The poems voice the thoughts or represent the spoken words of Rādhā and Krishna, of sakhīs (Rādhā's friends) and dūtikās (messengers of Rādhā or Krishna), and of the poet himself The greater part of the whole is properly dialogue, but inasmuch as the 'audience' is generally silent, we have only thought it necessary to make use of quotation marks where the words of more than one speaker are reported in one and the same song.
The following synonyms of Krishna are used by Vidyāpati: Hari, Mādhava, Kāna, Kānu, Kānta, Kanāi, Murāri, Murali, Banāmali, Shyāma, Vallabha, Giridhara, Gokula-nātha, Nanda-kumara,—and the following of Rādhā: Rādhikā, Rāi.
As regards the use of capitals: 'Love' is so printed when the poet refers to love as a Power (Kāmadeva, Anaʼnga, Pañca-bān, Madan, Manmatha), and 'Desire' is similarly printed with a capital when the reference is to desire as a Power (Rati, the wife of Kāmadeva).
In the use of pronouns refering to Krishna, we have only occasionally printed a capital 'He,'—for though He was God, he appeared to Rādhā as man. We have generally used the colloquial second person plural, in place of the thee and thou of the original, since to reproduce the original would not convey the needed intimacy of the French 'tutoyer': but in few cases it seemed better to adhere to the singular.
The First Passion of Krishna
Rādhā first seen:
'She was a phantom of delight When first she gleamed upon my sight.'
Wordsworth.
2. 'Unstained,' literally 'without antelope.' Indian fancy sees in the moon's markings, not a 'man in the moon,' but an antelope (or a hare). Rādhā is flawless, and so lovelier than the moon itself.
4. 'Sūrm,' viz. añjana, otherwise rendered as kohl or collyrium, with which the lower eyelid is blackened.
10, 11. A woman's throat is commonly compared to a conch. The Shambhu (Shiva-lingam) is the nipple (cf. Nos. XVI, LXVI). The poet suggests that Rādhā's pearl necklace seems to be an ambrosial offering to Shiva, made by Kāmadeva, using the sacrificial vessel of Rādhā's conch-like throat (cf No. LI, 12).
12, 13. 'Hevene y tolde al his
That o nyght were hire gest.'
Rādhā excels the sources of her charms in every quality, so that each is put to shame. Cf. Prema Sāgara, Ch. LXIII, and
'Straighter than cedar, brighter
than glass;
More fine in trip than foot of
running roe . . .
Fresher than poplar, smaller than
my span.
Shep. Tony (in 'England's
Helicon').
4. 'Olifant,'—the elephant is commonly regarded by those least familiar with him, as a clumsy animal, probably on account of his size and weight. For the eastern poet he symbolises strength, grace and symmetry. The old form 'olifant' is therefore used here as if to restore him to his true position by a slight suggestion of mystery.
"The soft and graceful gait of an Indian woman is likened to that of an elephant; and in the East, where a woman's garments permit freedom of movement and sympathetic co-operation of the muscular system this is an apt comparison. In the West the natural swing of the hips, only possible in conjunction with the free, lithe play of the muscles of the foot and torso, is restricted and becomes jerky... The elephant has an exquisite sense of balance and most supple joints, and can even make obeisance with profound dignity."
F. H. Andrews, Journal of Indian Art, X, 52. See also Max Muller,S.B.E., Vol. XI, p. 46, note 2.
11. To save the Worlds, Shiva drank up the poison that appeared at the churning of the Ocean, whence his throat is stained blue. The poet suggests that despair at the sight of Rādhā's beauty was the real cause that Shiva drank.
6. "The Khanjana (wagtail) eyes are characterised by their playful gaiety." (A. N. Tagore, Some notes on Indian Artistic Anatomy, Calcutta, 1914). The 'snakes' are the lines of collyrium drawn on each lower-lid.
8. Lomā-latā-bāli, lit. 'down-vine-wreath,' here compared to a half suffocated snake, to suggest the depth of Rādhā's navel. Garuḍa is the enemy of all snakes. The lomā-latā-bāli is often indicated in Orissan sculpture (e.g. Viśvakarmā LV) by a slight furrow extending upwards from the navel. See also LI, 17.
12. The Indian Eros is armed with five arrows, from which he sometimes takes the name Five Arrows (cf. No. CXX). Here it is suggested that Love with Three Arrows slew the Three Worlds, and gave the two others to Rādhā's eyes, that the slain might be slain again.
