(Vidyapati (1352-1448) a famous and popular court poet of Mathila, India, wrote these Radha-Krishna love songs which find their correspondence in the West to the poems of St. John of the Cross as songs of bhakti between the soul of man and his Creator. In Bengal, Vidyapati's use of Radha and Krishna as ideal lovers led many Bengalis to regard him as a Vaishnava. Bengali scholars visiting Mathila brought back copies of his songs, and in the 15th century Lord Chaitanya read them with enthusiasm. In fact, Jayadeva, Chandidas and Vidyapati were Lord Chaitanya's favorite poets. Chaitanya freely adopted the songs of Vidyapati as Vaishnava hymns. The poems rendered below are excerpted from Love Songs of Vidyapati, Translated by Deben Bhattacharya, George Allen Unwin Ltd. , London, 1963.)
Black Stone
Your glances tempt their love….
O Krishna, Krishna,
You are known to be wise.
How can I tell You what is right?
Gold is tested on the black-stone,
The love of a man by his nature.
Fragrance reveals the flower and its pollen
And the eyes and the tears
The dawn of love.
Nights of Joy
O friend:
How can you ask me
What I feel?
In talk, love always grows,
Is always new.
Since I was born
I've seen his beauty
With insatiate eyes.
His gentle voice
Brushed my ears.
Thrilled, I long for more.
Nights of spring
Passed in joy,
Yet still the game of love
Has new delights.
I've held Him to my heart
A million ages,
Yet longing flares again.
A host of lovers,
Their love reduced to ashes,
Know nothing of its power….
My Body Hid My Body
My eyes encountered Him
And left me.
The lotus snubbed the sun
And fled away.
The moon and the night-lily
Unite in love.
Madhava I saw today,
But with art I hid my passion.
Shyness dropped with my clothes.
My body hid my body.
My heart was another's.
Krishna I saw Everywhere.
Sorrow
Clouds filled the sky
And the God of love,
Piercing her heart, withdrew.
Leaning vk fortnight
Radha fades.
Is she the pale crescent moon
Of the wet monsoon sky?
Krishna, You have turned Your face away,
Inflicting pain unbearable.
Ecstacy
Her hair, dishevelled,
Veils the beauty of her face
As evil shadows eat the glowing moon.
Strings of blossom in her hair
Wantonly play
As flooded rivers
Twine about their twins.
Exquisite today,
This sport of love,
As Radha rides on Krishna.
Beads of sweat glisten on her face
Like pearls on the moon,
A present to her
From the God of love.
With all her force
She kisses her lover's lips,
Like the moon swooping
To drink a lotus bloom.
Her necklace dangles
Below her hanging breasts;
Like streams of milk
Trickling from golden jars.
The jingling bells around her waist
Sang glory to the God of love.
Smiles and Laughter
Blue lotuses
Flower everywhere
And black kokilas sing…
King of the seasons,
Spring has come
And wild with longing
The bee goes to his love.
Birds flight in the air
And cowherd-girls
Smile face to face…
Krishna has entered
The great forest.
New To Love
New to love,
I shrank from loving
Yet the night grew And all was done.
I did not relish
Sweets of dalliance.
My shyness warred against my will…
He seized my garland,
Held my hair
And pressed his heart
Against my smothered breasts
But, in my clumsy innocence,
Alone, with none to aid,
I could not please.
He wanted everything
In one great rapture
And to my painful shame
I gave so little.
The spell of passion went.
I said
Nothing.
Eyes of Danger
To gaze on Krishna was my greatest wish,
Yet seeing Him was filled with danger.
Gazing has bewitched me, no will remains,
I cannot speak or hear.
Like monsoon clouds,
My eyes pour water.
My heart flutters.
O friend, why ever did I see Him
And with such joy deliver Him my life?…
Master of Love
My Krishna is so very clever.
With no effort on his part,
He broke my all-resisting pride.
Today He came garbed as a yogi
To mystify me by an exquisite act…
But He was overwhelmed at seeing my face.
When He begged the jewel of My pride,
I knew how cunning was His ming.
And then what He said
I am too shy to repeat.
No one even knew
That this was the master of love.
The Quest
So long our world was new,
We were one like fish and water.
Such was our love.
A sharp word passed between us.
My dear love smiled
And gave no answer
Krishna, in the same bed with me,
Seemed in a far-away land.
In the forest where no one moves,
My love now smiles,
My love now speaks.
I shall dress as a yogini
And look for my love.
Bold Love
I am going today, dear friend,
And shall not fear the elders at home.
Words will not trouble me.
With sandal paste my skin will glisten.
I shall deck myself in pearls.
My eyes look brilliant with no mascara.
I shall cover my body in white
And walk with leisured steps.
When the sky is lit with the smiling moon
From staring eyes I shall not flinch
Nor shall I hide.
So much did I conceal
From fear of others,
Even the currents of my love.
War of Youth
Two armies were engaged in war
As childhood merged in youth.
Knotted, the hair of Radha fell.
At times, she hid her limbs,
At times, released her charm.
Her eyes in innocence roved here and there.
The skin about her rising breasts
Was tinged with red.
Her feet became
As restless as her heart.
The god was waking up in Radha.
His eyes were closed with love.
Waves of Lightning
Her feet showered lotuses.
The glitter of her body
Brought waves of lightning.
The enchanting beauty
Has entered my heart.
Her eyes opened
Like lotuses in flower.
Her widening smile
Cast nectar-spells on all.
Her sidelong glances
Issued darts of love.
I saw her beauty
Only in a flash
But thinking of it
Fills three different, worlds.
At the River
Hold my hand.
Caress me, Krishna.
I will give you
A wondrous garland.
The friends are gone,
But which way, Krishna,
I do not know.
I will not walk
With You, Krishna,
But at the river
By the lonely bank
There I will meet You.