MaryellenBuckman: created initial biography more to come

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created initial biography more to come

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{{Short description|Movement in medieval Bengali literature from the 15th to 17th centuries}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Culture of Bengal}}
The '''Vaishnava Padaaboli''' ({{langx|bn|বৈষ্ণব পদাবলী}}) movement refers to a period in
[[medieval Bengali literature]] from the 15th to 17th centuries, marked by an efflorescence of [[Vaishnava]] poetry often focusing on the [[Radha]]-[[Krishna]] legend. The term ''padavali'' (also written '''padaabali''') has the literal meaning "gathering of songs" (''[[pada (foot)|pada]]''=short verse, lyric; ''+vali'' = plural; collection).

The padavali poetry reflects an earthy view of divine love which had its roots in the ''Agam''
poetry of [[Tamil people|Tamil]] [[Sangam literature]] (600 BC–300 AD) and spread into early medieval [[Telugu language|Telugu]] ([[Nannaya]], [[Annamayya]]) and [[Kannada]] literatures ([[Dasa sahitya]]). These poetic themes spread rapidly as part of the [[Bhakti]] movement, which emphasized an intensely personal form of devotion inspired by the philosophy of [[Ramanuja]] and rejected [[caste]] distinctions and other Brahminical conventions associated with the theism of [[Adi Shankaracharya]]. The movement spread out and attained a pan-India status during the 13th–17th centuries.

The accompanying literary movements were marked by a shift from the classical language of [[Sanskrit]], to the local languages ([[apabhramsha]]) or derivatives, e.g. the literary language of [[brajabuli]] adopted by [[Vidyapati]] (14th century) and [[Govindadasa|Govindadas Kaviraj]]

==History==
Vidyapati in Mithila (14th century) and [[Chandidas]] (late 14th century) in [[Birbhum]]. Chandidas was among the earliest poets in the nascent [[Bengali language|Bengali]] language, and many of his poems deal with the Radha-Krishna theme.

In 1474, [[Maladhar Basu]] translated the 10th and 11th cantos of the [[Sanskrit]] [[Srimad Bhagavatam]] (composed c. 9th century), into the Bengali poem ''SriKrsnaVijay''. Maladhar focused on Krishna's divine life, with the 10th canto relating the legends of Krishna as a child, and his Leela with the Gopis in [[Vrindavana]]. He was honoured by [[Rukunuddin Barbak Shah]] with the title ''Gunaraj Khan''.

Although neither Chandidas nor Maladhar Basu were Vaishnavas,<ref name=bp/> they were to lay the foundation for much of the following Vaishnava poetry in Bengal.

===Vaishnavism in Bengal===

Vaishnavism in Bengal was given a tremendous boost by [[Sri Chaitanya]] (1486–1533), whose intense spiritualism infected many and started a movement across many regions of India. Chaitanya emphasized the role of merely uttering God's name in obtaining emancipation, and songs, sung passionately and leading to a trance-like state, were central to the path of bhakti. Chaitanya himself wrote many (source - ? gaudiya-vaishnavas say, that Chaitanya left only one song: Shikshashtaka) songs on the Radha-Krishna theme, and certainly encouraged the composition of new songs.

Major poets in the ensuing padavali tradition included [[Murari Gupta]] (''srikriShNachaitanyacharitrAmr^ta''), Narahari Sarkar, Basudev Ghosh, Lochandas, Jnanadas, [[Govindadas]], Balaram Das, [[Syed Sultan]] and [[Dwija Chandidas]] (16th century). The 17th century saw the work of [[Kaviranjan]] (''chhoto Vidyapati''), Kavishekhar, Radhaballabh Das, Ghanashyam Das and Ramgopal Das; and were followed in the 18th century by Vaisnavadas, Chandrashekhar, Radhamohan Thakur (''padAmr^tasamudra''), Narahari Chakravarty (''gItachandroday''), Yadunandan and others.<ref name=bp>{{cite book |last=Ahmed |first=Wakil |year=2012 |chapter=Vaisnava Literature |chapter-url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Vaisnava_Literature |editor1-last=Islam |editor1-first=Sirajul |editor1-link=Sirajul Islam |editor2-last=Jamal |editor2-first=Ahmed A. |title=Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh |edition=Second |publisher=[[Asiatic Society of Bangladesh]]}}</ref> Many of the original texts are lost (some may never have been composed, as the songs came down in the [[kirtan]] tradition). The later anthology ''pAdakalpataru'' collects about 3000 Vaishnava lyrics by 150 poets.

