Kamsarir api saMsAra- - Gita Govinda 3.1

I was reading through Miller's translation of the Gita Govinda yesterday [which I must mention was given to me by our own ebullient Dr. Jay Sri Radhe, dutifully and ecstatically marked up and underlined, as one might have expected!]. I came to this verse (3.1)--

kaMsArir api saMsAra-vAsanAbaddha-zRGkhalAm |
rAdhAm AdhAya hRdaye tatyAja vraja-sundarUH ||

Miller's translation goes as follows:


Which sounds very nice but not true to the original, especially the words, "saMsAra-vAsanAbaddha-zRGkhalAm." So I started looking up the other versions I have in my library.

Lee Siegel [who though a very good poet and writer in his own right, chose a very pedestrian, purely literal way of translating the Gita Govinda; it was his PhD dissertation.] "Moreover, the Enemy-of-Kamsa, having placed Radha in his heart as the chain binding him with the desire for this world, abandoned the beauties of Vraja."

This is indeed literally correct. But he seems to have had trouble with saMsAra which, he notes, means, "empirical existence, mundane illusion, the course of rebirth," all of which are inapplicable, at least in the Vaishnava context or without further explanation.

Gadadhar Pran: "Although Krishna is known as Kamsari (for having killed Kamsa), Radha is the binding force behind all of his love-filled romance. Thus, with his heart affixed to her, Krishna leaves the other Vraja sundaris."

There are good points here, too, especially "binding force behind all..."

Bhaktivedanta Swami has: "Lord Krishna, the enemy of Kamsa, took Srimati Radharani within His heart, for He desired to dance with Her. Thus He left the arena of the rasa dance and the company of all the other beautiful damsels of Vraja."

This translation has also abandoned the grammar and syntax of the original, as the complex adjective saMsAra-vAsanAbaddha-zRGkhalAm modifies Radha, not Krishna. "For he desired to dance with her" is nice, but somehow understates the meaning of "saMsAra-vAsanAbaddha-zRGkhalAm."

However, BVS has in the word-for-word for saMsAra-vAsanA "desirous of the essence of enjoyment, i.e. rasa lila." For baddha-zRGkhalAm, "being perfectly attracted to such activities."

Here is Siddhanta Saraswati's anvaya, on which that word-for-word is presumably based:

kaMsAriH zrI-kRSNaH api saMsAra-vAsanAbaddha-zRGkhalAm (samyak sAra-bhUtA rAsa-lIlA-vAsanA tayA AbaddhA bandhanaM dRDhIkaraNAya saMyuktA zRGkhalA nigaDa-rUpA tAM rAsa-krIDA-paramAzrayAM) rAdhAM hRdaye AdhAya (A samyak prakAreNa dhRtvA) vraja-sundarIH (sarvAH gopa-vadhUH) tatyAja.

"Krishna, the enemy of Kamsa, took Radha, the chain that tied him tightly to his supreme and essential desire to enjoy the rasa-lila, i.e., Radha, the supreme refuge of the rasa lila, into his heart and abandoned the other Vraja sundaris."

This seems closer to the original intent of the author, though I still would quibble with saMsAra-vAsanA as samyak-sAra-vAsanA, "the essence of all perfect desire," and the direct line to the rasa lila seems a little forced, though it could no doubt be introduced in a commentary on the verse.

Radha Govinda Nath discusses this at some length, but basically seems to follow Saraswati Thakur with little substantial difference.

So that's it for my sources. I would love to see what Prabodhananda has to say here.


I fell in love with this verse in that period of time when I was still in Iskcon but contemplating initiation from my Prabhu.

What I liked was the word samsara used in connection with Radha and Krishna's lila. Though we make much of Krishna's madhurya as opposed to his aisvarya, it is still nearly always his aisvarya that is given prominence. Madhurya is God’s humanity, so when we say mAdhurya bhagavattA-sAra, we are in effect saying that the aspect of God’s person known as bhagavattA means God as human, in which he accepts all the apparent limitations of the human form in order to take advantage of its ability to exchange intimacy with others. This is most perfectly expressed in his relation with Radha.