The Three Worlds, constantly alluded to are Svarga, Mata and Patal,—Heaven, Earth and Underworld.
17. The well of love: by 'maidens about the village well,' we can hardly doubt that the poet intends to signify the souls of men, attracted to the source of Eternal Life.
18, 19. The names of the poet's patron and his queen are constantly introduced in the refrains.
'Oh woe is me, that ever I did see
The beauty that did me bewitch.''—
John Forbes, 1661.
1. 'Cowdust-time,' viz. evening, when the cows are driven home: a favourite subject of Pahārī painters.
5. 'Tis not the linen shows so fair
Her skin shines through and makes
it bright.'—
Anon. (1671).
8. 'Lord of the Five Gaurs'—the Panjab, Kānoja, Bengal, Darbhangā, Orissā. The sway of the Princes of Gaur was of course far less extended than this in Vidyāpati's day. The term is complimentary: see Dinesh Chandra Sen, Bengali Language and Literature, p. 290.
1. 'Milk-white,' a free rendering of 'nanuñga-badanī': nanuñga, modern nanī, is a preparation of milk, not exactly curd.
'Whiter far than Moorish milk.'
Richard Braithwait.
7. 'Cakravākas,' birds (Anas casarca), of which the pairs are said to separate at night, for example, to sleep on opposite sides of a river.
This is one of Vidyāpati's most renowned poems, and a favourite subject of Rājput painters.
1. The bank of the Jamunā, or the steps of a bathing ghāt. Jamunā bank in Vaishnava literature stands for this world regarded as the constant meeting place of Rādhā and Krishna where amidst the affairs of daily life the soul is arrested and beguiled to her (worldly) undoing.
12. It is a popular tradition that the partridge (cakora) is in love with the moon and lives on the moon's rays. (Cf. XXV, 5).
7. A favourite motif of Indian poets. When the day lotus closes at dusk, the thoughtless bee intent on honey is made a prisoner.
2. Rādhā's feet do not touch the ground, but are upborne by lotus flowers that spring up beneath them. Thus Rādhā is very tenderly represented as divine. Every footfall finds a lotus-footstool,—which is a constant convention of Buddhist and Hindū art. The lightness of her step is also suggested.
8. Called 'water-lily' eyes "for the calm repose of their drooping lids." (Tagore, loc. cit.).
The Growing-up of Rādhā
3. Her eyes are elongated just when she grows up: or possibly the poet means that she then first artificially extends their length with a line of collyrium.
14. 'Mahesha,' i.e. a Shiva-lingam, Cf I, 11, and LXVI, 10.
1, 2. Sometimes she flashes sidelong glances, sometimes she veils her face.
8. 'And vital feelings of delight
Shall rear her form to stately
height.
Her virgin bosom swell.'
Wordsworth.
9, 10. The attraction of music for deer is a favourite motif of Rājput paintings, particularly in the representation of certain rāgiṇīs (Torī, etc),—see Coomaraswamy, 'Arts and Crafts of India and Ceylon,' fig. 78. In another poem Vidyāpati has:
For when she hears love's language
spoken,
She turns away her eyes,—and lends her
ears.
The First Passion of Rādhā
4, Lit. 'That he wears a yellow garment is the lightning's streak.'
6. The peacock plume, Krishna's constant headdress, beside his moon-face.
3, 7. 'Strings of moons,' i.e. toe-nails and finger-nails.
5. The yellow dhoti round his legs, the 'tamāl-shafts.'
8-12. Krishna's lips, nose, eyes and hair.
The flute of Krishna is the call of the Infinite, 'the sound of the camel-bell,' the 'sword' of 'I come to bring not peace, but a sword.'
3. Lit. 'Suddenly (or forcibly) it takes its seat in my ears,' cf.
'Every moment the voice of Love is
coming from right and left.'
Shamsi Tabrīz (Nicholson, IX).
11. 'When the strings of thy robe are loosed by the intoxication of love.'
Shamsi Tabrīz (Nicholson, I).
The Counsel of Girl-friends (Sakhīs)
'Artless,'—mugadhini. Svakīya heroines are classified according to their experience, as mugdhā, inexperienced, madhyā, more experienced, and pragalbhā, fully mistress of love's art (e.g. Rudraṭa, Kāvyālaṅkara, XII, 17: Sāhityadarpaṇa, 97,98, Daśarupa 11,25). Mugadhini has also the signification of 'fond,' 'lovesick,' as in XXII, 2 (mugadha nārī).
