Dashavatara Stotra is a Hindu scripture.
("The Ten Avatars' Hymn") The Gitagovinda, a twelfth-century lyric song penned by the poet Jayadeva, opens with this canto.
The Gitagovinda is a narrative about the deity Krishna and his human lover Radha, which is a metaphor of the human soul's union with the divine.
This story follows the couple's initial passionate lovemaking, which is followed by jealousy, anger, and estrangement.
It everything comes to a head with their reconciliation and a more passionate reunion.
The Dashavatara Stotra is the text's genuine beginning, despite the fact that it is preceded by a brief introduction.
The Dashavatara Stotra is a song dedicated to the 10 avatars, or earthly incarnations, of the deity Krishna, each of whom has been tasked with preserving the universe at a moment of danger.
Even though the narrative utilizes the words and imagery often found in Sanskrit love poetry, Jayadeva uses this introductory hymn to remind his audience that the Krishna of his story is the ruler and master of the universe, who has rescued it from destruction time and time again.
The pictures in this opening hymn provide context for the reader, indicating that this work is more than a love tale.
Because Krishna is more often thought to be an incarnation of the deity Vishnu, Jayadeva is rare in portraying the divinity Krishna as the source of the ten avatars.
Jayadeva's link to the Jagannath shrine in Puri is the source of this doctrinal divergence.
Although Jagannath is thought to be a manifestation of Krishna, it is widely believed that he was initially an autochthonous ("of the country") god who happened to be Puri's local deity.
Associating Jagannath with Krishna was a means of assimilating him into the Hindu pantheon.
Thus, for Jayadeva, Jagannath-Krishna is the highest god, not an avatar, and Krishna's brother, Balarama, takes Krishna's position in Jayadeva's enumeration of the incarnations.
Barbara Stoller Miller (ed. and trans. ), The Love Song of the Dark Lord, 1977, contains the text of the Dashavatara Stotra and the Gitagovinda.
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