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History of Bengali Language and Literature c6: Chapter II. Pre-Mahomedan Literature

History of Bengali Language and Literature c6

Language
English

Contents

Chapter II. Pre-Mahomedan Literature

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Pre-Mahomedan Literature.

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—:O:—

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1. Aphorisms and wise-sayings,—Dāk and Khanā. 2. Dharma-cult—a form of Buddhism. 3. Ramāi Pandit and his Çuṇya Purāṇa. 4. Sahajiā-cult and its exponents. 5. Dharma-maṅgal poems and the story related in them. 6. The ballads of the Pāl Kings. 7. The Çaiva-cult, how it faced Buddhism. 8. Genealogical records.

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Before dealing with the literature of Bengal that grew up after the Mahomedan conquest, we propose to dwell here upon the fragments of literary works which have come down to us,—from a much earlier period. They consist of (1) Aphorisms and pithy sayings which served as a guide for domestic and agricultural purposes to the rural folk of Bengal. (2) Hand-books of mystic doctrines, based on Tāntrik forms of Buddhism. (3) Ballads and songs in honour of some of the Pāl Kings of Bengal. (4) Hymns, odes and songs describing the prowess of Dharma Ṭhākur and other household deities. (5) Genealogical accounts of the Kulin families of Bengal.

1. Aphorisms and wise-sayings, Dāk and Khanā

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Dāker Vachana.

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Referring to the earliest literature of Bengal, which bears the stamp of Buddhistic influence, we light upon Dakārṇava,—a Tāntrik work of the Buddhists, containing aphorisms and wise-sayings in old Bengali regarding agriculture, astrology, medicine and other matters of interest to domestic life. Mahāmohopādhyāya Haraprasāda Çastri found a copy of Dakārṇava in the custody of the Buddhists of Nepal. Dakārṇavā gives specimens of a very old form of Bengali which may be traced to the tenth century of the Christian era. Dāk-Tantra is also a book of authority with the rural folk of Bengal, but it is popularly known here as "Dāker-Vachana." The latter work gives a smoothed down version of its precursor and prototype preserved in Nepal; but there are numerous lines to be found in the editions of the book published by the Battalā Presses of Calcutta* which retain their old and antiquated forms. It is impossible to get any clear sense out of such lines as:—

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আদি অন্ত ভুজসি।
ইষ্টদেবে যেহ পূজসি।।
বুন্দা বুঝিয়া এড়িব লুপ্ত।
আগল হৈলে নিবারিব তুপ্ত।।
আনহি বসতি আনহি গোয়ালি।
হেন বসতের কি বাউলি।।
ভাষা বোল পাতে লিখি।
বাটালব বোল পাড়ি সাখি।।
মধ্যস্থ যবে সমাধে ন্যায়।
বলে ডাক বড় দুখ পায়।।
মধ্যস্থ যবে হেমাতি বুঝে।
বলে ডাক নরকে পচে।।

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Probably the last portion refers to the rules for settling disputes by arbitration—a practice generally adopted in the old order of society. There are evident traces of Buddhistic views in these sayings. Buddhism, in its days of decline in India, became identical with scepticism. In Dāker-Bachana, we come across such views as:—

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"When we get a good palatable thing to eat, it is not wise to keep it for to-morrow. Enjoy curds and milk; if they bring on disease, get it cured by medicine. For, says Dāk, when one dies, there is an end of his connection with the world.”* This is quite an un-Hindu idea. The pleasures of the present moment are condemned by the Hindu Çāstras and the views quoted above remind us of Chārvāka and other free-thinkers, and we have said that the Buddhists of the latter-day school had turned into free-thinkers like Chārvāka. The Buddhistic Dharma Çāstra lays special stress on charitable works. In the short epigrammatic sayings of Dāk, there are many passages calling on a house-holder to perform works of charity and public good.

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∗ Published by Beni Madhab De & Co., 318, Battala, Upper Chitpore Road, Calcutta.

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“One who is anxious to do a virtuous act, should dig tanks and plant trees (for the benefit of the people). One who founds institutions for the distribution of rice and water, never goes to Hell.”†

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∗ “ভাল দ্রব্য যখন পাব। কালিকারে তুলিয়া না থোব। দধি দুগ্ধ করিয়া ভোগ। ঔষধ দিয়া খণ্ডাব রোগ ॥ বলে ডাক এই সংসার। আপনে মইলে কিসের আর ॥”

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† “ধৰ্ম্ম করিতে যবে জানি। পাখরি দিয়া রাখিব পানি। গাছ রুইলে বড় ধৰ্ম্ম।
* * * যে দেই ভাতশালা পানিশালী। সে না যায় যমের পুরী ॥”

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We miss in these sayings, the familiar injunctions for prayer and worship, indispensable in a book of rules for the guidance of a Hindu house-holder; and here we can draw a clear line of demarcation between the state of society before and after the revival of Hinduism in Bengal. All rules and codes framed for the guidance of men and women in our society, after the downfall of Buddhism have a distinct and unmistakable reference to the metaphysical side of religion. In them a far greater stress is laid on devotion to gods than on principles of morality. The Hindu priests even go so far as to declare, that a man committing the worst of sins, may secure a place in Heaven by uttering the name of God, a single time. The Dāker Vachana evidently belongs to a period anterior to the acceptance of this ideal in society.

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Dāker Vachana is not the only book of its kind in old Bengali. Khanār Vachana furnishes an equally old specimen of our vernacular. The latter is more popular with the masses and has, therefore undergone far greater changes than Dāker-Vachana. We, however often light upon old and antiquated forms of expressions in it, which remind us, that though simplified and altered, the sayings must also be traced to an early age. Though the subjects treated of, in the two books, cover a varied field, by far the greater portion of them is devoted to agricultural subjects. In Bengal, where the people are chiefly of the peasant class, these sayings are accepted as a guide by millions;—the wisdom they display is the result of acute observation of nature and has a special significance in regard to the soil and climate of Bengal. We quote some of them below :—*

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“ If it rains in the month of Agrahāyaņa, the king goes a-begging.

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“ If it rains in the month of Pouṣa, money may be had even by selling the chaff.

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* “ যদি বরে আগনে।
রাজা নামেন মাগনে ।।
যদি বরে পৌষে।
কড়ি হয় তুষে ।।
যদি বরে মাঘের শেষ।
ধন্য রাজার পুণ্য দেশ ।।
যদি বরে ফাগুনে।
চীনা কাওন হয় দ্বিগুণে ।। ”
“ খনা ডেকে বলে যান।
রোদে ধান ছায়ায় পান ।। ”
“ দিনে রোদ রাতে জল।
তাতে বাড়ে ধানের বল ।। ”
“ কার্তিকের উণ জলে।
খনা বলে দুনো ফলে ।। ”
“ শুন বাপু চাষার বেটা।
বাঁশ ঝাড়ে দিও ধানের চিটা ।।
চিটা দিলে বাঁশের গোড়ে।
দুই কুড়া ভূঁই বেড়বে ঝাড়ে ।। ”
“ শুনরে বাপু চাষার বেটা।
মাটির মধ্যে বেলে যেটা ।।
তাতে যদি বুনিস পটল।
তাতেই তোর আশার সফল ।। ”
“ ঘন সরিষা পাতলা রাই।
নেঙ্গে নেঙ্গে কাপাস যাই ।।
কাপাস বলে কোটা ভাই।
জ্ঞাতি পানি যেন না পাই ।। ”

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“If it rains at the end of the month of Māgha, the king and his country become blessed.

