing (62 Harini balaffla). When
Krsna is older, the other Gopis' houses are mentioned as scenes o f conflict, whether
The inner private space of the Gopis' own rooms is the scene for nocturnal
The other great scene for the romantic encounter is the bow er (n ik u m ja )j4
an area into which the audience never enters, but which rem ains 'offstage'. It is
mentioned mainly in the closing verses as the area to which the divine couple go for
lovemaldng:
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6 .3 T im e
poetry, one may expect that time would be further w eakened by the lack o f any
historical dimension and by the b rief duration of many of the lyrics. However, an
analysis o f Dayaram 's lyrics shows the situation to be rather complicated. Aspects
of time include:
1 cosmic time
2 cyclical time
3 biographical time
i points of time
ii sequence
iii duration
iv speed
Krsna's lila is eternal and constant. This is achieved in part through the texts
as a corpus. W ithin the coipus, there is little sequence of events, although cyclical
and cosmic time m ust rem ain within their bounds. The emphasis is on repeated
time, as throughout the coipus events happen again and again although there is no
reference to the repetition. The poems may be given in any order, because the
o f the events. This is rather like the performance of an episode from epic, which
may begin or end at any point in the narrative for the same reason, unlike a 'new'
story, w here the audience has no prior knowledge. H owever, the repetition o f
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The traditional Indian view of time is cyclical, with a regular descent in four
ages from the satya yuga to the kali yuga. As the supreme deity, K rsna stands
outside time, but he appears in this specific avatara at the end o f the third period
(dvapara yuga).
This cosmic time is barely described in these lyrics, but may be represented
in Dayaram's lyrics as 'human' time, in the cycles of the years and day and night.
Cyclicity is particularly marked in the lyrics of viraha which measure time in either
tithis of the lunar month (58 Tithio: agama premapamtha, 59 Tithio: madhupaduta)
or months in the lunar year (60 Masa: Radhaviraha, 114 Masa: puro a£af). Specific
dates o f the lunar calendar are mentioned, such as H olI(9 M ujane ada§o m a/, 123
H olm e tane) for camivalesque merrymaking, garadpumima for the rasa, and the day
of the Katyayani vrata for the vastraharanlila. Times of day feature, with the action
frequently occuring at the liminal time of twilight (108 M itho mohanavara), the time
when Krsna summons the Gopis to dance and to make love. Lovem aking in the
Gopis1rooms always takes place at night, but this is usually only referred to rather
than described.
form. 'Time is suspended, the moment of the wedding is eternal and the bride and
groom are forever young.'15 Biographical time is separated into four m ain areas, the
baby Krsna, the infant Krsna, the child-man Krsna and the pubescent K rsna whose
child in the few ballila lyrics (62 H arinl bajalila, 63 G o ploni phariyada, 115
Paranum), but is seen mostly on the threshold between childhood and puberty (e.g.
34 Joine calo). The ages o f Krsna are associated with particular emotions. The
love of the child brings happiness in the form o f vatsalya bhava; the love of Krsna
the child-man brings a range of emotions, from jealousy and anger to erotic love,
joy, longing and pain. His leaving this idyllic world for M athura suggests a rite of
15Entwistlc 1991:87.
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passage at the achievem ent of puberty, when the boy-m an(-G od) m ay no longer
counting o f the days or m onths during viraha, where time is extended, the moment
is brief. The dramatic presentation of the dialogue brings a strong sense of present
time, and there are many references to the past and to the future. The closing verse,
which is often narrative, rather than dramatic, brings the event into human rather
than eternal time, with the mention of the author's name. The tenses used are mostly
the simple present and the present indefinite with some use of the simple past.
6 .4 Chronotopic m otifs
In 4.3 above it was seen that although Bakhtin's study o f the chronotope
chronotopes. For the sake of clarity these may here be called chronotopic motifs,
himself. Several chronotopic motifs are recurrent in D ayaram and this section will
W ith the chronotopic m o tif o f the road,16 spatial and tem poral elements
congeal. Time and space mix together and move down the road. The road crosses
familiar territory, but the encounters on the road put everything in a different light.
In D ayaram 's lyrics, this chronotopic m otif usually involves chance encounters
betw een K rsna and a Gopi. Usually, she is carrying out her w ork when K rsna
appears to dem and a bogus tax on her m ilk products (the danlila), as in 14
MahiarJo. She then tells Krsna to get out of her way, but he then teases her (106
Dahapana rakho jt). When the Gopi meets Krsna on the road, and he invites her to
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V rindavan, the only way she can go is under the pretext o f selling yoghurt (94
The road is also used to sym bolise K rsna’s finding o f the Gopi. For
example in 21 Maramam gum dlthum?, Krsna follows the Gopi wherever she goes
Since the road is a public space, the Gopi may implore Krsna not to make trouble
on the road, while encouraging private meetings (82 Chamakalum nava kije).
Similar encounters are seen on the ghat when the Gopis go to collect water
may help them by carrying their water pots, an inversion of roles as God performs
the role o f the servant and as the man performs the woman's chore (21 M aramam
gum dlthum?). The symbolism of milk is weakened, as is his claim to tax on milk-
and puns in the dialogue, the disregard for the rule of K am sa, the rem oval o f
banders between men and women, and the association with milk and milk products.
The religious implications are clear: the chance encounter on the road is a symbol
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Chapter 6: The chronotope
for the soul's encounter with the divine through the favour o f G od,17 while the
cam ivalesque elements reinforce the Krsna cult. Another image o f the road as the
way to the divine is found in 164 Ni&cayana mahelamam, where the soul journeys
musapharane), the journey is used as a metaphor for life whose destination is death.
In this context Krsna is m entioned as the collector o f road tax, the only non-
The chronotopic m otif o f the flute is concerned with presence and absence.
In the strongly saguna worship o f the Pustim arga it represents either K rsna's
The flute is heard mostly at twilight, and calls the Gopis to Krsna for a rasa
dance (61 Rasalila) or for a private encounter. The flute sym bolises K rsna's
Here there is also a strong typical emphasis on sexual elements, reinforced perhaps
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Chapter 6: The chronotope
W hen Krsna calls the Gopis to the raslila, time stops altogether:
Although the flute sits on the lip of Krsna, it reaches the Gopis' hearts and it
61 R aslila, the Gopis abandon their children, Siva gives up his m editation and
everything in nature stands still. The sound reaches the Gopis wherever they are,
often in their own homes engaged in mundane domestic tasks, which they abandon
in their excitement. This ultimately leads to their breaking the norm al rules o f
society as they run out to find Krsna. Not only does it pervade the private space of
their homes, but it also reaches into their bodies, piercing their hearts. It also
performed tapas, as a result of which she has reached a position of staying with
Krsna at all times and being touched by his lips. However, she cannot achieve the
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total union that the Gopis have, although, unlike her, they have to suffer separation
from Krsna.
Transgression is a m ajor feature of all Dayaram's lyrics. All boundaries, apart from
time and place, are at risk. It is not clear who is divine and who is human; whether
manava, 102 Mara raja, 130 M ohimsvarupano garabo), and throughout the lyrics
Dayaram seems to appears in the chapa as female. The reason for this transgression
is that Krsna cannot be confined within any boundary. Just as he is beyond space
understanding other than the approach followed by the Gopis. W ithin these
chronotopic motifs, as in the attitude of the Gopis, elements enter into dialogic
W orks have inner chronotopes (the generic chronotope and the chronotopic
motifs), but they also have external chronotopes which concern the author and the
reader, both of whose activities occur in a specific time and place. Bakhtin him self
wrote little about these,18 although he discusses the problem of creativity at some
length.19
There are two m ajor issues to consider in the chronotope of the author. The
first is the distinction between the constructed image o f author as creator (who
exists only while producing the text) and the image o f author as person. The
meaning of a text does not lie with the author as a person who is already outside the
18Bakhtin 1981: 252-7, in the 1973 supplement to his essay on the chronotope.
19Bakhtin 1990.
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text. The narrated event is completed, but the telling is not. There can be no
identification between the created world which can be finalised, and the world o f the
author which cannot. In Dayaram's case this problem is further complicated since it
involves the depiction o f an eternal and divine world. This world is outside reality
The second issue is the author's position in the text. This concerns issues of
characters o f his texts as a novelist to his characters, because here the hero is God
and his actions are known. Here the author is subservient to his hero, and he seeks
to identify him self in the chapa with his heroines, the Gopis. The im plications of
these relationships are important, but are beyond the scope o f the present analysis.
In recent years the role of the 'reader'21 has been reevaluated in theories of
Bakhtin warns against falling into the traps of naive biographism by trying
to give up one's outsideness through attempting to identify with the author and his
m eanings of the texts by reducing the author's activities and seeing one's own
chronotope. These are fruitless and im possible tasks. Instead he argues that a
for creating the right situation for the work to be produced and for allowing its life
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Chapter 6: The chronotope
in subsequent centuries to become more rich than in its own lifetime. 'Everything
that belongs only to the present dies along with the present'. Texts grow in meaning
Dayaram draws on previous genres and literary trends to achieve his own
writings. As with all writers, he created new potential m eanings even if he was
unaw are o f them himself. In the critical traditions o f the nineteenth century his
works were either discarded as medieval, or modernised and distorted through the
attem pt to view them through the Romantic prism. It is now clear that his lyrics
contained meanings beyond these interpretations, that they represent a world view
w hich has becom e m arginalised, but which can be not only restored but also
It was noted above that Bakhtin was aware that perceptions o f an author's
Shakespeare) and in place (the Indian Shakespeare is different from the English
Shakespeare). Texts are always in production and the reader m ust enter into
dialogue w ith them. Great works contain potentials whose m eanings may not have
been open to the author or his contem poraries, but m ay becom e clear in the
chronotope of later readers. However, there are more com plex issues o f reading
texts remote in time and place, given transformations o f mentalite in time and in the
Creative understanding does not renounce itself, its ow n place in tim e, its ow n
culture; and it forgets nothing. In order to understand, it is im m en sely
important for the person who understands to be lo ca ted o u tside the object o f
his or her creative understanding - in time, in space, in culture. ...
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Chapter 6: The chronotope
answ ers to our ow n questions in it; and the foreign culture responds to us by
revealing to us its new aspects and new sem antic depths. W ithout one's ow n
questions one cannot creatively understand anything other or foreign (but, o f
course, the questions must be serious and sincere). Such a dialogic encounter
o f tw o cultures does not result in m erging or m ixing. Each retains its ow n
unity and open totality, but they arc mutually enriched.24
have w ritten his lyrics spontaneously as reactions to specific events in his life.
Throughout these critical works there is total identification o f the author as creator
positioning o f him self w ithin his lyrics where Krsna is identified as 'Daya's
beloved' etc.
Some of the criticism25 links the lyrics into an overarching prose narrative
w hich repeats the narratives o f the K rsnalfla. This m ay be the result o f the
European privileging o f narrative in the nineteenth century w hich has led to the
6 .6 Concluding remarks
In the above sections, it has been shown that Dayaram's poetry may be seen
Bakhtin's idyllic chronotope and hence including many elements of pastoral, but it is
seen to differ in its incorporation o f elements of the cam ivalesque and, more
24Bakhtin 1986:7.
25E.g. that o f D ave 1967.
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Chapter 6: The chronotope
Bakhtin's work on genre was directed towards defining his favourite genre,
the novel. This study has looked at Dayaram's poetry as a corpus and at subsequent
prenovelistic chronotopes without which the Gujarati novel might never have been
written. It was shown that this spirit of carnival had its roots in the Krsna cult. In
the Pustimarga itself, although refinements have occurred, it has not lost its power.
This chronotopic analysis shows how the sacred land of Braj and the eternal
lila of Krsna are presented in literary texts, and gives a means o f understanding the
values and worldview s o f the genre. It has allowed an im personal rather than
subjective way of looking at the texts, while avoiding the extremes of mechanical,
formalistic and depersonalised analysis on the one hand, and of the transcendental,
Chapter 1, and has touched briefly on heteroglossia, particularly the use of Gujarati
in Krsnaite devotion.
religious aspects have been exam ined as have the w ays in w hich the non-
chronotopic (i.e. the divine) may be depicted in literature and how a chronotopic
analysis o f this literature shows the world view of the Vaisnava. Steps have been
made tow ards a generic description of K rsnaite poetry; and the deploym ent of
certain motifs, notably those of the road and of the flute, has been shown to be
characteristic of Dayaram 's lyrics. Dayaram 's relation to the texts has been
examined and he and the reader have been sited within the meaning of these texts.
