Govindadas is one of the leading poets of the Vaishnava Padavali movement, a flowering of Bengali poetry from the 14th to 17th centuries, based on the Radha-Krishna legend. The Padavalis reflects an earthy view of divine love that, starting in South India, spread rapidly as part of the Bhakti movement. The literary movement was also marked by a shift from the classical language of Sanskrit, to the local languages (Apabhramsha) or derivatives, e.g. the literary language of Brajabuli. Starting in the 14th century with Chandidas (1339-1399), the "Padavali" poets included Govindadas, Jnanadas, Maladhar Basu, Sheikh Faizullah, Syed Sultan, Balaram Das, Lochan Das, Basudev Ghosh, Murari Gupta, and Narahari Das. The movement flowered in the 16th century with poets like he also wrote poems in the Brajabuli literary canon influenced by Vidyapati, and is often called "the second Vidyapati".