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“If it rains in Fālgun, the millet Chīnākāon (*Peanicum miliaceum*) grows abundantly.”

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“Khanā says, the paddy thrives in the sun and the betel in the shade.”

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“If the paddy gets profuse sunshine by day, and showers by night, it rapidly develops. Khanā says, the drizzling rain in the month of Kārtic, does immense good to the paddy.”

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“Hear, O son of ploughman, in the bamboo-bush put some smut of paddy, if you do so near the root of the shrubs, they will soon cover two Kuḍas of land (about 174 cubits square).”

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“O son of ploughman, plant *patol* (*Trichosanthes diœca*) in a sandy soil, your expectations will be fulfilled.”

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“Sow the seeds of mustard close, but those of rye (*Sinapis ramose*) at some distance from one another. Cotton plants should be put at the distance of a leap from one another and jute should, by no means, be planted near them, for cotton plants will perish if they come in contact with the water from the jute-field.””

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There are numerous rules of this nature laid down on agricultural matters, with special application to the products of the soil of Bengal. The books serve to this day as infallible agricultural manuals to the ploughmen of Bengal. The short sentences rhyming with one another are soon committed to memory; so every child and every woman knows them in rural Bengal.

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The following rule is enjoined for building a residential house :—

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“On the east, let there be the ducks (i.e. there should be a tank); on the west, an avenue of bamboos; on the north, a garden of fruit-trees; and the south should be left open”*

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On the properties of plants and on the culinary art. The chapter on medicine is not taken from any learned Sanskrit medical work. The indigenous plants and herbs of rural Bengal are prescribed as remedies, the effects of which seem to be infallible on the human system and were known by direct experiment. The discourse on the culinary art of Bengal in Dāker vachan has a particular interest to us, as it describes the simple but exceedingly delicious fare, cooked by our village women. In plainness and in delicacy of taste, these dishes bear a striking contrast with the rich preparations of meat, introduced in the later times by the Mahamadans.

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Study of female character in Dāker Vachan. In Dāker-vachan we find an interesting study of female character which, I am afraid, will not be fully appreciated by people unacquainted with the life in our zenana. We give some extracts below :—†

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“The husband is inside the house, the wife sits out-doors, and turns her head on all sides and smiles. With such a wife, says Dāk, the husband's life is not secure.”

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∗ “ পুবে হাঁস। পশ্চিমে বাঁশ ৷ উত্তরে বাগ। দক্ষিণে ফাঁক ৷ ” † “ ঘরে স্বামী বাইরে বইসে । চারি পানে চাহে মুচকি হাসে ৷ হেন স্ত্রীয়ে যাহার বাস । তাহার কেন জীবনের আশ ৷ ”

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“The hearth is in the kitchen, but the wife cooks meals outside, she swells her small tresses and ties them into a large knot, and frequently turns back her head (as if to see somebody). She empties the pitcher, and goes to the pond for re-filling it, casts side-glances on the passers-by, and covertly glances at some stranger while talking with neighbours on the road, hums a tune while lighting the evening lamp. Such a woman should not be kept in the house.”*

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The sky of Bengal, clear and transparent in the early spring, foggy in winter, and full of frowning clouds and angry flashes of lightnings in the rainy months, ever changing its aspects from month to month, cannot fail to strike a keen observer of nature with the clearly defined lines of its varied weather. The various seasons produce different results on the human system, on the paddy-fields, and on the variegated flowers and leaves of trees with which the villages abound. Life here changes, as it were, from month to month and Nature picturesquely disports herself on the stage of this beautiful country through the twelve sub-divisions

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* “ঘরে আথা বাইরে রাঁধে।
অল্প কেশ ফুলাইয়া বান্ধে।।
ঘন ঘন চাহে উলটি ঘাড়।
বলে ডাক এ গৃহিণীতে ঘর উজাড়।।
পানি ফেলিয়া পানিকে যায়।
পথিক দেখিয়া আড় চক্ষে চায়।।
বাতি জ্বলে গান গায়।
পর পুরুষকে আড় চক্ষে চাহি।
পর সস্তাষে বাটে রহি।।
এ নারী ঘরে না থুইহ।।”

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of the year. The "Vāramāsī" or a description of twelve months is a favourite subject with our old poets, who seem to be never weary of describing the peculiar pleasures and sorrows of each of the twelve months. Here, in these two manuals, there are frequent references to the conditions of weather foretelling the prospects of paddy during each month of the year. Food, peculiarly congenial to the human system in each season and month, is detailed in Dāker Vachana in strict accordance with the principles of health. I quote a portion below:—

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"In the month of Kārtik, take the esculent root *Ol* (*Arum campanulatum*). In Agrāhayana the *Bel* fruit will prove congenial to health. In Pouṣ take *Kanji* (a kind of sour gruel or sowens made by steeping rice in water and letting the liquor ferment). In Māgh, a free use of mustard oil is recommended. In Fālgun take ginger and in Chaitra vegetables of a bitter taste (as Nim leaves) will do you good. In Vaiçakh *Nalita* (a pot herb), in Jyaiṣṭha, butter milk,—in Āṣāḍa, curds, in Çrāvaṇa *Khoi* (a kind of fried-grain) in Bhādra, palm fruit and in Āçvina,—cucumber. This is the Vāramāsī, says Dāk."*

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∗ কার্তিকে ওল, মার্গে বেল। পৌষে কাঞ্জি মাঘে তেল॥ ফাল্গুনে আদা চৈত্রে তিতা। বৈশাখেতে নিম নালিতা॥ জ্যৈষ্ঠে ঘোল আষাঢ়ে দহি। শ্রাবণে খৈ ভাদ্রে তাল॥ আশ্বিনে শশা। ডাক বলে এই বার মাসা॥

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The later Vāramasis, of which there is quite a legion in our old literature, are mainly devoted to tender feelings experienced by lovers in the different months of the year, especially when separated from one another.

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The popularity of the two books is not approached by any other writings that we know of, in the country, as even illiterate men have got the aphorisms by heart, and yet they have been handed down to us from a remote past,—it may be the tenth century A. D. as we have already said and as appears from the language in which their older versions are couched and from the spirit of the age which is stamped upon them.

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The popularity of the sayings.

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Our next point will be to discuss the authorship of these aphorisms. Khanā is believed to be a historical personage,—the reputed wife of Varāhamihira and a prodigy in astronomy, in the days of Vikramāditya, the King of Ujjayini. Even accepting all these traditions about her to be true,—it is absurd to suppose, that she—a native of Rajputana, would compose the aphorisms in Bengali or dwell upon subjects which peculiarly apply to Bengal. The Dāker Vachana has similarly been ascribed by popular belief to a milk-man named Dāk. In the vanitā (signature) of these sayings, we occasionaly come across the words "Dāk goālā" (Dāk-the milkman.) We have, however, found that they formed a part of the Buddhistic work—Dākārṇava Tantra, so their origin is easily explained. In some of the sayings we find the vanitā of Rāvaṇa. This exceedingly purile notion is no doubt due to the belief amongst the people of this country

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The question of authorship.

