Poetry in Hinduism

 

India, the birthplace of Hinduism, possesses a treasury of love poetry that describes happiness, longing, passion, and separation. The poetry has emerged from different cultures, regions, and eras to establish a distinct tradition of its own.

Poetry in general has formed an essential tradition of Hinduism beginning with the hymns of the Vedas. In classical Indian texts such as the Mahabharata and Ramayana, many stories revolve around the theme of love. Like these, Hindu poetry, written in Sanskrit and Tamil, celebrate passion and the ecstasy of love.

Hindu poetry has traversed a long path from the earlier period of sacred writings, love lyrics, and court poetry that began in the Rig Vedic period around 1500 BCE. Classical poetry continued until the middle of the ninth century CE. Modern Indian poetry found its place in world literature by adopting new styles, keeping in tune with various contemporary trends, and continuing the traditional theme of the bliss of love between man and woman.

In the Sanskrit and Tamil Samgam literature, there was an efflorescence of love poetry. One of the greatest litterateurs of Sanskrit, Kalidasa (375-413 CE) penned the Meghadu-utam (Cloud Messenger) and Ritusamhara (Seasonal Cycle), delineating love in different forms. The former depicted the love yearnings of Yaksha for his charming wife. Messages about love, erotic sentiments, and passion were sent through moving clouds after the rainy season. The verses of Ritusamhara were replete with love and intense passion between the lovers in changing seasons. His lyrics reflected both sambhoga (togetherness) as well as vipralambha (separation) of lovers.

Even the gods and goddesses of the Hindu pantheon were depicted as ordinary human beings with sentiments of love in many of the Sanskrit works. The short bardic poems of Tamil literature, belonging to the middle of the second century CE, were of two varieties: agam (love) and puram (war) poetry. The five stages of love poetry were classified as per the same number of landscapes of the Tamil region and some of the ainkurunuru (500) were named: In the Middle of the Night, Love Greater than the Sea, Golden Flower Eyes, and Lady of the Lovely Forehead. The kuruntokai or short collection containing 400 poems had titles like Fragrant Woman, Love Bigger than Earth, Higher than Sky, Her Love Good and True, and Whenever My Lover Touches Me.

The medieval period witnessed an outpouring of devotional and love poetry in regional literature. Jayadeva of Orissa (1147-1170), the renowned Sanskrit poet born in the Kenduli village of Khurda district, wrote the Gita Govinda depicting the intense love between Lord Krishna and Radha. The lyrical description of passionate love between Krishna and Radha represented the desire of jeeva atma (human soul) to merge with param atma (the supreme Lord).

The Brahmin priest Chandidas (1339-1399), the celebrated Bengali poet, penned emotional and passionate lyrics depicting his love for Rami, a low-caste woman and widow. Another Bengali poet, Vidyapati (ca. 1352-1448), wrote lyrics about the passionate love of Radha toward Krishna. The depiction of emotional longing for Lord Krishna in the poems of Mirabai (1504-1550) touches the reader’s heart. Bengali and Marathi took the lead in poetry, and were followed in modern times by Hindi, Oriya, Kannada, Telugu, and Assamese, among others. Rabindranath Tagore, the Nobel Laureate for literature (1861-1941) dominated the literary scene of his time. His songs were tuned to lovely, sweet, serene music known as Rabin -drasan geet (Music of Rabindra).

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