Songs From The Gopala Campu

 
Songs adhere strictly to the rules of music followed by the bards and gopis in the book, while specific ragas (melodic modes) mentioned by Jiva Goswami are often used. A song celebrating the arrival of spring, or vasanta, is heard in vasanta raga. Another song—describing the awakening of Radha and Krishna before dawn (bouli)—is set to an appropriate bouli raga. And the song about Radha and Krishna’s rasa-lila dance mixes a variety of percussion instruments, as rhythm is the most prominent aspect of the dance.
 
Gopala-champu is a truly special book for several reasons. For one, it narrates Krishna’s pastimes as found in the Srimad-bhagavatam, with the addition of rasa (emotions, or moods). For another, it is a very useful tool in one’s loving worship of God. Jiva Goswami himself suggests, “Among the pastimes [in this book], each person should choose some according to his inclination and use those for worship.” And finally, it is “a work composed of the bliss of Radha and Krishna.