First Meetings
'A honey-comb and a honey-fower
And the bee shall have his hour.'
Rossetti.
4. The day-lotus closes and fades at night and in the moon's rays; Rādhā is the lotus, Krishna the moon, as also in XLII, 8.
7-10. 'Sweet reward for sharpest pain.'
Sir Philip Sydney.
12. 'Artless 'or 'innocent,'—mugadhini, as in XXX, 1 and again in XXXVII, 10.
12. Lit. Happy is she that can look on him unmoved.
2. Rādhā knows and fears that she will yield to Krishna's wooing.
14. Rāhu, demon that swallows the moon at each eclipse. Cf. CXX, 10 and CXXIII, 3.
Mark the contrast between Krishna's memories of the night, and Rādhā's.
12. The Indian woman's purse is a knot tied in her sārī. The suggestion is that of the uselessness of tying up the treasure which the thief has already seen.
3. Cānūra, a wrestler in the service of Kaṅs, slain by Krishna (CF Prema Sāgara, Chs. XLIV, XLV).
5. Cf. The following dohā, the text of a Pahārī drawing:
'Jyoṅ jyoṅ parasai Lāla
tana
tyoṅ tyoṅ rākhata gō, ē
Navala bāla ḍara Lāla-kai
indabadhu-sī hō, ē
'The more that Lāla touches her body,
the more she curls up her body,
The tender girl, afraid of Lāla,
becomes, as it were, a woodlouse!'
4. The Pairs of Opposites, as also in No. LXII.
2. 'A wife,'—the original signifies 'woman' or 'wife.' In any case, the reader will observe (Nos. LXXX, LXXXVI and CXVII) that Vidyāpati writes of Rādhā as a svakīya heroine, whereas a majority of Vaishnava writers further emphasize the conflict between Love and Duty by making her parakīya, the wife of another. But as Rādhā's was at best a Gāndharva marriage (according to Vidyāpati's indications), ratified at first only by mutual consent (as in the case of Shakuntalā), and willingly accepted by the family, we should perhaps call her anūdha (unmarried) rather than svakīya (Vāgbhaṭālaṅkāra, V, 12,13). It is the yielding before or without marriage which Rādhā often speaks of as her shame and sin, and for which she is blamed by her family. None the less, much of what is here related is quite true to everyday Indian life, where courtship normally follows marriage, and public flirtation is always considered disgraceful.
(Rādhā's) Going-forth (to visit Krishna)
The Abhisārikā heroine is one who goes from her home to visit her belovèd, careless of danger or shame. The Abhisārikā is a favourite subject of Pāharī painters (see Coomaraswamy, 'Journal of Indian Art, October, 1914). An English example in John Davidson's 'A Ballad of a Nun.'
5-8. 'Teeth of pearl, the double guard
To speech, whence music still is
heard.'
Carew.
11, 12. See note to 1, 2.
Dalliance in Spring
Cf. the extract from Kālī Krishna Dasa's Kāmini Kumāra, translated in Dinesh Chandra Sen's Bengali Language and Literature, p. 688.
8. Pañcam—the dominant. Also in CV, 2. The pitch of each of the seven notes "was originally determined by the rishis of the forest from the sounds of various Birds and Animals uttered at particular seasons and times. . . Pā is the note sounded by the Kokila, the Indian nightingale, at springtime, when after a silence of six months it hails the brightest period of the year and tastes the first sprouts of the new season with an ebullition of joy"—Chinnaswami Mudaliyar, Oriental Music.
10. 'Twice-born,' epithet equally of Brāhmans and birds. The sense is that in this Nature-festival the birds performed the 'the most solempne servise' of the officiating priests.
14. 'For ever and for ever'—since the Krishna Līlā is eternal.
2. Rāsa, the circular dance of Krishna with the gopīs (herd-girls), wherein his form was multiplied and became many; thus described in the Prema Sāgara, and often represented in Rājput drawings, and constantly acted in the Rās-līlā—
'Two and two the gopīs held hands
and between each pair was
Hari their friend. . .
Gopi and Nanda-kumara alternate, a
round ring of lightnings
and heavy clouds,
The fair Braj girls and the dusky
Krishnas, like to a gold
and sapphire necklace.
