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208
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
.
NOVEMBER, 1928
SOME LITERARY NOTES ON THE AUTHORSHIP OF THE GOVINDALILÄMRTA.
BY CHINTAHARAN CHAKRAVARTI, M.A. THE Govindalilámpta is a fairly popular Sanskrit Kavya among the Vaişnavas of Bengal. It deals, as its name implies, with the amours of Rådhå and Krşņa. Its popularity is attested by the fact of its having been translated into Bengali verse as early as 1610 A.D. by Yadunandana Dasa. Numerous manuscripts of it found and noticed or described by various scholars in notices, reports and descriptive catalogues of Sanskrit MSS. in different parts of the world point to the same fact. But curiously enough there has been a good deal of confusion among scholars with regard to its authorship. Thus one set of scholars attributes it to Raghunatha Dåsal, while another is inclined to suppose Raghunatha Bhatta as its
author.
All this confusion seems to have arisen out of a verse which occurs, mutatis mutandis, at the end of every canto. At the end of the last canto it runs as follows:
श्री चैतन्यपदारावन्दमधुपश्रीरूपसेवाफले दिष्टे श्रीरघुनाथदासकृतिना श्रीजीवसंगोद्गते । काव्ये श्रीरघुनाथभट्टवरजे गोविन्दलीजामृते
सर्गोयं रजनीविलासबलितः पूर्वस्त्रयोविंशकः ।। “This the twenty-third canto, full of nightly amours, in the Govindalilámsla which is the fruit of waiting on Sri Rûpa, the bee, as it were, of the feet-lotus of Sri Chaitanyawhich was directed by the scholarly Raghunatha Dasa---which resulted from the companion. ship of Sri Jiva-which originated from the boon of Sri Raghunatha Bhatta, is complete."
Evidently the verse does not name the author of the work, but only refers to persons through whose inspiration and help the author undertook and finished his work.
But this should not lead one to suppose that the name of the author is not mentioned at all in the work. It is true we have got no colophon proper to this work, where we could expect the name of the author. A verse however in the last canto of the work (xxiii. 95) definitely refers to the author. It runs =
पादारविन्दभून श्रीरूपरघुनाथयोः ।
कृष्णदासेन गोविन्दलीलामृतमिदं चितम् ॥ "This Govindaltlåmsla was composed by Krsnadåsa who was a bee to the feet-lotus of Srirûpa and Raghunatha."
This leaves scarcely any room for doubt as to the authorship of the work. But this is not the only place where Kraņadása is referred to as the author of the book. He is distinctly mentioned as the author by Yadunandana, both in the beginning and at the end of his metrical Bengali translation of it. The commentary Sadanandavidhayini on it, as contained in the published edition of the work, also attributes it to Krsnadåsa in the introductory verses.
As a matter of fact the book is quite well-known, among the Vaisnavas of Bengal, as the work of Krşnadasa. The edition of it, in Bengali characters, published from Berhampur (Murshidabad) bears his name as the author. And it is a matter for gratification that of all
1 Report on the Search of Sanskrit MSS. in the Bombay Presidency for 1887-1891, No. 394 ; Ibid for 1891. 1895, Nos. 494, 495, 496 ; Descriptive Catalogue of Sans. MSS, in the India Ofice, vol. VII. No. 3878.
2 Report on the Search of Sans, MSS, in the Bombay Presidency for 1884-87, No. 350 ; Descriptive Oata. logue of Sans. MSS. in the Library of the Calcutla Sans. Coll., vol. X. No. 32; Notices of Sankrit MSS., R. L. Mitra, vol. II, No. 671 : Descriptive Catalogue of Sans. MSS. in the Bikaner State Library, No. 488.
3 A more literal translation of the verse would be This nectar of the amours of Govinda (i.. selected stories of his amours) was collected, etc.' But this is tantamount to saying that the work was composed by Kropadasa.