After the 'longue duree' o f Vaisnavism, then the bbakti m ovem ents, then
Braj Krsnaite literature and the subsequent slow evolution of Gujarati literature
question o f literary influences, but also of extra-1 iterary factors in a shift in the
whole way of seeing the world by a new elite class of intellectuals. Dayaram stands
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Chapter 6: The chronotope
at the end of an era, on the edge of a change in literary forms. It has become clear
that his chronotopic view o f the w orld has led to problem s in subsequent
understandings o f his work. He is also liminal in his use of Gujarati, itself also
the most intense and productive life o f culture hikes place on the boundaries
o f its individual areas and not in places w here these areas have b eco m e
enclosed in their ow n sp ecificity.26
One o f the issues that has been brought forward here is that the reader must
not seek to return to Dayaram's own world to understand him (an impossibility in
any case), nor to modernise and distort, but to see the potentials that are already
there in his work. It has attempted to show the bhakti spirit in literature in the direct
experience of God through humour, m erging etc., while keeping the historical
context. This may allow the reader to understand playfulness as part o f the
K rsnaffla, to understand the later critics' Rom antic view o f sw eetness and to
This incom plete application o f B akhtin's ideas about carnival and the
chronotope has much purchase towards giving a view o f Dayaram in the history of
Gujarati and of K rsnaite literature. The basis for analysis still has to be the
scholastic approach, including the collection o f extra-textual inform ation and the
analysis o f the formal aspects o f the texts, such as form, metre, language. Future
Bakhtin's translinguistics. There is also a great need for a study o f the poetics o f the
text, through Indian and/or western poetics. As Bakhtin says, nothing is ever
finalised, and possibilities for understanding the lyrics will always remain open:
There is neither a first nor a last word and there are no lim its to the d ialogic
context (it extends into the boundless past and the boundless future). Even
past m eanings, that is, those born in the dialogue o f past centuries, can never
be stable (finalized, ended on ce and for all) - they w ill alw ays change (be
renew ed) in the process o f subsequent, future developm ent o f the dialogue.
A t any m om ent in the d evelop m en t o f the d ialogu e there are im mense,
boundless masses o f forgotten contextual meanings, but at certain m om ents o f
the dialogue's subsequent developm ent along the w ay they are recalled and
26Bakhtin 1986:2.
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Chapter 6: The chronotope
27 Bakhtin 1986:170.
194
P A R T III
C H A P T E R 7: S E L E C T IO N OF L Y R IC S
from Raval 1953, are given in Roman transliteration, with inclusion of inherent
a. Raval's practice o f giving a word or phrase at the end o f each verse to show
that the refrain is repeated is followed as is his numbering of the texts and the
titles he has given. The numbering of the verses has been added.
The translations into English are literal and some obscurities have been
noted. As mentioned in the style notes, the translations use strict transcription
as Sanskrit with inherent -a throughout. The words or phrases which m ark that
the refrain is to be repeated have not been translated. Honorifics are omitted and
the nam es of K rsna are not translated except in the chapa. There is no
IN D E X OF L Y R IC S
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Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
15 Kahanagopi 232
16 premani pida 235
17 pritaladlnl rita 237
18 syama ramga 238
19 Mohanamam mohini 239
20 &yamanl Sobha 241
21 maramam sum dlthum? 242
22 sasujini siklia 243
23 vahujlno javaba 245
24 Namdano Namdana 247
25 garabe ramavane 249
26 manltl vamsaladlne 252
27 vamsaladlna vamka 255
28 vamsaladino uttara 257
29 vena ma vaso mare amgane! 259
30 sane samajhavya 260
31 samdeso 262
32 etalum kahejo 263
34 jolne calo 264
35 Radhavasa Prabhu 266
39 samo samajho 267
40 avonl mare ghera manava 268
41 konl samge? 269
42 have hum nahlm bolum 272
43 Bamsibatane coka 273
45 kema risal? 276
49 rupajl Radlie! 278
51 sacurn manaje 280
52 hathlllnl hatha 283
53 pyarine manava 284
54 vamlonri ma jaso! 288
55 va^akaranl vamsah 290
57 mahole padharo 291
58 tithio: agama premapamtha 292
59 tithio: madhupaduta 296
60 masa: Radhaviraha 301
61 raslila 304
62 Harini balalila 309
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Chapter 7: Selection o f lyrics
197
Chapter 7: Selection o f lyrics
198
Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
199
Chapter 7: Selection o f lyrics
8
vikalatani vata kahe na bane Biharilala!
10
200
Chapter 7: Selection o f lyrics
11
tamare hum sarakhlhajaro ha£e Biharilala!
12
My eyes have become greedy so where can I go? [i.e. I can't escape]
13
14
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Chapter 7: Selection o f lyrics
15
16
17
Bee, tell VhalajI, on my oath, come to Vraja once, let us see your face!
Vhalaji will not like ju st one woman, tell him, let Kubja bring him along, when we
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Chapter 7: Selection o f lyrics
ranijine ojhala padade amhe rakhi£a jem a nahi lage drsta. mukhudum.
Tell Vhalaji lest he is afraid, that Golcula is the world of the rustic Gopas,
1 shall keep the harem in purdah for the queen, so that no glance shall fall on her.
2
Vhala! tamo gunanidhi surupasagara, mohya jo i Kubjagunaamga,
Vhalajire! tenljham khi amane karavo, thaye janm a saphala samga. mukhudum.
Vhala! You are the treasury of qualities, the ocean of beauty, having seen the body
Vhalaji! Give use a glimpse o f her, that we m ay get union w ith the fruit of our
births.
mukhudum.
Vhalaji! Having seen the wish of the proud woman, we will beg of you [??] -
Vhala! If you have lost interest, then go to M adhupura; if you stay then we shall
Vhalaji re! havam kharakharo tyani 6o? vitya Vrajavasya dina vyartha.
mukhudum.
Vhalaji! You have not known your house for days, it has become deserted,
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Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
Vhalaji! N ow why this regret there? The days of living in V raja have passed
without purpose.
Friend! we shall m ake as m uch effort for you as we shall m ake for this jew el
(Krsna).
pana amo alpabhagya ahirani, ghanum sukha jova nahi avaya. mukhuduin.
Bee, tell Daya’s Beloved, having heard this happiness, joy cannot be contained,
But we Alius are unfortunate, it does not happen that we see great happiness.
3 mara jivanapranajivana!
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Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
keva vhala cho re, kahetam avadatum nathl vena, horn balihan raja!
You are the ocean of good qualities, sweet-talking, the thief of my mind.
purana sau vate re, kaho kema chute Lala! lagana? hum balihari raja!
You are perfect in everything, tell me Lala, how does this attachment become free?
If you give me a cup of poison even then my love does not move away from you.
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Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
4 panaghata para
keda maradine ghado m em bharyo re lola, tutyo maro navasara hara. mara.
Eight wells and nine step-wells, a line of 1600 women carrying water,
gems.
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Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
'I lift the pitcher for you, there is a woman in my house.' ['If I lift your pitcher, you
6 Visari melyam!
W hat shall we say? having amused us w ith the rasa he invited us and then cast us
aside.
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Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
e Kanudo kamanagaro,
pritavamtahmi prldthlnihalo. O.
208
Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
7 manani vatadi
R
mara Mohanalala! avo to kahum mara manani vatadi,
209
Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
210
Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
[I] have moved far away from all others except Daya's Lord.
8 vamsaladlne Sabde
211
Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
vailjamatam adhuiijhCilfchum,
212
Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
Sit in my lap, take an oath, then 1 shall give you the rasa of my lips to drink
'turn mujane adatani svama thals to hum kyama nahi thaum goro?
'If by touching me, you become black, then why shan't I become fair?
2kam as a fem inine means 'action, unlucky day etc.' Here it could mean 'He took action.'
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Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
'Becoming black is no use, but our marriage will be fixed in the eyes of the world,
At a young age, what other man will marry me with such a defect?'
'tare bija varanum kama sum che? hum vara, turn vahu dhanya!
'What use is another husband to you? I am the groom, you are the bride - excellent!
M any him who has the defect, then you will get respect as no other.'
Hearing this, the moon-faced woman smiled and they embraced, she gave no reply;
U nder the pretence of Holl, both of Daya's Beloveds partook o f the sentiment o f
joy-
10 Radhanam vakhana
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Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
6
nisce kklhum Vrsabhanadularl re lala!
215
Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
10
II
216
Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
12
13
14
15
16
217
Chapter 7: Selection o f lyrics
11 rasamamdalane darSane
The great strength of the prowess of love, the ultimate joy overflows.
Its sound pierced the gopis, it took away bits of them [i.e. they became as one with
Krsna].
W hoever they were, wherever they were, they came out and left their household
tasks,
The veils of the women glitter, the bells on their feet tinkle.
They dance and step the garabo with love, they clap with one another.
The plait of one of the women was loosened, the beautiful woman with the bun,
NathajI digs his nail in one, with his face turned towards his body,
The lover of butter milk obliged the loving women in this way.
He smiles often with his red teeth, a necklace shines on his chest,
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Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
He embraced one pulling her to his shoulder, her cheek seemed cold,
10
11
My ankets fell off when I came out, I shall tie them on and wear them.
12
Natavara dances with love, her hand, her foot, her heel are like lotuses.
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Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
13
One says, he has had little food so where does he get such strength?
14
He will pull off our silken clothes. I'll be ashamed among my friends.
15
16
That girl's body is heavy there the fat girl will fall over [??].
17
18
Giridhara and the Gopi are of the same form, consider the oneness o f Hari,
Blessed is the beloved through emotion settling in the pure rasa of Hari! [??]
19
This is laid down in the Gita, in this divinity are all births and karma.
20
Blessed are the creepers of Vrrndavana, blessed the banks of the Yamuna,
21
Rasa appears in the hearts of the rasikas, joy in the mind of the rasika s.
Total joy appears from becoming the form of rasa in the souls of rasa. [??]
22
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Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
Govirnda, the ocean of rasa the many forms he takes are only one.
23
Having listened to it from the mouth of Sriguru, it was led to the heart.
24
25
The way of the Gopi and Govirnda is different, in a full alaukika way,
The full love of the formness of rasa all joyful shone forth. [??]
26
Or listens or speaks or keeps it in his heart, he will delight in the love o f Hari.
27
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Enjoying the emotion of rasa in the form of a rasika, he will become full of joy,
The servant Daya says, he will reach the state of complete bliss without effort.
12 samum jo!
N am da's bew itching dandy! you have infatuated the whole group of women.
Vhalama!
tan hasanimamdana phamdamani gherl, maiya nenetana tern bhala re. Vhalama!
Your smile overcame us in a gentle trap, you fired the darts o f your eyes,
The Puranas proclaim him as DIndayala, those Puranic people are useless.
marl to mukha dekhadato ja , tumne mlira galana sama re. Vhalama! samum.
Having wounded me, you left me dangling, you did not know if I would live.
maro Camdra te eotho jampato nahtm, vana jo y e mukha Camdra re. Vhalama!
cena nahi kyahum . bhave na bhojana, rena na nenem am nimda re. Vhalama!
samum.
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My moon does not rest on the fourth3, without seeing the face of the moon [Krsna].
Where there is no rest, 1 don't like food, no sleep comes at night to my eyes.
mara kalajanum duhkha koi na jane, jane jen e vltatum hoya re, Vhalama!
Noone knows the sorrow of my heart, only one who has experienced this knows,
Entanglements increase from getting to know him, respect goes, these afflictions do
not disappear.
marl amkhana bhavya. manana manya, mara kalajadanl kora re! Vhalama!
hum pldanf marl pokarum Dayaprabhu, bijum Sum mar urn jora re? Vhalama!
samum.
13 pao premarasa
Give me the rasa of love to drink, Pranajivana! Having become humble I ask this,
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Poor people are pleased with gruel, the gourmets do not like it;
We are special servants of the Icing, liberation does not appeal to our minds.
Let us see constantly the form of Natavara, longing from in our minds
All happiness is got in an agreeable way, what is the comparison with unity?
dusta jivane to kabe cbe Brahma re, Brahma jiva lekhe re;
Evil people say that the soul is Brahma, in their estimate, Brahma is the soul,
Those dwellers in hell say what is improper, full of delusion and foolish.
You are the Lord, I am always your servant, let this relationship endure;
Let it please you to happen as is your way, take away any other.
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14 mahlarlo
tnahian mall call main \ ecava. madhya Srlradha rupatano bhamdara jo;
gopfjana konakona samge hatam? tenam kamieka nama karum uccara jo. mahlaii.
The milkmaids gathered and went to sell yoghurt, among them was SriRadha, the
treasury of beauty.
Who were the Gopis who were in this group? I shall enounce the names o f several
of them.
mahlarl.
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Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
mahiarl
mahiari.
mablM.
Namdakumara j o ? mahiarl
- These friends and others went all of one mind, in their mind was the thought of
meeting Mohana.
