Govinda Gopala Radha

Let the Quiet of Nature help us quieten our mind

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The devotee rests her head on the personification of Deity, in Nature.

Govinda Gopala Radha

Meaning

Govinda       jaya jayo       Gopāla         jaya jayo
Govinda       jaya jayo       Gopaala       jaya jayo
                        success                                  success
Wishing ourselves success in ….

Rādha                       ramaḥ            hare
Raadha                    ramah            hare
spiritual                     joy, beauty   experiencing
practitioner
Let us experience the attraction, beauty and the enjoyment of being spiritual practitioner.

The Song.

Patrick Bernard of Canada offers a magnificent musical piece for this mantra. It is mostly instrumental, with an extraordinary collection of different sounds, with a skilled use of the pause in composition. Called “Sands of Pleasure”, it’s the first song on his album “Solaris Universalis”, 1989, reissued in 2015.

This musical piece was a favourite at our Reiki “clinic” meetings at the Deva Chen Buddhist Sanctuary, south of Fremantle, in the early 1990’s. It is the first Kirtan song I ever learned, and I have been enjoying it for three decades.

You can listen to a good recording of this on You-tube, with 30,000 visits, on - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlEl_Ti1cs0

There is a shorter version of poorer sound quality at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doLauYdVv-U

(Krisna Das fans! The Radhe Govinda page, at St Paul & St Andrews, is nested behind this page …)

The Mantra Discussed.

On his album sleeve, Patrick discusses the sound of this mantra. He says that it helps us to unite with the beauty of Mother Nature, how we can enjoy this connection, and describes this as the “Source of Youth.” He says that the beauty of Rādha fully permeates such connection with the Ancient Mother.

ramaḥ is the word immediately after Rādha in our mantra. ramaḥ = beauty and enjoyment. In fact, the expression : rādha-ramaḥ often occurs in mantra.

Rādha-ramaḥ can signify the joy and beauty of spiritual practice, and
Rādha can mean us, when we are both practised and practising.

Govinda and Gopāla can signify the “Source of nurturing”; physical, bodily and spiritual.

So Hare Krishna restaurants are often called “Govindas” or “Gopals”.

In more detail –
Govinda can signify “finding nurturing”, and
Gopāla can signify “practising and protecting nurturing” that we have gained.

Thus Govinda usually precedes Gopāla in Kirtan.

Govinda and Gopala can also express the heart of Deep Ecology, as I practise it in my own forest home. Govinda can mean “finding a connection with Mother Nature,” or “gaining rapport with Mother Nature”, thru meditation in Nature in some effective way. Govinda can mean discovering how to access the full healing power of time spent with the Ancient Mother, and how this can nurture our spiritual essence, or sugandhim.

Gopala can then mean to protect Nature, from the widespread destruction that the white man has wreaked upon Her. As a gesture that at least some people actually value Her, and have discovered Her real value, for healing and inspiration. And to care for Her, thru Nature conservation practices.

And what do I mean by “finding nurturing?” More composition coming soon …

Derivation Details

go- primarily means “cow” and “things that come from cows” in the dictionary, and both Govinda and Gopāla often mean “cowherder”.

The cow provides milk, from which we can make cheese, butter, cream, yoghurt. The bull provides grain, by pulling the plough. The bull also draws the cart, to bring foodstuffs to market. And cattle provide manure, an important fuel for cooking when forests are distant. Thus cow is a symbol of bodily nurturing in India. The cow is sacred there.

Traditional story telling gives further meaning to Govinda. In the Shānti Parva of the Maha-Bharāta (the great epic of Bharat = India),   Vishnu restored the Earth after it sank into the netherworld, called “naraga” in Tamil. Thus all devas praise Him as Govinda = “Protector of the Land”. go- also means “from the earth” in the dictionary.

Mother Nature is the ultimate Source of all life and healing, for without the elemental forces of Nature : rain, sun, soil; there can be no life. Similarly, the forest protects the soil, and provide homes needed by all kinds of birds and animals. And natural medicine is based on best nutrition and medicinal herbs, both the gifts from Mother Nature. Likewise, exercise in Nature is essential to good health.

In Hari Vamsa, Shiva says that He who is “Lord of the Vedas” is Govinda. This could refer to Lord Vishnu’s avatara as Hayagriva, in which He rescued the Vedas (the ancient scriptures of India) from the demons Madhu and Kaitabha. If we can properly understand scripture, and know how to apply scriptural themes, they can help guide us in our spiritual practice. Indeed, veda means “know, understand” in the dictionary, which also gives the following translations -

vinda means “find, gain”
pāla means “protect”.

All these suggest the following translations –

go- can mean physical nurturing from time spent in Nature, and
go- can mean bodily nurturing from good wholesome meals and food, and
go- can also mean spiritual nurturing, that helps us keep up our spirits and avoid troubles.

Govinda can mean finding such nurturing; physical, bodily and spiritual
Gopāla can mean practising and protecting the nurturing we gain.

Rādha can mean the spiritual practitioner, ie us when we are both practised and practising.

In the traditional story telling, Rādha was close to Krishna,   the closest of all the Gopis.   And Krishna is presented as Deity personified, in the religion. Krishna is a most common Name for Deity in India, and there are many devotees and temples for Krishna there. The image on this webpage and on Patrick Bernard’s album sleeve is of Rādha and Krishna together.

Thus Rādha can mean “close to Deity”, or “closer to Deity than to egoic pursuits.”   Or Rādha can mean the spiritual practitioner, ie us when we are both practised and practising.

Govinda and Gopāla are a pair of Names for Deity, and they often occur together in Kirtan. In the traditional stories, Krishna was called both of these names when he was young and tending the cows with the Gopi women. So it is fitting to attribute related meanings to these two Names.

hare. The Hare Krishna sect and its founder Prabhupada describes hare as the “internal spiritual energy” of Deity. This points to the Deity within our hearts, as pure consciousness. It is the experience where the spiritual Qualities are strong, and the defilements are weak. Thus hare suggests the experience or quality of Presence, how Deity actually feels when it has come to visit us.

jaya means “victory” in (the dictionary and in) traditional story telling where gods use weapons to destroy demons in celestial battle. However, if we view spiritual practice as a war against evil, we will only fuel the conflict within ourselves and disturb the peace. Thus a peaceful translation of jaya is success : may we succeed in our spiritual practice. jaya is pronounced jayo by Patrick Bernard, and jai, je and even che by other Kirtan musicians.

And what will help us find and protect our nurturing? How can we have success in this important endeavour?

This is quite challenging.   So I prepared extensive treatises on spiritual practice, Deity in Kirtan, and meditation training, to help us all find useful guidance to our practice and training. With new translations of the most prominent scriptures, revealing how the Sanskrit can provide useful material for our endeavours. Published on this website.

To access other pages on this website, about spiritual practice or scriptures,
go to the menu at the page head. Click onto the “more” button,
or the + next to it. Then click onto more + buttons.

My introductory webpages “Mantras Translated A - C”
discuss how to gain the full benefit of these mantra writeups.

​Govinda Gopala Radha Meaning​

Derivation Details

Govinda Gopala Radha

Meaning