[3] His decision meant abandoning a highly formalised, stylised and accepted genre that was considered to be a de facto requirement of any poet, let alone one wishing to work within the royal courts of the time.

The literary status of Brij Bhasha was already becoming accepted among the common people in the generations immediately preceding him, in large part because of the Bhakti movement that sought to revitalise Vaishnavite Hinduism and which was centred on the towns of Vrindavan and Mathura.

This movement of religious reclamation led to the building of many new temples and those who propagated and accepted Brij Bhasha at that time considered it to have been the language that was spoken by Krishna.

Bhakti poets such as Swami Haridas produced new vernacular devotional works that abandoned Sanskrit, which had been the traditional language of religion and of the Brahmins, and their songs were sung communally rather than in isolation.

The tributary rulers asserted their remaining power through cultural channels, and Keshavdas was associated with Orchha's court from the time of the reign of Madhukar Shah.

The poem has 52 sextet verses that mix the raso style of western India with Vaishnavite influences, and reworks themes of classical Indian literature with a localised perspective.

It depicts Vishnu as a supporter of Ratnasena Bundela, the fourth son of Madhukar, whose warrior exploits during the Mughal conquest of Orchha are glorified.

The veracity of even the basic information presented is dubious — for example, it ignores that Ratnasena Bundela fought for Akbar as well as against him — but this appears likely to have been by design.