Ode to Govinda

Veṇuṁ kvaṇantam aravinda-dalāyatākṣam
Barhāvatamsam asitāmbuda-sundarāṅgam
Kandarpa-koṭi-kamanīya-viśeṣa-śobham
Govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi

Playing sweet melodies on His flute
Eyes like lotus petals
Head adorned with a peacock feather
Beautiful body, like a dark raincloud
Whose charm surpasses that of millions of Kāmadevas,

I worship That Govinda, the First, the Supreme One

Brahma Samhita 5.30

There are many names of Krishna – potentially infinite, if every sound existing and not-yet-existing is seen as one other Name. As Sri Madhavacharya, the great teacher of Dvaita said, even the roar of the ocean is the Name of Vishnu.

To unlock even one Name can take lifetimes, the revelation of its mystery being the culmination of all sadhana. And perhaps this is why the Lord has so many names – knowing even one fully, renders it unspeakable.

And here I have foolishly undertaken to share something on one name – Govinda.

The Name Govinda is Beloved and Complete. From Adi Shankara’s spontaneous cry, ‘Bhaja Govindam!’ to Jayadeva’s 12th century Gita Govindam, to the chants of ‘Govinda! Govinda! Govinda!’ from Tirupati to Sri Rangam, the name has been enshrined in the hearts of devotees for millenia. 

In Sanskrit, “go” has many different meanings. We may consider three levels of meaning, corresponding with the adibhautik, adhyatmika and adhidaivik (in order from gross to subtle) levels often referred to in Vedic and related writings.

At the adibhautik level, ‘go’ means ‘cow’, in which case Govinda is the one associated with or one who tends the cows.

Go can also mean the Earth or the Vedas, in which case Govinda is the upholder of them. This is the subtler, adhyatmika meaning.

In the subtlest, adhidaivik sense, ‘go’ can mean ‘senses’. In this sense (pun not intended), Govinda means one who hails victorious over the senses. This is not only alluding to restraining the five senses (so that the mind can become fixed in the Divine), but also, to opening up and fulfilling the senses. We can say that life, is itself, nothing but sensations, bhaava. The Buddha also reminded us of this – life is just an endless stream of sensations. But rather than trying to stop them or turn away from them, when we come to Krishna, it is to celebrate them, to take them to the highest.

Krishna, the essence and substance of Life, is That which attracts every sense and perfects it in Bliss. Remember the gopis; they are examples of drinking in (pi) the Divine through the senses (go). Restraining the five senses may be where Yoga ends, but to know Krishna, is to have the higher senses all opened up to receive the rasa of Love. It is knowing and reveling in the Divine through every pore, every sense and sensibility, which is a subject where words, or the mind cannot reach.

Over the years, I have written many articles on Krishna – a list is below. Particularly well loved were: Who is Krishna, Our Arjuna Moments and Sri Vishnu Shodashnama Stotram, though the one that is more fresh in my contemplation is When the Infinite Walks the Earth. 

Today though, I didn’t feel to write a long article – after all, how many words can you keep speaking about the Unspeakable?! I thought to share instead some poetry from my book, HeartWords, mystic poems – the opening poem, in fact, which I would say placed itself at the front in a last minute rearrangement of sections.

Wishing you a joyous Janamashtami – may the essence of Krishna awaken in the heart.