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that a knowledge of astrology has come down to us from the Rākṣasas. Inspite of all these traditions, we are inclined to believe, that these sayings contain the accumulated wisdom of the Bengal peasantry,—they are the heritage of an agricultural race to which the unassuming rural folk of Bengal have unconsciously contributed through ages, and that no particular person or persons should be credited with their authorship.

2. Dharma-cult—a form of Buddhism

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The Moslem conquerors often built Mosques with the materials of the Hindu temples they had destroyed. The sculptural representations of gods and goddesses and other carvings on bricks indicating the ancient decorative art of the Hindus have been lately discovered from dilapidated Mosques in various places in India,—as the plaster, which concealed them from view, crumbled down from the walls in course of time.

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Such has also been the case with Buddhism in India. In the Buddhist temple, the image of Buddha is often worshipped as Çiva. Buddhistic religious books have been so recast and transformed by the Hindu priests, that they now pass for religious poems of the Hindus in the eyes of the people. Yet they were unmistakably Buddhistic works at first. Such for instance are the poems of Dharma-mangal. Dharma-thākur, in praise of whose might, the poems were originally composed, represents the popular idea of Buddha and occupies the second place in the Budhistic group comprised of Buddha, Dharma and Saṃgha. The third of the group সঙ্ঘ, changed into শঙ্ঘ, is also alluded to, in the Çuṇya Purāṇa, by Rāmāi Pandit.

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He mystically discourses on সংখ,* which however, is as remote from সঙ্ঘ, as is the popular conception of Dharma-thakur, from that of the historical Buddha. There are passages which distinctly prove the Buddhistic origin of the poems. In the Çunya Purāṇa, which lays down rules for Dharma worship, there is a line,—“ধর্মরাজ যজ্ঞ নিন্দা করে”—(Dharma Rāj condemns sacrifices). This sounds like a translation of the well-known line in honour of Buddha by the poet Jaydeva—“নিন্দসি যজ্ঞ বিধিরহ শ্রুতি জাতং”

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There are many other passages which clearly indicate the same truth; for instance “সিংহে শ্রীধর্মরাজ বহুত সম্মান”—(Dharma Rāj is held in high veneration in Ceylon). In another line we find “আগেতে ছিলেন প্রভু ললিত অবতার”—(In former times Dharma Rāj was the Lalita Avatāra). The most authoritative biography of Buddha is called the “Lalita Vistāra.”

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Evidences of their Buddhistic origin.

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* সংখ উপজিল সংখ সংখয় বিচার।
কহ কহ পণ্ডিত সংখর সার॥
কোন সংখ জলে স্নান করেন অনাদ্য করতার।
আদ্য সংখ জলর জুতি॥
হরি হরি সংখ পাপ মুকতি॥
কোন সংখে না ছোঁএ পানি।
দখিন সংখে না ছোঁএ পানি॥
দখিন সংখে আপ পতমানি।
কে সিরজিল গঙ্গা কে সিরজিল পদ্ম।
তাহে উপজিল দ্বাদশ অঙ্গুল সংখ।
হে জত সঙ্ঘ হে বিজত সঙ্ঘ তুমি সংখ হইএ চিরাই।
তুমার জলে স্নান করেন শ্রীধর্ম গোসাঞি॥

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Çunya Purāṇa PP. 83-84.

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In the poems of Dharma-mangal itself, there are frequent references to Buddhist saints, such as Mīnanāth, Gorakṣanāth, Hāḍipa and Kālupa. The words নিরঞ্জন and শূন্য মূর্ত্তি with which the readers of the poems are so familiar, are words taken from the Buddhistic Ṣāstras. The doctrine known as the Ṣunyabād, which explains the origin of the universe from nothing, became a popular theory with the later Buddhistic school; and this doctrine is detailed not only in the Ṣunya Purāṇa, but also in the poems of Dharma-mangal. The Hāḍis, Domas and other low caste people are the priests in many of the Dharma temples. The Doma Pandits at one time occupied a prominent position in the Buddhistic temples, and when Buddhism was driven away from this country, all religious functions in many of these Dharma temples, still continued to be discharged by the descendants of the Doma priests, as the Hindus dared not oust a priestly class, revered by the people, from their duties in temples. We noticed, that the poems in honour of Dharma-thākur have been thoroughly recast by the Hindu priests, and Hindu ideas have been largely introduced into them; but even as late as 1640 A.D. the Brahmin priests would not venture to mix too closely with the worshippers of Dharma-thākur for fear of losing caste. In the above year, when Mānik Rām Gānguli, a Brahmin, was inspired by Dharma-thākur, who appeared to him in a dream for encouraging him to write a Dharma-mangal, our poet fell prostrate before him in dismay, and said “জাতি যায় প্রভু যদি ইহা করি গান।”— I shall be an outcast, if I sing a song in your praise). This distinctly proves that Dharma-ṭhākur had originally no place in the Hindu Pantheon.

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As the popularity of these songs amongst the masses continued unabated, the Brahmins gradually took them up, and later poems of Dharma-mangal have been so greatly transformed in their hands, that they look very much like works devoted to the Ṣākta-cult; but reading between the lines, the readers will be able to discover evident traces of Buddhism in them. It should however be noted here, that the Buddhism indicated in these works, has scarcely anything in common with the pure Buddhism of Aṣoka’s time; and both are even more unlike one another than the Pourāṇic Hindu religion of the present day and the pure religion of the Upaniṣadas.

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The Ṣunya Purāṇa by Rāmāi Pandit, Chāryāchāryaviniçchay by Kānu Bhatta, the poems known as Dharma-mangal, and ballads and songs in honour of some of the Pāl Kings of Bengal bear distinct stamps of Buddhism on them. The ballads of the Pāl Kings, who were great patrons of Buddhism, indicate the marvellous power wielded by Gorakṣanāth and Hāḍisiddha, the great Buddhistic saints. The latter belonged to one of the meanest castes of the Hindu society, yet his power is said to have been so great, that the gods of Heaven, trembled in fear, when the saint approached. In the songs of Govinda Chandra Pāl, revised by the poet Durlabha Mallik, the King is said to have asked his religious preceptor—the far-famed Hāḍisiddha, as to what was the true religion. Hāḍisiddhā said:—

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“হা়িাপা বলেন বাছা শুন গোবিন্দাই।
অহিংসা পরম ধৰ্ম্ম যার পর নাই॥”

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The Brahmins gradually overcome their scruples.

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Early Bengali works by the Buddhists.

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(O Govinda, my son, the highest act of religion is to abstain from destruction of life).

