History of Bengali Language and Literature c10.s2.92

c10.s2.92

Rāma Prasāda was the son of Rāma Rāma Sen, a Vaidya by caste. By the machinations of his relations, the father had been deprived of his inheritance, and the poet passed his early life in poverty. While yet in his teens he was admitted as an apprentice in the revenue office of a Zemindar and was entrusted with the work of keeping the accounts. One day his master was taken by surprise to find some remarkably beautiful songs scribbled over the pages of the account-book, evidently in the hand-writing of the young apprentice. When he came to know that Rāma Prasāda was their author, he was so highly pleased with the poetic talents of the young man, that he conferred a pension of Rs. 30 on him, and allowed him to retire to his village and devote himself to the composition of songs. Rāma Prasāda also obtained a pension from Rājā Kriṣṇa Chandra, besides a gift of 100 bighas of rent-free land in 1758. After his retirement his fame spread all over Bengal, and his songs composed in the soul-captivating Ragini called the Malacri, wrought a revolution in the spiritual world.