गोवर्धनगिरीशं स्मराम्यनिशम्
गोपिकादिमनोहरं गर्वितकंसादिहरम्
गोविन्दनामसारं गजेन्द्ररक्षणधीरम्
कविजनहृन्मन्दारं कनकजितसुशरीरम्
रविशशिनयनविलासं रमणीयमुखाभासम्
शिवगणादिविश्वासं श्रीगुरुगुहमनोल्लासम्
govardhanagirīśaṁ smarāmyaniśam
gopikādimanoharaṁ garvitakaṁsādiharam
govindanāmasāraṁ gajendrarakṣaṇadhīram
kavijanahṛnmandāraṁ kanakajitasuśarīram
raviśaśinayanavilāsaṁ ramaṇīyamukhābhāsam
śivagaṇādiviśvāsaṁ śrīguruguhamanollāsam
Meaning
Pallavi: I ever remember the Lord of Govardhana hill, who steals the hearts of the gopis and others, and who destroyed the proud Kamsa and his kind.
Charanam: He whose very marrow is the name Govinda; the steadfast one who saved Gajendra; the mandara tree in the hearts of poets; whose fair body outshines gold; whose eyes are the playful Sun and Moon; whose face glows with beauty; in whom Shiva’s ganas and others place their trust; the delight of Shri Guruguha’s mind.
About this bhajan
Dikshitar wandered from Kashi to Kanchi and wrote kritis at hundreds of shrines, Shaiva, Vaishnava and Shakta alike. This one, in Hindolam, is a short and bright picture of Krishna as Giridhari, the Lord who lifted Govardhana to shelter Vraja from Indra’s rain. The charanam moves in pairs of rhymes, every line ending in ‘-am’, and the madhyama kala passage at the end gathers speed. It is a favourite on Janmashtami concert lists and in dance recitals, where the lifting of the hill is shown with one raised hand.
Shivkumar Kalyanaraman’s Krithi Archive, ‘Govardhana Girisham’ (Hindolam; text and meaning after T. K. Govinda Rao, Compositions of Muddusvami Dikshitar); karnatik.com list c5704; Devanagari by the editor