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The popular notion of Buddhism in India holds this doctrine of অহিংসা as the most essential point in the religion of Buddha, about whom the poet Joydeva has said :—

c6.s2.16

“সদয়-হৃদয়-দর্শিত পশুঘাতং।”

3. Rāmāi Pundit and his Çunya Purāṇa

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The great exponent of the Dharma-cult in Bengal was, by general acceptance, Rāmāi Pandit—the reputed author of Çunya Purāṇa. The poems of Dharma-mangal also make mention of Rāmāi Pundit with great esteem. His hand-book of Darma Pujā, called the Çunya Purāṇa, has been edited by Babu Nagendranāth Vasu and lately published by the Sāhitya Pariṣada of Calcutta. Rāmāi Pandit was a contemporary of Dharmapāl II, who reigned in Gouḍa in the early part of the 11th century A.D. Rājendra Chol’s rock-inscription (1012 A.D.), recently discovered at Tirumalaya, makes mention of this monarch. Rāmāi Pandit was born at Champaighāt-on the river Dwārakeçwar in the District of Bānkura. The year of his birth is not known, but he was born on the 5th day of the waxing moon, in the month of Vaiçākha, towards the end of the 10th Century A.D.

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Bābu Nagendranāth Vasu, who edits the Çunya Purāṇa, accepts the account of Rāmāi’s life furnished by his descendants, and takes him to be a Brahmin. The account is full of fables and is scarcely entitled to credence. The descendants of Rāmāi Pandit, who still discharge the priestly function in the Dharma temple at Mainā, are known as Dom Pandits and not Brahmins ; besides, there have been so many attempts in Bengal to raise a low-born saint to the rank and status of a Brahmin, evidently with a view to remove the stigma of humble origin laid on his descendants, that we can hardly accept this account of interested parties as true. Haridāsa, the great saint of the Vaiṣṇava community, was a Mahammadan ; but he is now declared by some Vaiṣṇavas to have been originally a Brahmin. Even in the accounts furnished from the temple of Mainā by the descendants of Rāmāi Pundit, there are points to throw a doubt on the pretensions to a high pedigree advanced by them. Dharma-thākur therein is said to have cursed Rāmāi, saying that the people of higher castes would not touch water given by the Saint. Rāmāi Pandit himself is said to have cursed his son Dharmadās for a fault, not clearly stated, by which he lost his caste and turned a Dom Pandit. These stories are evidently got up to establish the point that they were originally Brahmins, though so degraded now. The writer of the sketch very forcibly states that the Dom Pandits do not belong to the Doma caste. His very enthusiasm in establishing this point betrays the weakness of his position; for the people of Bengal know Domas and Dom Pandits to belong to the same caste. The word দ্বিজ (twice-born) which occasionally occurs in the Bhanitā of Rāmāi Pandit, is a later interpolation and the Çunya Purāṇa, in its present shape, bears traces of many subsequent hands, as Nagendra Babu has himself admitted.

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His descen= dants.

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Rāmāi Pandit was eighty years old when he married. His son Dharmadās had four sons,—Mādhava, Sanātana, Çridhara and Trilocana. The members of Rāmāi Pandit's family are authorised priests of Yātrāsiddhi Roy—as Dharma-thākur of the temple at Maina is called—and they are privileged to perform the copper-ceremony of the 36 castes.

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The contents of the Çunya Purāṇa.

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The Çunya Purāṇa begins with a description of the origin of the universe on the lines of the Mahāyana School of the Buddhists. It runs thus*:—

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"There was no line, no form, no colour, and no sign.

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"The sun and the moon were not, nor day, nor night.

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"The earth was not, nor water, nor sky.

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"The mounts Meru, Mandāra and Kailāsa were not.

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"The creation was not, nor were there gods, nor men.

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"Brahmā was not, nor was Viṣnu, nor the ethereal regions.

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* নহি রেক, নহি রূপ নহি ছিল বন্ন চিন।
রবি সসী নহি ছিল নহি ছিল রাতি দিন ॥
নহি ছিল জল থল নহি ছিল আকাস।
মেরু মন্দার না ছিল না কৈলাস ॥ ২.
নহি ছিষ্ট ছিল আর নহি সুর নর।
বম্বা বিষ্ণু ন ছিল ন ছিল আঁবর ॥ ৭.
সরণ মরত নহি ছিল সভি ধুন্দকার।
দসদিক পাল নহি মেঘ তারাগণ ॥ ১০.
আউ মিতু না ছিল জমর তাড়ন ॥ ১৩.
সুনুত ভরমন পরভুর সুনে করি ভর ॥

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“Heaven and earth were not, all was emptiness.
“The presiding gods of the ten directions were not, nor were there the clouds, nor the stars.
“Life was not, nor death, nor pangs of death.
“The Lord moved in the void, supporting Himself on the void.”

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From the Lord, says the Çunya Purāṇa, sprang air; and as He drew breath, Ulluk (owl), a bird sacred with the worshippers of Dharma-Thākur, was created. The owl is also sometimes called a Muni (sage). The next creation was tortoise, which is also sacred with the Dharma-worshippers. In the temple, dedicated to Dharma Thākur by Lāu Sen—King of Mainā, in the 11th century, Dharma is still worshipped as a tortoise. The other objects of creation were the serpent Ananta, and the earth; and then from the Lord came Çakti, known as Durgā.

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We need not proceed further with this catalogue of theological reveries. The Çunya Purāṇa gives details about the method of worshipping Dharma. We find Çiva, Viṣṇu, Brahmā and a host of Paurāṇik gods mentioned in this book in a strange way. They discharge functions which have little in common with those attributed to them by the Hindus. Occasionally we come across the word বস্তুনিৰ্ব্বাণ, which reminds us of the Nirvana of Buddha.

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Çunya Purāṇa, published by the Sāhitya Pariṣad, contains altogether 56 chapters, of which 5 are devoted to an account of the creation of the universe. The rest detail the method of Dharma-worship with occasional references to the sacrifices made by Rājā Hari Chandra and other devout followers of Dharma, for the sake of religion. There are several passages in prose in the book which furnish curious specimens of very old Bengali mixed with later interpolations. Our readers will admit from the antique forms of words in the following lines that they formed a part of the original writings of Rāmāi Pandit.

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“হে ভগবান বার ভাই বার আদিত হাত পাতি নেহ সেবকর অর্ঘ পুষ্প পানি সেবক হব সুখি ধামাং করি গুরু পণ্ডিত দেউলা দান পতি সাংসুর ভোক্তা আমনি সন্ন্যাসী গতি জাইতি।” p. 70.
“সুনার কেতকী আনেন করন্তি আসিয়া।
চারিদিকে নিরঞ্জন সারিয়া ধম্ম কিয়া॥” p. 24.
“রাতিত পাথর চারি পাতি কর।
কতে হল সুদ সুনার আড়া।”

c6.s3.19

“কাঞ্চন বাঁধিয়া মেজে করিল কাট ডাল মণ্ডপে ফটিকর থাম লাগে চন্দন নাদন আর সাত ডকে লাগিল গজান। ইলা মণ্ডপে দপন সভাকরে।” p. 59.

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The book contains many passages of this nature, and the learned editor has, in an apologetic tone, avowed his inability to explain many of them.