Parenthetically, therefore, to speak of humanity as something negative is to deceive oneself about the glories of the human form. As Chandi Das said, in perhaps his most famous statement, sabAr upare manuSya sattva tAhAr upare nAi ("The supreme state is being [hu]man, there is nothing above that.").

kRSNera jateka lIlA sarvottama nara-lIlA
nara vapu tAhAra svarUpa
gopa-veza veNu-kara nava-kizora naTa-vara
nara-lIlAra haya anurUpa

SaMsAra in Bengali means "home life." And Chanakya states, “Who says the home says the wife.” So here saMsAra means all the joys of the inner world and romantic love, without any of its mundane aspects.

To emphasize saMsAra as samyak sAra in this verse, though legitimate as a secondary explanation, misses the primary meaning of the word. Anyway, here saMsAra-vAsanA does not mean the memories of previous lives, nor does zRGkhala really mean chain. The word srinkhala here actually means “ordering principle”, just as visrinkhala means disordered.

Radha is the ordering principle around which Krishna’s desires (vAsanA) for worldly happiness (saMsAra) are bound.

What I am getting at is that defining saMsAra as rasa-lila limits Radha's role in Krishna's existence to one particular activity, as though she wasn't his entire existence. This verse, in effect, defines Radha as the Hladini-shakti, because in the context of the Gita Govinda, there are hundreds of Vraja sundaris clinging to Krishna's every limb, but Radha is the thread (zRGkhalA) that binds them and this whole world created out of Krishna's personal desire, his inner world, together.

Jai Radhe! Or should I say JOY Radhe!

Since I am doing this anyway, I may as well share it: A brief summary of Gita Govinda.

The religious and literary history of India was profoundly changed by a simple poem written in the 12th century. Jayadeva’s Gita Govinda inspired Hindu art, literature and religion by telling the story of the loves of Krishna and Radha in a way that broke the customary idea of an all-powerful male God. With his poem, Jayadeva changed forever the way that people in India looked at God.

The Gita Govinda is a simple story of infidelity, jealousy and reconciliation, which ultimately establishes the supremacy of the female strengths—love and beauty—and their ability to conquer the most powerful forces.

The poem starts where the Rasa lila leaves off—Krishna surrounded by hundreds of gopis, all vying for his love and attention. He looks for all the world like erotic love incarnate, intoxicated by the spring, his every limb draped by an adoring goddess. Seeing this, Radha becomes jealous and angry, and leaves the scene in a huff, unable to tolerate his treating her as just another of his many mistresses.

Suddenly, Krishna becomes aware of Radha’s absence. His display of playboy prowess is revealed to him as an indulgence he cannot afford. Without her, he is lost. Radha is, he realizes, the thread that keeps his world in order. Unable to bear another moment without her, he immediately abandons all the other admiring beauties of Vrindavan to look for her.

Krishna searches high and low, but cannot find her anywhere. The arrows of love pierce his weary mind and he becomes exhausted. He calls out to the God of Love: “Don’t mistake me for Shiva and burn me with your arrows. Why do you rush at me vengefully? I have already been vanquished by a living goddess of love.”

While Krishna is in this state of despair, one of Radha’s girlfriends comes to him and describes the pain Radha is herself undergoing in hsi absence. She too is unable to endure being without him and has begun to regret her angry. “She curses the sandalbalm and moonlight, which instead of cooling her body seem to scorch it. The normally refreshing evening breezes feel to her like the venomous vapors arising from a nest of vipers.”

The messenger then appeals to Krishna to come and heal Radha of her love-sickness. “She found your neglect unbearable, but now I am worried that she will not be able to survive your separation if it endures any longer.”

Knowing that the messenger girl had come on her own initiative, and not at Radha’s request, Krishna asks her to go back and communicate his own condition to Radha, to assure her of his own devotion and to forgive him. “Tell her I have abandoned the comfort of house and home to roam the wild forest. Unable to tolerate the comfort of my bed, I toss and turn on the bare ground, calling out her name throughout the night. I meditate on her without sleeping, chanting magic spells in the hope of attaining the elixir of her touch.”

Radha immediately is won over on hearing this message and asks the go-between to bring them together. She then becomes the vAsaka-sajjA nAyikA: Anxiously awaiting her lover's arrival, she dresses and decorates herself and the bower where she hopes to soon hold Krishna in her arms. Each falling leaf makes her think he is about to arrive. She goes into long periods of reverie or occupies herself in a hundred different activities in joyful anticipation of Krishna's coming.

