Srimandira

Hymns to Jagannatha MADHAVIDASI

l Translations by Subas Pani

Madhavi Dasi is considered the first NANDA NANDANA poetess in the Oriya language. She was The darling son of Nanda1, a contemporary of the famous Pancha He is adored by the whole world. Sakha poets (five companions) in the His body is decorated and worshipped 15th-16th centuries. She was born in the With fragrant sandalwood paste. 2 Bentapura village in a Karana family and The handsome young son of Braja , 3 was the sister of Raya Ramananda, a Hari is the sweetest treasure of Niladri . minister in the court of Prataparudra Deva and a companion and favourite disciple As he retires for the night, of Sri Chaitanya. Sri Chaitanya personally The name of Radha, he holds close to his heart initiated her into the Vaishnava tenets. In tight embrace, full of amorous excitement. Thrilled with love's passionate ecstasy, Being a woman she was not considered a He sleeps on the bedspread decorated with ivory. full disciple, but only a half disciple or Ardha Shishya. At the instance of her The tender, sweet verses of Sri Geetagovinda4 paternal uncle Bhabananda Raya, she Bearing the name of Radha5, had studied several scriptures and 6 Are woven into this Khandua . classics. She was however not attracted This the Lord holds close to his limbs, towards the deeper philosophical issues Dallying in luxurious love play, or the complex details of theology. Her Full of tender feelings. chosen path was that of simple devotion and intense passionate longing for the May this Khandua ever adorn my head, Lord. Her contact with Sri Chaitanya The one on which Radha's name inscribed, helped her grow in this direction. She is The same that is Krishna's favourite adobe ! credited with the composition of May my life come to an end Vaishnava Kirtana or short compositions While my lips with the names for ritual group-chanting, hymns, Of Radha and Krishna are attached ! supplications and other devotional songs in Oriya, Bengali and Brajabhasa. Writing O Hari, consider Madhavi as your companion in all the three languages was quite a Be benign and show me compassion ! common practice at that time among the Do let me make for my head an ornament, Vaishnava saint-poets, who were Of a few leaves of Tulsi7 sanctified by your feet ! followers of Sri Chaitanya. Some of her Bengali poems are included in Pada Original Oriya hymn "Sri Nanda nandan se Kalpataru. No separate collection of her jagabandana....." devotional songs has come to our notice. Source : Ratha Sharma, Sadasiva. Sri Sri O (Oriya). ;

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Kalinga Student's Store, 1984. p. 60. The Padyavali - Volume I (Second Edition) author of this book mentions that he had Berhampur : Pustak Bhandar, 1980. p.21. discovered this treasure in Sangitasara, from 1Krishna-Jagannatha. Krishna was the Braja Kishore Mohanty of Benupur. son of Devaki and Vasudeva but grew up in SRI HARI the house of Nanda and Yasoda. Soon after O Lord with Round Eyes8 ! he was born, Krishna was carried to the Life of the world, Sri Hari ! house of Nanda and exchanged with a new I pray to you in desperation, born daughter of the latter. Do listen to me with keen attention ! 2Krishna, with whom the poetess fully identifies Jagannatha, was the darling of the How can I, a wretched woman entire Gopa Land or Braja Pura. He was Describe or recount the tales therefore, in more sense than one, the son Of all those you have rescued of the entire cowherd community of Braja. From many a grave crisis ? 3Here the reference is more directly These are certainly material to Lord Jagannatha, the Lord of the Blue For an entire book to fill. Hills or the Blue Region. Ahalya9, from her curse, you released. 4This refers to the elaborate evening Draupadi10, from her travails, you rescued. ritual of Bada Simhara Vesha and the The distressed status of the doe you realised, From the gravest danger she was saved. Bada Simhara Dhupa in Srimandira O Jagannath, Lord of the World ! everyday. The Geetagovinda Khandua, colourful tie and dye silk textile of Orissa Fruits tasted by the woman of the forest11 with words of Jayadeva's immortal With utmost relish you ate. composition, Sri Geetagovinda woven into Eating her left-over, on your own it, cover the deities during this ceremony. You offered to her the status of heaven ! See details given in introduction. 5The entire text of Sri Geetagovinda You were overwhelmed by the passion is woven into several pieces of the Of Meera12 and Karama's13 simple devotion. 14 Khandua, but the most popular of these To them a place in Braja you did assign. is the following stanza. 'kamsarirapi Samasara vasana abaddha srinkhalam/ You even freed from earthly misery Radham adhaya hridaye tatyaja The fallen women like Pingala15 and Jibanti. brajasundaribhih.' This can be roughly Deeds like these have kept the flag of your victory, Flying high, spreading your fame and eternal glory. translated as follows. 'The enemy of kamsa, i.e. Krishna, too got himself I alone am an accursed woman, entangled in the worldly bonds and Unfit to be your servant even. cogitating on Radha in his heart, he With folded hands I make this humble plea abandoned the beauties of Braja.' O Lord, do listen to Madhavi's entreaty ! 6Khandua is a special silk textile, as Original Oriya hymn "Chaka Nayana he, Jagu explained earlier. Jibana Sri Hari...... " 7Tulasi, the holy basil plant and a Source : Nayak, Khetrabasi. Ed. Sri Jagannath favourite of Vishnu-Krishna-Jagannatha....

