History of Bengali Language and Literature c10.70

c10.70

But though in the main story Alāol follows a style on the line of the Sanskrit classics and shows a wonderfully close acquaintance with the manners, customs and religious life of the Hindus, yet reading between the lines one may discover the vein of a Mahomedan poet by the non-Hindu elements to be found in his work, though couched beneath a highly Sanskritised form of Bengali. A certain extravagance of imagination reminds us, at every stage, of the excesses of fancy which characterise Arabic and Persian tales. Raja Ratna Sen heard of the beauty of Padmāvati, and even before he saw her, fell into a fit of violent love; renounced the world as an ascetic, and wandered through the forests. And "with him 1600 princes turned ascetic."* The