8. The Oriya Poet - Dina Krsna Das

 8. The Oriya Poet - Dina Krsna Das

Although he is relatively unknown outside of Orissa, Dina Krishna Das is one of the luminous stars in the sky of Orissan devotional poetry. He was born in approximately 1670. His father's name was Madhusudan. The location of his birthplace is not agreed upon by scholars, but some say that he was born and raised in Bhima Nagar, on the outskirts of Khurdha. In his Rasa-vinoda, Dina Krishna states that he descended from a rājaputa, kingly caste, and that his forefathers stayed near Jaleswar on the bank of the Suvarnarekha River in what is now northern Orissa. Dina Krishna Das did most of his writing while staying at the village known as Ekagharakia, on the bank of the Brahmani River.

On one occasion, the Puri King Divyasimhadev ordered Dina Krishna to write some poems in the king's name. Offering authorship of one's work to the king was a common practice at that time. However, Dina Krishna Das refused and Raja Divyasimha became furious. The king threatened punishment, but the poet was undaunted. 

Boldly and fearlessly he told the raja:

tumbhanku mora nahin dara 

mo prabhu bale baliyara 

jagata srsti ana hele 

gita muñ änaku na bole

O king, I'm not at all afraid of you. My strength is by the potency of my Lord. Even if the whole creation is devastated, I'll never glorify you in my poetry.

Divyasimha ordered Dina Krishna imprisoned and tortured. The poet accepted the punishment as the will of the Lord and spent that night praying to Jagannath. Lord Jagannath appeared in the king's dream, chastised him for harassing His devotee, and ordered him to release the poet immediately. When Divyasimhadev awoke, he immediately went to see Dina Krishna Das in his cell. Upon his arrival, the king was amazed to find the chains that had been placed on the poet's wrists and ankles had mysteriously opened by themselves. Divyasimhadev was then convinced that Dina Krishna was not an ordinary man, but a great saint, personally protected by the Lord.

Raja Divyasimha begged forgiveness from the poet and gave him a large amount of wealth. Seeing the change in the king, Dina Krishna's soft heart was touched, and he later wrote the poem known as Jagamohana Chanda in the king's name.

Dina Krishna was the most popular poet of his time, and his texts Rasa-vinoda and Rasa-kallola are considered classics of Oriya literature. His Rasa-kallola is written in a special style wherein each consecutive line begins with "ka", the first consonant in the Oriya alphabet.

It's said that Dina Krishna constantly chanted the hare krsna mantra. He also wrote a book about the holy name called, "Nama-ratna Gita". 

Therein he writes:

nama brahma năma brahma nama brahma sära 

nama brahma vinu du nähin pratikära

The holy name is supreme, the holy name is supreme, the holy name is the essence of everything. Other than the supreme holy name, there is no remedy.

The subject matter of Dina Krishna Das' poems is the divine love of Radha and Krishna and their pastimes with the gopis in Vraja. He is said to have been deeply influenced by Jayadev Goswami's Gita-govinda, to which he presented an explanation through song in his Amṛta-sāgara. Dina Krishna wrote songs glorifying Purushottam Kshetra, and Lord Jagannath, whom he considered to be Shyamasundar Krishna of Vrindavan. Although he lived over 300 years ago, Dina Krishna's work is still popular today amongst the cultured people of Orissa. Many of his songs have been put to dance and are used in contemporary Oriya films. His song jaya jaya jagannātha nīlagiri pati, is sung daily in the Jagannath temple of Puri.