Many people today mistakenly attribute the two Shabads of Bhagat Jaidev in Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji to the 12th century Jaidev: the author of the Gita Govinda. There are several problems with this belief that will be dissected in this article.

The Gita Govinda is an erotic literature that speaks about the love between Krishan and Radha. It goes into details about their physical intimacy, and has often been called a ਸੰਖੇਪ ਕੋਕ. A summarized version of the Kok Shaastar, which delves into topics such as love, marriage and physical relationships between men and women. Such a writer, having his Shabads in Guru Granth Sahib is inconsistent with the lifestyles and writings of the Gurus and other Bhagats.

Two Different Jaidevs

Many scholars believe that the Jaidev that wrote the Gita Govinda and the Jaidev of Guru Granth Sahib are two different people. The general consensus is that the writing style and subject matter are too different for the two writers to be the same person.

In Hindi Ki Nirgun Kaavydhara, Dr. Govind Trigunayat (Page 16) argues that after examining the writings of the two Jaidevs a clear difference “as vast as the space between the sky and the earth” emerges between the meaning, language and style of the two Jaidevs.

While speaking about the following Shabad of Bhagat Jaidev’s in Guru Granth Sahib:

ਚੰਦ ਸਤ ਭੇਦਿਆ ਨਾਦ ਸਤ ਪੂਰਿਆ ਸੂਰ ਸਤ ਖੋੜਸਾ ਦਤੁ ਕੀਆ ॥ ਅਬਲ ਬਲੁ ਤੋੜਿਆ ਅਚਲ ਚਲੁ ਥਪਿਆ ਅਘੜੁ ਘੜਿਆ ਤਹਾ ਅਪਿਉ ਪੀਆ ॥੧॥

ਮਨ ਆਦਿ ਗੁਣ ਆਦਿ ਵਖਾਣਿਆ ॥ ਤੇਰੀ ਦੁਬਿਧਾ ਦ੍ਰਿਸਟਿ ਸੰਮਾਨਿਆ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥

ਅਰਧਿ ਕਉ ਅਰਧਿਆ ਸਰਧਿ ਕਉ ਸਰਧਿਆ ਸਲਲ ਕਉ ਸਲਲਿ ਸੰਮਾਨਿ ਆਇਆ ॥ ਬਦਤਿ ਜੈਦੇਉ ਜੈਦੇਵ ਕਉ ਰੰਮਿਆ ਬ੍ਰਹਮੁ ਨਿਰਬਾਣੁ ਲਿਵ ਲੀਣੁ ਪਾਇਆ ॥੨॥੧॥

Dr. Trigunayat argues that (Page 17, translated to English ):

“If the language and style of this verse is compared with the language and style of the Gita Govinda, then the same difference will be seen as the one that exists between gold and silver.”

He goes on to argue that the Gita Govinda is full of Sargun devotion and descriptions of “Lila” between Krishan and Radha. Such a vast difference in devotional practices (Nirgun and Sargun) cannot exist in the same person. Therefore, the Bhagat Jaidev of Guru Granth Sahib must be a different person than the Jaidev that wrote Gita Govinda.

In Madhyakalin Sant Sahitya, Dr. Ramkhelavan Pandey argues that the writer of the Shabads in Guru Granth Sahib appears to be completely different than the author of Gita Govinda.

He argues that the Shabads in Guru Granth Sahib have a Punjabi influence, which cannot be possible because the Jaidev of the Gita Govinda was from Bengal or Odisha. Secondly, there are no similarities in the writing styles. In fact the language of the Shabads in Guru Granth Sahib is newer and cannot be written by someone who lived in the 12th century. Thirdly, he argues that Hindi was not as widespread as a language during the 12th century when the original Jaidev lived. And the two Shabads in Guru Granth Sahib are written in Hindi with a Punjabi influence, so the logic follows that the Jaidev that wrote the Gita Govinda did not write the two Shabads in Guru Granth Sahib. Therefore he concludes based on a linguistic analysis of the two works, the Jaidev of Gita Govinda cannot be the same writer of the Shabads in Guru Granth Sahib.

We see a couple of trends emerging in these two scholars’ works. The Gita Govinda is heavily focused on the Sargun devotion of Krishan and Radha. Whereas, the two Shabads of Bhagat Jaidev in Guru Granth Sahib are completely focused on Nirgun devotion, and do not mention Krishan or Radha at all.

We also see that scholars argue that the language and writing styles are completely different. With the Shabads in Guru Granth Sahib having a Punjabi influence, which would be impossible as the Jaidev from the 12th century did not live in or travel to Punjab. Therefore, we can argue that the Bhagat Jaidev of Guru Granth Sahib did not live in the 12th century.

Chandrakant Bali, writing in Punjabi Prantij Hindi Sahitya ka Itihas, writes (page 137, translated to English):

“In due course, a certain Saint Jaidev of Punjab, whose composition is present in the Adi Granth, has been assumed to be identical to Jaidev, the author of Gita Govinda.” Why this assumption has been made, no one has been able to answer.

