An intense lyrical outpouring set to devotional music and dance has been at the centre of Vaishnavite traditions.
This is exemplified in the immortalization of the gopi-bhav in Jayadeva's Geet-Govinda that reflects the deep spiritual state of longing of the individual soul, visualized as the intense love of gopis for Krishna.
Earlier, Jiva Goswami, one of the six great acharyas of Gaudiya Vaishnavism, formalised the divine fervour of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu into the theological concept of achintya bhedabheda. The simple, direct, and powerful poetry of Jayadeva established that to love God as one's lover is the highest form of bhakti.
The Geet-Govinda can be seen as an early forerunner of the Chaitanya form of devotion and the concept of achintya bhedabheda of inconceivable oneness and difference.
Quite close to the vishisht-advaita position of Ramanuja, midway between Sankara's advaita and Madhava's dvaita, the philosophical postulate of such a Bhakti tatva or tenet is still distinct in stating that “God is simultaneously one with and different from his Creation”.
The individual soul is intrinsically one with the Creator, yet is not the same as Him, and the nature of this symbiotic relationship is incomprehensible to the human mind.
Vishnu or Krishna is Brahmn or Sat-chit-ananda, both the efficient and material cause of the world. Though He manifests Himself differently to different kinds of seekers, a Bhakta alone can enjoy the bliss or love of a personal God. This all-consuming love is at the heart of Chaitanya Vaishnavism, the basis of gopi-bhav in the ashtapadis of Jayadeva.
Jayadeva uses physical imagery in the Geet-Govinda only to drive home his underlying principle of bhakti as an ardent desire to merge with the Self, which, he felt, could only be captured in the mood of the gopis and Radha towards Krishna. As opposed to the Vaidhe Bhakti, triggered by scriptural injunctions, Jayadeva details what has been called the raga-nuga bhakti in Gaudiya tradition — devotion filled with loving attachment.
Using amorous desire as a metaphor for the longing and union with the Self, Jayadeva's subtle imagery suggests that gopis have trans cended their body consciousness in their desire to be one with Krishna, in their mood to experience the maha-bhava or prema which brooks no separation of Radha herself.
The union, separation and reunion of Radha with Krishna is nuanced in every emotion, as if to freeze the character of Radha in time, to sketch her as the perfect epitome of this maha bhava.
The religious context in which Geet-Govinda was composed, is provided by Jayadeva himself, in Dasavatara Stotra, a hymn to the 10 incarnations of Vishnu, in the first section of the poem-drama.
The nature of the Radha-Krishna relationship makes Geet-Govinda a classic of devotional literature. Even while using physi-cal imagery throughout, Jayadeva transforms it contextually by alluding to the deeper meaning of the longing for union, the maha-bhava, of Radha towards Krishna.
To Jayadeva, the vision of Krishna through the eyes and soul of Radha, is the highest form of bhakti. This vision is captured in the graceful movements of Odissi and other classical dances.