Jagat

The adulterous heroine in Sanskrit poetics 1. Introduction The impetus for this investigation into the adulterous heroine is the figure of Radha, who is almost universally depicted as married to someone other than Krishna, with whom she is nevertheless eternally involved in the archetype of all romantic relationships. We are particularly interested here in finding the background to theology of Radha and Krishna as found the work of Rupa and Jiva Goswamis of Vrindavan, 16th century devotees and theologians of the Gaudiya Vaishnava school set into motion by Chaitanya. Rupa wrote numerous works of drama in which Krishna is depicted in an adulterous relationship with Radha. Indeed, his Vidagdha-mādhava (1) may well be the first play in which an entire Sanskrit drama has been constructed around the theme of such a relationship. In his Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi , Rupa also rearranged many of the poeticians' traditional categories in order to make them suitable for the specifics of the Radha...