History of Bengali Language and Literature c10.s2.6

c10.s2.6

The home life of Bengal has been best expressed in its songs. In these, one may find out all he wants to know about the Bengali people. They are as thoroughly Indian as the *kunda* flowers of the soil; and many of them spring from sincere souls as tributes to god, even as *kunda* flowers are offered by Brahmin to Viṣṇu. From the highest truths of Yoga down to the pettiest concerns of daily life, every point that touches our aims, our ideas and our manner of life is embodied in these songs. Many of them have been composed by saints like Rāma Prasāda and Fikir Cānd, which no one who is not an adept in Yoga, can well understand. Those on Dehatattva, or the spiritual principles governing the human body, are too abstract for laymen. Their language is not difficult, but they offer points of perplexity because they illustrate an experience of which we know too little.