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History of Bengali Language and Literature c10.s5: The Folk-literature of Bengal

History of Bengali Language and Literature c10.s5

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English

Contents

The Folk-literature of Bengal

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Bengal possesses a rich folk-literature, very little of which has yet been put into writing. The grandmothers may be heard to tell these stories to their grandchildren every evening in remote villages, —stories which have come down from a very early age. The Rev. Lāl Behāri Dey published some of these stories in English, but those gleaned by him from the resources available in towns represent only a very small fraction of such literature, and the most beautiful of these were not accessible to him, as, being a Christian, he could not have full command of the resources of the Hindu home. Lately Babu Dakṣiṇā Ranjana Mitra Mazumdār has published two volumes of folk-tales in Bengali. He has attempted to reproduce them in the very language of the rustic women from whom he collected them. In some cases he recorded the

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Dakṣiṇā Babu’s collections.

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stories by a phonograph at the time they were delivered; so that their language remains remarkably faithful to the narration of the villagers. The language owes not the least colouring or refinement to modern literary Bengali. The dialect spoken in the country five hundred years ago, of which specimens are to be found in the written literature of the period, remains unchanged in the colloquial language of our backward villages, not subjected to the influences of the outside world; and Dakṣiṇā Babu's collection has not only preserved the spirit of the old folk-lore unpolished by the touch of the compiler, but has retained even those old and quaint forms with all their mannerisms, which best indicate the genius of our tongue.

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There are altogether 16 stories in the two volumes. Some of them are meant simply to amuse the children, which is the primary object of all nursery tales. There are others, like the stories of Mālañchamālā and Kāñchanamālā, which though sufficiently wild and romantic to amuse the young, have also deeper meanings to interest more thoughtful readers. The characters of the heroines of these stories possess a living interest. The ideals of chastity and devotion to the husband, which they hold up, open vistas, as it were, into the domestic life of the Hindu women of past days, and enable us to see the workings of their souls—the purity of their hearts and the wonderful spirit of sacrifice which actuated them in there every-day conduct. The pathos created by Mālañchamālā's sufferings, her sacrifices, and devotion to her husband are matters difficult to be conveyed to those whose idea of wifehood is different from that which governs Hindu women. The Hindu wife in those days bore all kinds of ills from her husband with untiring patience; she lived with her co-wife, to whom often the husband was devoted and bore her neglect and his contempt in a surprising spirit of resignation; and inspite of all maltreatment cherished only the best feelings for her husband. All this was sometimes done with a grace,—a saintliness and devotion which place her sorrows above our pity. They may be looked upon almost in the light of martyrdom. The supernatural element prevails in the story of Mālañchamālā, with all imaginable excesses of wild fancy, and this constitutes its interest for the young; but as we proceed, the griefs of the heroine becomes the all-absorbing subject of the readers. Her woes claim a tear at every page. She like Behulā restores her husband to life; she saves him from the flames of the funeral pyre; follows him like a shadow; and, all unseen by him, ministers to his every comforts. She was married to him when he was a mere child. The child grows up, but Mālañchamālā does not show herself to him till he becomes a handsome youngman and has married a princess. Many years of fasts, and vigils, heart-rending anguish, and cruel treatment from her royal father-in-law, who does not allow her to live in his palace because she is of an inferior caste, are rewarded with this, that her husband marries the princess and lives in the palace of his new bride's father. And this husband had been the apple of her eye; in the funeral ground, in the deep shades of the wilderness she had saved him from death, undergoing unheard of hardships,

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Her great love.

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and bringing to him all the ministering care of a guardian angel! The young wife looks through a window in the moonlight and sees her husband and his new bride happy together. Mālañchamālā—chaste, devoted and faithful to her husband, as fidelity itself, peeps through the lattices of the window, and sees her husband in the arms of the princess; it was like Enoch Arden peeping into the room of Phillip and discovering Anne as his wife; but our Mālañchamālā is no earthly woman; she is heavenly in every sense of the word. She sings:—

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“Live in happiness, O Prince; live in happiness, O Princess.

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“If I am a chaste woman, my words will not be in vain.

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“Let your ancestors in heaven, O Prince, watch the candles that light up this chamber and preserve you from all ill.

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“May the children, that are born to your new wife, walk beneath royal umbrellas for fourteen generations to come!

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“O Forests, O trees, O land, O waters, keep guard! Let me know when they awake, that I may steal away unseen by either.

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“Let the towers of the palace, where my husband reigns, endure for ever.

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“Let the sun and the moon be as guards of his city.

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“May my royal father-in-law's palace and the throne of my husband be victorious for ever.

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"And may the shell-bracelets of the Princess and her vermilion mark, the signs of her wifehood, —endure for ever.

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"Grant me this boon, O God. I brought up my husband with great pain, and now what can I covet more than to see him happy with a princess?

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"Though I die and am reduced to dust I shall ever rejoice at this sight of the happiness of my husband.

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"If I die now and am transformed into a bird or a lower animal, or whatever else may befall me, I care not, as I have seen my beloved happy."

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This song is couched in the idioms of at least five centuries back.* The story has been worked into such life-like details, that the woman Mālañcha-mālā does not here pose as a great heroine. She does not seem to attempt at reaching any inaccessible height. Her woes give rise to great pathos, but with all these she continues to attract us, as an unassuming lovely village-girl that she is.

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Our Bengali folklore shows how peculiarly situated a Hindu wife might be in the midst of environment and influences favourable to the development of a spirit of sacrifice, devotion and fidelity. Her growth was often as natural as that of a flower, and is quite faithfully portrayed in the old literature of the country, and even in this unassuming folklore, where nothing has been put forward for the sake of display. The story of Kāñchanamālā also shows the familiar ideal of the Hindu wife. Her husband neglects her, but she persists in her devotion. For selfish reasons her husband comes reluctantly at a certain crisis to obtain her permission for undertaking a sea voyage, promising her, as a reward, a necklace of pearls, a fine pair of shell-bracelets and vermilion to adorn her forehead. But she answers, "You are my necklace of pearls ; you are my shell-bracelets and vermilion mark ; I do not want any other. Only take me with you my husband, I shall be at your bidding and be happy." These stories are interspersed with songs in language which is generally very antiquated. Many facts about old Hindu society and about the sea-voyages undertaken by the merchants of Bengal are to be found in these stories ; and there are other elements which indicate Bhuddistic influences, such as instances of the wonderful powers of Siddhās, and descriptions of Tāntrick rites. There are some stories on which Mahomedan influence has evidently left its impress, as for instance in the story of Madhumālā, the introduction of fairies is certainly no creation of the Hindu fancy.