'O friend, what do you want to do, where do you want to go? Say, today when will
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Someone says, 'We shall see him on the toll-ghat.' Someone says, 'We shall gather
Bamsibata.'
gayamise giri cadi GopalajI samajhana padava larnbo kldho sada jo. mahiarl.
M eanw hile, the Amtaryamin m ade the sound of the flute at the foot o f Mt.
Govardhana,
GopalajI had climbed the mountain under the pretext of (looking for) a cow, he
durathakl sunl VhalamanI vamsall lag! talavell, talyum sau bhana jo;
sarva sakhl nam i re Govardhana bhanl, manamam aturatane pragatyum gnmana jo.
mahiarl
Hearing the sound of Vhalama's flute from far away, agitation came upon them,
All the friends turned towards Govardhana, there was anxiety and pride in their
minds.
avl tyam jyaip AlabelojI hata, samasaml ma\yam nehanam nena jo;
mamda hase, mana mohyum banmetanum, rasa vadhavane bofyam vamkam vena jo.
mahiarl.
He smiles gently, the mind of both of them was infatuated, he spoke crooked words
to increase rasa.
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Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
raho ubhl dana lage ahlm dadhltanum, jao ghasl sum jobanam ade chakeli jo ?
mahiarl
Stay where you are, here there is a tax on yoghurt, how do you go by in the insolent
intoxication of youth?1
10
ema sun me lalana boll Lalasum, gumane galya cbeka chakya Sum calo jo ?
vata karo agha rahl Alabelada! pase avi palavado ma jbalo jo. mahiarl
H aving heard this, the beautiful woman spoke with Lala, ’Why do you carry on
0 Alabelada, keep your distance then speak, do not come near m e and pull my sari-
end.'
11
Kahana kahe, turn sab a maro chedalo, hutn m ukum to y e turn na mukesa jo;
hum adakvo, sate ada turn mujane, hum baryo Radhal turn jitl tharesa jo. mahiarl
Kahana says, 'You seize my garments, if I let go even then you will not let go,
1 touched you, in return you touch me, I am defeated, Radha, you will be certainly
victorious.'
12
marmatanl vanl sun! kahe Svam inl bhall batavlharajitanl cala jo;
bahu bhola! kahlne nena nacaviyarn, adhara dasine com tl dldhl gala jo. mahiarl.
Svamini having heard these words which had hidden meanings, says, 'You showed
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Saying you are very innocent, you make your eyes dance, biting my lower lip, you
pinch my cheek.'
13
Hari hasine kara sahyo syamatano, apa dana, mahi vece to le mUlyajo;
gopa lahi pay a maphata jo manunl! to a Vrajamam nahim ko l tnja tulya jo. mahlari.
Hari smiled and took the hand of the woman, 'Give the tax, if you sell the yoghurt
If you give it free to every cowherd, proud woman, there is no one in Vraja equal to
you.’
14
kahe Radha: kara muko kahurn kvarani, vanamarn strf roko e khotum kaja jo !
thao dahya, Lala! have mota thaya, nathi laheta tamo kaparum kamsanum raja jo.
m ahiarl
Radha says, 'Let go of my hand when I tell you, you stop a woman in the forest -
You are becom ing clever. Lala, now you have become grown up, you do not
15
raho ubham, ana tamone tetani, njhavaso mujane to java de$ajo. mahiarL
Krsna says, 'What is there to say here about Kamsa? in V nndavana the king is Lord
Madana,
Stop where you are, this is an order to you, if you please me then I'll let you go.'
ema karl chadi adi dhaii Chelade, rasto roki uhha Natavaranagara jo;
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Radhaji havam to utiara apase, sunase Piitama Dayarama sukhasagara jo. mahlari.
Having done this, Chelado held his staff in front of her, Natavaranagara blocked the
Now Radhaji will give her answer, Dayarama's Beloved, the ocean of happiness,
will listen.'
15 KahanagopI
232
Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
234
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16 premani plda
love.
1 knew not love when he was here, now he has gone, my life goes,
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17 pritaladini rita
pritaladini rita ati atapatl, OdhavajII che pritadlnl rita ati atapatl.
0 Odhavaji, the w ays o f love are very confusing, the w ays o f love are very
confusing.
There is a remedy for being in it, but there is no way out, it has adamantine bonds.
If it has self-interest then it can't be called love, it comes and goes in a few days.
Odhavaji!
The pandits say it is love only if it is full of pain, only if there is sorrow then it is
not deficient.
6atruth I sanitapa ghano snehathl maje pana te ja marnhlm sau mare matI. Odhavaji!
Torments from enemies are much better than love, but only in that everyone dies.
This thing can't be obtained by speaking and understanding, only one who has
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Dayana Pritama vina prita te ja plda, dharmalaja khoine mare khati. Odhavaji!
W ithout D aya’s Beloved, love is only pain, losing the restrictions of duty one dies.
18 Syama ramga
Syama ramga samipe na javum , mare ajathaki Syama ramga samipe na javum .
I'm not going near the colour black. From today, I'm not going near the colour
black.
All black things are the same. There must be trickery in all of them.
kokilano Sabda hum sunum nahim kane, kagavani Sakunamam na lavum. mare.
I shan't listen to the voice of the cuckoo, I shan't take the crow's voice as a good
omen.
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1 shan't see black emeralds and clouds, I shan't eat rose-apples and aubergines.
Dayana Piitama sathe m ukhe nltna lldho, mana kahe je 'palaka na nibhavum!' mare.
My m outh makes this vow about Daya's Beloved, but my m ind says it won't last a
minute!
19 Mohanamam mohini
In w hat place was enchantment not known, in what place was enchantm ent not
known in Mohanaji?
Mohanajlmam,
In m oving o f his eyebrow s, in his flirting looks, or in his voice filled with
enchantment?
Mohanajlmam.
In his curly hair, in his clothing which enthralls M adanam ohana, or in the
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Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
Mohanajlmam.
In his lotus face or in the snare o f his gentle smile or in the depiction o f love in his
sidelong glances?
k e gum amgeamgamam ke lalita tribhamgamam ke gum amga g h ell kare ganl re?
Mohanajlmam.
Or is it in his whole body or his lalita tribhamga pose, - how does his body make
capalarasika nenamani ke chanl chanl senamam ke jobananum rupa kare panl re?
Mohanajimain.
In his eyes with their elegant movements or in his hidden flirting - how does the
Mohanajlmani.
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20 SyamanI §obha
The beauty of lovely Syama! Just look, friend, the beauty of lovely Syama!
koti kamdarpane lajave enum mukhadum, p h ikki pade che kala kam anl turn jone.
His dear face shames a crore of Kamdarpas, the art of love becomes pale.
The ocean of good qualities, the refined actor! I am devoted to his name!
He is the ornament of crores of adornments, you are the boundary o f the handsome.
je olakhe tene to che sara sarvano, biji vastu nathi kam anl turn jone.
desire.
The peerless one, the fun-lover, aesthete, the root of the life o f Dayarama.
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varevare samum bhale, mukha lage mithum! hum gum janum je.
potanl mala kadhi paherave marl kote. hum gum janum je.
ramka thalne kamlkami marl pase mage, hum gum janum je.
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baheni! dayano pritama m an keda nava muke. hum £um janum je.
22 sasujini Sikha
1
§Jkha sasujl de che re, 'vahuji! raho dhamge;
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hum to mukha para kahum chum re, loko pumthaja kahe che;
244
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23 vahujlno javaba
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I shall bear whatever miseries you give me, if you make me dance, I'll dance;
246
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24 Namdano Namdana
247
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248
Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
25 garabe ramavane
Giving the beat, the jingling sounds [lit cluster, earrings, tassel]
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250
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10
251
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11
12
26 manlti vamsaladTne
li
lii
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Kill m e outright,
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254
Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
27 vamsaladina vamka
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Chapter 7: Selection o f lyrics
He didn't take you from his mouth for a moment, his beloved.
I would have seized your branches and pulled out your roots.
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28 vamsaladino uttara
0 women o f Vraja, why do you raise such false charges against me?
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258
Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
Don't play your flute in m y courtyard, I prohibit it, Vhalama, again and again!
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30 sane samajhavya
Turning towards Vhala, my eyes were made to dance and were enticed!
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H appiness w ill happen, when I embrace you as you have em baced me to your
breast,
Life will become successful when I drink and am given to drink your lip-nectar.
Having spoken thus, the lover rejoiced and went to her own home,
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31 samdeSo
262
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32 etalum kahejo
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Come and extinguish the fire of Kamadeva which has struck us,
34 jolne calo
paranarlnl sanige ramatam nathl vail kam l sana, jolne calo jl.'
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You should not play with another man's wife, come to your senses, ju st look and
'turn tara manamam vimala che, hum chum nanum bala jo,
'nana cho pana guna motana, nan vina kona jane ji?
'You are small but you have the qualities o f a grown-up, who but a woman knows
this?
You have caused anxiety in all our bodies, you have struck us with the arrows o f
your eyes.'
'A woman is different from a man, sometimes separate and sometimes together they
walk along.
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35 RadhavaSa Prabhu
The one who has infatuated the world, is infatuated with you.
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39 samo samajho
loka gum jane je teva pad 1 che? m uke mathe gala, pera na jano ji.
Understand the appropriate time and don't go around pretending you're hurt;
Why should people know about this habit? They put curses on one's head. You do
1
sasu amarisambhajatam mune gida karo cho sada ji?
apana bene bolatam dekhi maro paranyo kare che vakhavada. pera na jano j l
W hen we are both speaking, my husband sees us and then quarrels with me.
marl nanadi marmanam vacana boll, 'bhabhl! jao tede che Kahana!' pera na jano j l
Why did you come right into my courtyard yesterday and w ink at me?
My husband's sister spoke meaningful words, 'Sister-in-law, go, Kahana calls you.'
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If we do what can be talked about, then what fault lies with evil people?
pragata karl bajare betbam Sum lage che ad mitho? pera na jano ji.
Dasadayana Prabhu! manamam samajho hum nathi tamathi alagl pera na jano j l
1 embraced your feet since that day when love was bonded;
Lord o f the servant Day a! Understand in your mind that I am not separate from
you.
To give the cup of the rasa of love to drink, to mount the steed o f youth.
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marl ferine che samtasadhu, paranl na vata bese chanava. hoji Raja!
There are sants and sadhus in my street. They do not sit around investigating other
people's business.
W hen going at dawn, if anyone asks then we shall say, he was invited to pull the
churning vessel.
RajanI rupafl chabe citta m aivm coiyuin, samarana nathl vakhanava. hoji Raja!
The lovely beauty of the king stole my mind, remembering cannot describe it.
41 koni samge?
rata!adl koni samge jagya? ghayala cho jl, nenabana kelnam vagyam?
Who were you awake with last night? Y ou are wounded, w hat eye-arrows struck
you?
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You are the infatuator, did some deluding woman infatuate your mind?
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I'll massage your feet, your weariness will go, lie down,
She kept her face happy, (although she) burnt in her heart,
8
samasamt nena nehanam maliyam,
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m une 'Sa&ivadanV kahl che re tyaranf dajha lagl che amge, havam.
There is a stain on the disk of the moon, then Rahu eats it every six months,
In the lunar fortnights, it waxes and wanes, it does not shine constantly as a full
circle,
tyare muja mukha pakhe £um atakyum che? jo£e Camdra aka£e. havam.
Doing that, having called me 'moonface', you made the moon and me the equal in
Then if he sees my face, why should he stay? He will see the m oon in the sky.
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Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
prasanna thai pase rahege, nahi to kahevaya nahim nija dase. havam.
Otherwise, he will stay near Siva and he will see the moon on his forehead,
Becom ing pleased, he will stay w ith him, otherwise, he cannot be called his own
slave.
vama caranamam Imdu acala che, gida rahe anyani age? havam.
The moon on his left foot does not move, why remain in hope of another?
Friend, tell Daya's Beloved, look, happiness like the face of the m oon is here,
43 Bamsibatane coka
dekhi re,
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There was noone with him, there was no-one around, in the vigour of youth,
He asked me, 'Why are you alone today?' I did not reply,
The stubborn one smiled and seized m y hand, (as I was) saying 'No, no,'
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M anmatha pervaded m e from head to toe, my body trem bled, I can't put it into
words,
(As I was) saying 'Yes, no,' Alabela embraced me, he lifted me as I had no support,
10
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In company with the beautiful man, I enjoyed delight, I felt a lot o f pleasure,
11
That was my first meeting was with Pranajlvana, my body came home,
12
From that day K ahana pierced my heart, day and night my intention is to meet
Daya's Beloved.
45 kema risal?
Syama! turn to §ida risavi re? kanii eka karana mujane kahenl.