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The last chapter, which is headed “নিরঞ্জনের রুষা” (the anger of Niranjan) and was evidently annexed, at least three centuries after the composition of the original work, refers to the revival of Hinduism, —the downfall of the followers of Sat-Dharma or pure religion (Buddhism), and to a free fight between the Mahammadans and the Brāhmins at Jājpur,— the Mahammadans being described as the incarnations of gods and goddesses who are said to have come down for wreaking vengeance on the Brāhmins for oppressing the Sat-Dharmīs. We give a free and abridged translation of the curious passage below.* In all probability the passage was written by Sahadeva Chakravarti, one of the authors of Dharma-mangal, of whom we shall have to write at some length, hereafter.

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* জাজপুর পুয়বাদি সোলসয় ঘর বেদি
কর লয় দুন।
দখিন্যা মাগিতে জায়, জার ঘরে নাহি পায়
সাঁপ দিয়া পুরায় ভুবন। ১
মালদহে লাগে কর দিলঅ কর দুন।
দখিন্যা মাগিতে যায়, যার ঘরে নাকি পায়
সাঁপ দিয়া পুড়াএ ভুবন। ২
মালদহে লাগে কর না চিনে আপন পর
জালের নাহিক দিস পাস।
বলিষ্ঠ হইল বড় দশবিন হয়্যা জড়
সদ্ধর্ম্মরে করএ বিনাস। ৩
বেদকরে উচ্চারণ বেরযাত অগ্নি ঘনে ঘন
দেখিয়া সভাই কম্পমান।
মনেতে পাইয়া মৰ্ম্ম সভে বলে রাখ ধৰ্ম্ম
তোমা বিনা কে করে পরিত্রান। ৪
এইরূপে দ্বিজগণ করে সৃষ্টি সংহারণ
ই বড় হইল অবিচার।
বৈকণ্ঠে থাকিয়া ধৰ্ম্ম মনেতে পাইয়া মৰ্ম্ম
মায়াতে হইল অন্ধকার।। ৫
ধৰ্ম্ম হৈল্যা জবন রূপী মাথাএ ত কাল টুপি
হাতে সোভে বিরুচ কামান।
চাপিয়া উত্তম হয় ত্রিভুবনে লাগে ভয়
খোদায় বলিয়া এক নাম।। ৬
নিরঞ্জন নিরাকার হৈলা ভেস্ত অবতার
মুখেতে বলেত দম্বদার।
জতক দেবতাগণ সভে হয়্যা একমন
আনন্দেতে পরিল ইজার।।
ব্রহ্মা হৈল মহামদ বিষ্ণু হৈল পেকাম্বর
আদম হৈল সুলপানি।

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The Brahmins and the Sat-Dharmis. "In Jājpur and Maldah sixteen hundred families of Védic Brāhmins mustered strong. Being assembled in groups of ten or twelve, they killed the Sat-Dharmis (Buddhists) who would not pay them religious fees, by uttering incantations and curses. They recited Mantras from the Vedas and fire came out from their mouths, as they did so. The followers of Sat-Dharma trembled with fear at the sight thereof, and prayed to Dharma; for who else could give them succour in that crisis? The Brāhmins began to destroy the creation in the above manner, and acts of great violence were perpetrated on the earth. Dharma who resided in Baikuntha was grieved to see all this. He came to the world as a Muhammadan. On his head he wore a black cap, and in his hand he held a cross-bow.

c6.s3.24

Dharma comes as a Muhammadan to punish the Brahmins.

c6.s3.25

গণেশ হইল গাজি কার্তিক হৈল কাজি ফকির হইলা যত মুনি। তেজিয়া আপন ভেক, নারদ হইলা সেক পুরন্দর হইল মলনা। চন্দ্র সূর্য্য আদি দেবে পদাতিক হয়্যা সেবে সভে মিলে বাজায় বাজনা।। ৯ আপুনি চণ্ডিকা দেবী, তিঁহ হৈলা হায়া বিবি পদ্মাবতী হল্য বিবি নূর। জতক দেবতাগণ হয়্যা সভে একমন প্রবেশ করিল জাজপুর।। দেউল দেহারা ভাঙ্গে ক্যাড়া ফিড়্যা খায় রঙ্গে পাথড় পাথড় বোলে বোল। ধরিয়া ধর্ম্মের পায় রামাঞি পণ্ডিত গায় ই বড় বিসম গণ্ডগোল।।

c6.s3.26

( have changed the word ঘুন to দুন in the second line, as I consider the latter to be the correct reading)

c6.s3.27

Çunya Purāṇ, p. 140.

c6.s3.28

He mounted a horse and was called Khodā, Niranjana incarnated himself in Bhest (heaven). All the gods being of one mind, wore trousers. Brahmā incarnated himself as Muhammad, Viṣṇu as Paigamvar and Çiva became Ādamfa (Ādam). Ganeça came as a Gāzi, Kārtika as a Kāzi, Nārada became a Sekha and Indra a Moulana. The Riṣis of heaven became Fakirs. The sun, the moon and the other gods came in the capacity of foot-soldiers, and began to beat drums. The goddess Chandi incarnated herself as Hayā Bibi and Padmāvati became Bibi Nur. The gods being all of one mind entered Jājpur. They broke the temples and Maṭhas and cried “seize,” “seize.” Falling at the feet of Dharma, Rāmāi Pandit sings, “O what a great confusion!”

c6.s3.29

What historical incident is referred to, in the description given above, is not clearly known. But it unmistakably points to a general feeling of gratification, with which the Buddhists watched the oppression of the Brāhmins by the Muhammadans at Jājpur, which they attributed to divine wrath, for atrocities committed upon themselves.

4. The Sahajiā-cult

c6.s4.1

When Buddhism declined in India, and Hinduism had not yet risen on her horizon in the fulness of its glorious revival,—when the idea of a higher life inspired by a keen sense of morality and introspection, which was the dominant spirit of Buddhism, declined into scepticism and sensuality, and when devotion and absolute trust in God, which characterised the Paurānik Hinduism, was yet unknown—in the twilight of the transition-period, mystic rituals of Tāntrikism ruled Buddhistic and Hindu communities all over India. The Vāmāchārī Tāntriks perpetrated wanton crimes in the name of religion and the vast literature, they have left us, lays down codes for those initiated in the creed, which totally upset the moral fabric of society.

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The Sahajiā-cult owed its origin to the Vāmāchārī Buddhists. Salvation was sought for by a process of rituals in which young and beautiful women were required to be loved and worshipped. In sexual love there is surely a higher side which points to love Divine. The Sahajiā-cult was originally based upon this idea.

c6.s4.3

Kānu Bhatta—a Buddhist scholar, who lived in the latter part of the 10th century, was the first apostle of love-songs of the Sahajiā-cult in Bengali. This love is not a legitimate affair sanctioned by society; with one's own wife it could not, according to this creed, reach a high stage of perfection. Kānu Bhatta's work in Bengali which formulates the creed of Vāmāchār is called Charyyā-Charyya Viniçchaya. It has been lately recovered from Nepāl by Mahāmahopādhyāya Hara Prasād Çāstri. Another work of a similar kind is Bodhi-Charyyā-vatāra, the MS. of which, as I have said elsewhere, is incomplete.