Gradually, however, she becomes the utkaNThitA nAyikA: Krishna has not come at the appointed time. She cannot understand what has kept him. She becomes angry at her girlfriend for having cheated her with false promises, for it seems that once again Krishna has been waylaid by some other temptress.

When he finally arrives, too late for lovemaking, his eyes are bloodshot from a sleepless night and his body covered with the telltale signs of his infidelity: scratches and lovebites, marks of lipstick and mascara.

Radha is now a khaNDitA nAyikA. She denounces him bitterly: "You killed the witch Putana, but it seems that it is your general intention to kill all women. What a cruel cheat you are to flaunt your infidelities in front of me! Damn you Madhava! Don’t come here making excuses. Don’t plead your lies with me, but go back to her if she means that much to you."

Krishna leaves in shame, and Radha soon becomes the kalahAntaritA nAyikA, again feeling remorse and self-pity. Seeing this, her friend once more intervenes on Krishna’s behalf. “Don’t turn all your anger on him, for he is proud too. Why condemn your heart to loneliness? Let him come and apologize. When he is tender, you are harsh. When he is pliant you are rigid. When he is passionate, you are hateful. When he looks at you expectantly, you turn away. You leave him just when he starts to behave in a loving manner. Why are you so perverse?"

Finally Radharani admits Krishna into her presence, but not with open arms. Krishna must beg her for forgiveness. In his stammering appeals, Krishna begs her to bring him to life with a drop of nectar from her lips and to place her feet on his head, in an act of complete subordination.

Radha is mollified and forgives her lover and the two of them make blissful love. Radha is now the svAdhIna-bhartRkA, the goddess who has conquered the empire of Krishna's heart. She orders him fearlessly to dress and decorate her, to do her every bidding as servant and lover, a role that he accepts joyfully as the fulfilment of his entire being.


It is said that Jayadeva felt some reticence about writing that Krishna fell down at Radharani’s feet to beg her forgiveness for having deceived her. While he was composing these lines, he decided to second-guess his inspiration and take his bath before actually writing them down.

While Jayadeva was away from the house, however, Krishna himself came inside, disguised as the poet. He took the palm leaf with the verse awaiting completion and wrote in the words: “Make the your flower-like foot the crowning decoration on my head, and dispel the poison of our separation.”

Jayadeva's wife Padmavati was surprised to see her husband returned so quickly from his bath and asked him, “What are you doing here? You just left a minute ago.” The disguised Krishna answered, “I had an inspired thought on my way to the river and was afraid I might forget it, so I came back to write it down.”

Not long after Krishna had written the fateful words and gone, the real Jayadeva returned. This time, Padmavati was truly astonished to see him. She said, “Just a few moments ago you were writing in your manuscript, and then you left a second time to go and take your bath. How could you have finished and come back so quickly? I am beginning to wonder who that was and who you are!”

Jayadeva went and looked at his unfinished lines and saw the words that Krishna himself had written. The hair stood erect all over his body and tears came pouring from his eyes. He called Padmavati and said, “You have been blessed and your life's purpose fulfilled, for you have had the good fortune to see Krishna himself. I am so lowly that I did not have that opportunity!”

yadi hari smaraNe sa rasam mano
yadi vilAsa kaLA sukutUhalam
madhura komala kAnta padAvaLIm
zRNu tadA jayadeva sarasvatIm

(G.G.)

kaMsArir api saMsAra-vAsanAbaddha-zRGkhalAm |
rAdhAm AdhAya hRdaye tatyAja vraja-sundarUH ||

Sri Jayadeva - Gita Govinda Kavya 3.1

B.S. Miller's translation goes as follows:

Krishna, demon Kamsa’s foe
feeling Radha bind his heart with chains
of memories buried in other worldly lives
abandoned the beautiful cowherd girls.

As a Rasika devotee, I'd like to read it as:

"Having taken the full shelter of His Soul Sri Radha (Hladini Shakti) ,
Who Herself is the Supreme binding force of Sri Krishna
to the unlimited souls of the world, the Vanquisher of Kamsa,
Lord Krishna even detached Himself from countless beautiful,
surrendered Gopis of Vraja."

