________________ INTRODUCTION Popularity of the Gitagovinda : Among the devotional and lyrical poems Jayadeva's Gitagovinda occupies a supremely pre-eminent position. No other poem of this type has enjoyed such wide popularity. This is attested by the number-over forty-of commentaries! written in different parts of India; by the number-over twelve-of imitations; citations in Anthologies;3 translations in various Indian as well as European languages;* and by the unstinted and profuse praise lavished on it by historians of Sanskrit Literature. It brought Jayadeva such fame that for centuries, every year on the last day of Magha, which happens to be his birthday a festival is held when songs from his poem are sung. Jayadeva's Life, Date and Works : We know nothing whatever of historical value from the Hindi Bhaktamala of Nabhadasa rewritten by Narayanadasa in the middle of the seventeenth century, nor from the Sanskrit Bhaktamala of Candradatta based on it, which records about Jayadeva several legends. These legends only show how he was extolled as a saint of the Krsna-cult and a miracle-worker. In his youth, it is reported, he led the life of a wandering ascetic but later married when a Brahmana forced upon him his daughter. After the marriage he composed the poem Gitagovinda, in which Lord Krsna is said to have aided him to describe the wondrous beauty of Radba, when his own mortal powers had failed. We know of only a few reliable details about Jayadeva from his work. From a verse at the end of his poem we learn that he (1) See India Office Catalouge VII (p.1454 ff), Lassen's Prolegomena to his edition and Aufrecht's Catalogus Catalogorum Part 1.153, II.81, I1.33. (2) Like the Meghaduta, the Gitagovinda has given rise to many imitations. These imitations sometimes substitute the theme of Rama and Sita, and Hara and Parvati, for Krsna and Radha. See History of Sanskrit Literature (p. 396) by Dasgupta and Dey. (3) Ibid (p. 389). (4) Bengali, Hindi, Marathi and Gujarati and in Europe English, French, German and Dutch (5) Keith: History of Sanskrit Literature, pp. 190-198. M-Winternitz: History of indian Literature, Vol. III, Part I, (Translated into English by Jha, Varanasi, 1963), pp. 142-148. Dasgupta and Dey: History of Sanskrit Literature, pp.388-395. Macdonell: A History of Sanskrit Literature, pp.344-45. M.Krishnamachariar: History of Classical Sanskrit Literature, p.339. (6) Hitta haft Theatgafisat PER fari fritattare fata 11-Canto XII-11 This verse is not, however, commented upon either by Mananka or Kumbha but is accepted by other commentators and is found in Buhler's Kashmir MS, as well as in the Nepal MS.