£Tda mauna grahlne rahl che re? uttarano pratiuttara deni. Syama!
rise netra thayam che ratam ne adhara dase che danita re;
Your eyes have become red in anger, and your teeth bite your lip,
Your knitted eyebrow has become like a bow, as you bear unending anger.
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avado rosa dhari £ida bethi? satya kaheni sakhl! m arl Syama!
Has someone said some crooked words to you or has someone becom e your rival?
Why do you sit bearing such anger? Tell me the truth my friend!
Did Vhala take away his love from you, or did he make love with another?
Having joined his hands and bowed to you, your lover has informed you,
If you bum in sorrow with him, then step out on this path.
N atavara fills his eyes with tears, his m outh mutters the prayer o f the nam e o f
Radha,
M eet Daya's Beloved, proud woman, he will allay all your grief.
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49 rupali Radhe!
W ithout kajal they are delighting and give m ukti to the world.
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Looking in the whole king [seeing all queens in you??], Hari found you,
The greatest poet became tired churning the Vedas and the Smrti.
Hari, you are the only giver o f happiness to the servant Daya.
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51 sacum manaje
You are the abode of all good qualities, you are without blemish.
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B ut my eyes do not have a mouth, my mouth does not have eyes. [??]
The conch, the discus, the club and the lotus are like your bracelets.
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10
II
12
As the fire and the flame are two, so we are of one substance. [??]
13
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14
52 hathilini hatha
Lalita kahe, 'suno Svam Ire! hathlll hath na taje, hum hari!
Lalita says: Listen SvamI! The stubborn one doesn't give up her stubbornness, I am
defeated.
eke vidhi marl nava call tyare paga pacha m em dldha. Lalita.
When even one of my methods did not work, then I came back.
1 fell at her feet, with my head on the ground and when I said, 'Hari is defeated.'
Turning her face away, the beautiful woman said these words:
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'Why did you call me 'Moon-face'? Why did you say I'm equal to the moon?
If you think this then why are you anxious? Enjoy yourself, get your happiness
I realised the reason for her speech, this is the inner meaning o f her pride,
Dayana Pritama! mane ema sujhe che - tha§e karaj apa padharye.'Lalita
She doesn't accept what anyone tells her now in any way,
Daya's Beloved, my idea is this - When you come to her this m atter will end.
53 pyarine inanava
Prabhuji him self went to her, taking the beautiful form o f a beautiful woman.
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Measureless sweetness in each of her limbs - how may I describe her adornment?
W earing a delightful yellow patola cloth, under which was a black bodice,
The kajal in her pointed eyes would give rise to love in the heart of sages.
How may I describe her tip to toe beauty? There is a limit to ornaments.
How may I compare the incomparable? The endless never reaches an end.
'kyam raho cho? sakbl! kyarn javum cbe? Sum che tamarum nama re?
'Where do you live? Where are you going? What are you called?
W hat are you seeking as if lost? Tell me, with whom is your business?'
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The beautiful woman says, 'If I don't prevent her w ith som e trick, then she'll
certainly go.
She is more beautiful than me, when he sees her Lala will desire her.'
The lovely woman says, 'My friend, you must never do this task in error,
Meeting Mohana, he will charm you and you will run after him.
10
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Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
After speaking again, they swore an oath and made each other make a promise.
In each of their minds they were overcome with joy thinking that they had been
clever.
11
Her friend says, 'And I ask you this, you don't be angry with him any more.1
After speaking again, they swore an oath and fulfilling their word, they became
happy.
Then Vhala showed his true form - seeing him, the young woman was shy.
12
Prabhu made the woman happy and delighted, hugged her with love,
The pain o f separation went away, they drank the nectar of each other's kisses.
13
H er anger vanished, being of one sentiment, they lay down, their joy could not be
The servant Dayo sings their praises in order to become the servant o f this couple.
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54 vamkum ma ja£o!
h o jir e ! vamkum.
Do not cast sidelong glances, Varanagiya! W hen I see you something happens in
my heart!
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8
Dayana Pritamani m ithi morali sunijene,
The one who has heard the sweet flute of Daya's Beloved
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55 vaSakarani vamsall
ho jlr e ! va£akaranl
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57 mahole padharo
The secret (sweet) talk o f many days is gathered together and saved,
Raja, if you meet me, then we'll do it, it has come to my lips.
I am also the servant, the shame of talcing my forearm [keep your promise];
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3
humsarakhi bahu apane, mare to eka apa;
For you there are many like me, for me there is only one you;
There is no way of living without the Raja, to whom shall I tell m y suffering?
I have adorned your bed with flowers, joy cannot be contained in m y heart;
You will praise yoga until you have drunk a drink from the ocean o f love.
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See the first day, the one whose fame is sweet, we enjoyed and saw that man;
bija vavyum snehanum sukha che janl, ugyum anamdavrksa sim cye vrehapanl;
On the second day , knowing this seed is the happiness o f love we sowed it, a tree
The third (day) - the state of my body was such that my lover played a trick
caturthl catura hum ene lahetl, nama sughada jeha sarve kahetl;
The fourth day, I thought he was clever, I was saying all good things about him,
pamca mithya nava kahe aja lahyum, prlta na kariye kyahum sarve kahyum;
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The fifth day, the wise do not speak falsely, today I understood, they all said do not
love;
On the sixth day, everyone else enjoys happiness, weeping has come in our fate.
sapta mithya Harina aje lahum, tamane tajl kyuhum nahi jale kahum;
On the seventh, I know today the falseness o f Hari, who said he would never leave
us,
His w ord rem ained with him. [He doesn't keep his word.]
On the eighth day, now there shall not be a meeting, what claim do I have on the
companion o f a slave-girl?
10
On the ninth day, he doesn't have love, we loving ones have fallen under the control
o f separation.
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11
O n the tenth (day) we knew we had done som ething good, this affliction o f
12
On the eleventh day, I serve SriKrsna, I do not have any connection w ith anyone
else
This is my resolve.
13
On the twelfth Srijl gave m e happiness for a month, in that he gave m e the opposite
14
On the thirteenth, now w here can we meet? At every m om ent rem em bering
happiness we bum.
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15
On the fourteenth, one w hose mind wanders everywhere, how can it accomplish
16
I acted in m erit but n ot com pletely, the priceless gem was obtained b ut w ent
faraway.
17
emani sarve tithi sole avl, vrehe viyogarasa bharl nitya gavl;
In this the whole sixteen days have come (and gone), one should always sing the
59 tithio: madhupaduta
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The one who has experience may understand, but it can't be described.
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10
11
12
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te vrehatapatano kadako;
13
14
15
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16
snehasamdeiani rite;
60 masa: Radhaviraha
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This sorrow of mine can't be shared with anyone other than Krsna.
H ealing that the Vhalaji has made the co-wife Ms true wife.
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Singing his praises, Daya, the servant of Krsna, joins his hands.
61 rasallla
At its sound the great sages' wits are affected, no one's sense remains.
The small creepers bent down with the tree, today is our lucky day.
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pam khi malamam mahale nahim re, nada suni na rahevaya! vage.
The water of the Jamana does not move, the deer's minds are enchanted;
The birds do not move in their nests, hearing the sound, no one can contain himself.
The cows break their ties and run to hear the sound in their ears.
The lotuses blossomed, the water shivered, it seemed that the sun was risen,
tarum pada pame nija dhamane re, dhai gay am sau sada. vage.
The sound of the beloved reached the ears o f the women o f Vraja;
They experience your presence in their own houses - they all rushed o ff at the
sound.
eke kamkana mathe ghaliyum re, evi thai che behal. vage.
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One crushed kajal for kumkum, she made her tilak on her cheeks,
One tied her food in the end of her garment, to see DInadayala.
In one's hand was a small quantity of food, one went drinking water
One put aside a crying child and went to the banks of the Jamana.
10
One's husband was jealous, he would not let his wife go;
11
12
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All the first met him, their bodies remained in their houses;
13
0 women, this is not the way o f well-brought up people! Go to your own places.
W ell done! Well done! You have abandoned your household duties for your carry-
on.
14
W e haven't abandoned our household duties, we will return and do them tomorrow,
Hearing the words of Vhala, the Gopls all spoke with love.
15
Now how shall we go again to our homes. W e will leave our bodies.'
16
Now come, we shall all meet and play the excellent rasa.
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17
They danced with Natha in the centre, they see his beauty very closeby.
18
Syama was gloomy and the garland on SyamanTs breast is broken [??],
19
Seeing the lila o f the bower, the wind lost its power
The gods were delighted and made rain, seeing the joy of Vraja.
20
jem a abhra vise opal che re tara vacce jem a Imdu. vage.
Brahma and the other gods went to see the lila at Gokulacarnda.
It was as if the sky brightened and the moon were among the stars.
21
Who sings this rasalila and hears it, he experiences his true abode.
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62 HarinI balalila
1 shall become the purifier o f crores of ideas from the state o f being fallen. [??]
Prabhu became Namdana Namdana for the sake o f his devotee's parental devotion.
Infatuation happens automatically when one has seen the form o f Mohana,
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There are small anklets on his feet, as Chabilo walks he makes jingles,
The darling totters on his coloured wooden stick and catches her hand.
There are chains for his wrists and gold bangles shine on his arm,
There is an amulet necklace on his breast, the lion-claws look good with their gold
casing,
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10
The forehead of Lala looks good - his mother gave it a spot of kumkum,
And put kajal in his eyes and made a black dot on his cheek.
11
There are earrings in his ears, the reflection falls on his cheek as they swing,
Tinkling ornaments with thin gold wire and full o f pearls swing and shine.
12
13
There is yoghurt smeared on his mouth, when she sees it love fills her heart,
14
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15
'M other give me some milk' he insists. As he says this he seems dear.
16
Her milk overflows, giving him a kiss, she embraces his neck,
She smells his head and taking him on her lap she gives him milk.
17
M aking clucking noises, his mother wipes the tears from his eyes.
18
He plays in the courtyard, the Gopls take him and press him to their hearts.
19
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Noone may describe the great joy fills that fills the women.
20
Taking away the evil-eye for this reason they kiss the child's face [??]
They will not go home, their minds are absorbed, attached to Lala.
21
22
23
With love in their hearts, they make Prabhu dance as they clap.
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24
25
The L ord of w hom the Vedas say 'It is not', he is unknow eable and not to be
26
There are many incarnations for sport, the crest jewel is the Vrajalila and the king of
Vraja;
Know that this Prabhu is the wealth of life and breath of the servant Daya.
63 gopionl phariyada
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mana&o nahi, pana madl! kahum, tame sambhalone gad m an. kumvarane.
You won't believe it, but Ma, I'll tell it, listen to my plight.
The (dairy products) which I have collected and hidden, he finds in a minute;
If he can't reach it, he makes a ball of clay and if that doesn't reach it then he knocks
it down!'
tyare matajl ema bolyam, 'tame catura thai kani cuko re?
W hat does he care? He goes and stands where the new one is.'
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Krsnamata tyai'e eni pere bolyam, 'turn ghellgopl! Sida &oce re?
Then Krsna's mother spoke to her, 'You are crazy, Gopl! W hy trouble yourself?
Put your yoghurt and butter high on a sling, then this child can't reach it.'
Then a young girl spoke, 'Come, I'll show you how much use a sling is;
Look at the prowess o f your clever child, it makes your heart chill.
lakadl lei cade anukhaja para, §ikethi lai sahu khaya re;
'He takes a stick and he climbs on a wooden mortar, he takes from the sling and eats
everything;
He gives to his friends and what remains he gives to the red monkey to drink.'
His mother says, 'Tie it so high that he can't reach from the mortar;
Wrap the mouth o f the pot with a cloth, sew it up with a needle and thread.'
10
'Now you do not know the behaviour o f this spoilt child, mother,
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He's polite in the house and outside he's different, know what happens.
11
tethlna phave to domni kare kanl, dhara tale mukha rakhe. kumvarane.
'Climbing on the shoulder of a friend, he tastes even the very high stuff,
If he is not satisfied with that then he makes a hole in the pot, and puts his mouth
12
tyare m aji kahe, 'e balakane hum kam l rite khalum re!
Put it in a chest for yoghurt and butter, my friends, then padlock it.1
13
eka kahe, 'madl! ema kare to thaya che bamanum jana re;
When he doesn't not get to eat then he gets angry and abuses us then Kahana breaks
many vessels,'
14
'If nothing works then he lets loose the calves, and they take milk at the wrong time,
He goes and wakes up the sleeping children, and pinches them and makes them
cry.'
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15
Having heard this the queen says, T each him a lesson, friends!
If he enters your house and you see him, catch him and bring him (to me).'
16
He entered the house and when he was busy eating, then I came out and found him.
