Kangra Paintings of the Gita Govinda/M.S. Randhawa. Reprint. New Delhi, National Museum, 1982, 132 p., 28 figs., 20 plates.
Contents: Preface. Introduction. 1. Sri Jayadeva's Gita Govinda. 2. Paintings of the Gita Govinda. 3. Notes. 4. Texts on Paintings. 5. Gita Govinda-Sanskrit text. 6. References and Notes. Bibliography.
"A delightful translation of the Gita Govinda was presented to the western world by Sir Edwin Arnold in 1875. In its voluptuous imagery and passion, the nearest parallel to it could be found only in Solomon's Song of Songs in the old testament, and hence he called it the Indian Song of Songs. Earlier, it had been translated into English by Sir William Jones in 1792, but his translation remained buried in the learned Journal Of Asiatick Researches of Calcutta. Jones was followed by the German poet Ruckert (1836), whose German translation is as near to the beauty of the original in form and matter as is feasible in any translation. Courtillier (1904) translated it into French. However, the real credit for bringing this Sanskrit poem to the notice of English speaking people goes to Arnold, and his English version of the Gita Govinda in rhyming verse ranks with his other great work, The Light of Asia. Puran Singh (1926) provided another translation of the great poem in blank verse, which was included in his Spirit of Oriental Poetry. Untrammelled by the limitations of metre and rhyming, it is very close to the spirit of the original. . . ."