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Gita Govinda of Jayadeva: Love Song of The Dark Lord
246 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2024
About the author
Barbara Stoler Miller
34 books11 followersBarbara Stoler Miller (August 8, 1940 – April 19, 1993) was a scholar of Sanskrit literature. Her translation of the Bhagavad Gita was extremely successful and she helped popularize Indian literature in the U.S. She was the president of the Association for Asian Studies in 1990.
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November 15, 2025
Reflections on Miller’s Artful Translation:
The erotic theme of this classic text is an analogy for the pursuit of divine love, and the bliss of the one who attains it. Here are some reflections on various themes I found in the work:
Nature and Sex
The buzz of honey bees, the calling of cuckoos, the bed of ferns, the Jumna river and countless other descriptions of nature, together with the prevailing theme of longing for the passionate embrace of the beloved, suggest the obvious but maybe overlooked fact that sex is as much a part of nature as all those other things. Contemporary folk make love on beds in houses; in this poem the site is outside in thickets. This evokes the idea of paradise, a realm of bliss apart from human economy.
Unorthodoxy
The poem helped initiate a spiritual revival in India. It intimates a passionate spirituality. This seems to counter the tradition of asceticism common in strict religion. Though writing as a Hindu, Jayadeva nods to the Buddha, describing him as one of Krishna’s incarnations, who opposed the corruption and inhumanity of the priest-class. This demonstrates his unorthodox approach to dharma.
Spiritual Development
Krishna is often called “Madhu’s killer.” Madhu was a demon, which Krishna slew in a previous incarnation. This young demon-slayer, however, pursues sexual adventure with several woman. Union with “flawless” Radha, however, represents completion and perfection; his philandering with the seductive cowherdesses, we learn, was an immature stage in his development. Theologically, this shows that incarnate beings must undergo development, even Krishna, the incarnation of Vishnu the preserver (considered the supreme Lord in Vaishnavism).
Jayadeva’s verses point beyond the sexual adventures of youth. We take the perspective of Radha, who is jealous and lovesick over Krishna, and hopes for him to return and remain faithful. And yet at the end, there is no marriage ceremony before the lovers meet in Krishna’s bower. Jayadeva’s vision of consummation features no representative of institutional religion—no priest or even parents. (This recalls CS Lewis’ comment: “nature’s marriage is the union of the man who pursues and the woman who consents”).
Magic
Radha’s fantasizing about Krishna is what seems to instigate his pining for her in return. It suggests a magical connection between her imaginative acts and the thoughts and feelings and arousals of her distant beloved. Materialistic science will balk at such an idea. Jayadeva teaches differently (it’s also found in Native American poetry). Yes, magic is real, if that’s the name you want to give to the spiritual connection between lovers who are physically distant.
This magical act is also analogous to spiritual practice. Thus Radha “spreads out the bed and awaits long in meditation” (Canto 6:10).
“The Battle of Love”
Song fourteen uses this phrase twice for the act of sexual union. The suggestion is that: as a man shows his manliness on the battlefield, so he shows it when intimate with a woman. (This song also, with its descriptions of what the “young voluptuous beauty” is doing, is particularly erotic.) Song fifteen extends the metaphor by describing “Mura’s foe” making love “in triumph.” And song twenty: “Your friends know your armed body is ready for passionate battle, fierce Radha, by the war-drum beat of your clanging girdle. Meet his rich mood without shame!”
Torment and Bliss
Radha’s servants seem to be teasing her by commenting about Krishna making love with other women under the same night sky they are looking up at. This makes Radha’s torment unbearable. She contemplates drowning herself in the Jumna, to “quench” the burning of her heart.
This passion signifies the potential for the height of bliss. As the Upanishads teach, the bliss of sensual pleasure is nothing compared to that of the one who actualizes the Self. The Gita Govinda, in sum, is not just eroticism, but an allegory of spiritual growth and consummation.
The erotic theme of this classic text is an analogy for the pursuit of divine love, and the bliss of the one who attains it. Here are some reflections on various themes I found in the work:
Nature and Sex
The buzz of honey bees, the calling of cuckoos, the bed of ferns, the Jumna river and countless other descriptions of nature, together with the prevailing theme of longing for the passionate embrace of the beloved, suggest the obvious but maybe overlooked fact that sex is as much a part of nature as all those other things. Contemporary folk make love on beds in houses; in this poem the site is outside in thickets. This evokes the idea of paradise, a realm of bliss apart from human economy.
Unorthodoxy
The poem helped initiate a spiritual revival in India. It intimates a passionate spirituality. This seems to counter the tradition of asceticism common in strict religion. Though writing as a Hindu, Jayadeva nods to the Buddha, describing him as one of Krishna’s incarnations, who opposed the corruption and inhumanity of the priest-class. This demonstrates his unorthodox approach to dharma.
Spiritual Development
Krishna is often called “Madhu’s killer.” Madhu was a demon, which Krishna slew in a previous incarnation. This young demon-slayer, however, pursues sexual adventure with several woman. Union with “flawless” Radha, however, represents completion and perfection; his philandering with the seductive cowherdesses, we learn, was an immature stage in his development. Theologically, this shows that incarnate beings must undergo development, even Krishna, the incarnation of Vishnu the preserver (considered the supreme Lord in Vaishnavism).
Jayadeva’s verses point beyond the sexual adventures of youth. We take the perspective of Radha, who is jealous and lovesick over Krishna, and hopes for him to return and remain faithful. And yet at the end, there is no marriage ceremony before the lovers meet in Krishna’s bower. Jayadeva’s vision of consummation features no representative of institutional religion—no priest or even parents. (This recalls CS Lewis’ comment: “nature’s marriage is the union of the man who pursues and the woman who consents”).
Magic
Radha’s fantasizing about Krishna is what seems to instigate his pining for her in return. It suggests a magical connection between her imaginative acts and the thoughts and feelings and arousals of her distant beloved. Materialistic science will balk at such an idea. Jayadeva teaches differently (it’s also found in Native American poetry). Yes, magic is real, if that’s the name you want to give to the spiritual connection between lovers who are physically distant.
This magical act is also analogous to spiritual practice. Thus Radha “spreads out the bed and awaits long in meditation” (Canto 6:10).
“The Battle of Love”
Song fourteen uses this phrase twice for the act of sexual union. The suggestion is that: as a man shows his manliness on the battlefield, so he shows it when intimate with a woman. (This song also, with its descriptions of what the “young voluptuous beauty” is doing, is particularly erotic.) Song fifteen extends the metaphor by describing “Mura’s foe” making love “in triumph.” And song twenty: “Your friends know your armed body is ready for passionate battle, fierce Radha, by the war-drum beat of your clanging girdle. Meet his rich mood without shame!”
Torment and Bliss
Radha’s servants seem to be teasing her by commenting about Krishna making love with other women under the same night sky they are looking up at. This makes Radha’s torment unbearable. She contemplates drowning herself in the Jumna, to “quench” the burning of her heart.
This passion signifies the potential for the height of bliss. As the Upanishads teach, the bliss of sensual pleasure is nothing compared to that of the one who actualizes the Self. The Gita Govinda, in sum, is not just eroticism, but an allegory of spiritual growth and consummation.
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