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∗ Thakur Dadar Jhuli by Daksina Mitra p. 195.

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The songs with which those stories abound are sung to the favourite village metre known as Bhātiāl sura. This rythem and cadence is peculiarly distinctive of Bengal ; it has nothing to do with the refined melodies of Sanskrit or Persian music. There are six Ragas and thirty six Raginies—42 chief scales or musical modes of the Hindus ; but the Bhātiāl sura is not included in the range of this higher musical system. Bhātiāl is the cadence of the rustics, and its plaintive and appealing notes, so unassuming and simple, go straight to the heart and create their own pathos, without possessing any of those niceties of sound which characterise the *Ragas* and *Raginies*. The power of the Bhātial to strike the tender cords of the human soul, was found out by the Vaiṣṇavas who refined and enriched it with modulations and made from it that soul-captivating air—the Manohara Sāi. The writers of religious songs adopted it with peculiar modifications to form the *Baul sura* which produces emotions peculiar to an ascetic mood.

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CHAPTER VI.

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I. Miscellaneous Poems. II. Mainly on style, literary tastes, and language. III. Early prose-literature.

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We must remember that during that period when the Bengali language was being most rapidly developed and its literature was growing, the Hindus had already lost their political supremacy. By far the larger section of the Hindus lived in villages, and for them henceforth history lay almost entirely in the story of their social changes. Descriptions of society and its revolutions are found in many works of the Vaiṣṇavas. We have also, however, a small number of works on political history. Some of those written in poetry are noticed below. We reserve our treatment of the historical works written in prose for our account of Bengali prose, upon which we have not yet touched.

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I, Miscellaneous Poems.

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(a) Historical poems.

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1. Rājamālā, a history of the Rājās of Hill Tippera. This work was undertaken at the command of Mahārāja Çri Dharma Mānikya (1407—1439 A.D.) by two Brahmin scholars of his court—Çukreçvara and Vāṇeçvara who were inhabitants of Assam. Durlabha Chanḍāi a hoary headed old man, a courtier and the leader of the Chanḍāi community at the time, had much information about the early history of Tippera; and Çukreçvara and Vāṇeçvara frequently consulted him while compiling the Rāja-mālā. It also appears that there existed in fragmentary condition, earlier works on the same subject from which much help was received. Those to which reference is made in the Rājamālā are (1). Rājamālikā (an earlier work on the Tippera Rājās), (2). Yogini Malikā, (3). The Lakṣmaṇa Malika (probably a history of Rājā Lakṣmaṇa Sen of the Sen dynasty of Bengal) and (4). Vārunya Kalirnaya. The Rājamālā was written in simple metrical verse.

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We have also seen a small treatise, evidently very old, in which the history of the Tippera Rājās, traced from Duryya, son of Yayāti of the Lunar race, is embodied briefly in verse.

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2. *Maharastra Purana* by Gaṅgārāma. This is an historical work in Bengali verse, which gives an account of the Maharatta raids in Bengal led by Bhāskara Pandit in 1741 A. D. These raids, commonly known in our country as the *Vargira hangama*, gave rise to a feeling of general unrest and panic, inspiring the well-known nursery song, sung up to the present day by mothers to lull naughty children to sleep. This couplet which, like all nursery songs, does not convey any clear meaning, runs as follows—

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* “The child is asleep, the whole village is relieved.

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* “ছেলে ঘুমাল, পাড়া জুড়াল, বর্গী এল দেশে।
বুলবুলীতে ধান খেল, খাজনা দিব কিসে ?”

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“The Maharatta raiders have overrun the country.
and the Bulbulis (*Turdus jocosus*) have eaten up
the crops.
“How shall we pay the rent?”

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Gangārāma wrote his historical poem in 1750 A. D.,—seven years before the battle of Plassey. His account of the raids seems to be a faithful one. The author describes how Ālivardi Khān, the Nawāb was suddenly attacked by Bhāskara Pundit at Burdwan and made a captive there for a short time. This is borne out by a statement in Tarikhi Yusufi, though in Mitākṣarin, Tarikhi Bāngāla, and in the accounts of Mr. Holwel we do not find this incident mentioned. Gangārāma gives a great many facts about the Maharatta raids which will be found interesting to the readers of the history of Bengal.

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³ Samser Gazir gan. This poem, which runs through 4,000 couplets, describes the life and achievements of Samser gazi who was originally a robber, and who grew so powerful as to dethrone a king of Tippera and proclaim himself its chief for a time. Samser gazi lived 200 years ago, and the poem commemorating his exploits is sung by the rustic folk of Tippera to this day. It is said that Samser used to carry the vast riches, he obtained by looting, to the depths of the jungle in the Udayapura hills. He would then dismiss the carriers and with the help of a carpenter make deep cavities in the trunks of large Ṣāl trees, where he stored his hoards, and after carefully closing them up with blocks of timber, and effacing all marks of the work, he would cut off the head of the poor artisan, thus removing all chances of detection.

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In this way absolute secrecy was secured. It is said that even now stray wood-cutters, while applying their axe to the trunks of Çāla trees in the deep forest, sometimes unexpectedly find themselves in possession of treasure stored up there by the famous robber. The Samser Gazir gān was composed shortly after his death.

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4. *Chaudhuri's Ladai*, a poem describing the fight between the two Zeminders, named Rājanārāyaṇa Chaudhuri and Rājachandra Chaudhuri. The fighting took place at Babupur, seven miles to the north of Noākhāli, about 100 years ago, when British rule was not yet settled in that quarter. Rājanārāyaṇa was the more powerful of the contending rivals. He is said to have founded a town by cutting down a great jungle which had belonged to Sindur Kāzi. The town was called Rājagañja. The author of the poem was a Mahomedan, as appears from his preliminary verses in prāise of Khodā. There is an interesting account in the poem, of Rangamālā, a beautiful damsel who is said to have played an important part in the affairs.

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5. *The Raids by Kookis of Hill Tippera on the villages of the plains*. This poem was written about a century ago, and is still reproduced from memory by many old men of the Tippera district.

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6. *Dāra Sekh*. This is a poem by Dvija Rāma Chandra. It gives an account of the misfortunes of the Prince Dārā, the eldest son of Jāhāngir.

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7. A poem on Pratāpa Chand who claimed the gadi of Burdwan, by Anup Chandra Dattā, an inhabitant of Çrikhanda. The peom was written in 1844 A.D.

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Short historical treatises.

