Vidyapati
Vidyapati (
1352? â€"
1448?), also known as the
Maithil Kokil Vidyapati (Vidyapati, the
cuckoo of
Maithili), was an
Indian poet. He was born in the
village of Bisapi,
Madhubani district,
Bihar state,
India. The name Vidyapati is derived from two
Sanskrit words,
Vidya (knowledge) and
Pati (master), connoting thereby,
a man of knowledge. Vidyapati's position as a poet and maker of language has been described as "analogous to that of
Dante in
Italy and
Chaucer in
England."
Vidyapati is as much known for his love-lyrics as for his poetries dedicated to
Lord Shiva. He used to compose in
Maithili, a language spoken around
Mithila (a region in the north Bihar), closely related to the
abahattha form of early
Bengali.
The love songs of Vidyapati, which describe the sensuous love story of
Radha and
Krishna, follow a long line of
Vaishnav love poetry, popular in Eastern India, and include much celebrated poetery such as
Jayadeva's
Gita Govinda of the
12th century. This tradition which uses the language of physical love to describe spiritual love, was a reflection of a key turn in
Hinduism, initiated by
Ramanuja in the
11th century which advocated an individual self realization through direct love. Similar to the reformation in
Christianity, this movement empowered the common man to realize
God directly, without the intervention of learned
priests. Part of the transformation was also a shift to local
languages as opposed to the formal
Sanskrit of the religious texts.
The Maithili of these poems is also called
Brajabuli, and this style of poetry became very popular in
Bengal, where later poets such as Govindadas emulated this form, and even in the
19th century,
Rabindranath Tagore, wrote
Bhanusimher Padavali in this language.
The songs he wrote a prayers to Lord
Shiva are still sung in
Mithila and form a rich tradition of sweet and lovely folk songs.
Folklore says that he was such a great devotee of Lord
Shiva that the lord was really pleased with him. And once He decided to come to live in his house as a servant. As the servant He is said to have taken the name
Ugna. At several places in the region, Lord
Shiva is still worshipped by this name. This incident is supposed to symbolize the traditional Indian saying that "Gods are slaves to their devotees".
All My InhibitionAll my inhibition left me in a flash,
When he robbed me of my clothes,
But his body became my new dress.
Like a bee hovering on a lotus leaf
He was there in my night, on me!
*
More examplesVidyapati, mainly known for his love songs and prayers for Lord Shiva, also wrote on other topics including ethics, history, geography, and law. His books include:
Purusparika deals with moral teachings
Likhanabali is about writing
Bhu-Parikrama, literal meaning, around the world, is about local geography
Bibhasagar is autobiographical in nature
Dhanbakyabali is about charity
*Recently Publications Division of Government of India has brought out the Hindi Translation of Vidyapati-krit Purush Pariksha by Akhilesh Jha. There are 25 stories in the book selected from 44 stories in the original work. Besides, there are scholarly introductions to both Vidyapati and Purush Pariksha in the book.
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Vidyapati*
Vidyapati Padmavati