The Rās Maṇḍala thus described is the exact equivalent of the 'General Dance' to which (in a well-known mediæval carol, 'To-morrow will be my Dancing Day') Christ invites the souls of men,—for the words of the carol see G. R. S. Mead, in 'The Quest,' October, 1910.
8. Vasanta Rāg.
9. Cf. Indian Drawings, II, PI. 2.
Wilfulness
This affection of a heroine is something compound of pride, disdain, offense and coldness: a hardening of heart (cf. hṛdaya-granthih). The soul's contraction though the voice of God is heard,—she will not open her doors.
3. The Pairs of Opposites, cf. No. XLVII, 4.
This is most typical Vaishnava poetry, in one breath blaming Krishna's wiles and proclaiming Him One without second. The note of blame is specially characteristic. In the Prema Sāgara:
'He forsakes goodness; He accepts badness: deceit is pleasing to Him!'
In Tagore's King of the Dark Chamber:
'Well, I tell you, your King's behaviour is—mean, brutal, shameful!'
In the Krishna of 'A.E.'
'I saw the King pass lightly from
the beauty that he had betrayed.
I saw him pass from love to love;
and yet the pure, allowed His
claim
To be the purest of the pure, thrice
holy, stainless, without blame.'
6. The golden jar is Krishna's body.
12, 13. All love is one, though you may reject it,—sacred or profane:
'Cowl of the monk and bowl of wine,
how shall the twain by man
be wed'?
Yet for the love I bear to thee,
these to unite I dare for thee.'
Hafiz (translated by Walter Leaf).
Vidyāpati might have written (since Vaishnavas never used the Sufī symbol of wine), 'Lust of the flesh and love of Thee . . . these to unite I dare for Thee.'
7-9. Rādhā ignores a message from Krishna, sent through the priestess of a Sun-shrine, to meet him at the temple.
10, II. The nipple with its areola, compared to a Shiva-lingam with the digit of the moon that Shiva wears in his hair. Cf. XVI, 10, 11.
6. Lakshmī, consort of Vishnu and goddess of beauty and fortune.
8, 9. This message implies, by the lock of hair that he would leave the world as a shaven monk if Rādhā would not yield. Flowers and pān (betel) are an 'olive-branch.' A blade of grass is sometimes held in the mouth to swear by, and here means sincerity.
6. The sandal is the best of trees, the shālmāl the worst.
10. Evidently a popular proverb—cf. 'The leopard cannot change its spots.'
3. Here the night-lily closing at dawn.
3. 'Jap-tap: prayers, personal office, daily ritual,—(japa or offerings of water, tapas or 'rule').
8. The moon is brother to the poison, since both were produced at the Churning of the Ocean: a thief because he stole Tārā, the wife of Brihaspati: vomited (unclean) because he escapes from Rāhu's jaws at each eclipse; cruel because his rays are scorching fires to divided lovers; slayer of lilies, because the day-lotus wilts at night; yet in spite of these enormities, some merit makes him bright.
13. Saba guṇa mula amula: A thought akin to that of LXIII.
Rādhā is here the typical Khaṇḍitā Nāyikā who reproaches her lover when he returns in the morning and has spent the night with some other flame.
6. 'He takes another girl on his knee
And tells her what he dosen't tell
me.'
8. Fickle, like the 'rootless' of LXXIII, 13. Lit. 'His heart is the essence of lightning.'
9-12. Here the thought approaches the prevailing motif of the Gītā Govinda, where Rādhā is the higher self of man, and Krishna the self entangled in the world of sensation.
18. Rasa bujha'i rasamanta: a pregnant epigram, valid equally in love and art.
Reunion after Wilfulness
4. 'Might not bend,' lit. 'was like a stambha,' a monumental pillar.
The lovers are mixed like milk and water.
2. 'Spell,'—sādhanā.
8. Inasmuch as being a religious mendicant, he could not be refused.
4. Gañja-seeds (Abrus precatorius), used by jewellers as weights.
8, 10. Rādhā complains that she has cast her pearls before a monkey; but the poet retorts by the insinuation that Rādhā has given Krishna betel from her own mouth (as lovers do) and says that for betel to issue from a monkey's mouth is at least as strange as to see a necklace of pearls on a monkey's neck.
6. 'Phillis' closed eyes attracts you her to kiss,'
Francis Pilkington, 1605.
'She lay still and would not
wake,'
Campion and Rosseter's Book of Airs,
1601.