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There are numerous small poetical treatises, written about a century ago, describing the flood of the Dāmodara and its devastating effects on the villages of Birbhum; and on Bābu Rājkumar Sen of Kirtipaçā who died of poison administered to him by Kiçore Mahālānavis, his Dewan, and on various other subjects of minor importance. The poem on the flood of the Dāmodara was written by Napher Chandra Dās in 1823.

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(6) Metaphysical and other works.

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Māyā Timira Chandrikā.

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I. *The Maya Timira Chandrika* by Rāmagati Sen, which I have already mentioned on page 682, is a work treating of the processes of Yoga. He begins the poem in the form of an allegory, much on the lines of the well known Sanskrit work *Prabodha Chandrodaya Nataka*. The poem begins as follows :—

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*“The mind goes in a fit of anger to the soul—that Prince whose capital town is the body and whose palace is the heart; false vanity is his

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*“ কোপে অতি শীঘ্রগতি মন চলি যায়।
যথা বসে নানা রসে সদা জীবরায় ॥
তনু যার সুবিস্তার দিব্য রাজধানী।
হৃদি তারি রমাপুরী তথায় আপনি ॥
অহঙ্কার হয় যার মোহের কিরীটী।
দন্ত-পাটে বৈসে ঠাঠে করি পরিপাটী ॥
পুষ্পচাপ উগ্রতাপ লোভ, অনিবার।
দুই মিত্র সুচরিত্র বান্ধব রাজার ॥

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crown; pompous arrogance keeps his royal company; lust and greed are his two dear friends. The heavenly maidens peace, forbearance and kindness do not visit the palace, having been insulted. There ignorance reigns supreme as the favourite queen, pandering to all the foolish desires of the Prince, who is found steeped in the well of foul passions.”

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After this the various processes of Yoga are detailed in the poem, on the merits of which we can not pronounce any judgment.

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2. Yoga sāra or the essence of Yoga. As the name implies, this book describes Yoga, leading to the emancipation of the soul, and attainment of the stage of beatitude, step to step. The author’s name is not found in the book ; he introduces himself by his title Gunarāj Khān. He undertook the work at the command of a rich man named Çachipati Majumdār.

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Yoga Sāra.

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3. Hāḍamālā, a poem relating to Yoga. The author’s name is not known.

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Hāḍamālā and other poems on Yoga.

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4. Jñāna Pradipa by Saiyad Sultān who calls himself a disciple of the saint and Fakir named Sāhā Hosen. Though a Mahomedan, the author

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শান্তি, ধৃতি, ক্ষমা, নীতি, শুভশীলা নারী।
মান করি রাজপুরী নাহি যায় চারি ॥
পতিব্রতা ধৰ্ম্মতা অবিদ্যা মহিষী।
পতি কাছে সদা আছে রাজার হিতৈষী ॥
নারী সঙ্গে রতিরঙ্গে রসের তরঙ্গে।
এইরূপে কামকূপে জীব আছে রঙ্গে ॥”

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acknowledges the God Çiva as the authority in all matters relating to Yoga.

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5. Tanu Sādhana—a poem on Yoga. The author, who was a Mahomedan, writes elegant Bengali and has a profound respect for the tenets of the Hindu Çāstras.

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6. Jnana Chautisa. This poem contains only 152 couplets. The author Saiyād Sultān explains the metaphysical truth embodied in the symbol of Çiva and Çakti and describes the processes of Yoga. This book was written in 1780 A.D.

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There are other small treatises on Yoga, a brief notice of which is to be found in the catalogue of old Bengali Mss. published by Munsi Abdul Karim in the Sāhitya Pariṣad Patrikā issued from Calcutta.

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The above poems were written within the last 200 years; the latest of them comes up to the middle of the 19th century.

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Kaçi Khanda by Jayanārāyaṅa.

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Translation of Kāçī Khanda by Jayanārāyaṅa Ghoṣāla. Passing from the subject of metaphysics, we shall here take up a work of translation, which deserves a somewhat elaborate notice. It was compiled by its illustrious author with the help of many distinguished Pundits.

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From a copper-plate inscription prepared by Rājā Kāli Çankara Ghoṣāla of Bhukailasa—son of Rājā Jayanārāyaṅa, we glean the following particulars about the poet. Jayanārāyaṅa was born in October, 1752. He received a sound education in Sanskrit, Persian, Hindi, English and French. He inherited from his father a vast property which comprised the villiages of Govindapur, Garya and Behālā. He obtained the title of Mahārāja from the emperor of Delhi for his patriotism and munificence, and founded a college at Benares which was called Jayanārāyaṇa College after him. He built a temple moreover for the worship of the image of Karuṇā Nidhāna (Kṛṣṇa) at Benares in 1790. He enjoyed the confidence of Warren Hastings, and helped the Government of the East India Company in their work of Survey and Settlement in various provinces of Bengal. Jayanārāyaṇa died in 1818 A.D. at Benares in his 66th year.

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The translation of Kāçī Khaṇḍa was however the joint work of several scholars and one of its chief contributors was a Kāyastha nobleman named Narasinha Deva Ray who bore the title of Cūḍāmaṇi. The translation took many years for its completion. Here is the account given by Jayanārāyaṇa himself as to how the arduous work was gone through.

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*“Dwelling at Benares, which is situated on the five noble streams of the Ganges, I was desirous of writing something in praise of the holy city. I thought of translating the Sanskrit work Kāçī-Khaṇḍa into Bengali, but found none who could

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*“কাশীবাস করি পঞ্চ গঙ্গার উপর।
কাশী গুণ গান হেতু ভাবিত অন্তর॥
মনে করি কাশীখণ্ড ভাষা করি লিখি।
ইহার সহায় হয় কাহারে না দেখি॥
মিত্রশত চৌদ্দ শক পৌষ মাস যবে।
আমার মানস মত যোগ হইল তবে॥

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help me in the undertaking. In the month of January in 1792, an opportunity presented itself for the fulfilment of my wishes. Çrijukta Narasinha Deva Rāy of the Çudramani family and an inhabitant of Pātuli, visited the city of Benares. With him came Jagannātha Mukerjee, and in the month of February the work was commenced by us jointly. Rāma Prasāda Vidyā Vāgīça, a learned Sanskrit scholar, explained the text and Narasinha Rāy prepared his drafts of the translation in prose, based on the interpretations given by the former. Jagannātha Mukerjee turned them into metrical verse; Narasinha Rāy corrected the rhymes and prepared fair copies; when forty chapters were thus completed, the learned Vidyā Vāgīça died, in September, and Jagannātha Mukerjee went home to

