History of Bengali Language and Literature c6.s2.10

c6.s2.10

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:—