SOAS Research Online

Abstract

"Rasa mana ke pada" is the title given to a compilation of lyrics attributed to Kevalarama, a seventeenth century gosvami of a branch of the Vallabha sect (or Pustimarga) which is referred to as the 'Eighth Gaddi' (Hindi: Astama/Sthavi Gaddi). The lyrics, composed in the literary Braj dialect and dealing mainly with aspects of the love between Krsna and Radha, are representative of a body of literature preserved in a collection of Manuscripts which were copied in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries in and around Dera Ghazi Khan, a town on the banks of the Indus where, until 1947, the main temple of the Eighth Gaddi was situated. Since no account of the author and his sectarian background is available in English, the relevant historical and biographical data are presented in extended introductory chapters. Orthography and metre are examined in detail in order to show how the archaic inflections and tadbhava forms of the Ur-text, which were preserved by the relatively conservative scribe of the oldest extant version, were altered by later scribes who tended to Sanskritize the language, albeit with the retention of certain traits derived from their regional speech. Conclusions reached concerning the presumed archetypal language of the text and principles formulated for dealing with variant spellings have wider implications for the editorial treatment of early Hindi texts in general. Grammatical forms are listed in a section which summarises the linguistic features of the poems (including three which are written in Panjabi), and an index provides etymologies, glosses and cross- references for all words occurring in the text. A literal English translation is provided and the bibliography includes detailed descriptions of all manuscripts consulted.