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শূদ্রমণি কুলে জন্ম পাটুলি নিবাসী।
শ্ৰীযুক্ত নৃসিংহ দেব রায়াগত কাশী ॥
তার সঙ্গে জগন্নাথ মুখয্যা আইলা।
প্রথম ফাল্গুনে গ্রন্থ আরম্ভ করিলা ॥
শ্ৰীরামপ্রসাদ বিদ্যাবাগীশ ব্রাহ্মণ।
ভাঙ্গিয়া বলেন কাশীখণ্ড অনুক্ষণ ॥
তাহারে করেন রায় তর্জ্জমা খসড়া।
মুখয্যা করেন সদা কবিতা পাতড়া ॥
রায় পুনর্ব্বার সেই পাতড়া লইয়া।
পুস্তকে লিখেন তাহা সমস্ত শুধিয়া ॥
এইমতে চল্লিশ লাচাড়ি হৈল যবে।
বিদ্যাবাগীশের কাশী-প্রাপ্তি হৈল তবে ॥
ভাদ্র মাসে মুখয্যা গেলেন নিজ বাটী।
বৎসর স্থগিত ছিল গ্রন্থ পরিপাটী ॥

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Bengal, for one year. Owing to these causes, the book could not make any progress. In the meantime Narasiñha Rāya removed himself from the house which he occupied at Benares to Bāngālitolā; there he found a companion and friend in Valarāma Vāchaspati who was a profound scholar. Jointly with Vakreçvara Panchānana, another Pundit, they finished the translation of 75 chapters,—Vakreçvara contributing two chapters one on Kaçi Panchakroçī and the other describing a journey through the city. The work now again came to a standstill for various reasons. After this, however, we happened to meet with a Pundit named Umāçaṅkara Tarkālaṅkāra. Though by the will of Providence this excellent man is blind in both eyes, yet he is possessed of some very admirable qualities. He is a native of Kāçipur and a thoroughly truthful man of a highly religious

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পরন্তু বাঙ্‌ালীটোলা গেলা যবে রায়।
বলরাম বাচস্পতি মিলিলা তথায় ॥
পচত্তরী অধ্যায় পর্যন্ত তার সীমা।
বক্রেখর পঞ্চাননে সমাপ্ত গরিমা ॥
কাশী পঞ্চক্রোশী আর নগর ভ্রমণ।
এই দুই অধ্যায় পঞ্চাননে সমাপন ॥
পরে সম্বৎসরাবধি স্থগিত হইল।
শ্রীউমাশঙ্কর তর্কালঙ্কার মিলিলা ॥
যদ্যপি নয়ন দুইটী দৈবযোগে অন্ধ।
তথাপি তাহার গুণে লোকে লাগে ধন্ধ ॥
ইষ্টনিষ্ঠ বাক্‌নিষ্ঠ কাশীপুরে জন্ম।
পরানিষ্ঠ পরায়ু খ বিজ্ঞমর্ম্ম-মর্ম্ম ॥

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temperament. He never dreams of doing harm to any one, appreciates merit in others; and is a true advocate of noble ideas. The blind Pundit became eager to help in the completion of the work. His father Rāma Chandra Vidyālaṅkāra is also a learned Pundit of a quiet and obliging disposition. With the latter I travelled for six months, in search of good and reliable manuscripts. The accounts of different festivities held in the different parts of the year are given in Bengali poetry, literally translated from the Sanskrit texts. Viṣṇu Rāma Siddhānta, a high-minded scholar and a friend of the blind Pundit, helped us with a right interpretation of these Sanskrit texts, and Narasiṁha Rāy finally published the work when completed. The description of the city of Benares and of the origin of this work added to the book, is my own. In it I have given a faithful account

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লোক উপকারে সদা ব্যাকুল অন্তর।
গ্রন্থের সমাপ্তি হেতু হলেন তৎপর ॥
শ্রীযুক্ত রামচন্দ্র বিদ্যালঙ্কার আখ্যান।
তর্কালঙ্কারের পিতা সুধীর বিদ্বান ॥
নিজে তার সহিত করিয়া পর্য্যটন।
ছয় মাসে বহুগ্রন্থ করি সঙ্কলন ॥
ঋতু মাস তিথি বার বর্ষ যাত্রা যত।
পদ্যতে আনিয়া সংস্কৃত অভিমত ॥
তর্কালঙ্কারের বন্ধু বিষ্ণুরাম নাম।
সিদ্ধান্ত আখ্যান, অতি ধীর গুণবান ॥
পদ্ধতি ভাষাতে করিলেন পরিষ্কার।
রায় করিলেন সর্ব্ব গ্রন্থের প্রচার ॥

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of my own observations. Rājā Jayanārāyaṇa of the family of Ghoṣāla, here ends his account.’”

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The translation of Kāçī Khanda is complete in 11,200 lines; it forms a record of patient labour, carried on by half a dozen scholars for many years. In the Bhaṇitā (signature) at the end of each chapter we find the name of Rājā Jaya Nārāyaṇa, given no doubt by way of courtesy, having regard to the high position and munificence of this scholarly nobleman who initiated and maintained this undertaking, as the patron of the scholars. The main portion of the work was done by Narasiṅha Deva Rāy of Pātuli whose descendants now dwell at Baṅsberia in the district of Hughly.

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But the chief interest of the work lies in the supplementary account of the City of Benares which the Rājā himself gives in Bengali verse. Literal translations from the Sanskrit have little value in this country. The learned do not care to read translations instead of the original texts, and those who do not know Sanskrit, do not care to read literal translation, in which they do not find an adequate or modernised expression of the thoughts to which they are accustomed. The translation of Kāçī Khanda is thus a lost labour, though the labour that produced it was great.

