Bhagat Jaidev Ji
JAIDEV
(JAYADEVA), saint and
poet, two of whose hymns are
incorporated
in the Guru Granth Sãhib,
is chiefly known to the literary
world
as the author of the Gita Govinda,
a lyrical poem in which the love
of
Rãdhã (soul or
devotee) for Govinda (the Supreme
Being)
is described symbolically and
mystically. Jaidev was born at
Kindu Bilvã
which, according to some, is now
Kenduli, in Birbhüm district
of
West Bengal, on the river Ajay
and, according to others, Kendüli-Sasan,
on Prachi river, near jagannath
Puri in Orissã. At the end
of his
poem, he has given his father’s
name as Bhojadeva and mother’s
as Rãdhãdevl,
deciphered also as Ramãdevi,
or Vãmadcvi.
He is said to have flourished in
the reign of Raja Karnarnav (AD
1142-56)
and Rãjã Purushottam
Dev (AD 1170-80), both of Orissã.
Several legends about him are
recorded in the Bhaklamal of
Chandradatta.
In his youth, he led the life of
an ascetic and a wandering
preacher.
The course changed for him as,
while in Puri once, a Brãhmarm
forced
the hand of his daughter on him.
It turned out to be a happy
marriage.
His wife sang with him the
devotional songs which were of his
own composition.
He spent some years at Katham
Kancli, now called Jaidevpur in
his memory,
where he composed his immortal
lyric, the Gita Govinda. From
devotee of
Lord Krsna he became a devotee of
the Supreme Lord. He roamed about
the
country preaching the gospel of
love of God and of man. Rãjã
Lakshmian Sen (AD 1175-1200), of
Bengal, became his disciple.
Jaidev lived
long and died in the village where
he was born, in happy retirement.
There
is a samadhi of the saint in the
village and an annual fair is
belch on
the first of Magh.
Besides the Gila
Govinda, two other compositions,
the Rasanã
Raghava, a drama, and the
Chanthalok, an essay on the grace
of style,
are also ascribed to him.
Jaidev’s hymns in the Guru
Granth Sãhib, one in Raga
Gujari
and the other in Rãga Märü,
are in adoration of Hari,
the Supreme Being. “Duality,”
he says, “ended for me
as I remembered God who is the
fountainhead of all virtue.
Cherish the
Divine Name in your heart. By
repeating His praise you will
break the
circuit of birth and death, and
you will dread death no more. Your
heart
and your word and deed should be
imbued with the love of One Hari
alone.”
Bhãi Gurdas in his Vàrañ,
X. 10, pays tribute to
Jaidev’s loving devotion
whereby he attained the state when
no distinction
remains between “the devotee
and the infinite.”
Bhagat Jaidev was a Saint & Poet, his childhood name was Pardharmrik, and was born in the southern part of Bengal. His mother's name was Rama Devi (also called Bani Devi by some) & father's name was Bhojdev. The village of Jaidev's birth is situated in the district of Bir Bhumi on the River Ajay. Jaidev was orphaned early in childhood. He used to express grief at the loss of his parents by composing sad songs, and then by singing them. Narinjan, one of his father's friends, fraudulently usurped the entire family property, this helped trigger Jaidev's tendency toward renunciation & detachment even further. It was in such a mood of detachment that Jaidev devoted himself to the worship of Lord Krishna. His austere nature became so strong and intense that he used to avoid sitting in the shade of a tree for long lest it should attach him to the comfort it provided and become an obstacle in the way of God-realisation. He had attachment only to God, and he used to sing His eulogies through His compositions. Thus, three volumes of his compositions came into being to be known as 1. Darshan Raghav 2. Geet Govinde 3. Chandia-Lok. Of these, his Geet Govinde has been generally accepted as better in terms of Poetics, music and thought contents. It is accepted amongst his followers that the Lord Akalpurkh himself would take the bodily form of Jagan Nath, so as to listen to his book and hear His eulogies face to face. As a result of his intense devotion towards Krishna, he was able to compose beautiful, mystical poetry. He remained for some time, a court poet & one of the five famous 'jewels' in the court of King Lachhman Sain of Bengal. Jaidev returned tohis native village towards his later years. He was too old & weak to go to the River Ganga to bathe therein. However, floods caused a miracle, perhaps an outburst of a devotess's love for his deity. The Ganga river naturally shifted its course a little and started flowing just by Jaidev's residence. What wonderful example of Nature's love for its devotes!