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There are passages in the love-songs contained in the above two works which are obscene; but they are permeated by a mystic spiritual significance and are capable of a higher interpretation.

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The doctrines promulgated by the Vāmācharī Buddhists did not pass away with the overthrow of the Buddhistic influence in Bengal. In the Sahajiā creed of the Vaiṣṇavas, the old doctrines re-appeared amongst the masses, and its great exponent Caṇḍīdās echoed the sentiments of Kānu Bhaṭṭa in his love-songs, giving it a far higher spiritual tone than they had ever received from the Buddhists. Caṇḍīdās lived in the 14th century, so his writings do not, properly speaking, belong to the pre-Mahammadan period to which we should have confined ourselves in this chapter. For an exposition of the Sahajiā doctrines, however, we find it necessary to refer to some of his songs which elucidate the essential principles of this curious creed. Says Caṇḍīdās:—

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"Every one speaks of Sahajiā,—alas, who knows its real meaning? One who has crossed the region of darkness (passions) can alone have the light of Sahajiā."*

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Caṇḍīdās's writings on this point occasionally appear as riddles,—and indeed all writings of this class are so,—but they give sufficient glimpses of the purity of his faith.

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† "The woman must remain chaste and never fall; she will sacrifice herself entirely to love, but outwordly the object of her love will be as nobody

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∗ সহজ সহজ, সবাই কয় সহজ জানিবে কে। তিমির অন্ধকার যে হৈয়াছে পার সহজ জেনেছে সে॥ Caṇḍīdās.

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† "হইবি সতী, না হবি অসতী" "অন্তরে পরাণ বাটিয়া দেওবি বাহিরে বাসিবি পর।"

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to her. Secret love must be indulged in secret; and thereby her mind should be purified; but she should not submit to desire. She must plunge herself headlong in the sea of abuse, but at the same time scrupulously avoid touching the forbidden stream and be quite indifferent to both pleasure and pain, (she will allow herself to be abused by others remaining true to herself).”

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To play with passions,—to indulge freely in love, at the same time to guard oneself against a fall, is risky. The poet knows it well and says*—

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“To be a true lover, one must be able to make a frog dance in the mouth of a snake”—(which means, the lover while playing with dangerous passions,—nay, while apparently running even to the very mouth of destruction, must possess the self-control to return unhurt). “This love may be attained by one who can suspend the highest peak of Mount Sumeru with a thread, or bind an elephant with a

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“গোপন পীরিতি গোপনে রাখিব
সাধিবি মনের কাজ”
“না হবি কাহার বশ।”
“কলঙ্ক সাগরে সিনান করিবি
এলাঞা মাথার কেশ।
“নীরে না ভিজিবি, জল না ছুঁইবি
সম দুঃখ সম ক্লেশ।”
“সাপের মুখেতে ভেকেরে নাচাবি
তবেত রসিক-রাজ।
“যে জন চতুর, সুমেরু শেখর
সুতায় গাঁথিতে পারে।
“মাকড়সার জালে, মাতঙ্গ বাঁধিলে
এ রস মিলয়ে তারে।”

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cobweb ;”†—implying that it is not in an ordinary man's power to control the surging passions of love and remain immaculate in his vow. The poet says, that by exercising restraint over feelings and desires and at the same time by running though great sacrifices for its cause, salvation through love may be obtained.

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According to Chaṇḍidās, the initiated people must exercise great discretion in selecting their objects of love. The lovers should be both pure in heart, spiritually bent and immaculate in morals.

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“If a young maiden (of a spiritual temperament) falls in love with a man of inferior quality, she shares the fate of a flower pierced by thorns and dies of a broken heart. If a youth happens to fall in love with a maiden of lower type, he becomes like one, who is under the influence of evil-spirits, —moves about in great unrest, and eventually succumbs to despair; says Chaṇḍidās. “Such a union between a good-natured person and one who bears an opposite character may be compared to love between the tooth and the tongue; they live together but the former does not let an opportunity slip to bite the latter.”*

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* যে জাতি যুবতি, সাধিতে সে রতি কুজাতি পুরুষ ধরে।
কণ্টকে যেমতি পুষ্প হয় ক্ষত হৃদয় ফাটিয়া মরে ॥
পুরুষ তেমতি নারী হীন জাতি রতির আশ্রয় লয়।
ভূতে ধরে তারে মরে ঘুরে ফিরে দ্বিজ চণ্ডীদাস কয় ॥
সুজনের সনে আনে পীরিতি কহিতে পরাণ ফাটে
জিহ্বার সহিত, দন্তের পীরিতি সময় পাইলে কাটে ॥”

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(It should be noted here that the word রতি as used in the above extract, meant pure love in Chaṇḍidās's time. Its meaning has since degraded and it now means a low carnal gratification).

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Caṇḍīdās himself loved a washer-woman following the rules of the Sahajīā cult, for according to Gupta Sādhan Tantra, a book of authority with the sect, a washer-woman amongst others, is a legitimate subject of such love for a Vāmāchārī Tāntrik. Here is the text of the above Tantra.*

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"A dancing girl, a girl of the Kapāli caste, a prostitute, a washer-woman, a barbar's daughter, a Brāhmin girl, a Çudra girl, a milk-maid, a girl of the Mālākar caste—these nine are recognised as the legitimate subjects for Tāntric practices; those that are most clever amongst these, should be held as pre-eminently fit; maidens endowed with beauty, good luck, youth and amiable disposition are to be worshipped with care and a man's salvation is attained thereby."

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In purity and edifying influence, Caṇḍīdās's sentiments made a near approach to spiritual love; and he literally worshipped the washer-woman with the ardour of a devotee, though he himself was a good Brāhmin. Her name was Rāmī, and Caṇḍīdās says of her:—

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"O my love, I have taken refuge at they feet, knowing, they have a cooling effect (on my burn-

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নটী কপালিকী বেশ্যা রজকী নাপিতাঙ্গনা।
ব্রাহ্মণী শূদ্রকন্যা চ তথা গোপালকন্যকা ॥
মালাকরস্য কন্যা চ নব কন্যাঃ প্রকীর্তিতাঃ।
বিশেষবৈদগ্ধ্যযুতাঃ সর্বা এব কুলাঙ্গনাঃ ॥
রূপযৌবনসম্পন্নাঃ শীলসৌভাগ্যশালিন্যাঃ।
পূজনীয়াঃ প্রযত্নেন ততঃ সিদ্ধঃ ভবেন্নরঃ ॥

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Gupta Sādhan Tantra.

