Book Gita Govinda!

“Gita Govinda”, the book of songs of Govinda (Krishna) by the great mystic and poet Jayadeva of Orissa, is the immortal portrayal of Radha Bhakti in its manifold manifestations.

Jayadeva could express it with such charm and clarity that even the man behind the plough sang those songs and filled his heart with Divine delight. The ruler of the land, Lakshmana Sena, was stricken with envy. He prepared a parallel book of songs and ordered that they be sung, instead of Jayadeva’s outpourings, in the temples of the land, including the greatest of them all, the Jagannath Temple at Puri.

When his order was received with universal protest, the king laid both the books at the Feet of Lord Jagannath and the shrine locked and kept under strict vigilance. When the doors were opened in the morning, the king saw the Lord having Jayadeva’s Gita Govinda in His hand, while his rival book written out of envy and pride was thrown into a far corner. The Lord had announced that He showers grace on inner purity, not outer pomp.

Prayer must come from the depths of feeling; the Lord looks for bhava (sincerity of feeling), not bahya (outward pomp). God judges the devotee’s love by the intensity of the feeling and not by the number of ways in which worship is offered. Do not calculate what you have offered to God in terms of money or otherwise. Whatever you offer, consider only the feeling with which you offered it. Offer anything with a full and loving heart. By offering with love, you become the embodiment of love.