9, 10. Such exchange of gear, when it amounts to a complete disguise of lover as belovèd, belovèd as lover, is known as Līlā-hāva. A familiar English parallel is the London coster lovers' habit of exchanging hats, when out for dalliance on Hampstead Heath; here also the original or sub-conscious motif is a sense of indentity.
Rādhā Hari Hari Rādhā-ke bani-āe
sanketa—
The station of Rādhā becoming Hari and Hari Rādhā: is a not infrequent subject of Pahārī paintings.
10, Ratipati, the Lord of Rati, Madan, Love.
15. For this gesture, see 'Journal of Indian Art,' No. 128, fig. 3.
6. i.e. 'I could have sunk into the earth with shame.'
8. The poet overlooks that no snow settles on the southern hills.
2. The stain: see note to XLVIII, 2.
6. Yaduvīra, Hero of the Yadus, Krishna.
14. The poet insinuates that Rādhā could have escaped from Krishna's gaze had she wished; just as the Kāshmīrī paṇḍitānīs bathing naked, slip from the river-bank into the water while the traveller's boat is passing.
1. Mother-in-law: see note to XLVIII.
Even as a wife, such dalliance before a mother-in-law would be contrary to all decorum; thus the mother-in-law represents, as it were, the cares of this world, whereby the soul is prevented from yielding herself,—and hence Vidyāpati's disappointment.
2. Skirt, ghagari, not now a separate garment, but that part of the sārī which forms a skirt. But in Vidyāpati's day the costume of Bengali women seems to have been that of Western Hindustan (skirt, bodice and veil), familiar in Rājput paintings. In this case the nībībandha (see Introduction p. 11), is actually the skirt-string, and the translation as 'zone' or 'girdle' is not inappropriate, nor that of añcala as 'wimple' or 'veil.'
8. Like the 'neither within or without' of Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upanishad, IV, 3, 33: 'beyond the striving winds of love and hate'—Wilfrid Wilson Gibson.
10. With such a tempest, as when Jove of old
Fell down on Danäe in a storm of
gold—
Carew.
4. Tilka, the vermilion brow-spot.
7. Hari-Hara, God as equally Vishnu and Shiva: see Prema Sāgara, Ch. LXXXIX, also Havell, Indian Sculpture and Painting, PI. XXVI.
14. Vidyāpati's Master: Krishna.
Rādhā presumptuously claims for herself alone the love that is given to all that seek it. This song would be more appropriately included under the heading 'Māna.'
3. Kadamba, (Anthocepalus cadamba, Mig.) the tree most associated with Krishna, beneath which he stands and plays his flute and dallies with the milk-maids.
Rādhā is here the typical Abhisandhitā Nāyikā "who repulses her lover just when he seeks to soften her pride, and suffers double grief when he is no longer beside her" (Keśava Dāsa).
Reproaches, Lack and Longing
The departure of Krishna to Mathurā is God forsaking the soul, or seeming to do so; the complaint of Rādhā is "Why hast thou forsaken me?"
6, Moving her heart to love, though love be hopeless.
7. Beauty-spots, kuca-kuṅkuma, patterns drawn on her breasts with sandal-paste: cf. Gītā Govinda XII, 18, 'Draw leafy patterns on my breasts.'
This conceit is the subject of beautiful songs by many poets, including Jāyadeva and Rāmbasu.
The Bodiless (Anaṅga) is Kāmadeva, Love: on behalf of Umā he endeavoured to rouse Shiva from his rapt meditation, and Shiva in wrath destroyed his body with a glance from his third eye.
Rādhā feigns to think that Love has mistaken her for Shiva, and explains in detail that she is but a human maiden. Amongst the attributes of Shiva are the Ganges in his matted locks, and crescent moon, a third eye, the stain of poison in his throat (see No. II, 11), and a serpent coiling about it, a tiger-skin, a skull, and ashes smeared on his body; in place of these Rādhā has flowing tresses, a pearl ornament, a brow-spot, a touch of musk, a pearl necklace, a dark silk sari, a lotus, and her body is dusted with sandal paste. The lotus of dalliance (kelika kamala) is a real or artificial lotus flower held in the hand as a plaything: for an illustration see Indian Drawings II, PL IX, 1.
This is one of the most obviously mystical of Vidyāpati's songs:
'I am he whom I love, and he whom I love is I.'
Mansūr Hallāj.