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8The poetess uses the appellation trance in getting her dearest Lord and 'Chaka Nayana', a variant of the eager to offer him only the sweetest fruits, appellation 'Chaka Dola', both meaning she tasted each one before offering them round eyes. Lord Jagannatha is so called to him. The Lord accepted the gift of her because of his perfectly circular eyes, a simple devotion and ate these left over distinguishing feature of his iconography fruits with relish, fulfilling the wishes of his and one of the greatest attractions for devotee. devotees. Subhadra and Balabhadra, 12Meera Bai, a saint poetess of however have elongated eyes more Rajastan, accepted Krishna as her closely resembling the human form. husband. Her life was full of many trials, 9Ahalya had been turned into a stone in all of which she was miraculously statue on account of a curse of her saved. She composed many hymns in husband, the sage Gautama, after Indra, praise of Lord Krishna, which are taking the disguise of her husband, immensely popular throughout India. seduced her. In his incarnation as Rama, 13Karama Bai was a great devotee of the Lord released her from her curse by Lord Jagannatha. She loved him with the placing his feet on the statue and restored tender affections of a mother and the Lord her to her former state and caused her accepted food from her in disguise everyday. reconciliation with her husband. She is Even today, a special pot of rice is offered considered one of the five chastest to the Lord in her name in the Srimandira. women and remembered as such. 14 10 Here the reference is to the Nitya The daughter of king Drupada, Braja or the eternal abode of Lord Krishna Draupadi was married to the five Pandava or heaven. brothers. She had been offered as a 15 wager by Yudhisthira, the eldest, in a Pingala was a prostitute. Once a game of dice with Duryodhana in the court rich customer had promised to visit her in of the Kurus, after he had lost everything the night. Pingala, made up in her best, else. After Yudhisthira lost her as the final anxiously waited for him for the whole wager, Duryodhana ordered his brother night but he never turned up. She suddenly Dussashana, to forcibly disrobe her in the became conscious of the Lord and open court. No one protested and no one developed vairagya, disinterest in worldly came forward to the rescue of Draupadi. affairs. She then became an ascetic. She She called out Lord Krishna in became known for her piety and virtuous desperation. The Lord heard her prayers deeds in spite of her lowly profession. and gave her an unending stream of cloth and her honour was saved. Draupadi is also called Panchali, as she was a vvv princess of the Panchala kingdom. The author is a civil servant currently on a 11 sabbatical, researching on Jayadeva and This refers to a well-known episode Jagannatha. He can be contacted at of Ramayana when Lord Rama, during his [email protected] exile in the forest, showed his compassion to a Savari or tribal woman. Lost in a

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