Gita-govinda of Jayadeva (comparative study)
by Manisha Misra | 2012 | 56,963 words
This essay contains an English study of the Gita-Govinda by Jayadeva and the “Kishore Chandrananda Champu” by Kabisurya Baladev. (1) The Gitagovinda is a Sanskrit Kavya poem of 12th century composed by Jayadeva, who was a devotee of Lord Krishna/Jagannatha and a patron of Odisha culture. The Gitagovinda had widespread influence on Indian art and li...
10. Musical Estimate (e): The Ragas (Tunes) used in the Gitagovinda
The word raga has its origin in the Sanskrit root ranj in the sense of colouring. Science has already established that affinity exists between sound waves and colour-waves and that a note of a particular frequency can produce a particular colour. So no better name than raga could have been given to a melodic pattern composed of notes or svaras which undoubtedly colour at least the mind of the listener 113. A raga is a psycho material object or an object or an objective expression of the subjective feelings of the human mind. A raga is first 111. R. N. Panda, Odisha's Contribution to Sanskrit lyrics, pp.119-120 112. Ibid, 117 113. Rath, B.M., A Study on Srikrishna lilamritam, p.171 70
designed ideally in the mind and then it is projected outside in material sound form. So in the process of both construction and manifestation of a raga, mind and matter are active 114. Regarding the use of raga in Gitagovinda there is no unanimity among the published texts. The critics are also equally divergent in their views on this front. The critical edition of Gitagovinda of B. S. Miller in fact mentions eleven ragas viz. Malava - Songs 1,6 and 13 Gujjari - (2,5,7,11,15,18) Vasanta- (3,14,20) Ramakeri- (4,24) Karnata- (8) Desakhya- (9,16) Desavaradi- (10,19) Nataraga- (12) Bhairavi- (17) Varadi- (21, 22) Vibhasa- (23) The raga used in various songs of Gitagovinda differs from one edition to the other. A comparative table of the raga (tunes) mentioned in different editions of Gitagovinda and the serial number of songs are given below: Ragas used by Jayadeva in the songs of Gitagovinda 115 114. Svami Prajnanananda, Historical development of Indian music, p.16 115. Panda, R.N.,, Odisha's Contribution to Sanskrit lyrics, p.121 71
(A) (B) Edition adopted by Swami B. Panda's Edition, Directorate (C) B. S. Miller's Critical Edn. Prajnanananda 1. Kamata of Culture, Odisha 1. Karnata 1. Karnata 2. Gujjari 2. Gujjari 2. Gujjari 3. Gondakiri 3. Gondakiri 3. Desakhya 4. Desakhya 4. Desakhya 4. Desavaradi 5. Desavaradi 5. Desi 5. Vasanta 6. Vasanta 6. Desivaradi 6. Bhairavi 7. Bhairavi 7. Vasanta 7. Malava 8. Malava 8. Bhairavi 8. Ramakeri 9. Ramakeri 9. Malava 9. Varadi 10. Varadi 10. Ramakeri 10. Nataraga 11. Vibhasa 12. Malavagauda/ Lalita 72 11. Vibhasa