Cf. the exclamation Śivoham, 'Shiva is myself (sohambhāva, He being I); and the injunction Devo bhūtva, devam yajet, 'By becoming God, worship Him!' also the half-dohā quoted in the note to LXXXII, 9, i o.
3. O nija bhāva svabhāva hi bichurala, Forgetting her own bhāva and svabhāva, feelings and character, will and self-consciousness.
'At last I have found myself.'
Jalālu'd Din Rūmi.
'Whoso has not escaped from will, no will has he.'
Shamsi Tabrīz,
10. Piu, piu: that is to say, 'Belovèd, Belovèd.'
3. Even from a crow's mouth—the crow is the chief omen and messenger, of a lover's return. Cf. No. CXXIII, and also Journal of Indian Art, No. 128, p. 103 and figure 12.
These are clearly related to reverdies of the folk, such as the Kāshmīrī songs recorded in Ratan Devī's Thirty Indian Songs. It is probable that the more one could learn of contemporary folk-song, the more apparent would be Vidyāpati's dependence on the folk-tradition. These popular motifs are interwoven throughout with the familiar similes of the classic literature. Perhaps we ought to think of Vidyāpati as a sort of mystic Burns.
3. 'House': the house, in Vidyāpati's songs refers sometimes to the actual home of Rādhā's parents, or her own home, and sometimes as here, to the 'house of love,'—the 'palace' of Shamsi Tabrīz (Nicholson XXXVIII).
2. 'Cross the sea': see note to CXXXI.
Rādhā is here the typical Proshita-preyasī 'whose husband has gone abroad, appointing a time of return' (Keśava Dāsa).
The poet says that Rādhā should have thought before she drank. To take water from a man of low caste is to 'lose caste'—but it is too late to think of this after the water is already drunk.
The idea of reproach is essential to the drama of the soul, and a leading motif of the greater part of Rādhā-Krishna literature:
'Folk, family, house and husband are abandoned, the reproach of the world rejected.'
Prema Sāgara.
Compare:
'Blessed are ye when men shall revile and persecute you for My sake,'
and likewise:
'Let every reproach that honour
disdains and avoids be mine.'
Nau'i.
'—Cast shame and pride away,
Let honour gild the world's
eventless day,
Shrink not from change and shudder
not at crime,
Leave lies to rattle in the sieve of
Time!
Then whatsoe'er your workday gear
shall stain,
Of me a wedding garment shall ye
gain!'
Love is Enough.
This point is to be emphasized: for to understand the necessity and signifiance of reproach, is to comprehend how it was not merely possible but inevitable that in a society where the strictest possible conception of woman's honour prevails, the self-surrender of Rādhā should be regarded as the natural symbol of the soul's self-gift to God.
16. Kali age: the fourth or evil age in which we now live, when the prevailing motive is self-interest; it is what Blake calls Tax or Empire.
This song is still to be heard in Bengal, to the Rāgiṇi Bhairavī.
4. It is a custom of many bhaktas to print the name or symbol of Vishnu on forehead, breast and arms. The custom of tattooing the name of the Belovèd upon the body is world-wide.
5. Lalitā: Rādhā's dearest sakhī. It is customary amongst Vaishnavas to recite the name of Krishna in the ears of the dying.
7. The two customary means of disposing of the dead.
8. Tamāla, a tree with dark glaucous leaves, constantly compared to Krishna for its colour.
13. The scarlet line, drawn along the parting of the hair by married women whose husbands are still living; if Krishna will not return, Rādhā will adopt the rule of a widow.
Referring to the circumstances of XCIV.
Contains verses from two songs printed separately in the original.
8. Marks of complete indifference to propriety and elegance.
12. And is thus in truth 'broken and contrite,' acceptable to God.
4-7. All objects normally cool, are scorching hot to Rādhā, racked as she is by the fire of love. For the lotus-leaves, see the picture facing p. 115.
1. For the sight of the moon, so pleasant to united lovers, increases her pain.
3. A sort of black magic; Rādhā invokes Rāhu to eclipse the moon.
11. Lit. 'with ten nails': more black magic, the snakes are to swallow up the vexing southern breeze.
14, 15. The koil, whose calling accentuates the suffering of divided lovers: crows, their messengers, and omens of reunion. Cf. No. CIV, 3.
11. Using the necklace as a rosary.
Contains verses from two songs printed separately in the original.
Babe—bāla, a girl under 16.
