Journal Entry

10/7/2005

Krishna and Gita Govinda

Lecture By Dr. Susan Spencer

The Gita Govinda in the Sanskrit or the Song of the Cowherd, this work was composed in the 12th century by Jayadeva Goswami who was a composer of Hindu hymns and poetic works, including especially the Sanskrit work, This work describes the relationship between Krishna and the Gopis (cowgirls) of Vrindavana, and in particular one Gopi named Radha.

As we saw in the small film of the dancing in the story of Gita Govinda the mortal wife of Krishna. The picture from the Hindu temple comes to mind. Krishna with his flute of the Shepard, the music that announces his presence, Gaita by heart of his side, the heart of love story. Even with Krishna mistakes with the other 100 cowgirls, he repents and returns to Gita the love of his heart. Think it was that Krishna after making love with 100 cowgirls in 100 bodies of himself he repented and as the servant to bring Radha to him and they make up. They are viewed as the male female relationship in a way the relationship to god we all want. We all want that love relationship with the creator. The moral and immortal bond in a union. Maybe it is my projection on their relationship, or the relationship between a husband and wife that stands the storms of physical life and yet love between them wins in the end. And that love lives on past life. Like in this picture of Krishna and Gita sitting and enjoying nature together.

Some of the interesting things that were discussed about Krishna was Krishna the Dark One, that the term Krishna in Sanskrit means "black" according to standard dictionaries. It is related to similar words in other Indo-European languages meaning black, is often translated as 'the dark one' or as 'the black one'. In depictions, Krishna often appears as a black or dark-skinned figure, for instance in the modern murtis (statues). In the same representations, his brother and sister are shown with a distinctly lighter complexion. Early pictorial representations also generally show him as dark or black-skinned. However, by the 19th century, he is almost always shown as blue skinned.

Other meanings of the name:

Govinda (or Govind) is another name of Krishna, or God, and also appears as the 187th and 539th names in the Vishnu sahasranama. Govinda Ahuja is a Bollywood actor and politician, popularly known as Govinda. According to Adi Sankara’s ' s commentary on the Vishnu Sahasranma the name or word Govinda has three meanings. In another Hindu scripture Harivamsa, Indra praised Krishna as having attained to leadership of cows as He was a cowherd. So men shall praise Him as Govinda. The sages call Krishna "Govinda" as He pervades all the worlds, giving them power.

The Shanti Parya of the maabarata states that Vishnu restored the earth that had sunk into the netherword, or patala, so all the Devas praised Him as Govinda. Alternatively, it means He who is known by Vedic words alone. Adi Sankara wrote a poem called Bhaia Govindam expressing his inner devotion to Krishna, there are 108 name for Krishna, each having it’s own meaning.

Looking at Krishna, in Hinduism and Indian mythology, we see him as the eighth avatar, or incarnation, of the god Vishnu. This is according to tradition is that Vishnu appeared as Krishna to rid the world of a tyrannical king named Kamsa, the son of a demon. Numerous legends describe Krishna's miracles and heroic exploits. He slew or defeated scores of evil demons and monsters. He appears prominently, sometimes as a deity, in the epic poem Mahabharata, in which he sides with the Pandavas, one of two contending families, and acts as the charioteer of the hero Arjuna. It is to Arjuna, troubled on the eve of the decisive battle, that Krishna delivers the celebrated discourse on duty and life known as the Bhagavad-Gita. For his part in the struggle between the Pandavas and their enemies, the Kauravas, Krishna and all his race were cursed by Gandhari, the mother of the slaughtered Kaurava brothers.

Thereafter, Krishna's people quarreled among themselves, ultimately exterminating one another in a single day by fighting with uprooted reeds grown from a magical iron powder. Krishna and his brother Bala-Rama alone survived. They retired into a nearby forest, where a serpent crawled out of Bala-Rama's mouth, leaving him dead. The solitary Krishna was then killed by a hunter who mistook him for a deer and shot him with an arrow tipped with the same magical iron that had destroyed Krishna's people. Although Krishna was earlier celebrated primarily as a heroic figure, in recent centuries he has been adored as a mischievous child and as the lover of the girls who live in the cowherd settlement where he began his earthly career.

The Legend of Bagger Vance

In the story of Bagger Vance we see the story of Krishna and Arjuna

Even the names of Bagger Vance like Krishna shows up to bring balance and harmony to Junuh as Krishna brought to Ajuna, the confect and stragals of Junuh with his post traumatic stress disorder finding his ethnic swing like Arjuna shooting his arrow, the spiritual story of the Mahabharata

While it's pretty hard to fathom where hurling one's self down a ski slope as being akin to a state of grace, or where killing fish enhances one's spirituality, in "Beggar Vance" finding one's "authentic stroke" makes more sense in aligning it to discovering the secret of mastery.

The story's idea that seeking perfection in sports like in the Mahabharata can lead to clarifying one's true life values emerges as completely noteworthy, the fulfillment of ones Dharma. There was no attempt made to hide the facts of the relationship to the Mahabharata in fact much effort was made to link the two stories together. The mystique of Will Smith's caddy is intriguing a refection of Krishna the chariot drive from an idealistic perspective; the same goes for Matt Damon's once-promising golfer trying to recapture the skill of his youth--only to find that it must be recreated.

Junnah who, after over a 15-year period of combat fighting in World War I, and Arjuna and the battle of the family going thought his time of self doubt is reflected by the self doubt Junuh.