17
m em kahyum, cora! avyo aja dave, nahi Java daum, grahetfa re.'
I said, "Thief! today you're out o f luck, I shan't let you go, I'll catch you."
He wiped his moustache and said to me, "I'll get away, you w ait and see."
18
'He was naughty - he filled his mouth with buttermilk when I w ent and seized him;
19
eka kahe, 'mem jhalyo huto aja, topana e nava gamthyo re;
One says, 'I caught him today, but I did not tie him up;
He broke my pearl necklace, and when I was threading it, Vhalo fled!'
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20
Meanwhile one woman came and said, 'Look I caught him and brought him here'.
W hen she opened her skirts it was her own son! She was em barrassed and knew
21
My Lala is now asleep in my house, when he has woken up he will come and you
will see.*
22
As she was saying this, Prabhu came into the courtyard, having woken from his
sleep;
Jasomati says, 'Look this is my son, young women, all o f you are lying!'
23
SriKrsna looked at all of them and with eye movements of love he made them all
enchanted,
All the women became confused, he sewed their minds to him in affection.
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24
25
The state o f the Gopls and Govimda was w onderful - how can the w orld know
this?
Love in their hearts and they quarrel with their mouth, who can experience this?
26
Dayo s a y s :' (If) Prabhu is pleased with him, the fallen person becom es pure.'
64 virahavilasa
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Should I say a mom ent goes like crores o f ages or how long is the day?
Vhalama! Thus months and years go by, how much sorrow can I bear?
We do not like it that the speech of someone else was said [by another].
I have becom e confused without seeing the Beloved, my pain doesn't ease for a
moment.
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The experienced woman knows this sorrow, the others say we are all mad;
Eveiy mom ent is crushed by the arrow o f separation, so tell how should the healing
happen?
If [there were] a m eeting with M ohana I should get an ointment that would remove
all pain.
10
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11
12
Odhava! the sorrow o f love is m uch greater than that of family [??];
The heart of the experienced knows what should I say with my mouth?
13
14
Life goes quickly, but while we have any hope of his coming then it is delayed.
15
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16
Therefore tell him, let Hari come somehow, having forgotten (our) faults.
17
You, Giridharalala are the ocean o f virtue! perhaps you will clasp us to your breast
18
You understand the love of the heart, how can we tell it?
If you were aware you give sorrow, this could not happen.
19
Therefore, cany out this veiy remedy by which Vhalama may return.
20
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68 amkhamam kamana
Smiling gently you stole my mind, your crooked sidelong glances have pierced my
heart;
Your top to toe beauty is very lovely, all your flirting is enchanting;
Your voice full of love sprinkles rasa, it carries off the minds o f women;
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W inking in the bending o f your eyebrows, you m ake charm s. Do not speak
ingenuously.
When Daya's beloved looks at me I could not say with my m outh what happens
W earing a beautiful gold-em broidered tunic, having tied a golden turban on your
head,
The garland o f roses on your breast gives off perfume, the thief detains my mind,
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Holding a beautiful gold stick, you move swaying with an elephant’s gait,
Natha, Daya's Beloved, I am devoted to your lotus face, which surpasses all others,
Vhalo maro kumjamam vaya che vamsali re lola! nade vedhi che m arlpam sall re
lola!
Vhalo plays his flute in the bower! Its sounds pierced my heart!
hum to sunatam bhull sahu caturl re lola! malava thal chum ati aturl re lola!
talavelf lagT che mara tanamani re lola! gothatum nathl kami bhuvanamam re lola!
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Ghanafyamamam re lola!
sakhi! m une Mohana lage che ghano m ithado re lola! avara evo to nathi dithado re
lola!
0 friend! Mohana seems very sweet to me, I've seen no one like him!
sakhi! ha.va.rn to ma}i sukha mahalie re lola! mahidum vecyane m ase calie re lola!
0 friend, now having met, let us enjoy ourselves, let's go on the pretext o f having
Vhalo malatam sahu sukha apa§e re lola! saheje samtapa sahu kapa£e re lola!
Meeting him, he will give us all pleasures! He will swiftly release our affliction!
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The GopI who believes what you have said is mad, Chabila, she is mad!
gane kaje mane kahavyum dutl sathe Sodhavlhatf jyare cheladl? Chabila!
W hy did you send a m essage to me w ith a female m essenger w hen you chased
2
hum Sum janum j e modhe mitha, haiye jutha? jane je hoya manameladi. Chabila!
W hat can I know (about you) who are sweet by mouth, false in your heart? Only
khare prabhate mare dvara £Ida ubha? agha raho to dekha£e saheladl Chabila!
W hy are you standing at my door in the early morning? If you stand back then you
vanaja vina jokhama $Ida jole? jao jyam kldhl ramgareladl! Chabila!
Without profit why do you want a risk? Go (back) to where you had pleasure!
There will be a distance between you for ju st half a m om ent, you will not bring
another companion.
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Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
W hen you have not watered the creeper of love then how will it grow?
After today I don't w ant to say anything, have fun at your ease.
Dayana Piitama! ghana kahavo catura, pana parakho na eramdo k e Seladl! Chabila!
Daya's Beloved! you are said to be very clever, but you do not examine (can't tell
Manani! tare prem e hum m ohyo! tuja samo prema kahlm na m em joyo.
Angry woman! I am infatuated by your love! I swear on you, never have I seen
love.
1
hetu vana hetarasa taro m em pldho,
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3
kahyamam na ave rupa pyarl! tarum,
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All the Gopls are dear to me because of their connection with you.
8
'turn te h u m 'n c hum te turn' - vedamam vani,
'You, he, I' and 'I, he, you' [ I am you and you are me??] - the voice in the Vedas,
The beauty of the pair entered the breast of the servant Daya.
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78 verana vamsaladl
He played the flute and I woke up! Friend, that flute has become vengeful!
It has stopped regarding public opinion and has accomplished every task,
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Vhala accomplished my enemy's plan [the flute got to touch his lips??]
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10
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0 Chabllaji! Please don't make mischief on the road and on the ghat!
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85 Akrurajine
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I know in my heart
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87 hatha mukane
mukane mara sama manani! havanam hatha mukane, mai'a sama manani!
Let go, on m y oath, angry woman! now let go o f your anger, on my oath, angry
woman!
turn maro prana ne turn marum jivana, sanibhala Suta! Vrsabhanani. havanam.
You are my life-breath and you are my life, listen, daughter o f Vrsabhana!
magum kipa taro jacaka thaine, e ja iccha che mane dananL havanam.
I ask for mercy, having become your petitioner, I have only this wish for charity.
You will see w ith your eyes that this is true, the false talk which you heard with
your ears.
Dayano Piitam a kahe, 'hum Sarane avyo, turn ja vastu che mara dhyanani.'
havanam.
Daya's beloved says, ’I have come for refuge, you are the only thing on my mind.'
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O f the eye and the heart! The quarrel of the eye and the heart!
That enjoyer o f the world! The quarrel of the eye and the heart!
The m ind says, 'Eye, you did.': The eye sa y s,' It was your doing.'
Then I was bound to him, the feeling of love in separation caught fire.
I have heard what the Vedas and Sastras said [that he is nirguna], without seeing
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Abandoning me, you m eet all the time, I remain suffering the grief of separation!1
But if he does not meet with you, I do not have any pleasure!'
[Eye:] 'Mind! (you) have no fun! How does the body of Syama embrace you?
The world knows my sorrow, day and night (my) water (tears) flows!1
'Mind! you are the soul of the eye. Eye! you are the body of the mind!
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If one is happy the other is happy, if one is sad then the other is sad, the m ind and
91 premasamadhi
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10
11
12
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13
14
92 Ladall lavum
0 Alabelada, do not fill your eyes with tears, I shall bring your sweetheart,
Less than a minute before, Maharaja, why do you cause her such pain?
nahlm to nama dharutn na Lalitaye, SIda samtapa karo che? Ladall lavum.
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umda nisasa mukgo ma Natha! 6ida samtapa karo che? Ladall lavum.
Why do you make your eyes red? Lord, do not sigh deeply.
sompum hatha tamaro ene hatha, sida samtapa karo che? Ladall lavum.
In one little word, having made her confused, I shall join your hand in her hand.
eka buttI sumghadum buddhirupa, £ida samtapa karo che? Ladall lavum.
evuni karaja karum chum anupa, Slda samtapa karo che? Ladall lavum.
Removing all lampblack from your heart [made by the smoke of separation], so I do
vina kahye sarva Vrajaraya! Slda samtapa karo che? Ladali lavum.
I know the inner meaning o f her anger, all without saying anything, Vrajaraya!
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- lagi Day apn tam ajine paya, sida sanitapa karo che? Ladali lavum.
Having said this the friend went- after touching the feet of Daya's Beloved.
94 NamdakumvaraSum neha!
W hat more shall I say? I have that wealth of the spirit and the soul!
2
hara halyatana re! mara kalajadani kora!
Today, as Kahana was going alone along the road he met me.
He did not speak with his mouth but made a sign with his eye!
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Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
If I go without saying anything then what reply shall I give when I return home?
Having m et one or two others, they went with their other friends
The zeal of their hearts was achieved - Daya's Lord met them!
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Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
vert hoy a to vadhatam re phavle, pana pranathl pyaro ene lahie re! Odhava!
If he were an enemy then fighting would have suited us, but we hold him dearer
than life.
dhlkhie dham kyam te kahye nava sobhie, dahyam gutn vahyam nane chaiye re!
Odhava!
We bum in private, when we say it we do not look good, this little boy can ied us
sodano ghava maryo snehi Syamaliye! kiya rajane rave jaie re? Odhava!
Loving Syamaliyo struck blows to our hearts, are we to go to the Icing with our
complaint?
kala na pade kami pera na sujhe! ratadivasa ghelam rahie re! Odhava!
There is not rest, we can't find a way, day and night we remain crazy.
kam i vastumam ksana citta na conite, Alabelo avl betho h a iyere! Odhava!
Our thoughts do not stay on any matter for a moment, Alabelo dwells in our hearts.
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Say this much to Daya's Beloved: How long are we to bear such sorrows?
sumdarl samum joJ Viththala! vamsaladl ma va! gumanl! padhare pam the ja!
Viththala, do not play the flute, proud one, seeing the beautiful woman in front of
Vhala! tarum nirlajja dhltamarn nama padynm, turn kam i dahyo tha;
Vhala! you have got a name for shameless boldness, you are quite clever;
Who will m any their daughter to you, seeing these traits of yours?
He catches the skirts at the water ghat, what sort of behaviour is that?
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'Come near and I shall say one thing in your ear, Kanuda!'
sola kaja £a£I udiyo, phulf rahf jam anl mara Raja!
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Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
There is nothing more beautiful, they look like Kama and Rati.
D am odara wears a hair-parting, an ornam ent in it, a £T$a flow er, a forehead
ornament,
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10
In the form o f SriRadha, he payed respect and she touched M ohana's feet
11
They happily enjoyed themselves with her on top of him, their minds satisfied,
Each of them got pleasure, from experiencing this they felt satisfaction.
12
preme bharyam beue podhiyam ati§e anamda uramarn thayo mara Raja!
Love filled them, they both went to bed and excessive joy arose in their hearts.
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Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
maragade jatam muja gravane vata rahl gida chani? dahapana rakho jl!'
W hat secret talk came into my ear as I was going along the road? [i.e. what
were you doing telling me secrets as I walked down the road?] Keep your
Krsna: 'avail re abala! avalum gum bole jatam sidhi vata ji?
Krsna: 'Lady, you're wrong. W hat is wrong in talking, going along a direct road?
Having seen your new earring, I naturally saw an opportunity [its beauty].
Speak plainly!
Gopi: 'karanaphula jo y u m te gum kaho cho? avara koi kyama mane ji?
purusane gum kama striamge? samajhavo cho kone? dahapana rakho ji!'
Gopi: Why do you say that you saw the flower behind my ear? Does anyone else
believe you?
W hat desire does a man have for a woman's body? W hom do you deceive?
jotain jana gayum gum tarum j e avadi vata vakhane? sulatum bhakho ji!'
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Krsna: 'The person who has trickery at heart knows the way of trickery;
In looking, what do you lose [If I look, what does it m atter to you?] that you
Gopi: 'chana raho, sadhu cho hum j an uni, sacam bolo cho vena ji;
Gopi: 'Be quiet, I know you are virtuous, you speak true words;
Your two dancing eyes supply (complete) your reputation for virtue.
jevam che tevam ama pase, kahe, tarum gum lidhum? sulatum bhakho ji! '
However these things are with me, tell me, what did you lose?
Gopi: 'Vhala! marum to sarvasva lidhum che, hum abala kaheti lajum ji;
ji!'
Mind, body and wealth were taken! Now what more will you take?
