Geeta Govinda's pathway from earthly to divine love

It is probably a well known given to anyone reading this that Indian aesthetics has long employed the metaphor of human love for approaching a comprehension of the divine. You might even be familiar with the types of nayikas and nayaks, heroines and heroes, along with their various emotional and physical states outlined in the Natya Shastra and other classical texts on dance, music and theatre.  

Perhaps you have not given much thought to how different this is from Western religious traditions. In these, love has been separated into sacred and profane, i.e. human, for a couple millennia with a few notable exceptions such as King Solomon’s Song of Songs in the Old Testament or The Ecstasy of St. Theresa.

The tendency of successive generations to think that they have discovered sex, irrespective of the evidence of their own existence and the planet’s population, along with understanding of Indian philosophies limited to childhood Amar Chitra Katha stories resulted in the astonished reaction to a TEDx talk on Geeta Govinda by students of an institute of technology. They seemed thunderstruck by seeing love in entirely new ways and even wanted advice after the presentation on applying this to their own lives. What I thought of as adding nuance to a shared Indian sub-continental cultural understanding was actually revealing this to them for seemingly the first time. I am writing in hope that you will share this with young adults in your sphere who have missed out philosophies and psychological perspectives that can help them through samskara.

The theme given was “Stories that Shape the World”. Turning to the stories that I am most conversant with in the shaping of cultural identity in India, the one that appealed to me most is Geeta Govinda. The union of Radha and Krishna in Jayadev’s Geeta Govinda uses sensuous love as a metaphor for the union of jivatma-paramatma. Since the 12th century Geeta Govinda was sung and danced in Jagannath Puri to inspire divine love through the aesthetics of erotic love.

There are many ways to interpret and frame this lila and this specific text. There is the simple bliss shared by Vaisnav devotees, along with the poet, identifying with Radha and Krishna and the other gopis. Beyond this, I feel the core message is essentially that the ecstasy of union in non-duality is possible only when Radha can rise above the self-centered desire to experience the divine love of Krishna exclusively for herself.

The significance of this highly refined uttama nayika acquiring the confidence and wisdom to abandon the envy, anger and pain of self-cherishing ego is paramount, yet can easily be misunderstood to justify unacceptable paternalistic attitudes.

Many dots need to be connected for a general audience to first understand some basics, starting with the fact that love is not simply sex if this is sadly outside their experience. The casual disparagement of heroines wasting their time waiting for unfaithful lovers would make sense if we were looking at a human soap opera starring Diya and Pratap, but displays unfortunate ignorance when applied to a conceptional approach spiritual wisdom via metaphysical love.

Both poetry and artistic interpretation in dance and visual arts definitely use social and cultural images that reflect the times and community values in which they were created. While Krishna stealing the clothes of the bathing gopis symbolises that one cannot hide anything before God, any boy actually doing this is a voyeur to be punished.

In our modern awareness of harassment, #metoo and criminal “eve-teasing”, audiences unaware of the profundities expressed in the Geeta Govinda and other texts may see only retrograde attitudes in the interactions of Radha with Krishna. The ratibhava expressed in vipralambha-sringara (separation) and sambhoga sringara (consummation) parallels the reality that we are predominantly separated from ultimate truth/divinity.

It was terribly amusing when my mother’s neighbour, who had hosted me when a family gathering overran our home, said “Sharon left her Indian pornography in the bedroom”. Immediately, I smiled, “Oh, that’s where my Barbara Stoller Miller translation of Geeta Govinda disappeared.” This scholarly work on bhakti erotic poetry danced and sung across India from medieval times onward would clearly look more than risqué to a middle-aged neighbour in Detroit, Michigan.

Radha existed in texts before Jayadeva, but he is largely considered responsible for establishing her as a pre-eminent gopi. This poetry was embraced across India during medieval times, notably by Chaitanya and other devotional cults emphasising erotic mysticism.

The Geeta Govinda opens with, “The sky is overcast by thick clouds. The woodlands are black with tamala trees. This boy Krishna is afraid of the gloom of the night. So, Oh Radha, take him home. Such was the command of Nanda, the herdsman. Thus arose the love of Radha and Krishna who, as they passed through the forest, sported in the bowers on the bank of the Yamuna.”

Immediately following this is Das Avatar, the 10 incarnations of Vishnu, the Preserver of the Universe with Buddha preceded by Balram, Krishna’s brother, making Krishna distinct from other avatars of Vishnu. This frames the story as a portrayal of the intimate power of divine culminating in union once Radha has the confidence and wisdom to abandon selfish love.

The Springtime atmosphere conducive for love is then created in asthapadis evoking all the senses-buzzing bees, sandalwood breezes, soft flower petals, flowered bowers, all supporting the eternal/momentary dance of the gopis with Krishna in samsara.

The last stanza in each song connects Jayadeva’s words to the audience’s aesthetic and religious understanding of the developing erotic relationship of Radha and Krishna.

Some may say Radha would not be uniquely differentiated if individual ego was the cause of separation. I feel that Radha’s individuality offers us, as individuals, the opportunity to identify and experience the joys and pains of her path to celestial union. Krishna cloning himself to dance with all the gopis clearly demonstrates that all have equal access to the divine.

Radha’s jealousy creates the separation as her sakhi goes back and forth to bring the lovers together when Radha waits in her bower rather than going to where Krishna awaits her. After she finally goes to meet him, he keeps her waiting all night as he dallies with another. As a refined uttama nayika her response is reflective yet filled with pride fuelling anger, suffering and rejection.

In Priye Charusheela, Radha finally understands the complete surrender of self for which Krishna asks,

“Oh beloved! virtuous one! leave your pride aside. the flames of passion burn my heart; give me the nectar of your mouth …yield to me! be mine forever! …place your feet, soft as tender leaves, on my head. let the passion that blazes in me like the sun burning in fiery form in me with tormenting love be quelled by the touch of your feet oh beloved! virtuous one!”

All spiritual paths originating in India share a belief that actions in the present life are the seeds of future karmic results and that these are rooted in egoism. The mystical eroticism of Geeta Govinda provides a roadmap toward mokshya. It does not justify human misogyny or negative behavior in the man-woman relationship as the philosophy places all men along with women as the jivatma Radha seeking union with the paramatma Krishna.

The high aim of communicating metaphysical understanding through dance may unfortunately not be achieved or even attempted by many performers. Audiences and “artists” alike will naturally be bored or put off by repetition of stories that seem to simply communicate outdated social relationships at best. The impact of sharing this “story that shaped the world” with students at a TEDx talk was joy that I hope you will share with others.

The writer is a respected exponent of Odissi, Manipuri and Mayurbhanj and Seraikella Chau whose four-decade career in India was preceded by 17 years of modern dance and ballet in the US and an MA in dance from the University of Michigan. She can be  contacted at sharonlowen.workshop@gmail.com.