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But the supplementary account of the City of Benares is full of interest. In simple and unassum-

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নগর বর্ণন মোর গ্রন্থের কারণ।
প্রত্যক্ষ বৃত্তান্ত তাহা যথার্থ বর্ণন॥
ঘোষাল বংশের রাজা জয়নারাযণ।
এইখানে সমাপ্ত করিলা বিবরণ॥

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ing language the Rājā, who was a pious man, jotted down notes in verse of what he saw in the Holy City, a hundred years ago. He begins his description of ‘the abode of Çiva,’ as Kāçī is called, with a few poetic lines in which its semicircular shape, as observed from the Ganges, is compared to the crescent moon on the forehead of Çiva. He next gives a short notice of the bathing ghātas—the Parçvnāth ghāta, the Asi ghāta, the Vaidyanāth ghāta, the Nārada Pānde’s ghāta and so on. There were then altogether 53 bathing ghātas at Benares and all of these are faithfully noticed. Though the notes are short, the writer makes them interesting by his witty remarks in many of them. He then proceeds to give a description of the Postās (embankment), the chief amongst which is the Mirer Postā; it is 120 ft. in height and 600 ft. in breadth. Hurriedly taking a note of the great houses, some of which were seven stories high, he gives an account of the Dhārāras or pinnacles. The pinnacle named Çri Madhava Rāyer Dhārārā rises to a height of 172 ft.; at 135 ft. there is a seat for visitors, from which a bird’s-eye view of the City of Benares may be taken. *“Like the cliffs of Mount Sumeru, it appears as if the Dhārārā might pierce the heavens.”* At the time when the Rājā lived at Benares, this Dhārārā was used by the desperate and unhappy as a place for committing suicide. The Rājā has given a list of the people who killed themselves during his time by throwing themselves down from

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*“ সুমেরুর দুই শৃঙ্গ যেমন প্রকাশ।
মনে লয় তার চূড়া ভেদিল আকাশ ॥”*

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the above-mentioned seat in Dharārā. A young Kṣetri with his lady-love had disappeared for three days, and on the fourth, they were found dead in close embrace on the ground-floor of the temple; they had evidently thrown themselves down from the great height, after enjoying each other's company for three days. But death does not always come to the unfortunate, though he may sincerely wish for it. *“ Another person ascended the great height and threw himself down, but he fell on the top of a tree and catching hold of a branch reached the ground safe and quietly glided into his own chamber.”

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Warren Hastings stayed in the garden house adjoining this temple for a time when he was in that City for carrying on hostile operations against Chait Singh, Rājā of Benares.

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Instead of the modern centralisation of municipal arrangements, there was the mutual agreement of honest and public-spirited citizens :—†“ In the Mahājantolā the lanes were so dark that neither the sun nor the moon could look within them. At night the residents here kept lights in their windows for the convenience of the passers-by.”

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The lighting of the roads.

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*“ অন্য এক জন সেই ধরারাতে চড়ি। দৈবক্রমে তথা হইতে তরুপরে পড়ি॥ তরুডাল সহ পুনঃ হইয়া ভূমিষ্ঠ। অনায়াসে নিজ ঘরে হৈল প্রবিষ্ট॥”

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†“ মহাজন টোলী মধ্যে রাস্তাতে সর্ব্বথা। দিনকর হিমকর করহীন তথা॥ একারণ নিশাযোগে, পথিকের প্রীতে। দীপ-শিখা করে সবে নিজ খিড়কিতে॥”

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The writer of the sketch made notes of all that he saw; the short lines call up living pictures before one's imagination. Regarding the Buddhist Lāmās (Priests) he says:

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The Lāmās.

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*“The ascetics called Lāmās who outwardly profess renunciation are in reality full of worldliness. They transact a prosperous loan-business and trades of various kinds; and everyone of them is immensely rich, having residential houses like palaces.”

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The various amusements and religious festivities of Benares, the mode in which the citizens passed their evenings in idle gossip lounging on the banks of the Ganges, and other matters chiefly of social and domestic interest have been briefly noted. A chapter is devoted to the silk industry for which the Benares weavers have always been so famous. We find in this chapter a list of various kinds of cloth which used to be manufactured there,—the far-famed Benares Sāḍi, the fine silken stuff coloured with various dyes, a piece of which used to sell for Rs. 200, velvet of the first quality, striped silk with which turbans were made, silk adorned with gold embroidery and so on. He concludes his remarks under this head by saying,—†“ They show admirable skill in making artistic designs on cotton with coloured silk threads, but they can not produce

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Social gatherings.

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Silk industry.

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*“ লামা সন্ন্যাসীর কত শত মঠ।
বাহ্যে উদাসীন মাত্র, গৃহী অন্তঃপট ॥
সদাগরী মহাজনী ব্যবসা সবার।
এক এক জনার বাড়ী পৰ্ব্বত-আকার ॥”
†“ সাদাতে রেশম পাড়ি কত রঙ্গ করে।
শুর সাদা অত্যুত্তম করিতে না পারে ॥”

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fine cotton pieces of the first quality.” While writing these lines, the Rājā evidently had in mind the unapproachable muslins of Dacca.

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Next he proceeds to describe the temples. The accounts are vivid and life-like. He begins with a description of the temple of Ahalyā Bāi, the famous Maharatta queen, who spent three lakhs of rupees on building a beautiful shrine at Benares. Next he describes the temple of Viṣṇu Mahādeva, Kāñchī and others. The architectural points of the edifices are mentioned, and the use served by their important apartments is also described at some length.

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The lanes of Benares were at one time scenes of bloodshed, assassination and plunder. The Ahir Rājputs are described as always carrying swords with them. *“Each looks like a king of death (যম). If he happens to have a grudge against a man, he does not feel the least scruple in wounding him. Every month there is deadly strife, and many heads roll on the ground as a result.”

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Our author’s account of the Hindu women who visited the shrines or lived holy lives in the city, during his time, verges on the poetic:—

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*“ . . . . . যমের আকার ॥
যার সঙ্গে যাহার আক্রোশ রোষ থাকে।
অনায়াসে নির্ঘাত আঘাত করে তাকে ॥
এইমতে প্রতি মাসে প্রায় হয় দ্বন্দ্ব।
ক্ষণমাত্রে গড়াগড়ি যায় কত স্কন্ধ ॥”

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The Hindu women.

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*“Some of them wear bracelets made of the horns of rhinoceros, mounted in gold which look like dark clouds lined by lightning. Their lovely tresses that hang loosely down their backs are peerless; over the breasts of some hang necklaces of bright pearls, which look as though over the peaks of the Himālaya flowed the white stream of the Ganges.”

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But the Rājā knew where to stop. At this stage of his description, he suddenly cuts it short by saying:—

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†“The sight of women should create in the mind feelings of respect; never should any unholy thought be entertained.”

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This account of Benares giving a topography and other details about the city of a particular period will increase in value, in course of years, and will possess the same interest as the account of Jeruselem by Mandevile, Brahmakhanda by Vyāsa, and Navadwipa by Narahari Chakravarty.

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The inter-change of customs and ideas bet. Mahomedans & Hindus.