Once it so happened that Jaidev stopped midway completing a verse, and God himself comleted it in his absence. Impressed further by this miracle, Jaidev dedicated himself more intensely to the worship of Lord Krishna. So he renounced his household and wide (Padmavati) and left for the forest to devote himself fully to the Master. In the forest, he found the word 'Geet Govinde' written on each leaf. This is how the Divine Spirit revealed itself to Jaidev. "Whichever direction I look to, I find only the Lord and nothing else", but his is only one side of the coin, the other is as follows:
According to the 10th stanza of Ver X of Bhai Gurdas, when God Himself completed the verse left incomplete by Jaidev, the latter felt proud that God liked his verse so much that He showed inclination to complete it. No sooner had this ego erupted in his mind, he was surprised to find that the contents of his book 'Geet Govinde' was written on each leaf of the tree. Thus this miracle put an end to his pride. He made a supplication to God Almighty with utter humility and prayed that this lapse on his part be ignored. He had then realised that God is Omniscient, and is capable of doing anything. Man, however great, powerful and famous he may be, is nothing against Him. In fact, whatever a human being is, he is due to God's grace. After this incident, Jaidev's love, reverence and devotion towards God became more intense and immense. Guru Arjan Dev Ji, in his hymn recorded on Aang 1192 of Siri Guru Granth Sahib, has made an allusion to this and to Jaidev discarding this egoist tendency: Guru ji has said:
jYdyv iqAwigE AhMmyv
] (1192-10, bsMqu,
mhlw 5)
Jai Dev gave up his egotism.
Guru ji has reffered
to many saints & holy-men in
this hymn &
states that different saints
achieved oneness with the Lord
through different
means. If Dhanna realised Him
through his innocence, Jaidev
achieved Him
through eradicating ego from his
mind. Kabir concentrated on the
Divine
for long and ultimately became one
with Him. Ajarnal, Balmik &
prostitute
Ganika realised God through
constant remembrance of Him, by
listening
to the Divine Name from a parrot,
respectfully. With the help of
these
instances, the Guru advises the
seeker that he should make use of
this
human birth and remember the Lord.
He cautions us against all those
adverse
effects of ego which Jaidev had
fallen prey to.
Bhagat Jaidev of Bengal was a
contemporary of Sheikh Farid of
Punjab.
Two hymns of Jaidev are found
recorded in the Siri Guru Granth
Sahib Ji
under 'Gujri'measure (Aang 526)
and Maru measure (Aang 1106). Both
these
hymns were collected by Guru Nanak
when during one of his preaching
odysseys
(1508-1515), Guru ji visited his
village. These hymns were later
included
in the Scripture by Guru Arjan
Dev.
Jaidev's hymns included in the
Gujri measure can be summed up as
follows:
the true Lord is immanent in all
places. He who ever remembers Him
is
freed from the fear of
transmigration, old age, disease
and suffering.
His heart, his words, his deeds
become pious. If a man has to win
over
the God of Death, it is necessary
to seek the protection of the
Timeless
One. The grace of such a One is
eternal & pervasive and is
constantly
bestowed throughout the preceding
3 eras. The only need is to remove
all
feelings of discrimination and
differentiation which become
possible only
by remembering Him and singing His
praises. Therefore O man, you
should
give up greed, lust and anger and
seek His shelter, only then can
you
realise Him. Guru Nanak has also
reiterated similar views in one of
his
hymns appearing in Siri Guru
Granth Sahib Ji, at Aang 505.
In the other hymn included in the
Maru measure, Jaidev expresses his
deep
devotion in the Real One. He
states that he recites the Divine
Name for
16 times only with the passing of
one breath. In other words, it
implies
that he does not waste any moment
of his breathing & remain
engaged
in the remembrance of God who is
an epitoe of nobility. Thus, he
has overcome
all distinctions of mine and thine
between God and himself. He feels,
that he has merged with God, just
as a droplet merges with water.
The
love of the Divine has satiated
all his desires. As such, he
realised
the Lord and thus broke the
circuit of life and death.
Jaidev shares with us a very
important event and experience on
the way
to God-realisation. Through this,
he advises and inspires us to make
Divine
remembrance an integral part of
our life so that we are able to
achieve
the ultimate aim of life.
Although only two of Jaidev's
hymns are included in the Siri
Guru Granth
Sahib Ji, many more of his verses
are extant I his Geet Govinde,
Darsan
Raghav & Chandra-Lok. People
of Bengal, Orissa and Andhra
recite these
hymns with due devotion &
reverence.
Simply two hymns of Jaidev have
merged him with the Shabad-Guru
and thereby
immortalised him. Jaidev died in
1273AD.