text: Summary The work delineates the love of Krishna for Radha, the milkmaid, his faithlessness and subsequent return to her, and is taken as symbolical of the human soul's straying from its true allegiance but returning at length to the God which created it.
  Chapters
  Sāmodadāmodaram (Exuberant Krishna)
  Akleshakeshavam (Blithesome Krishna)
  Mugdhamadhusūdanam (Winsome Krishna)
  Snigdhamadhusūdanam (Tender Krishna)
  Sākāṅkṣa puṇdarīkākṣham (Passionate Krishna)
  Dhrṣta vaikuṇṭha (Audacious Krishna)
  NāgaranārāyanaH (Dexterous Krishna)
  VilakṣyalakṣmīpatiH (Apologetic Krishna)
  Mugdhadamukunda (Unpretentious Krishna)
  ChaturachaturbhujaH (Tactful Krishna)
  Sānandadāmodaram (Joyful Krishna)
  SuprītapītāmbaraH (Exultant Krishna)
  Commentaries
  A large number of commentaries have been written on the text, elaborating on its meaning and music. Scholar Thomas Donaldson mentions that the Gitagovinda was known at Puri not long after its composition, for the earliest commentary on it was written in Odisha around 1190 by Udayanacharya, the Bhavavibhavini Tika. Some of the notable commentaries are Kaviraja Narayana Dasa's Sarvangasundaritika, Rana Kumbha's Rasikapriya Tika, Krsna Das's Sarvangasundaritika, Dhananjaya Bipra's Nutana Sarvangasundaritika, Lakshmana Suri's Srtiranjani Tika, Lakshmana Bhatta's Rasikarangadatika and Dharanidhara's Odia Padyanuvadatika.
  Within the school of Gaudiya Vaishnavism, there is a medieval commentary known as the Sri-Gita-Govinda-Vyakhayana by Prabhodananda Sarasvati. Another well-known medieval commentary is the Balabodhini-tika of Chaitanyadasa, also known as Sri Pujari Goswami (late 16th–17th centuries). A contemporary commentary from the Gaudiya Vaishnava school, drawing largely from the Balabodhini-tika, is the Balabodhini-prakasa of Bhaktivedanta Narayana Goswami.