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Hindus and Mahomedans had now lived in Bengal for long years in close proximity and on terms of peace and unity, and they were naturally

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*“গণ্ডারের চূড়ী কারু কনক-রচিত। ঘোর ঘন মাঝে যেন তড়িৎ জড়িত॥ কি উপমা দিব যেই পিঠে দোলে বেণী। . . . . . কারু উরোদেশে মুক্তা-মালার দোলানী। হিমাচলে আন্দোলিত যেন মন্দাকিনী॥”

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†“এ সব দর্শনে ভক্তি মনেতে হইবে। কদাচিৎ অন্যভাব মনেতে নহিবে॥”

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influenced by one another in many respects. In Kṣemānanda’s Manasā Mangala, written more than 300 years ago, we find a passage in which it is told that in the steel-house made for Lakṣmindhara, along with many other charms to ward off evil influences, a copy of the Korān was kept. Many a Mahomedan offered *puja* at Hindu temples, as the Hindus offered *sinni* at Mahomedan mosques. In the N. W. P. the Hindus celebrated the Mahorum festivals with as great enthusiasm as the Mahomedans. Mirza Hosen Āli, a native of the Tippera district, who lived a hundred years ago; not only composed songs in praise of the goddess Kālī, but worshipped her at his house with great eclat; and Gariv Hosen Chaudhury of Dacca, a contemporary of the Mriza, another Mahomedan zeminder, was a devout worshipper of Çitala Devī, the goddess of small pox, worshipped by the Hindus.* Gol Mahāmud is to-day the leader of a professional party of singers in Tippera who sing only praises of the goddess Kālī, and his party carries the palm in this respect and gets engagements in preference to Hindu parties at the houses of the orthodox Hindus. Hindus have borne Mahomedan names and the Mahomedans are often called by Hindu names and such instances

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*Gariv Husen Choudhury, when only 24, had gone a-hunting in the jungles on the banks of the Boori Ganga, where he chanced to see an image of Citala Devi in clay placed on the sand bank, and calling her a witch, aimed a shot at the clay image, as a mark of his contempt. The bullet fell on one of the eyes of the image, and disfigured that side of the face. That night Gariv Husen caught fever, and the symptoms of small pox quickly followed. The goddess is said to have appeared to him in a dream and told him that she would spare his life, but take one of his eyes, as he had done hers. Gariv Husen recovered with the loss of an eye, and since then turned into a devout votary of the goddess.

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are very common in this country even now. In the Statesman of the 17th November 1910, there is a leader on an article from the pen of the Hon'ble Mr. Mazhal-ul-Haque on this mutual assimilation by the Hindus and the Mahomedans of the customs and thought of each other. The article appeared in the magazine—"Modern Behar." We quote from the Statesman,—"From the begining the Musalman invaders adopted wholesale the customs of the Hindus, says Mr. Mazhar-ul-Haque, and when these went entirely against their religious ideas they so adapted them as to give a semblance of conformity to their own religion. From birth to death at every stage of life, the Mahomedan in India perform ceremonies which are of purely Hindu origin. When he is born, the songs sung are not of Musalman conception but those in which allusions to Çrī Kṛiṣṇa are frequent. The series of ceremonies which are performed during pregnancy are adopted from the Hindus, and the symbols of Hindu religions and philosophical ideas play the most important part. At marriage the ceremonies are even more Hinduised. In Islam the simple reading of the Nikāh is quite sufficient to complete the marriage contract, and unnecessary and wasteful ceremony has always been expressly discouraged. But the Indian Musalman goes through a long series of festivities and ceremonies, most of which are bodily importations from the Hindus, while others are adapted with slight modifications to give them some colour of Mahomedanism. The custom, in connection with marriage ceremonies to which Mahomedan ladies attach the greatest importance, is of purely Hindu origin; so, too, is the line of vermilion and the dot on the forehead, while the bridal songs are all in Hindi, a language which is certainly not the mother-tongue of the Musalmans. Funeral rites, too, can be easily traced to a Hindu origin, and widow re-marriage, which is not only permitted but enjoined by Islam, is considered a disgrace in Muslem as well as in Hindu society. The mutual participation in religious festivals is a phenomenon which strikes even the European observer, though perhaps none have had the experience of Mr. Mazhar-ul-Haque himself, who relates that in his childhood at Mohorum time, he has seen Hindus weeping as copious tears at the recital of the incidents of Karbalā, as any pious Shiā would do. But perhaps the most striking instance of the sympathy of ideas to which Mr. Mazhar-ul-Haque refers is the well-known sight of Hindus revering the shrines of Musalman saints and martyrs in the same degree as, if not in a greater degree than, Musalmans themselves. Mr. Mazhar-ul-Haque repudiates the idea that this is to be attributed merely to the superstitious nature of the Hindu. "It is to be ascribed to a deep truth ingrained in the human nature and discovered by Hindu philosophers." No man is absolutely bad or good. Some are more, others less so. If a man was adored by his own people who know him well, the good in him must have predominated over the bad, and, acting on this principle, the Hindus adore and worship the good qualities of the man and not the man himself. "To me," says Mr. Mazhar-ul-Haque, "this worship of the Musalman saints and pious men by the Hindus reveals

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"another side of their lovable nature, and my
"heart goes out to them in gratefulness and
"fraternal love."

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The Mahomedans of Rājshahi have the monopoly of *Bhasan gan* or songs on Manasā Devi. In Chittagong this fusion of ideas and interchange of customs and usages seems to have reached its highest point. In a Bengali poem called the Bheluā Sundarī, written by Hāmidullā of Chittagong, we read that the Brahmins who had assembled to find out an auspicious day for the hero's journey abroad, consulted the Korān for the purpose. The hero, who was the son of an orthodox Hindu merchant, obeyed the injunctions 'as if they were laid down in the Vedas' and started on his voyage, 'praying to Allāh' for his safety! Even at the present time the lower clases of Hindus in Chittagong use the expression *Allar hukum* (command) in the same sense as 'Deo volente.' Aptavuddin, another Mahomedan poet of Chittagong who wrote a poem called the Jāmil Dilārām in 1750, writes that his hero, who was a Mahomedan, went to the nether worlds to seek a boon from the Saptarṣies or the seven sages of the Hindus.

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When the two communities mixed so closely, and were so greatly influenced by one another, the result was that a common God was called into existence, worshipped by Hindus and Mahomedans alike. His name was formed by compounding an Arabic word with a Sanskrit word. He was called Satya Pir. There are many poems on Satya Pir in old Bengali, some of which are noted below:—

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1. Satya Pirer Pānchāli by Fakir Chānd, an inhabitant of Çuchia in Chittagong, written in 1734.

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A common god.

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Satya Pir.

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2. Satya Pir by Rāmananda.