3. Garland-offering—hung on the idol's neck when it is new, and cast away the next day.
10, II. We ought perhaps to understand by this the loneliness of God in heaven, lacking the love of men.
Reunion and the Flow of Nectar.
6. Rādhā has learnt at last that service is self-realisation and self-expression.
The 'boat on the river' goes back to the old Buddhist idea of a raft or boat wherein to cross the samsāra, the sea of this world, to reach the further shore; just as in the carol 'Come over the burn, Besse,'
'The burne is this world blind.'
Rādhā feels that Krishna, whom she had thought her equal, is indeed beyond her ken; but the poet answers, 'That art thou,' proclaiming their Unity.
7. 'I know the beings of the past, the present and the future, O Arjuna: but no one knoweth Me.'—Bhagavad Gītā VII, 26.
Like the last, this throws a light upon the whole wreath of songs; for the soul perceives that she has had ears to hear and eyes to see ever since she came to birth, yet she has neither heard nor seen; and now she cannot have enough of hearing and seeing.
13. Lit. 'I have known—and seen not one.'
The poet leaves the lovers in each other's arms.
The following birds, flowers and trees are mentioned in the text in the connection indicated:
Cātaka: a kind of cuckoo, perhaps Luculus melanoleucus,—said to drink only drops of water as they fall from the clouds.
Cakravāka: Anas casarca,—pairs are said to sleep apart at night.
Crow: kāka, bāyasa, Corvus splendens,—messenger of separated lovers: also (LXXIII) an eater of leavings.
Garuḍa: a mythical bird, usually represented with a parrot's head and partly human body: the vehicle of Vishnu and the enemy of all serpents.
Koil or kokila: parabṛtaka, Indian cuckoo, Eudynamys honorata,—its cry is kuhu, kuhu, delightful to united, and distressing to divided, lovers. Its 'pancam-note' is the 'dominant' of Nature's chorus.
Parrot: kīra,—"Parrot noses are invariably associated with heroes and great men, while, among female figures they are to be seen only in images of Sakti." (A. N. Tagore, loc. cit.).
Partridge: cakora, Perdrix rufa,—said to feed on the rays of the moon.
'Peewit': pāpihā, the hawk-cuckoo, Hieroccyx varius,—its cry is piu, piu, 'Beloved, Beloved.'
Peacock: mayūra, Pavo cristatus,—delights in rain.
Wagtail: khañjana, Montacilla alba,—restless movement.
Ashoka: Jonesia asoka,—herald of Spring.
Bandhūka: Pentapetes phœnicia (or Leucas linifolia?)
Betel: pān, tāmbūla, Piper betle,—leaves used for chewing.
Bimba: Momordica monadelpha (or coccinia?),—bright red fruit.
Gañja: Abrus precatorius, seeds used as jeweller's weights.
Honey-apple: bel, shrīphala, 'Bengal quince,' Aegle marmelos,—large round fruit.
Jasmine: several varieties are mentioned, as cameli, Arabian jasmine J. sambac; campak, Michelia champaka; mālatī, clove-scented jasmine, Aganosma caryophyllata (or perhaps J. grandiflorum); kunda, Indian jasmine, J. pubescens,—all mentioned for their scent.
Jujube: badarī, Zizyphus jujuba,—small round fruits.
Kadamba: Anthocephalus cadamba,—the haunt of Krishna.
Keshara: safflower, Crocus sativa,—a herald of Spring.
Kimshuk: Butea frondosa,—tree with beautiful flowers, a herald of Spring.
Labanga-vine: labaṅga-latā, Limonia scandens,—a herald of Spring.
Lotus and water-lily: many varieties are mentioned, as aravinda, and kamala which are day-flowering, and kubalaya and kumudini, which flower at night. We have used the names 'lotus' and 'water-lily' indifferently for all varieties.
Mādhavi: Gaertnera racemosa,—herald of Spring.
Mango: Mangifera indica,—tender shoots and herald of Spring.
Orange: naraṅga, Citrus aurantum,—round fruits.
Pātal: trumpet-flower, Bignonia suaveolens,—herald of Spring.
Pital: a yellow flower not identified.
Plantain: kerā, Musa paradisaica,—smooth straight stem.
Pomegranate, granate: dāṛima, Punica granatum,—white smooth seeds.
Shālmalī: silk-cotton tree, Salmaria malabarica,—the thorns are used in the tortures of hell.