Krsna: hum to balaka! kam ina samajhum kevum hoya tanamanadhana ji;
Krsna: 'But I am a child! I don't understand at all what mind, body and wealth are;
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vada banathl vadhato plde jem a nano nayakavlra. dahapana rakho jl!'
Gopi: 'Namdakuvara! you look small, but you have great and deep qualities;
You inflict pain, increasing it with great arrows, like a little hero.'
10
Krsna: 'kayara thai ema kampe che ne vata £uranl vakhane jl;
nayakabanatanl gata nyari, turn to vanadithe kema jane? sulatum bhakho jl!'
Krsna: 'Y ou have been defeated and trem ble like this, yet you speak words of
heroism;
The skills o f heroes and arrows are strange, how can you know without
11
Gopi: 'Dasadayana Prabhu! duhkha rakhe dharata, hum durijana m ate kahum
chum jl;
e sukhadamne kaje Hari! hum bola lokana sahum chum, dahapana rakho jl!'
Gopi: Lord o f the servant Daya! I speak for the sake of w icked people, lest you
R
'sakhl! a jonl, Gopaje gulale marl amkha bhari!
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With my eyes full I was not able to see and then I became afraid;
He did that which is delighting to the mind, he got his opportunity and embraced
me.
I stopped him, Vhalama did not obey, I thought he was not pleased;
How long will my head and breast remain covered? W icked people and the elders
will see;
The next day I will not be able to go to play, then what will happen?'
H er friend says, 'Banish worry from your thoughts, we shall certainly go;
W hat will talkers say when they talk? We shall be shameless and immodest.
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The happiness for which Padma thirsts, you will get effortlessly;
The world suffers the consequences of its actions, you enjoy the Lord of the servant
Daya.'
boli ema Kirtikuman re, chan! eka vata che m an re. boll.
rasika che ramgllo rupalo re, citta marum coranavalo re. boll
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Laughing gently he looked at me, he sewed my heart to him with his wink.
tyaranihum thal chum ghell re, tene mune melava saheli re! boll.
Since then, I have become crazy, my friend get him to meet me!
sahiyara! tare page lagum re, Mohanajinum malavum magum re.' boll.
Lalita kahe che, 'suna saheli re! banithani turn tha alabeli re. boli.
cala, utha, turn marl samge re, ramadum rupajaSum ramge re boli.
Come on, get up, (come) with me, I shall cause you to play in the delight with the
beauty.
10
Let's go to meet with Daya's Lord, may you both mix in the river of happiness!'
113 Katyayanlvrata
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On one occasion, the young girls of V raja saw K rsna's true form and became
enchanted;
The wish arose in all their minds - we want to marry this unique eligible man.
The first day of the month o f MargaSIrsa was the day of the beginning o f the vow;
All the girls got up at dawn, there was joy in their minds.
They took the equipment for worship, they sang praises o f Hari;
Having bathed in the great queen, they put on pure fine gannents;
They built an image of sand of the goddess, (on the) bank o f Kalimdi.
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dhupa dipa bhoga tambola arapiyam ji, prem e lagyam pay aji.
On her head, they put water, kumkum , perfum e, red pow der and garlands of
flowers;
They offered incense, lights, food and betel, they lovingly touched her feet.
Joining their hands, all the maidens said, ’Listen mother KatyayanI!
They all make this prayer of this mantra, they all come home again;
They eat the food [requried by] fast days, they sleep on the ground, they always
think o f GhanaSyama.
ema eka masa puro thayo ji, avyo ohello dina ji;
Thus one month has passed, the last day has come;
10
jala krida kare nagna kanyaka ji, Hari cadya kadama lai cira ji.
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Setting off in the company of the cowherds, Prabhu sneaked away and came to the
The naked girls played in the water, Hari took their clothes and climbed a kadamba
tree.
11
The women did not see their garments, they became embarrassed and looked up,
They saw their clothes in the branches of a tree, and they saw the form of Natavara
nearby.
12
The women crossed their arms and implored him, 'Prabhu, our bodies tremble with
cold;
13
vrata bhamga thayum, phaja tern male ji? ulatam dose bharayam ji.
Your vow is broken, what fruit is obtained? On the contrary, fault has fdled you.
14
'If you want to get rid of sin and get the reward, then all come out;
362
Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
15
They all did what Natha said in die hope of getting a reward;
Seeing their love, Prabhuji was pleased, Krpanivasa gave them a boon.
16'
jao, rasa ramafo muja samgamam ji, pad tamaro tha£a ji;
'Go, play the rasa with me, you will get your husband.'
- Saying this, he gave them all their clothes, the hope o f the women was fulfilled.
17
- ema kahiKrsna gau carava gaya ji, gopi avisahu ghera ji;
Saying this, Krsna took the cows to graze, the Gopls all came home;
Daya's Beloved gives kindness to the person who sings, leam s and listens.
115 paranum
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Chapter 7: Selection o f lyrics
364
Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
Hari graps his big toe with both hands and sucks it,
His mother puts the customary kajal in both his pointed eyes;
bapaiya ne sarasacakoramenamora.
365
Chapter 7: Selection o f lyrics
10
366
Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
Nanda's queen rocks him in her arms and sings him lullabies,
11
VrajavasI sau sarvathl subhaglghanam,
12
Lucky indeed are those who live in Vraja, the Gopls, Namda and Jasoda!
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Chapter 7: Selection o f lyrics
Srlnatavara, Namda's son pleases me, his beauty is delightful like Madana's;
[??].
2
japum nahim ajapa re japane, na game sunavo anahada nada;
OM??];
I do not like meditation or offerings, I do not like the taste of heaven or liberation.
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Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
I came to like Srivallabha's son as my guru, in all ways he is like Srikrsna [??];
He does not see the methods o f worship o f the soul, Vhalo on his own makes a gift
(I have) examined everything again and again, I did not see any essential thing;
Namdakumara.
The prayer of the servant Daya is this: keep him as your female servant
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Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
Lala! People are looking] Red powder flies up into the eyes!
Now I shall say only 'Yes' to whatever you say, I've given up disagreeing;
W hat can I do? If I was in trouble, my resistance did not succeed (in saving me);
Beloved o f Daya! Having got me to confess, you got me to write a letter of apology
370
Chapter 7: Selection o f lyrics
hum.
blessed!
mage Govimda, gopi na kahe, mara Raja! pam o jo ramo ama satha - ke hum.
Govimda asks, the Gopls don't speak, come play with us!
kanya ramglll Radhika, mara Raja! ho j l re vara that karo tamo kela - ke hum.
The bride is lovely Radha, you play the part o f the groom.
hum.
hum.
H eaiing this, Mohan's mind believed this, they all became forms o f rasa [??],
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Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
The friends understood this and slipped away, the friends began a pageant.
They built a delightful mamdap, they built a place for the fathers-in-law.
Som one becam e K irata, som eone V rkhabhana, som eone acted as Jasoda and
Namda.
They begin the ceremony with the name o f GaneSa, they perform all the rites o f a
wedding,
Some of the girls are of the bridegroom's party, they feel love and sing songs.
They rub p lth l (turmeric) on the bride and groom, they put ornaments on both of
them,
ke hum.
Brahmana thal bhane phull mara Raja! h o jl re anamda bahu sau amga - ke hum.
The bride and groom welcomed each other inside, they made the wedding-enclosure
attractive.
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Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
Becoming Brahmins, they speak having puffed themselves up with pride, everyone
is very happy.
hum.
At the auspicious mom ent o f the wedding, at the time o f the muhurat, the joining of
10
RadhikaKrsna arogiyam mara Raja! ho j l re kode karl kamsara - k e hum.
They m ade the cash gifts, the women the four bridal gifts [??].
11
The in-laws send the bride to her husband's, they had sexual enjoyment,
The ocean of joy brimmed, then they were flooded with extreme pleasure.
12
hajimali puche sahelio mara Raja! 'ho j i re kaheni, gamyo vara eha?' - ke hum .
*§yama surti nicum j o i hasyani mara Raja! ho j i re pragata kahye Sum upanyo neha?
- keh u m .
The friends ask about h e r ,' Tell us, do you like this husband?'
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Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
Syama hears and looks down, smiling, what (is the point) in saying openly what
13
kulanl rite chodya dorada mara Raja! ho j l regayam vamkam rasaglta - ke hum.
ksanaksana heta haiye vase mara Raja! ho j l re core paraspara citta - ke hum.
In the ways of the family they untied the string at the end o f the ceremony, they
A t every mom ent love stays in their heart, they stole each other's hearts.
14
This is the Life-breath of the servant Daya, the auspicious form o f bliss.
gharadhamdho gamato nathl, mune lhe lagl che tail re. kamanagari.
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Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
The peacock crown decorates your head, the beauty of your earrings is unique,
Hearing the sweet sound o f the flute, Tripurari abandoned his meditation,
The sages, men and gods were deluded! Who then are the women of Vraja?
Lord of Daya! You are Samala! you have conquered and we are defeated!
parasevo tane kyam valyo? tari bhammara kyam bhimjani? sacum bolo ji.'
'Listen to me, my friend, where do you come from, having played at night?
Why are you sweating? Why are your eyebrows wet? Tell me the truth!1
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Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
Why were you in so much of a hurry that you didn't tie your garment?'
4
'kalo te bhamaro Sira para betho, uradatam sera chuti jl,
As I tied it any old way, the ribbon broke from the middle.'
c o lM kasa kyam tutl? turn avadi kyam colanl? sacum bolo j l '
How did the tie of your bodice break? Why did you pull it so?'
376
Chapter 7: Selection o f lyrics
evo ramgarasiyo kona maliyo? prem e karlne thapyam. sacum bolo j l '
’On which path did you get such flowers? Who gave them to you?
Who was the one fond o f pleasure who met you? W hich lover placed them there?'
sama khaine mune tene apyam, tern pratijha p a ll sambhala sajanlj i !'
'At the time o f the sun(-rise), I was going along and Vanamali met me on the road,
sajaka thaine sumdariI havam vastra paheroni vali, sacum bolo j l '
'Why did you put your skirt on inside out? Your sari is tied any old how.
10
avalo caniyo paheri didho, have vastra paherigum vali. sambhala sajaniji!'
She let me wear my skirt inside out, now I shall put my clothes on (properly).'
11
pachavadethi kyam thi Arnbika! jaine turn bethi? sacum bolo j l '
'After you met our group, you set off first o f all,
Ambika! from where have you come, where did you go?'
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Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
12
'I had set out first o f all, having m et the group o f friends,
13
sarva Sarirae tare vyapi rahi che te kama ja ye dhamki? sacum bolo j i . '
14
15
taruni! tara tanadamam p esi Kamabana kyam vagyam? sacuni bolo ji.'
'Teethmarks are seen on your lower lip, nails have made scratches on your breast,
16
378
Chapter 7: Selection o f lyrics
Having filled its impatient beak it escaped, at that moment it escaped from there.'
17
je je puchum tena uttara ape e badhi tuja caturai! sacum bolo j l '
'It seems that Syamasumdara met you, you yielded to his body,
18
a vate Hari maliya hoy a to kaho teva sama khaum. sambhala sajaniji!1
If Hari is met on this road, then say, I'll take such an oath.' [??]
19
Praising the Lord o f the servant Daya, the trouble of the world goes.'
128 rasanrtya
R
ham re Vrmdavanamam thanakakara thai thai!
Radha andK rsna play the rasa, the Gopls listen, listen, listen,
379
Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
The anklets on the feet, the colour of gold, joined with bells,
The bells on the legs shine, the anklets and the chains,
thanaka bala bala bala GopI lai, lal, lai, lai, re. Vrmdavanamam.
The enthusiasm moves, the bells ring, they leap and dance,
380
Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
prakata cena, thake nabi hrdaya dal dal dal re! Vrmdavanamam.
The woman speaks, the woman speaks, nectar m errim ent, m ovem ents of nectar,
enchanting eyes,
I am very dear, the young girl became stubborn, she sat, she stands and goes,
129 Srinathaji!
381
Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
Your peacock crown is studded with gems, the lustre shames a swan,
382
Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
Your lovely til ale of saffron, your forehead w hich is the shape o f a foot, looks
wonderful,
The pearl of your nosering is enchanting, your red turban ornament is beautiful.
The beauty of your face like a fine lotus, I prefer it to the autumnal moon,
Your loveliness puts to shame crores of Madanas, there is no equal in the world.
mohani ghani che madhura malakati SrinathajI! adhara arum che rasala.
10
Your eyebrows are bows, your eyes are arrows, the king o f Rati [Kamadeva] is
deluded,
Or else the shape of Visnu's bow is excessive, the lotus petal is ashamed.
11
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Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
Your lips are in bright red, they make the reflection of the pearl unadorned.