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3. Satya Pir by Çankarāchāryya written in 1636 A.D.* A complete Ms. of this poem has been recovered by Babu Nagendra Nath Vasu from Mayurbhanja. It is a voluminous work and is divided into 15 chapters. The book discloses a curious fact about the origin of the god Satya Pir. It is a legendary account, but by comparison with the story in another work on Satya Pir by Nāyek Mayāj Gāji, we glean the fact that the Emperor Hosen Shāh of Gauḍa who tried to ensure the good will of his Hindu subjects, was the originator of the Satya Pir-cult, which made Hindus and Mahomedans join hands in worshipping a common God. Though in Orissa Satya Nārāyaṇa and Satya Pir are reckoned as the same God, they do not appear to be identical in Bengal. There is not a village in Bengal where Satya Nārāyaṇa is not worshipped once evey week, but in these pujas the Mahomedans do not join with the Hindus.

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Poems on Satya Nārāyaṇa are to numerous to be mentioned here, as there is hardly a village in Bengal in which there is not a poem on the God; they scarcely deserve any notice being generally very short. We have quite a heap of Mss. on the subject giving short stories to illustrate the might and the grace of the deity but none of them has risen to the dignity of a poem except the Hari Lilā by Jaya Nārāyaṇa and Ānanda Mayī about which we have already written, on pages 683-687. Amongst these Mss. we may mention one by Kavi Chandra containing a description of a river trip from Hugli to the Bay of Bengal with short notices of the places lying on both sides of the river. This account may be found interesting by students of Geography as it was written more than 200 years ago.

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In a work called Yāminī Vahāl by Karimullā—an inhabitant of Sītākundu in Chittagong (1780 A.D.), the heroine, a Mahomedan, is represented as praying to the God Çiva and in another work named Imam Yātrār Puthi, the Mahomedan author has a hymn addressed to Sarsvati, the goddess of learning, beginning with the lines—

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*“ Hail O Sarasvati, thou art my mother.
“ Thy helpless child invokes thee ; will thou not hear.”

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Karam Ali, a leading poet of Chittagong, sang exquisitely on Rādhā and Kriṣṇa. One of his padas runs thus :—

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†“ Rādhā wept and said, who amongst you, O my maids will bring Kriṣṇa to me ?
“ Vrindā, my friend, help me by bringing him here from Mathurā.”
“ My heart burns with the fire of love.
“ The cuckoos on yonder boughs coo pleasantly.

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*“ আয় মা সরস্বতি, তুমি আমার মা।
মা অনাথ বালক ডাকি শুনে শুনে না ॥”
†“ কান্দ্যা কান্দ্যা বলিতেছে শ্রীমতী রাই।
আন্যাদে, আন্যাদে মোর নাগর কানাই ॥
শুন আয় বৃন্দা দুতী বলি তোমারে
মথুরায় গেল হরি আন্যাদে মোরে ॥
প্রেমানলে দহে মোর হৃদয় অন্তরে।
বৃন্দাবনে বসিলে, দেখি কোকিল কুহরে ॥

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“How can I describe the agony that are caused by their notes.

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“O maids of my heart, tell me who was so cruel as to cause the moon of the Vrindā groves to depart from here!

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“No more do the bowers resound with the sweet notes of his flute calling ‘Rādhā Rādhā.’

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“Alas! am I become as nobody to him? O how sorrowful am I, when I think upon this!

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“The poet Karam Āli says “Hear me Rādhā, Kriṣṇa is always in thine heart, enjoy the spiritual union, and do not weep.”

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There are short poetical treatises on music in old Bengali literature, mainly written by the Mahomedans.

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1. Rāga Mālā or an account of the various modes of Indian music with a poetical description of the presiding deity of each, and with songs in illustration by Āli Miān, Aloāl, and Tāhir Mahmud.

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2. Tāla nāmā—a similar work containing songs by Saiyad Ainuddin, Saiyad Murttajā, Nasiruddin, Ālaol, Gāyeja, Dvija Raghu Nāth, Bhava-

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কে হরিল প্রাণ দ্যুতি, ব্রজের শশী।
বৃন্দাবনে রাধা বলে ডাকে না বাঁশী॥
সেই সে মনের দুঃখ কইতে নারি কার ঠাই।
অভাগী রাধারে দিয়ে বুঝি শ্যামের কাজ নাই॥
কহে শ্রীকরম আলি শুন গো প্যারী।
ধ্যানে ভজ নাগর কানাই, কেঁদনা শ্রীমতী রাই॥
নিকটে আছেন তোমার প্রাণের হরি॥

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Karam Āli nanda Āmin, Hira Maṇi and other writers. This book was compiled in 1840.

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3. Sṛiṣṭi Paṭṭana—a work on Indian music compiled by Dāneça Kāji, Nasir Mahamud and Baksh Ali. This book also gives an account of various modes of Indian music, with a number of songs in illustration of each.

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4. Dhyāna Mālā by Ali Rāj. Ali Rāj was a fine poet. In this book he gives a detailed account of various modes of music—of the six Rāgas and 36 Rāginies with directions as to the hour and season suited for singing each, and accounts of the deities presiding over them. The songs given in illustration are all composed by Ali Rāj.

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5. Rāga Tāler Puthi—a poem on Indian music compiled by Jivan Ali and Rāma Tanu Achāryya.

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6. Rāga Tāla by Champā Gāzi.

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7. Pada Saṃgraha—This work also deals with music. It is besides a compilation of songs by different poets of whom Lāl Veg contributes a large number.

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8. Jubiā—a short treatise containing only 20 songs. These used formerly to be sung on the occasion of Mahomedan marriages.

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(c) Stories.

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We have a pretty large number of stories written by Mahomedan writers, most of them composed in the latter part of the 17th and in the earlier half of the 18th century. In most of them the decadent taste which marks the age of Bhārata Chandra is prominent. Though the heroes and heroines are generally Hindus, yet the inspiration of these poems seems to have come from Persian tales and poems.

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Under this head we should begin with Lor Chandrāni by Daulat Kāji,—a poem mentioned by Ālāol in his Padmāvati. Ālāol himself completed the book, for Daulat Kaji had not lived to finish it. The supplementary portion of Lor Chandrāni was contributed by Ālāol in the year 1657. Daulat Kāji's work was composed early in the 17th century. He had undertaken to write the poem at the command of Uzir Āsraf Khan of the Court of Runta Dharma-Rāja of Rosāng (Chittagong) whose capital is described as situated on the eastern bank of the river Karnafuli. The supplementary portion by Ālāol excels the original poem of Daulat Kāji in poetical merits.

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Sapta Payakar by Ālāol—This poem contains seven stories, each said to have occupied one night in its narration.

