The Remaining Hindi Works of Śrī Hit Harivaṁś
Keywords:
Sri Hit Harivansh, Radhavallabh Sampraday, Hindi works, Braj, Sphutvani, Srimukhpatri, Bhakti, Radha, Krishna, Vrindavan, Madhurya Bhakti, Sakhis, Puja, AratiAbstract
This article presents translations of the remaining Hindi works of Sri Hit Harivansh, the 16th-century founder of the Radhavallabh Sampraday. Beyond the well-known Chaurasi Pad, this collection includes the Sphutvani (a miscellany of 23 stanzas and 4 dohas) and two letters (Srimukhpatri) written in Braj. The author, Charles S. J. White, provides the first full translations of these works, drawing on research conducted in India.
The Sphutvani explores diverse themes, including the irrelevance of astrology in Bhakti, exhortations to ethical-devotional life, symbolic comparisons of birds in Madhurya Bhakti, and vivid descriptions of Radha as the source of erotic bliss, Child Krishna's birth, and the emotions of the sakhis (female companions). It also includes calls to puja (worship) and arati, detailed physical descriptions of Krishna, and a scene of Radha and Krishna in a bower. The translations are contextualized by the core theological tenets of the Radhavallabh Sampraday, which emphasizes Radha as the supreme being, Krishna as her consort, and the role of the sakhis in their divine love play within the sacred space of Vrindavan.