12
Your nose is like the beak o f a parrot, I have the impression as if it m istakes its
food,
The diamond facets of the dimple in your chin are perfumed, Usna arises visibly.
13
Your neck is like a line o f conch, you lead my sharp mind astray.
14
Your slow laugh is like an addiction to love, it steals the mind of rasiya people,
Your sweet words are like an addiction of delusion, intoxication takes my firmness
and strength.
15
On your neck, the lustre of the Kaustubha jew el is great, on your chest is the lovely
m ark of Bhrgu,
384
Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
The pearl and gold necklace has made Vrmdavana very lovely.
16
Your yellow lower garment and your belt, nothing is equally lovely,
17
You hold your enchanting flute in your hand, in one hand is a blue lotus,
The women o f Vraj are deluded, the joy of the svarupa is intoxicating to the mind.
18
You have anklets on your lovely, agile feet, there is a jingling of bells,
19
I shall m ake known about the sixteen marks on the sole of your foot, listen to the
names,
Sri NathjI shines in pure minds, they have their desire fulfilled.
20
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Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
The swastika, the octagon, the rose-apple, the grain of barley, the thunderbolt, the
vertical line
The flag, the elephant goad, the lotus, the poet proclaims these nine are seen on your
right foot.
21
The fish, the triangle, Indra's bow, the lotus, the lovely sky,
The footprint o f a cow, the reflection of the moon, these seven are on the left foot.
22
Your robe, your sash, your shawl are brocade, your ornam ents are absolutely
unique,
23
On the left side o f your body which is thus, is the daughter o f Bhanu, the
Indeed, she is the m oonlight beloved of Krsna, the abode of the true form o f good
qualities.
24
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Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
25
Let my mind always remain pure, thinking and singing of the moonlight [??],
Let it go to him who is without refuge, let thought always remain in the breast.
26
Let it make the pain of sin disappear, let it make the desire of the mind fulfilled,
Let it take away all inauspiciousness, let it give its own abode to dwell.
In (comparison with) which Siva etc. have become inadequate, therefore who is
dariana kari Harinam Hara boliya re: 'eka caritrajova cita aia.' akala.
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Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
H aving had a dargana of Hari, Hara spoke: 'My m ind hopes to see one o f your
feats.'
tyam tamo Mohanirupa, kaho, kyam a dharyum re? suraasura chajya £e prakara?
akala.
M aharudra opened the topic obliquely, ’Prabhu! At the time w hen the ocean was
churned,
W hy, tell me, did you take the form o f Mohani? In what ways did you deceive the
I have had this very wish for many days, please show me this time form.1-
te mrakhyam iccha rakhe rakhata re, te to dhyanadhlraja kare bhamga. ' akala.
'Listen, Samkara! This is a matter of discrimination, this is the body of the maya of
MohinI,
P erhaps you have a desire to see it, but it breaks m editation and patience
(levelheadedness).'
tyare Umadhave Madhavane kahyum re, 'na, na, hum nahim cahim lagara,
388
Chapter 7: Selection o f lyrics
janum chum mate kadapi nahi bhulum re, dekha§o, mune hom§a apara. ' akala.
Then U m adhava said to M adhava, 'No, no, (I will rem ain the same) I am not
For I realise that I never make a mistake, show me, I have an endless urge.'
evum kahyum §ive tyare hasya Hari re, 'bhalum, dekha§I§um k o l dina.'
ema paraspara beu jana bolta re, trijum rupa dhaiyum Mohana. akala.
Thus Siva spoke, then Hari laughed, 'Alright, I'll show you some day.'
Thus the two people spoke to one another, Mohana took a third form.
eka anupama puspanl vatika re, tenim adhye dlthi eka nara,
She was a beautiful sixteen-year old beauty, the treasure-house o f true forms o f
women.
H er body was the colour o f a campaka flower, very agile, w ith all auspicious
marks,
W ith all deep qualities, the fair woman was full in pride, she crushed to dust the
10
anupama rite odhyo Alabelle re, jem am bhase gorum sahu amga. akala.
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Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
H er beautiful sari had a gold-em broidered border, w hose colour was o f tender
saffron,
Alabell had put it on in a unique way, in which her whole body shone pale.
11
semtho simdure puryo che sohamano re, upara damani dipe amula. akala.
The long plait on her head was like the serpent &esa, the flower in her hair was like
12
H er broad forehead looked beautiful, the power o f youth is inflamed with lust.
13
dirgha aniyalam capajathi mana haryum re, che kataksa katannum rupa. akala.
H er eyebrows are like beautiful bows, her eyes are jew elled wells of rasa,
Thier long com ers steal one's m ind with their darting m ovem ents, her sidelong
14
Her nose-ring hangs on a pendant from its ring, the pearl of the nose-ring is a long
elephant's trunk,
390
Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
15
She smiles gently and very sweetly, her teeth shine like pomegranate seeds,
Two lines o f gold shine in her teeth, the lovely lady steals minds in her splendour.
16
earn cibuka madhye che harum tabakalum re, bljum gale, trijuin adabhala.
trana bim dunl Sobha & kahum re? trajudum trilokJmanajaJa. akala.
There is a green mole in the middle o f her lovely chin, another on her cheek, a third
on her forehead;
W hat can I say of the beauty of the three drops? This tattoo is the snare of the mind
of Trilold.
17
The pair of jew el-studded earrings hang down, there are flowers on her ears and
clusters o f leaves,
The hair ornam ent o f the lovely woman is jingling, there is m uch crowding (i.e.
18
Her face wards o ff the evil eye from crores of suns and m oons, the beautiful face,
391
Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
19
jarakasi buttanl che kali kaniculd re, kasakasati paheii kari koda. akala.
The colour o f betel has stained to her m outh deeply, the head o f the doe-eyed
woman is lowered,
20
On her throat she has a tulsi necklace and a gold necklace, ornam ents o f looking
Campa buds, a necklace o f gold circles having four strings, a necklace o f great
pearls.
21
kamkana sahita kanaka kara cudalo re, managatha Java te bajotham satha,
Bangles of gold on the hand with bracelets, a barley-bead ring, w ith armlets,
A curved ring, a bracelet, a wristlet, she wore a ring with bells and mirrors on her
hand.
22
samkalam kallam kanibl anavata vlmchiya re, nahi nakha§ikha Sobhano para, akala.
On her waist like a panther's was a belt, on her feet was the tinkling of anklets,
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Chapter 7: Selection o f lyrics
Ankle-chains, gold anklets, silver anklets, foot ornaments, toe-rings, there was no
23
Alabell amkha arnjl anupama bam re, puspabara kamthe, gajra pana,
bhale gulala bamdo mahavara pame re, m em di maradi hathellmam jana. akala.
The lovely lady had put in kajal in her incomparable eyes, a flower necklace on her
On her forehead a pink bindi, on her heel lakh, having rubbed hernia on her palms.
24
jhale uchale pum the pbare premada re, tene m iie nacave che amga. akala.
The lovely woman had (in) her hand a toy ball of flowers and played the Ula with
him,
The beautiful woman catches and throws she follows, she makes her body dance on
this pretext.
25
mamda sugamdhi samlra glta vahe re, §a&i udiyo, ravipam yo asta,
te same Sivajie dlthf e sumdarl re, calya Harithl chodavlne hasta. akala.
A gentle, fragrant, cool breeze blows, the m oon rose, the sun sets,
Siva saw this beautiful woman in front o f him, he took his hand away from Hari
26
Seeing Mohanl, Mahadeva was deluded, he did not ask Prabhu who she was,
393
Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
He forgot the consciousness of his body, arrows of love, her sidelong glances
struck him.
27
puspana bagamam petho bale karire, lajja m u ki dodya karva samga. akala.
He did not understand that I said that this is Mohanl, for Anamga had pervaded his
whole body,
In a garden o f flowers he entered with force, forgetting his m odesty, he ran for
union.
28
evamam vayu vayo tyam vege kari re, udyum vastra, dithum sahu §arira,
tyare to atura ati malava thaya re rupa jotam rahinahim dhira. akala.
M eanwhile, when the wind blew then it was strong, it lifted her clothes, her entire
Then he became excessively eager to meet her, seeing her beauty he lost his control.
29
dodatam amganum ambara rahyum kyahum re, nathi topana §ariranum bhana,
ema vikala vrehavihvala thai gay a re, lagyum Mohani malavanum tana, akala.
W hile running the garm ent on his body fell off, there was no consciousness in his
body,
meeting Mohani.
30
pasa dekhe pana sparSa thato nathi re, bahu Sramita thaya strini satha. akala.
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Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
H e uses force, however the young woman can't be caught, he rushes but he doesn't
He sees from nearby, but there is no contact, the woman tired him out.
31
vinatanam vastra gayam sahu nlsari re, atilajja pami stnjana. akala.
All clothes o f modesty fell off, the woman became very embarrassed.
32
akala.
Then the woman stood in the shelter of a nee, Samkara approached to embrace her,
As he em braced her with feeling [??], the form was made clear, he saw the face of
V aikumthanatha 1
33
'Mohanlrupa joyu m Mahadevaji re?' sum §ive karyum nlcum vadana. akala.
Knowing it was Madhava, Umapati was ashamed, Hari laughed and said:
'Did M ahadeva see the form of Mohanl?' Hearing this, Siva lowered his head.
34
akala gad tamari te to tamo laho re, baki ko l na pame para.' akala.
Then returning to his senses, Bhola said, 'Prabhu! Your maya is limitless,
You take your incomprehensible way, no one else reaches the other side.
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Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
35
Who sings this garabo, learns and listens, maya never afflicts him at any time
131 Vrajamahima4
In everyhouse there is endless joy, a festival takes place, the Gopis look wonderful
Damodara DInadayaJa prakatya jyare jo, tyam rahyum na baki kam ya,jaum balihare
jo !
W hen Damodara Dlnadayala appears, then nothing else matters. I'm going there, O
yes!
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Chapter 7: Selection o f lyrics
Imdrapurlni mamhya nace ganika jo, kare GopI theI thel kara! vaje manika jo!
Courtesans dance in Imdrapurl, the Gopis m ake the noises o f bells! Their jew els
sound!
Imdrapurlni mamhya rsio bese ho, Harinam karava dar§ana m uni m athapese jo.
The rsis are settled in Imdrapurl, the m unis enter m onasteries to have a sight of
Hari.
Imdrapurlni mamhya guniyala gaye jo, gana kare che Gopa, sukhl bahu thaye jo.
In Imdrapurl, the virtuous sing, the Gopas sing, everyone becomes very happy.
Imdrapurlni mamhya vlna vage jo, murallna thaye nada, bhramana bhage jo.
In Imdrapurl, the veenas sound, the sound of the flute rises, delusions fly away.
In Imdrapurl, the women are beautiful, the Gopikas wearing their ornaments sit on
the balconies.
Imdrapurlni mainhya Brahmana bhanata jo, kari vedarcauccara guna Hari ganatajo.
In Imdrapurl the Brahmins recite, they pronounces the rks of the Veda, counting the
qualities of Hari.
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Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
10
jo.
In Imdrapuri is the throne, in Vraj it has beauty, the seat of happiness o f Syama
1 3 15 purvani prita
pada: raga: dhanaSrl
2
sambhari ave mane prita puravani, e anubhava aja jagyo re Samafiya sathe, sakhi!
1 rem em ber love of previous (births), this experience today has awoken w ith
Samamliya!
manano m anyo, amtarano icchyo vara m aliyo che m ukham agyo re, e Samaliya
sathe, sakhi!
^ S e e n .l above.
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Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
Dayana. Prltamanl samge niSadina ramatam a bhavano te bhaya aja bhagyo re, e
Playing day and night in the company of Daya's Beloved, today this fear o f the
kyam a bhariye re? kyam a bhariye jahjam ananum nira? Nam dakum vara kede
padyo! kyama.
399
Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
400
Chapter 7: Selection o f lyrics
The chief o f the munis knows the inner meaning of the great expression, 'tat tvam
as?,
That in which the svarupa is absorbed is much greater than that. [??]
2
BrahmaVisnuBhavaanamta amta na lake acimtya,
Brahma Visnu Bhava and Anamta do not know this unthinkable truth,
To achieve this purpose, you [need] not be a sadhu, nor a y o g i nor a yati.
The one who delights in himself, who has his desire fulfilled, who in every place, in
[?? j village,
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Chapter 7: Selection o f lyrics
W hat Krsna does is the measure, whether he spoils his duty or does it well;
Even if my life goes let me not drench my mind in any other form.