As Sri Radhika has left the arena of Rasa-Lila, the Lila which in the first place having been accomplished by the Grace of Yogamaya - Hladini Shakti (SB.10.29.1),
Lord Krishna has to leave everyone else taking full refuge of that Supreme Power in His heart, since He is unable to continue the blissful lila.
The Vraja sudaris can receive Divine Love and Bliss only through Lord's Bliss Potency, Sri Radha.

When the Power-supply has been cut off there can be no more Performance.

Sri Ramananda raya described various ascending stages of Raganuga bhakti progression in C.C. Madhyalila and Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu asked him to go further even after hearing about the 'Gopi bhava' selfless love of Vraja gopikas.

Then Sri Raya quoted this verse from 'Gita Govinda' establishing the Supremacy of Radharani and Radha Mahabhava. That well known verse reveals how Sri Krishna Himself has taken His Soul Radha's refuge even abandoning the selfless love of the Vraja sundaris. The Gopis are just the flowers and leaves on the binding Divine vine of Radha that encircles the Divine Tamala tree of Krishna.

Thus Sri Mahaprabhu revealed to the world the Supreme Power of Divine Love being Sri Radha through this sublime verse of Sri Jayadeva.

Salutations to my eternal Preceptor, the Rasik Saint Sri Jayadeva Kaviraja,
the Beloved of PadmAvati devi!

vande jayadeva sadgurum ahaM padmAvatI vallabham

I like that "When the power supply is cut off, there can be no performance." I may use that...

I heard that Saint Mirabai had also written a commentary on 'Gita Govinda Kavya' but unfortunately it was missing.

Here's another rendering by Durgadas Mukhopadhyay. His version in general seems like miller's, but revamped into a slightly more modern edition. Anyway, this is his version of "kamsarirapi....etc.

Krishna, the enemy of Kamsa
placed Radha in his heart;
submitted willingly to be chained
by the longings of worldly attachment
and so abandoned
the beautiful women of Vraja.

then also.

srI rAdhikAra utkanthAra karila laksana /
ebe krsna utkanthAra kariba socana //
kamsAri rAdhikA dhari hrdaya mandale /
chArila sakala gopI mahArAsa sthale //
samsAra vAsanA tAra bandhana srnkhalA /
kevala rAdhikA mAtra hayena ekalA //
rAsa sthale krsne rAdhA nA dekhe jakhane /
sata koti gopIre chArila seikhane //

The signs of Radhika's utkantha have been shown.
Now Krishna's utkantha, where with he laments.
The adversary of Kamsa held Radhika in his heart,
and stole away from the arena of the maharasa,
abandoning all the other cowherd damsels.
Being bound by the fetters of worldly desire,
only to Radhika and to no one else. When Krishna
could not find Radha in the rasa sthala he immediately
left behind hundreds of millions of cowherd damsels.

Yes, it was silly of me not to look at the Chaitanya Charitamrita payar translation (2.8.112-3). Because there it says clearly,

samyak vAsanA kRSNera icchA rAsa-lIlA
rAsa-lIlA-vAsanAte rAdhikA zRGkhalA
tAGhA vinA rAsa-lIlA nAhi bhAya citte
maNDalI chARiyA gelA rAdhA anveSite

So Saraswati Thakur and R.G. Nath were following Kaviraj Goswami. Not that my interpretation is wrong...

Also, to introduce the verse in CC 1.4.217, Kaviraj Goswami says:

rAdhA saha krIDA rasa-vRddhira kAraNa
Ara saba gopI-gaNa rasopakaraNa

"Dallying with Radha is the [root] cause of Krishna's pleasure increasing. All the rest of the gopis are peripheral causes of his pleasure."

