History of Bengali Language and Literature c11.192

c11.192

In the chapter on the Paurānic Renaissance, we noticed how mythological stories, fraught with a spirit of noble martyrdom and sacrifice, had elevated the minds of the people, and helped in spiritualising them. The Paurānic revivalists had held the earliest torch to enlighten our masses after Buddhism had declined in the country. The efforts of the missionaries and European scholars in giving culture through the medium of Bengali, now again after a lapse of nearly 700 years, served to awaken the Bengali mind to the consciousness of new ideas, the ideal of western civilisation.