on radha and the supreme (2012)

“Absence makes the heart grow fonder”-- These oft-quoted lines are characteristic of purely human love lore, however the tale of Radha and Krishna in Jayadeva’s Gitagovinda bears a far more ethereal marker: absence is cause for a breaking down of the barriers between passion and pure, all-encompassing love. Absence cannot possibly increase “fondness” in the case of the individual Self’s love of the divine, but rather readies the heart instrument further by accentuating lack in its faculties from being a pure vessel to channel the Supreme. The Supreme is defined in the context of the works we have studied thus far as “Brahman”- the Creator of the Universe, and the all-encompassing force present in even the most minute of beings. Gitagovinda is a complexly written lyrical poem using interwoven formal and thematic elements to create a work of high art and religious intensity which was and has remained highly appealing and popular to audiences. Krishna (an incarnation of Vishnu) serves as the “Supreme” figure in this dramatic lyrical poem, while Radha is the individual human Self - struggling and striving to reach union with the Supreme force.  The defining structure of the relationship between Radha and Krishna is that it occurs first in the dualistic state. The poem is meant to engender devotion in the reader (the seeker of Truth), and not only accentuate their separation, but also convey a manner of reaching union with the Supreme.

Jayadeva was a brilliant lyricist: recognizing the close interlinking between word and feeling in truly poignant poetry, he synchronically blurred the lines between the two so that what we read on the page is a feeling, and vice versa. He saw the unique power and aesthetic potential of sexual passion in revealing aspects of pain and pleasure attributable to the cycle of human death and rebirth. The love of Radha and Krishna at first follows this pattern - they unite in passion, and then their separation is cause for immense despair and pain. Radha is drawn as a seeker towards the Supreme force, but must first overcome her clinging to duality: as long as she sees separation between her Self and Krishna she despairs and is unable to fully love, for she fears loss. Radha, the individual Self, is pained by Krishna’s relations with the other Gopis - for her the Gopis are the “other”. Krishna sees no distinctions, he is free to “play” elsewhere. Because Radha as the individual Self has not reached a state of union with the Supreme force, she is bound to pain and pleasure - bound to suffering and cyclical existence. However, when Krishna as the Supreme looks upon Radha’s suffering to unite with him, he too suffers and extends Himself to her. When the devotee longs for the Supreme with fervor, sincerity, and earnestness, they are drawn closer towards the Supreme force out of pure Love.

The religiously potent atmosphere is enhanced by exploration of the heart-rending mood of separation within the “broader play of divine passion in consummation” (pg. 14). The nature of separation is a deeply human state of being, and the lines exploring Radha’s emotions and despair at her estrangement from Krishna are heart-wrenching for the reader. On a human level, the symbolism is apt - and it strikes at a deeper soul level as well, causing the reader to question the fervor of their own passion and devotion to reaching a state of Oneness. “Lying dejected by your desertion, fearing Love’s arrows, She clings to you in fantasy, Madhava” (pg. 86-87). Radha is dejected by the loss of Krishna as her sole lover, but still fears “Love’s arrows”, and clings by way of fantasy - not fully submitting herself to her goal. She longs for passion, but is not ready to surrender herself completely and wholly to the all-encompassing force of Love which is Krishna as the embodiment of the Supreme. Furthermore, the disquieting distinction between “I”, “mine”, “you”, and “yours” is calmed (pg. 15); the separation of Radha and Krishna is means for breaking the imaginary barrier dividing the human from the divine, and consummation is able to be reached when Radha’s heart is strengthened enough by the long trial of separation and the force of Krishna’s suffering. The separated lovers’ passion must culminate in an ultimate and ecstatic reunion: the individual Self’s merging with the Supreme.

Parallels can certainly be drawn between Jayadeva’s Gitagovinda and the Upanishads. It is written in the Upanishads: “It is this self of yours who is the inner controller, the immortal. All besides this is grief” (Upanishads, pg. 44). Radha, as the individual Self taking on a human form and existence, is at first blinded by her egoistic passions - clinging to that which she thinks to be hers. She is grieved as she realizes the impermanence of this manner of existence, and suffers the pangs of cyclical pleasure and pain. She longs half-heartedly for her One True Love: the Godly incarnation Krishna. While she is striving after attainment of unification with the Supreme, she is unable to fully surrender her worldly passion, and for a span of time continues to see her existence as separate and as doomed. She imagines herself as the victim of Krishna’s actions, and withdraws with a jealous heart. It is not until the absence of Krishna makes her heart stronger that she can fully submit herself, and that he can draw her in closer.  It is at the point that the “force of her anger [softens]/Her face weak from endless sighing” (pg. 111) that Krishna may approach Radha and draw her closer to Him. She has in a sense surrendered her tie to pain and pleasure, worn out by the force of the agony she had experienced. It is here that her heart as an individual Self is prepared to be filled with Supreme Love. “Why does a mood of manly force/Succeed for women in love?/Then, as he idled after passionate love/Radha, wanting him to ornament her/Freely told her lover/Secure in her power over him” (pg. 124). When Radha as the individual Self is finally drawn closer and assured of her place with the Supreme, she may take the final hurdle in achieving Oneness - and she does. “Brahman, surely, is free from fear, and a man who knows this undoubtedly becomes brahman that is free from fear” (Upanishads, pg. 68). Free from fear, Radha takes the final leap to seeing herself in Brahman’s (and therefore Vishnu’s) likeness.

Jayadeva’s Gitagovinda is a masterful dramatic lyrical poem, which through the facade of a love story and evocation of the human feeling of love-in-separation actively and articulately conveys the experience of being in relation with God or the Supreme. Krishna’s personal-spiritual relationship to humans is first expressed through his form as a flute-playing adolescent cowherd. Then, His intense spiritual intimacy with human beings is expressed through the divine sensuality of his love with Radha (the individual Self or being). Radha’s arduous struggle (or the individual Self’s struggle) to reach communion with the Supreme further poignantly carries the metaphor of love-in-separation as the being’s relationship with the Supreme. As long as the individual Self sees themselves as distinct, they remain in separation from God. When they are able to break down the barriers between passionate and all-encompassing Love, they are drawn closer and may take the final leap to Oneness: to total surrender and union with Brahman. The imaginary “absence” of union with God causes the individual heart to grow stronger, so that it may serve as a tool to be drawn closer and be released from fear. When only courage remains, that individual Self may take the leap to merge with the Supreme force of Brahman.