Sanskrit poet of the Gita Govinda; two hymns in Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji
Bhagat Jaidev
The Sanskrit poet who wrote the Gita Govinda, placed by the sources in eastern India in the twelfth century. Two of his hymns are in Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, one in Raag Gujri and one in Raag Maru. His period rests on the kings he is linked with, and no source read gives a firm birth or passing date.
Life, as tradition tells it
The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism takes his parents' names from the end of the Gita Govinda: Bhojadeva, and a mother whose name is read in several ways. It says he lived as an ascetic and wandering teacher until a marriage arranged at Puri, and that his wife then sang his songs with him. The Bhaktamal of Chandradatta carries further legends.
It describes a turn from devotion to Krishna to devotion to the Supreme Lord, and says that he passed away in his native village, where a fair takes place each year on the first of Magh. Macauliffe warns that he is often confused with another Jaidev, a scholar, who is not the poet of the hymns.[EoS][Macauliffe]
In Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji
BaniDB lists two hymns: in Raag Gujri at ang 526 and in Raag Maru at ang 1106. As the Encyclopaedia of Sikhism describes them, they adore God as Hari and teach that remembering the Name ends duality and the fear of death.
Bhai Gurdas, as cited in the Encyclopaedia, praises his devotion at Var 10, pauri 10. Bhagat Kabir names him beside Bhagat Namdev at ang 1194. Macauliffe begins his account of the Bhagats with him, on the grounds that he comes first in time.[DB][EoS][Macauliffe]
What the sources disagree on
- Birthplace
The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism records two identifications of his village: Kenduli in the Birbhum district of Bengal, or Kenduli-Sasan near Puri in Odisha. Macauliffe gives the Birbhum site.[EoS][Macauliffe]
- Period
The Encyclopaedia links him with Raja Karnarnav and Raja Purushottam Dev of Odisha, and with Raja Lakshman Sen of Bengal, whom it dates to 1175 to 1200. Macauliffe calls him a poet at Lakshman Sen's court, and dates that king from 1170.[EoS][Macauliffe]