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Ranga Mālā by Kavir Mahmud. Rejoān Sāhā by Samser Āli. Bhāva Lābha by Sāmsuddin Chhiddik. A passage in this poem runs as follows:—

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"O my mind, on the ocean of this world, you have put out for trade but could win no profit.
"You forgot your real master and did not serve him as you should have done.
"The riches you sought are within you. How foolish are you to seek them elsewhere!
"Call upon Him who is the soul of your soul and He will give you relief.

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“The poet Chhiddik here tells how he spent his life in vain pursuits, when he should have been serving his Master.”

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Eusuf Jelekhā—a Bengali rescension of Persian poem of Mahābbat nāmā by Ābdul Hākim.

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Layeli Majanu—a famous Persian tale rendered into Bengali verse by Daulat Uzir Baharam.

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Yāmin Jelāl and Chaitanya Silāl—a love-story by Mahomed Ākbar.

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(d) Buddhist poems recovered from Chittagong.

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Bauddha Ranjikā by Nila Kamala Dās. This is a translation of the Burmese work Thāḍu Thāng into Bengali metrical verse. The date of composition of this work is not known, but the Ms. is more than 100 years old. Nila Kamala Das translated it under orders of Rāni Kālindī, wife of Rājā Dharma Baks of the Chittagong Hill tracts. It gives an account of Buddha's life from his birth to the time of his preaching the doctrine of Nirvāṇa. It is the only book yet found in old Bengali literature in which Buddha's life is described.

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Nilār Vāra Māsa. Who this Nilā (Lilā) was no one knows; but the Bengali ladies still observe a fast on a particular day of April in memory of Lilāvati. From the poem under notice it appears that Nila's husband turned a Buddhist monk renouncing his home, and Nilā passed through unheard of hardships to get him back and win him to the sweets of a domestic life. The poem has come down to us as a rustic song; but though woven into crude rhymes, it has a deep pathos which explains to us the impression that the woes of Lilā must once have made on the popular mind. Lilā's husband is described as having been an inhabitant of Nanda Pātana in Sulluk. His father's name was Gangādhara and his mother's name Kalāvati.

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The works by Mahomedan writers noticed under the head ‘Miscellaneous works’ have been mainly brought to light by the researches of Munsi Abdul Karim, late Head Master of the Anwārā School in Chittagong. We have not been able to see these Mss., but brief notices of them have from time to time appeared in the Vangiya Sāhitya Parisat Patrikā from which our accounts are gleaned. The Mss. may be traced with the help of Munsi Abdul Karim. Considering the fact that a large number of these Mss. is being destroyed every year by white ants, worms and fire, as they are generally preserved in wretched straw-built huts, immediate efforts should be made to recover them. Otherwise we may only rise to the consciousness of the necessity of preserving them when it will be already too late.

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The works mentioned above disclose plenty of songs by Mahomedan writers on Rādhā and Kriṣṇa, which show that the love songs of the Vaiṣṇavas were appreciated beyond the pale of their own society, and inspired even that race of Iconoclasts who had once gloried in breaking up Hindu temples. The soil of India favours the growth of toleration and sympathy in religion, and it is no wonder to find that those who came with the sword became, in course of time, united to us in love and good will.

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The works of Mahomedan writers mentioned in this book are all written in more or less sanskritised Bengali, and not in that style known as Musalmāni Bāngālā, which shows an admixture of Urdu, Persian and Arabic words with corrupt Bengali.

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A vast literature of the rustic Mahomedans is to be found written in Musalmāni Bāngālā, and there are many works of this class, some of which may be traced back to the 16th century. But for various reasons we have not found it convenient to include books written in Musalmāni Bāngālā in the present work.

II. Mainly on style, literary tastes and language

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The chief feature of the poetical literature dealt with in this chapter is its wealth of *chhandas* or metres adopted from Sanskrit. Though in the earlier epochs some of our writers had tried to introduce Sanskrit metres, their attempts were marked with that crudeness which often characterises the products of beginners. Bāhrata Chandra has done yeoman's service to our literature by enriching it with various Sanskrit metres, some of which he imitated to perfection in Bengali. His *totaka* and *bhujanga prayata* are almost faultless—a success which could not have been anticipated in a language that seemed so unsuited as our own for the rich and varied metres of Sanskrit, especially as there is no distinction between long and short vowel sounds in its syllables. Rāma Prasāda was the first to attempt some of the Sanskrit metres in high-flown Bengali, and though his efforts were not crowned with a full measure of success, yet he discovered the innate strength of our language, which gave promise in his writings, of happier developments. In the Vidyā Sundara by Rāma Prasāda we often find the right accent of vowels not adhered to, as required by the particular metre that he attempted. For instance in his totaka in the line ধনি মুখ চিবুক ধরে যতনে the উ is untenable in মু and ঝু owing to its short sound. In the Hari līlā by Jaya Nārāyaṇa, another clever poet, who tried his hand at Sanskrit metres in Bengali compositions, we find his bhujanga prayata faulty in many places, as for instance in the lines বসিয়া সুবর্ণের পীঠে হাসছে। প্রবালাধরে মন্দ মন্দ ভাসছে,—the ই in the second and the eleventh letters and the আ in the tenth letter of the 1st line are incorrect, and in the second line the 1st, the 7th, the 10th, and the 11th letters do not conform to the rules required by the metre: the first three ought to have short sounds and the last (the 11th) a long sound. Numerous instances of such faults may be found : but it was surely a bold step for writers to attempt Sanskritic metres in a language which had no long short and vowel-sounds in its current forms. But Bharata Chandra had a remarkable aptitude for hitting on the most appropriate words, and though he had to struggle against these disadvantages, yet he put the materials at his command to the best possible use. His remarkable power of choosing elegant expressions is best evidenced by the fact that though he successfully introduced some of the noblest Sanskrit metres into Bengali, yet there is no trace of any struggle on his part for this end. He creates pictures in words, as for instance, in his description of Çiva's great wrath, to which I have already referred on page 668. This could not have been grander in any other language. When we peruse his poems we are so powerfully captivated by his descriptions, that we quite forget that they were wrought in one of the most difficult metres of Sanskrit, with a perfection hitherto unequalled in Bengali. Bhārata Chandra's writings have suffered considerably in the hands of his copyists who were ignorant of the rules of Sanskrit verse. They occasionally tampered with the readings, and copyists as a class have always done so in regard to all other poems, with this difference that in the case of works written by other poets they have occasionally improved on the orignal by such changes, whereas in the case Bhārata Chandras's works they have invariably done more harm than good, as the change of a single syllable would disturb his scheme of metre, a matter of which ordinary copyists had no knowledge.

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Cites (27)