Sandal: candana, Santalum album,—which affords a fragrant powder for the body, much appreciated, and hence stands for the best of anything.
Screw-pine: ketakī, Pandanus odoratissimus,—fragrance.
Shirīsh: Acacia sirissa,—tenderness.
Tamāl: Garcinia zanthochymus,—straight stem, dark leaves (the colour of Krishna).
Tāla: palmyra, Borassus flabelliformis,—round fruits.
(Transcriber's note: The page images used to prepare this text did not include the illustrations).
One and the same lyrical tradition is the common inheritance of all Hindustan; it finds expression now in poetry, now in music, and now in painting. Hence it is that the schools of painting, though they are local, illustrate all the ideas of the Vaishnava poets as directly as the songs themselves. Amongst Rājput paintings it would perhaps be possible to find an appropriate illustration to every line of Vidyāpati, or of any other Vaishnava singer; not that Vidyāpati was known to the western painters, but their and his experience was the same. Just as the Vaishnava songs are word-painted miniatures, rather than narative, so with the Rājasthānī and still more with the Pahāri Rājput paintings; these are likewise musical delineations of brief moments of the soul's history. It is hoped that the reproductions given here will help to actualise the meaning of Vidyāpati's words, for those who are unfamiliar with the Vaishnava tradition.
The key to each picture is given in the quoted text, to which the following notes are supplementary:
Facing page 3: Jaipur painting of the 18th century, very brilliant in sunset colourings, representing a girl returning from a Shaiva shrine.
The original in the collection of Mr. N. Blount, Calcutta.
Facing page 19: A Pahārī (Kāngrā) painting of the early XIXth century, representing a girl bathing.
The original in the collection of Dr. Ananda Coomaraswamy.
Facing page 27: A Pahārī (Kāngrā?) painting, of the earlier part of the XVIIIth century, representing Krishna with his flute, beneath a kadamba tree, and beside him are two milk-maids with offerings of curd and betel.
The original in the collection of Dr. Ananda Coomaraswamy.
Facing page 33: This is the only one of our eleven illustrations which is not absolutely appropriate to the text. It is taken from an MS of Keśava Dāsa's Rasikapriyā, and represents the 'Clandestine Meeting' (Pracchanna samyoga). It is, however, Mughal in style, notwithstanding its Hindū subject; and while in a general way it illustrates the quoted text, its sentiment is more secular and realistic, and a further objection appears in the fact that the text implies a night and indoor environment.
The original in the collection of Dr. Ananda Coomaraswamy.
Facing page 43: A Pahārī (Kāngrā) painting of the late XVIIIth century, representing a dutikā leading Rādhā (or any heroine) across a starlit courtyard to her lover's house.
Original in the collection of Babu Gogonendronath Tagore.
Facing page 63: A Pahārī (Jammu district) painting of the XVIIth or XVIIIth century, representing an Abhisārikā. Part of a picture, the whole of which is given in 'The Journal of Indian Art,' No. 128, figure 16.
Original in the collection of Dr. Ananda Coomaraswamy.
Facing page 71: A Pahārī (Kāngrā) painting of the late XVIIIth century representing Krishna and Rādhā seated on a bed of plaintain leaves in a flowery grove.
Original in the collection of Dr. Ananda Coomaraswamy.
Facing page 77: A Pahārī (Kāngrā) painting of the early XIXth century representing the Mānini denying Krishna's prayers.
Original in the collection of Dr. Ananda Coomaraswamy.
Facing page 95: A Pahārī (Kāngrā) painting of the early XIXth century representing a woman cooking.
Original in the collection of Dr. Ananda Coomaraswamy.
Facing page 115: Part of a Pahārī (Jammu district) painting representing Rādhā (or any heroine) suffering from the pangs of viraha. Lotus leaves are spread on the bed, one sakhī is fanning the patient, and another brings her water in a jade cup; yet her body is scorched as though by fire.
Original in the collection of Dr. Ananda Coomaraswamy.
Facing page 151: Part of a Pahārī (Kāngrā) painting of late XVIIIth century, representing the Vāsakaśāyya Nāyika, she who welcomes her beloved on his return from abroad. For the whole picture see 'Journal of Indian Art,' No. 128, figure 13.
Original in the collection of Dr. Ananda Coomaraswamy.
The dates suggested are only approximate. Most of the reproductions are a little smaller than the originals.