==Poetry and theme==

The subject matter of the poetry is the love of [[Radha]] and [[Krishna]], on the banks of the [[Yamuna]] in Vrindavana; their secret trysts in the forests, Krishna's charms including his magic flute, the love of the [[gopi]]s for Krishna, Radha's [[viraha]] on being separated from Krishna and her anguish on seeing him sporting with the other gopis. Much of the poetry, though written by men, focuses on the feelings of a woman in love. Here is a poem from [[Chandidas]], where Radha is talking to a friend:

<poem style="margin-left:2em;">
How can I describe his relentless flute,
which pulls virtuous women from their homes
and drags them by their hair to Shyam
as thirst and hunger pull the doe to the snare?
Chaste ladies forget their wisdom,
and clinging vines shakes loose from their trees,
hearing that music.
Then how shall a simple dairymaid withstands its call?

Chandidasa says, Kala the puppet master leads the dance.
– trans. [[Edward C. Dimock]] and [[Denise Levertov]], ''In praise of Krishna'', p. 18 <ref>Dimock, Edward C. (trans.); Denise Levertov; In Praise of Krishna: Songs from the Bengali, 1967. Read the whole poem (and other excerpts): [http://www.cse.iitk.ac.in/~amit/books/dimock-1967-in-praise-of.html book excerptise]</ref>
</poem>
Many of the poets were influenced by the [[Maithili language|Maithili]] poet Vidyapati, and some, such as Govindadas, also composed in the [[brajabuli]] language.

===Music===
Vaishnava music was extremely influential in the evolution of Indian musical tradition. In the 14th century, [[Amir Khusro]], who spent some time in the court at [[Bengal]], was exposed to the Vaishnavite tradition.<ref>[[ITC Sangeet Research Academy]], [http://www.itcsra.org/sra_hcm/sra_hcm_chrono/sra_hcm_chrono_1200ad.html Hindustani Classical music: Chronology]</ref> With the rise of [[Vrindavana]] 14th century onwards, there was an admixture of the strains of devotional music from different regions of India. Followers of [[Vallabhacharya]] of [[Andhra Pradesh|Andhra]] and [[Nimbarkacharya]] of [[Maharashtra]] rubbed shoulders with Vaishnava composers from Bengal and Bihar. Eminent musicians such as [[Swami Haridas]] (16th century), reputedly the teacher of [[Tansen]], lived here.

The songs are often set to a romantic [[raga]] such as [[Pilu (raga)|Pilu]] or [[Desh (raga)|Desh]], and borrow freely from folk tunes and other traditions.

This musical tradition continues to be popular in [[Bengal]] with the [[Baul]]s and other [[kirtan]]iya groups, who include [[Sufi]] Muslims among their practitioners.

===Literary influence===

Vaishnava padavali left a lasting mark on [[Bengali literature]]. Among others, [[Rabindranath Tagore]] was deeply impressed by the works of Govindadas, and wrote many Vaishnava and Baul pieces. His opera ''Bhanusingher Padavali'' was composed in the Brajabuli language and included the song ''Sundari Radhe Awe Bani'' written by [[Govindadasa|Govindadas]]. <ref>Tagore, Rabindranath; Tony K. Stewart, Chase Twichell (tr.);
''The Lover of God'' (orig: ''Bhanusimher Padavali'')
Copper Canyon Press (Lannan Literary Selections), 2003, 121 pages
{{ISBN|1-55659-196-9}}, 978-1-55659-196-9</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Bengali-language literature]]
[[Category:Bhakti movement]]
[[Category:Bengali music]]
[[Category:Vaishnavism]]
[[Category:Hindu music]]
[[Category:Kirtan]]
[[Category:Indian styles of music]]

Vaishnava Padavali - Revision history

MaryellenBuckman: created initial biography more to come