Furtheremore, Frank Ernest Keay in A History Of Hindi Literature, writes the following on Page 20:

“The Granth contains also a fragment of a certain Jaidev who has sometimes been identified with Jayadeva, the author of the Sanskrit Gita Govinda, who lived towards the end of the twelfth century. But the identification is more than doubtful and the date and the circumstances of this Jaidev are unknown.”

Additionally, Ramchandar Shukla in his book Hindi Sahitya Ka Itihas writes the following (page 107, translated to English):

“Looking at the composition and subject matter of the two Shabads found in Guru Granth Sahib under the name of Jaidev, it does not appear that their author is the same Jaidev who composed the Gita Govinda. Upon closer inspection, no similarity is visible in their language and subject matter.”

Moreover, Barabara Miller in her book Jayadeva’s Gitagovinda has also made a similar argument. She believes that the differences in their devotional practices are too vast for them to be the same person.

However, it should be noted that there are other scholars who believe that the two Jaidevs are one and the same. Them being separate is not an unanimous opinion among scholars. In this article, however, we have given the viewpoints of several scholars that when used together, present a very strong argument for the Jaidev of Guru Granth Sahib indeed being a different person from the Jaidev of the Gita Govinda.

So it seems that through the course of history, the Bhagat Jaidev of Guru Granth Sahib has been mistaken for the Jaidev of the 12th century. The two are completely different personalities, who had different philosophies and beliefs. Scholars clearly believe that the writer of Gita Govinda, is not the same as the writer of the two Shabads in Guru Granth Sahib.

Bhagat Jaidev and Guru Nanak Dev Ji

Now the question arises, who is the Bhagat Jaidev of Guru Granth Sahib Ji?Chandarkant Bali argues that the Bhagat Jaidev of Guru Granth Sahib must have lived in the 15th century. He reaches this conclusion based on the convergence of the Nath, Sidh, and Sufi traditions during that period, and references to these traditions appearing in Bhagat Jaidev’s Shabads in Guru Granth Sahib. This can only happen if he lived during a time period where these three traditions were popular together, which he argues is the 15th century. He also argues that the language used by Bhagat Jaidev is Sadhukkari, which was used by other saints and bhagats around the 15th century.

Furthermore, Bhagat Kabir Ji in his Bani, makes a very interesting point:

ਗੁਰ ਪਰਸਾਦੀ ਜੈਦੇਉ ਨਾਮਾਂ ॥ ਭਗਤਿ ਕੈ ਪ੍ਰੇਮਿ ਇਨ ਹੀ ਹੈ ਜਾਨਾਂ ॥੫॥

Through the Guru’s blessings, Namdev and Jaidev came to know about Prema Bhagti.

The key here is that Bhagat Kabir Ji mentions that Bhagat Jaidev through the blessings of the Guru came to know about Prema Bhagti. Which Guru would Bhagat Kabir Ji be referring to here? Without a doubt it must be Guru Nanak Dev Ji. Guru Granth Sahib does not believe in multiple gurus. There is only one Guru, and that is Guru Nanak Dev Ji, whose Jot is within the nine other human Gurus and is currently within Guru Granth Sahib Ji.

This would mean that Bhagat Jaidev and Guru Nanak Dev Ji were contemporaries and that Bhagat Jaidev definitely met Guru Sahib and received Naam. How else would Jaidev be inspired towards Prema Bhagati, as Bhagat Kabir mentions?

When all other Bhagats of Guru Granth Sahib Ji met Guru Nanak Dev Ji, it makes sense that Bhagat Jaidev did too. Especially when Bhagat Kabir Ji alludes to this in his Bani (ਗੁਰ ਪਰਸਾਦੀ ਜੈਦੇਉ ਨਾਮਾਂ).

Conclusion

Although history does not record a meeting between Guru Nanak Dev Ji and Bhagat Jaidev, it is clear that the Jaidev of Guru Granth Sahib did not live in the 12th century as many mistakenly believe. The differences in the writing, language and subject matter between the Gita Govinda and the Shabads in Guru Granth Sahib means that their writers cannot be the same person. Several scholars have also reached this conclusion. Similar, to the other Bhagats, Bhagat Jaidev, too, was a contemporary of Guru Nanak Dev Ji and became his Sikh. Only then was his Bani accepted by Guru Sahib and added into Guru Granth Sahib Ji.

References

Bali, Chanderkant: Punjab Prantiya Hindi Sahitya Ka Itihas

Keay, Frank Ernest: A History Of Hindi Literature

Miller, Barabara: Jayadeva’s Gitagovinda

Pandey, Dr. Ramkhelavan: Madhyakalin Sant Sahitya

Trigunaya, Dr. Govind: Hindi Ki Nirgun Kaavydhara

Shukla, Ramchandra: Hindi Sahitya Ka Itihas

– Written by Gagan Singh