Govindadasa

Govindadasa (1535–1613, Bengali: গোবিন্দদাস) was a Bengali Vaishnava poet known for his body of devotional songs addressed to Krishna. Living in an atmosphere of Krishna-bhakti preached by Sri Chaitanya (1486–1533), he composed extensively on the Radha-Krishna love legend. He is also known as Govinda Das Kaviraja.

Govindadasa, the younger son of Chiranjiva and Sulochana (also known as Sunanda), was born in his mother's ancestral home in Srikhanda, a village in Bardhaman district which was one of the centers of Gaudiya Vaishnavism. His grandfather (Sulochana's father) Damodar Sen was also a poet, the author of Sangit Damodar. His brother Ramachandra was a noted philosopher-poet. After the death of his father, Ramachandra went to live in Kumar Nagar with his maternal grandfather, Damodar Kaviraj, who was a disciple of Narahari Sarkar. Later he went with his younger brother Govinda to live in the village of Telia Budhuri (now Bhagwangola) in Murshidabad district, district. This place has the distinction of being his Shripat.

According to the Chaitanya Charitamrita, in his early life, Govindadasa was at a shakta, a worshiper of the goddess Shakti, (Durga/ Kali). He and his brother Ramchandra were both initiated into Vaishnavism by Srinivasa Acharya.

Govindadas is one of the leading poets of the Vaishnava Padavali movement, a flowering of Bengali poetry from the 14th to 17th centuries, based on the Radha-Krishna legend. The Padavalis reflects an earthy view of divine love that, starting in South India, spread rapidly as part of the Bhakti movement. The literary movement was also marked by a shift from the classical language of Sanskrit, to the local languages (Apabhramsha) or derivatives, e.g. the literary language of Brajabuli. Starting in the 14th century with Chandidas (1339-1399), the Padavali poets included Govindadas, Jnanadas, Maladhar Basu, Sheikh Faizullah, Syed Sultan, Balaram Das, Lochan Das, Basudev Ghosh, Murari Gupta, and Narahari Das. The movement flowered in the 16th century with poets like he also wrote poems in the Brajabuli literary canon influenced by Vidyapati, and is often called "the second Vidyapati".

...
Wikipedia