Labels: Literary Criticism
I carried my curds to the Mathura fair…
How softly the heifers were lowing…
I wanted to cry, “Who will buy
The curds that is white as the clouds in the sky
When the breezes of Shravan are blowing?”
But my heart was so full of your beauty, Beloved,
They laughed as I cried without knowing:
Govinda! Govinda!
Govinda! Govinda!
How softly the river was flowing!
I carried the pots to the Mathura tide…
How gaily the rowers were rowing!
My comrades called, “Ho! Let us dance, let us sing
And wear saffron garments to welcome the spring.
And pluck the new buds that are blowing.”
But my heart was so full of your music, Beloved,
They mocked when I cried without knowing:
Govinda! Govinda!
Govinda! Govinda!
How gaily the river was flowing!
I carried my gifts to the Mathura shrine…
How brightly the torches were glowing!
I folded my hands at the altars to pray
“O shining ones guard us by night and by day”-
And loudly the conch shells were blowing.
But my heart was so lost in your worship, Beloved,
They were wroth when I cried without knowing:
Govinda! Govinda!
Govinda! Govinda!
How bright the river was flowing!
Substance of the poem
Radha, the milkmaid is carrying curds to Mathura (Krishna’s birthplace) where the spring festival is going on. Cows are lowing softly in the fields. Radha, wishing to give out her trade cry to sell her curds that is as white as the autumn clouds, instead, calls out My
Lord! My Lord! Everybody laughs. The river Jamuna flows on softly, as if appreciating her chant.
Radha reaches the bank of the river to cross by the ferry boat. Her female companions want to wear the saffron garments, the color of spring, and want to sing and dance and pluck the new buds. Radha’s heart swells with the music of her Beloved Lord Krishna. She cries in ecstasy when others humor her. The