Let him keep me as happy or sad as he pleases, I shall sing his praises,
I liked only him, my mind agreed with him, I don't love anyone else,
402
Chapter 7: Selection o f lyrics
I f m y tongue chants a name other that Namdakumvara, I shall cut m y tongue into a
hundred pieces,
W hen (one) puts hope in another god, one worships sin, but [if] the world
Runs on its feet at the dargana o f other gods, then I shall make pim das [i.e. die].
I am a cataka, Sriji is the svati water, I am the fish, Hari is the water,
142 prema
pada
6The harila bird catches a piece o f w ood at its birth then keeps it with it all its life.
403
Chapter 7: Selection o f lyrics
If a particle of love is bom on earth, the sentiment of love is fixed in his breast.
It splits all metals apart from a golden vessel, and flows away.
Sugar is the life o f a sweet-toothed person, it takes the very life of a donkey,
It causes vomiting to those of mixed caste, this is the word o f the Vedas.
The fish-eating crane, seeing a pearl, does not fill its beak.
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Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
Thus in a crore o f ways, Purusottama does not chase after people who are without
love.
143 Vrmdavanamam
pada: garabl
1
Know that the trees and creepers are true forms, the earth is pleasing.
The lovely moon is still, the day and night are pleasing,
The whole collection is lovely, giving pleasure to the form of the Couple.
W here the six seasons always live, what the mind desires happens,
405
Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
All times are under Hari's control, even day and night happen [at his will].
But the Gopls are all there and Govimda like some true form and shadows.
W here the one man is Purusottama, the rest are all Vraja women,
Among them are the female friends with Lalita at then head, and, in the middle, the
Where the young Couple plays, there are always new Was o f the nine rasas,
The heart o f the experienced knows this, how can a poet describe it?
The way of the one who follows knowledge does not reach there, the rasa o f love is
406
Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
This love is the suprem e rasa of joy! equal to the rasa o f sense objects (sexual
pleasure?),
In it 6ukamuni and Siva were wrong! W hat do desirous people know o f this?
10
How can one who has been made to experience infatuation for desire becom e
Singing the play of the rasa of Krsna, the fever of love goes from his breast.
11
Natha performed his lila on the earth to give uddhara to the great and the lowly,
As ghee is a poison to a person with fever, this is nectar with a healing herb.
12
H aving understood it, experiencing it purely, you w ill becom e the fem ale
companion of Sribhagavata.
13
407
Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
Singing and hearing this rasa of Hari with this emotion, Hari will become Vhala,
Praise the Beloved of the servant Daya, all happiness will happen spontaneously.
his heart!
Some say, 'Witchcraft touched her!', others say,’Yesterday she was bitten!'
408
Chapter 7: Selection o f lyrics
I'll certainly arrange for you to meet him.' Hearing this, he was delighted.
She was made to meet Daya's Beloved, my sorrow at separation was removed!
146 premasamtosa
pada: garabl
409
Chapter 7: Selection o f lyrics
410
Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
411
Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
jao ji! jao ji! JTvana! jutha cho, m em janya, kale gum bolya? ne gum kidhum re? jao.
Go, Go, Jivana, you are false, I realised this, what did you say yesterday? and what
dajhaya upara luna devane m une a dargana glda apyum re? jao.
All night you kept me sleepless! Why do you torture my body and mind?
Why did you give me this dargana to allow salt on the bum?
2
aja pale marum nama na legoJa o , mana mane tyam mahalo re!
m ote re prabhate mare dvara glda ubha? jao, go gorambho thalo re?jao.
Today you don't take my name at any mom ent [i.e. you'll ignore me], go, whenever
So why are you standing at my door at the break o f dawn? Go, w hat is this empty
siege?
Dayana Prltamavhala! manamam vicaro - juthum khaya te m ithanf age re! jao.
W hy want risk without venture? come on, don't stand around near me!
D aya's Beloved, think on this in your mind, who eats leftovers, he is in hope o f
sweetness.
412
Chapter 7: Selection o f lyrics
148 tamaro!
pada
nathf cukyo, pana a cukyo chum, mune damda gam e te doni! tamaro!
'(I am) yours, yours, my beloved woman, my m ind accepts what you say!
1 haven't done wrong, but I have done wrong, give me any punishment you like!
If you will do more than that, then do it with two arrows from your eyes!
If I run away, know this, then put me in the fortress of your heart,
If you say that then I shall convince you, I'll put my hand on a Siva lingam.
If you say so then I take an oath with my lips, beloved woman, why do you torture
me?
413
Chapter 7: Selection o f lyrics
- etna sum hast bolyam &yama, 'avadum kyam bhanl avya re?'
Hearing this &yama laughed and sa id ,' Where have you learnt so much?'
Bearing love, she took him to her heart, she welcomed him in her house.
W ith love, they lay down on a bed, the rasa of sex rose fully,
H ie lila o f the form of the Couple becomes the ultimate, Dayo is blessed!
149 ghumghatadamamthi
pada: raga: ramakall
R
jala jatam aja ghumghatadamam Mohananum mukba dlthum re!
amrtarasa pana ethaki phlkko bai! evum lagyum che mune m lthum re! jala.
Today when I was going for water in my veil, I saw Mohana's face!
1
enepana kam lnathi re ajanyum, mune mana karl samajhavlre,
He pressed m e to his heart and declared his love, he made his eyes dance in front of
me.
414
Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
manamam ave tema m ukhe kema kahevum pel a durijana daityaSa lagya re! jala.
W hat can I say o f all that sorrow and happiness? Arrows o f love struck my breast!
How can my mouth say w hat comes in my mind? Those w icked people seemed
monstrous!
dhanya bhagye je n e Dayana Prltama samga managamatum sukha mahalyum re! jala.
The one who has enjoyed happiness to his heart's content in the company of Daya's
The flute of love has has stolen my mind, it wakes me when I am sleeping.
The points o f his lovely eyes have pierced my soul, they have made deep wounds!
415
Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
The bewitching one has taken away my heart, he showed eyes o f love.
vaida Vhalaji! mara rogano turn che, kone dekhadiun nadf? m une
Vhalaji, you are the doctor o f my illness, whom shall I show my pulse?
dhaml dhikhum chum tara virahanl age! Pritama! padani tadhl! mune.
I covered the fire o f separation from you, Pritama! you put on the cold ashes.
The bee o f my mind, the garden of your beauty, does not leave me alone.
Daya's Beloved! Having spoken sweetly, laughing gently, he threw he down into a
156 abolada
pada: raga: ramakall
416
Chapter 7: Selection o f lyrics
Take the hand o f the one who has come for refuge, do not be selfish!
For your sake I have abandoned shame and am censured am ong people, I m ade
1 paid a high price for this, they ignored m e though I was innocent!
- 1 do not reckon this as sorrow if there is a meeting of the eyes with you.
I, who have put everyone aside for your sake, am put aside by you!
This burning pain is too much for my body, it dried up the creeper o f love!
te kamto ura amtara salake che, dekhlm une cltavo cho adum!
417
Chapter 7: Selection o f lyrics
Let us say, we are burnt in sorrow, but the arrows of Radha's eyes
418
Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
bhagya m otum kanya pam ya Kam sanikim kari, pum a paunyavina evum kone nava
thaya. Madhuvrata!
0 bee, say this m uch to Mohana: We heard that the jo y o f that day cannot be
contained,
The m aid servant of K am sa has been very lucky, this couldn't happen to anyone
re Mathuranam vast bahu Kubajana sagam, kim kannum kula m otum kahevaya,
thaya. Madhuvrata!
M athura has many relatives o f the inhabitant Kubja , the family o f the servant can
be called great,
Before their wedding, the washerman presented her with her wedding gift, the tailor
Sumdarafyama,
Madhuvrata!
419
Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
The m ind o f both w as m ortgaged then the rites o f the V eda took place,
UddhavajI, acting as companion of the groom, w ent behind him , Rasiyo rejoiced
Madhuvrata!
W hat is this? Vhala did not write us an invitation! Is this conduct o f a (co-)village
W e w ant to m ake a suitable w edding gift for D aya's Lord, we have m ade
420
Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
421
Chapter 7: Selection o f lyrics
Like Uddhava, a blade o f grass, he became a Krsna [OR: Uddhava became a blade
422
Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
na muke,
marum.
My cow wanders about all over the town, no one puts it in a field or a barnyard,
It goes where it shouldn't, it eats what it shouldn't, it doesn't w ander where it should
roam.
vaji lavum ghera negatum mamdum gajyum, lilum nlrum cha pana te na sumdhe,
kohyalam radam, ghasa, kyahum kusaka, mara khafne pana te ja thumge. marum.
423
Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
I turn it back for hom e and it goes slowly and unwillingly, b ut it w on't go to
Rotten ears o f com, hay, bran - even suffering blows, it eats only these dry foods.
3 '
hedalo hoderado moro manyo nahim, thayum harayum, havam hum to haryo!
vaia mare nathl tadapi marum kahavyum, m ate rahum chum bhayabhita cimtano
maryo. marum.
The bullock pays no attention to the blow , it has becom e difficult, now I am
defeated!
I have no control although it is known as mine, therefore I rem ain stricken with
hem Guru! Gopaja! m em arapyum e apane, va£a karlrakho nija pasa magum,
sadhupanum tfkh a vi Vnrtdavana carajo, klega mara tale, paya lagum. marum.
0 Guru, Gopala! I entrust this to you, having taken it under control, I ask you to
your feet.
samaranasevana bane ahirnitia apanum, acala anamda mane eha jacum . marum.
Let it perfom the service o f rem em bering you day and night, let it experience
424
Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
manamati bagadatam sarva karru bagadiyum, daravum bahu Nathajl! Daya ano,
Ruining the mind, everything has been ruined, you make Daya very afraid, Natha,
bhula bhame te blja sadanamam 6odhe re, Hari na male eke thame re!
The misguided wander about, they seek him in another palace, they won't meet Hari
anywhere.
In the country o f satsahga is the city o f bhakti, try asking at the gate o f premal
M eet those who stay in the quarter of the pain of viraha, go into the street, go up the
425
Chapter 7: Selection o f lyrics
Put a jewel of the mind in the cup or humbleness and make it a gift for Bhagavamta!
The desire for Hari is the root of a beginning, without his com passion it won't be
fulfilled!
W ith refuge in Vallabha everything happens easily, Dayo sings for daivi people!
arises.
The antaryamin is in the world, so tell me, how does that remove sorrow?
How is the lamp lit by filling it with broken sesame without sesame oil?
How can cold be appeased by rubbing sticks together without fire being present?
426
Chapter 7: Selection oflyrics
By eating the earth, thirst is not removed, the sruti sings in the inner water,
There is m ilk in the cow’s stomach, and ghee in that, but the cow is not nourished
by it,
These things don't happen from pervading (by his just being there nothing happens,
You have not becom e a Vaisnava, you have not become a person of Hari, why are
427
Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
Seeing a person o f Hari, your heart does not rejoice, it does not m elt while (he is)
The charm o f lust and money has not slipped away, your eyes are red with anger,
If anyone becomes a Vaisnava in your company, then you are a true Vaisnava,
As long as there is no pleasure in your company, then you are a half-baked devotee.
Seeing other people's sorrow, your heart does not bum, you do not fear speaking ill
o f others,
You have not true love for Vitthala, you are obstinate in your egoism.
You have no love for benevolence, your self-interest has not gone away.
Your actions do not match your words, asking for written authority?'
428
Chapter 7: Selection o f lyrics
Your mind is not settled, fixed on the bhajana, you have not faith in Hari,
So long as you have hope in the world, the world is your gum, you are a slave.
If you make your mind the gum of the mind, then you will get the real truth,
Daya (says): Consider it happy or sad, but you must speak the tmth.
429
Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
Giridhari, loving to those who have come to you for refuge, do not miss the chance!
185 manajimusapharane
pada: raga: kaphi
430
Chapter 7: Selection of lyrics
The path for going to your own city has come, friend, (guard) lest you mistake it!
Two or four obstacles are settled to kill in the middle o f the path,
A spy has been got! All paths of this have been shown.
If you buy goods then buy in the name o f a merchant, there is no prevention,
Doing this on our name, we have a risk and the scheme o f the road-tax collector
[Krsna] prevails,
431
Chapter 7: Selection o f lyrics
sujhe che havam evum re! avadha thai che apanl! manajl!
See, go from the world, having taken care of your work, do it,
The servant Daya likes this - now let us go to our own home,
W hat does the gram m arian know? W hat does the gram m arian know about the
essence?
A ja r filled up to the top with ghee even then does not know its taste.
Vegetables are spiced in a beautiful way but the cooking pot can't taste it,
Fire lives within it, but the kindling stick does not obtain joy.
Dayo kahe, dhana datayum ghanum, jyam a dhanavamta kahave nirdhanf. vastune.
There is musk in its own navel, but the deer does not experience delight,
Dayo says, he buries much wealth, and so the rich man is called poor.
432
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