"kamsari api...". Does that echo the Bhagavat, "bhagavan-api sA rAtri...."?
In Gadadhar pran's version he has put it as ,athough or even being enemy of Kamsa.....etc., as the Bhagavat sloka, "Despite his being the bhagavan, rantum manascakre....he desired to make love or have amorous dalliance". Thus creating a sense of wonder and astonsishment in the listeners.

rAdhAra svarUpa kRSNa prema kalpa-latA
sakhIgaNa haya tAra pallava puSpa pAtA (C.C. 2. 8. 169)

sakhyaH zrIrAdhikAyA vraja kumuda vidhor hlAdinI nAma zakteH
sArAMza prema vallyAH kisalaya dala puSpAdi tulyAH svatulyAH

(Govinda Lilamrita 10.16)

kA kRSNasya praNaya-jani-bhU rAdhikaikA na cAnyA
kAsya preyasy anupama-guNA rAdhikaikA parA na
kA cakre taM sva-vazam anizaM rAdhikA netarA tad
vAJchA-pUrtau prabhavati hi kA rAdhikA nApareha

There is another reading of this verse in Chaitanya Charitamrita, which I find superior.

kA kRSNasya praNaya-jani-bhU zrImatI rAdhikaikA
kAsya preyasy anupama-guNA rAdhikaikA na cAnyA
jaihmyaM keze dRzi taralatA niSThuratvaM kuce'syA
vAJchA-pUrtau prabhavati hi kA rAdhikA na cAnyA

kaMsArir api.

You are right, Madanmohanji. There is a contrast being made. "Even though he is Kamsari." And the insight about bhagavAn api is good also. In the latter, it is "Even though he is bhagavAn, he (1) took shelter of yogamaya, and (2) turned his mind to enjoying the rasa lila.

Here, "even though he is the enemy of Kamsa, he (1) took Radha to his heart, and (2) abandoned the Vrajasundaris."

Sanatana's comment on Bhagavatam 10.29.1 says that one interpretation of yogamaya is Radha.

But I'll have to think on why "Kamsari" here. And what exactly the full import of "api" would be.

Dear Jagat,

Dandavats. All glories to the Vaisnavas.

Your summary of Gita Govinda is terrific. It is a work I read a few years ago and, after reading your summary, I find myself wishing I still had a opy to read it again. So much to read... so little time! I have 6 states to visit in the next five weeks which will be exhausting but will also give me plenty of time to read. My first goal is to closely read Manjari Svarupa Nirupana. I now think book 2 needs to be Gita Govinda. How gives the best translation of the work?

Aspiring to serve the Vaisnavas,
Rasaraja dasa

Unfortunately (or fortunately) there are already so many editions of Gita Govinda available. It is one of the most oft-translated Sanskrit texts. Of course, if I ever get that Prabodhananda commentary I keep mentioning, I may change my opinion.

Dandavats. All glories to the Vaisnavas.

So which would you say is the best available? I have a dreaded trip to Las Vegas coming up in 2.5 weeks and would love to get a copy for that trip.

Aspiring to serve the Vaisnavas,
Rasaraja dasa

I think that Barbara Stoller Miller's edition is very good in general. Gadadhar Pran's edition really needs a good overhauling, but his language is very enthusiastic, even if it sometimes fails in the English department. Like I said, Siegel's edition has very good points, and is the most literal and strictly speaking correct translation. For a guy who is a very good poet, he was trying something else here. Both Siegel and Miller have excellent introductions.

You know, on the whole, I think I would recommend Gadhadhar's edition first. The translation may be less correct, but the guy is really enthusiastic about rasika-bhakti. It's contagious. You may have trouble getting hold of it though.

The other editions are more intellectual. Miller's is probably the most easily available. There are probably older translations available on the internet. Read them all!

Nope. I'm working on a slogan something along the lines of, "Forget the ricksha, we're click-sure." Gita Govinda is here:

http://www.loibazaar.com/go.mvc?ID=GP-GG

I don't have Gadadhar Prana's "Why Mahaprabhu Came" but have his other titles:

http://www.loibazaar.com/go.mvc?ID=GP

There is also a very interesting multimedia site with Gita Govinda video and audio:

http://ignca.nic.in/gita.htm

I'm planning to get their CDROMs.

The Gita Govinda multimedia site is really good. You can also get alot of audio recordings. In the south there seems to be some tradition of singing eight selected songs for a performance called Jayadev Astapadis. I have a couple and they are really excellent. One can also learn how to sing the songs from the tapes. There is also a Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan audio tape giving an abridged arrangement of the songs with a semi dramatic English translation. I don't know how one might get these though. I don't mind burning what I have onto cd should anyone be interested.

Gaurahari bol!