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ing heart). I adore your beauty beaming with holy maidenhood which inspires no carnal desire. When I do not see you, my mind becomes restless; and as I see you, my heart is soothed. O washerwoman, my lady, you are to me what parents are to helpless children. The three prayers that a Brāhmin offers daily to his God, I offer to you. You are to me as holy as Gāyatrī from which the Vedas originated. I know you to be the goddess Sarasvatī who inspires songs. I know you to be the goddess Pārvatī.—You are the garland of my neck,—my heaven and earth, my nether-worlds and my mountains—nay, my whole universe!—you are the apple of my eyes. Without you all is dark to me. My eyes are soothed when I see you. The day I do not see your moonlike face, I remain like a dead man. I cannot, for a moment, forget your grace and beauty. O, tell me how I may deserve your favour? You are my sacred hymns and the essence of my prayers. My love for your maidenly beauty has not any element of physical desire in it. Says Chaṇḍīdās,—the love of the washerwoman is pure gold tested by touch-stone.”* Chaṇḍīdās was himself

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∗ > শুন রজকিনী রামি, ও দুটি চরণ, শীতল বলিয়া,

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শরণ লইলাম আমি।
রজকিনী রূপ, কিশোরী স্বরূপ, কাম গন্ধ নাহি তায়।
না দেখিলে মন, করে উচাটন, দেখিলে পরাণ জুড়ায় ॥
তুমি রজকিনী আমার রমণী, তুমি হও মাতৃ পিতৃ।
ত্রিসন্ধ্যা যাজন, তোমার ভজন, তুমি বেদমাতা গায়ত্রী ॥
তুমি বাগ্বাদিনী, হরের রমণী, তুমি সে গলার হারা।
তুমি স্বর্গ মর্ত্য, পাতাল, পৰ্ব্বত, তুমি সে নয়ানের তারা ॥

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convinced that sexual love leads to love Divine. He says "Hear me, friends, how salvation may be attained through love for a woman: Reduce your body to a dry log (make it such as to be quite unmoved by passions). He that pervades the universe, unseen by all, is approachable only by him who knows the secret of pure love."†

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† "নায়িকা সাধন, শুনহ লক্ষণ, যেরূপে করিতে হয়। শুষ্ক কাষ্ঠের সম, আপনার দেহ করিতে হয়।। ব্রহ্মাণ্ড ব্যাপিয়া, আছয়ে যে জন কেহ না দেখয়ে তারে। প্রেমের পীরিতি, যে জন জানয়ে, সেই সে পাইতে পারে।।" Chaṇḍīdās.

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So sang Chaṇḍīdās—the great exponent of the Sahajīā cult in Bengal in the 14th century, more than 3 hundred years after Kāṇu Bhatta had composed his love songs. It goes without saying, that in their earnest efforts to attain salvation by worshipping young and beautiful damsels, many a youth turned moral wrecks in this country. Chaṇḍīdās rightly

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তোমা বিনে মোর সকলই আঁধার, দেখিলে জুড়ায় আঁখি। যে দিন না দেখি ও চাঁদবদন মরমে মরিয়া থাকি।। ও রূপ মাধুরি পাশরিতে নারি, কি দিয়ে করিব বশ। তুমি সে মন্ত্র, তুমি সে তন্ত্র, তুমি উপাসনা বস।। রজকিনী রূপ, কিশোরী স্বরূপ কাম গন্ধ না’হ তায়। রজকিনী প্রেম, নিকষিত হেম বঢ়ু চণ্ডীদাসে গায়।। says, that "in a million it would be difficult to find one"* who has the capacity for self-restraint required by the Sahajiyā preachers.

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From the earliest times the Hindu society does not seem to have offered any refuge to fallen women. The dangers of admitting fallen women to a society with a severe ideal of female purity were fully realised by the Hindus. The rite of Satī, and an uncompromising form of widowhood, sprang up in our social organisation, as natural alternatives for women on the death of their husbands. The Buddhists reserved a place in their nunneries for fallen women and for those who took the vow of life-long maidenhood. The Buddhist Bhikṣus and Bhikṣuṇīs (monks and nuns) who probably started the principles of salvation by sexual love with all the noble intentions of Dona-Julia in Don Juan, fell victims to their own snares and rightly earned the contemptuous title of নেড়া নেড়ী—the shaved couple. This epithet is now applied to the fallen men and women of the Vaiṣṇava society. But the women of that class do not get their heads shaved as the Buddhist Bhikṣuṇīs used to do. The Buddhist monks and nuns who formed improper relationship were the persons who were first called নেড়া নেড়ী. The Vaiṣṇavas who borrowed the Sahajiyā cult from the Buddhists were not spared these nicknames. Caṇḍīdās himself knew the dangers of the creed and perhaps he stood the severe test. But latterly it became debased to the extreme and produced disastrous results on the Vaiṣṇava community.

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∗ " কোটিতে গোটিক হয় ।"—Caṇḍīdās

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For love, a little out of the way, if sanctioned by religion, offers temptations which the mass can hardly resist; and it is no wonder that taking advantage of a wicked interpretation of the love of Rādhā and Kriṣṇa, this cult of the Buddhist monks found favour in the lower stratum of Vaiṣṇava society, the degeneracy of which was mainly brought about by the immoral latitudes of the Sahajiā Vaiṣṇavas. The great Vaiṣṇava leaders were conscious of this drawback of their society and so condemned the creed. Chaitanya Deva would not allow any of his ascetic followers to mix with women, and Rupa, Sanātana and other devotees, who followed him, were unsparing in their hostile attitude to the Sahajiā Vaiṣṇavas.—Yet the creed numbered its votaries by hundreds amongst the Vaiṣṇavas, and we have come across about thirty authors in old Bengali literature who advocated the principles of Sahajiā.*

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∗ The following books, among others, give an exposition of the Sahajiā doctrines—some of them were written nearly 400 years ago, but all, before the British Conquest. Most of them contain prose-passages which may be taken as specimens of early Bengali prose.

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| 1. | Svarupa Varṇan | |
| 2. | Vṛindāban Dhyān | |
| 3. | Guruçiṣya Sambād | |
| 4. | Rupamañjurī | |
| 5. | Prārthanā | by Kriṣnadas. |
| 6. | Rasa Bhakti Laharī | |
| 7. | Rāga Ratnābali | |
| 8. | Siddhinām | |
| 9. | Atma Sādhan | |
| 10. | Amrita Rasa Chandrikā | |
| 11. | Prembhāba Chandrikā | |
| 12. | Sārāṭsār Kārikā | |
| 13. | Bhaktī Laṭikā | |
| 14. | Sadhya Prem Chandrikā | attributed to |
| 15. | Rāga Mālā | Norottam Dās |
| 16. | Svarup Kalpa Latikā | |
| 17. | Prem Vilās | |
| 18. | Tatva Nirupan | |
| 19. | Rasa Bhakti Chandrikā | |

5. Dharmamangal-Poems

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The authors of Dharmamangal-poems, written in honour of the god Dharma, unanimously agree in declaring Mayur Bhatta to be the earliest writer on the subject. The poem which is said to have furnished inspiration to the succeeding poets of the Dhurma-cult was called the Hākanda Purāṇa. Babu Nagendranath Vasu considers the Çunya Purāṇa by Rāmāi Pandit to be identical with the Hākanda Purāṇa.* But we do not agree with this theory, as the subject treated in most of the Dharmamangal-poems is quite different from what we find in the Çunya Purāṇa. Besides, the name Hākanda Purāṇa, is evidently associated with the superhuman sacrifices of Lāu Sen at Hākanda, and of this song Ramāi Pandit was not certainly the apostle.

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Mayur Bhatta’s time is not exactly known. In all probability he flourished a little before the Mahammadan conquest. Sītā Rām, the author of

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Mayur Bhatta.

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| 20. | Upāsanā Paṭala | } by Premdās |
| 21. | Ānanda Bhairava | by Maṭhura Dās |
| 22. | Ānanda Laharī | by Manharadās |
| 23. | Dīnamani Chandrodaya | |
| 24. | Siddhānta Chandrodaya | |
| 25. | Amrita Rasa Vallī | |
| 26. | Vaiṣṇavāmrita | } by Mukunda Das |
| 27. | Sārātsāra Kārlkā | |
| 28. | Sādhan Opāya | |
| 29. | Rāga Ratnāvali | by Jodunaṭh Dās |
| 30. | Toṭva Katha | by Jagat Kriṣṇa Dās |
| 31. | Yogāgama | by Rasamaya Dās |
| 32. | Bhandataṭva Sār | by Rasik Dās |
| 33. | Rati Vilās | by Rādhā Ballav Dās |
| 34. | Sahajaṭatva | |
| 35. | Dīpakojval | } by Vamçidās |
| 36. | Nikunja Rahasya | |
| 37. | Sidharati Kārika | attributed to Sanātana |
| 38. | Vivarṭṭa Vilas | by one who subscribes |
| | | himself as a desciple of |
| | | Kriṣṇadās Kavirāj. |

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∗ See Preface to the Çunya Purāṇa.

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a Dharmamangal, who lived early in the fifteenth Century, refers to Mayur Bhatta's songs, as already having grown obsolete and partially lost by lapse of years, in his time. Mayura Bhatta who was admittedly the pioneer in the field and deservedly very popular, preceded Sita Ram by at least 3 or 4 centuries. We learn from an account given in Manik Ganguli's poem that Mayura Bhatta belonged to a respectable Brahman family of Bengal.

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These poems were originally Buddhistic in spirit but they passed through great changes in the hands of the Hindu priests. Most of the Dharmamangal-poems give a description of the heroic achievements of Lau Sen, the King of Maina who flourished in the 11th century. I briefly summarise the tale below:—

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The story of Dharmamangal.

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In the reign of Gaudecvara, son of Dharmapal II, King of Gauda, there lived one Soma Ghosa, who was originally a menial servant in his palace. He ingratiated himself into the confidence of the Emperor and secured for himself a landed property at Dhakur on the river Ajay. The son of Soma Ghosa was Ichai Ghosa who was a great warrior and a devout worshipper of the Goddess Kali. He gradually asserted his independence and inspite of all remonstrance offered by his father, declared war against the Emperor of Gauda. The Emperor sent several expeditions to put down the revolt but all failed. Karna Sen, King of Mainagada, a feudatory chief, was summoned to help the Emperor in this crisis. Karna Sen, accompanied by his four sons, went to the battle field, but was vanquished in war and all his sons were killed.

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He returned to his capital to witness the death of his queen who succumbed to grief owing to the loss of her sons. Karṇa Sen, who was now old, went to Gauḍa under these overwhelming bereavements, with a view to meet the monarch and acquaint him with the dire loss that had befallen him in his expedition. The Emperor of Gauḍa was naturally moved, to hear the sad tale, and tried to think how best he could soothe his friend in the despair thus brought upon him by his fidelity to the throne of Gauḍa. The Emperor had a sister-in-law, a young maiden of remarkable beauty. He asked Karṇa Sen to marry her. Karṇa Sen, as we have said, ‘was already declined in the vale of years’; but he obeyed the royal command, and married the beautiful maiden, whose name was Rañjāvatī. Lāu Sen, the hero of Dharmamangal, was born to this married couple. It is said that his mother Rañjāvatī went through various ordeals and superhuman sacrifices in order to propitiate Dharma, one of these being self-destruction at the stake, when she was to be restored to life by the mercy of the god, who was pleased to grant her the boon of a son.

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With the help of Lāu Sen, the Emperor of Gauḍa succeeded in putting down Karpurdhala King of Kāmrup (Assam) who had rebelled against him. He also sent Lāu Sen to punish King Haripāl who had refused the old Emperor's proposals to marry his young and beautiful daughter Kāneḍa. A battle ensued, in which the army was led to the field by the lovely princess herself. The encounter between her and our hero was sharp and animated, but she could not long withstand the superior skill and heroism of Lāu Sen, and King Haripāl was ultimately forced to submit. Kāneḍā was, however, given in marriage to Lāu Sen with the consent of the Emperor. But Lāu Sen's great achievement, was the conquest of Dhākur. Ichhāi Ghoṣa, who had baffled all attempts of the Emperor to bring him to submission, by destroying the vast armies sent at various times for the purpose, was killed by Lāu Sen in a pitched battle.

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Besides these historical events, the poems give accounts of very mean plots and machinations to kill Lāu Sen, by Māhudya,—the brother-in-law and prime minister of the Emperor of Gauḍa. Lāu Sen was Māhudya's nephew, being his sister's son. The marriage of his sister Rañjāvatī with Karṇa Sen, who was old and decrepit, had not been approved of by him and though it had been celebrated under the orders of the Emperor, yet her brother tried his best to dissuade Rañjā from going to Maynā-gaḍa with her husband. Rañjā did not listen to her brother's counsel, but firmly told him, that as Karṇa Sen was now her lord,—young or old, it mattered not to her,—she was bound to follow him wherever he might go. In great anger Māhudya cursed his sister, saying that no child would be born to her. Hence when her son was actually born, and prince Lāu Sen grew to be a handsome young hero with courage and spirit for any enterprise, a deep seated rage rankled in his uncle's bosom. There are hundreds of incidents in the poems, describing the plots to assassinate Lāu Sen formed by Māhudya and last though not least was a command issued by the Emperor of Gauḍa at the instigation of the prime minister, calling upon Lāu-Sen to go to Hākanda and fulfil certain extraordinary conditions for the propitiation of the god Dharma. These involved a severe course of penances, and required that the prince should make the sun rise from the west. If he should not be able to satisfy the King by this, he was to lose his head. When Lāu Sen had gone to Hākanda on this strange mission, Māhudya led an army to Maynā-gaḍa and laid siege to his capital. The brave and heroic sacrifices of Lokhā Dumānī, wife of Kālu Doma, and those of his son Çaka, with the wonderful spirit of devotion to truth shown by Kālu in the sacrifice of his life at this crisis,—are graphically described by all the poets of Dharma-maṅgala. The trials and temptations which beset Lāu Sen in his early youth,—the court of Surikshya, the coquettish queen,—the manners of Nayānī, the lewd Vārui woman, are all full of interest for us as shedding light on various points of domestic and court-life as it prevailed in the Bengal of those days. Lāu Sen eventually comes out triumphant, by the favour of Dharma, and by dint of his wonderful devotion and strength of character.

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