History of Bengali Language and Literature c6.s8.24

c6.s8.24

The view generally taken by foreign scholars, that this process of Sanskritising made the litarary language incomprehensible to the masses, is not tenable. When a village yātrā, or popular theatrical performance, is going on, ploughmen, shopkeepers and other illiterate people will stand patiently for hours, witnessing the scenes. And what do they hear? নীরদবরণ, নবঘনশ্যাম, নিকুঞ্জকানন, মরাল-গামিনী, গজপতি-গতি, অকলঙ্ক-বিধু, পীতবাস, কমল-নয়ন, বিধুবদন, নীলোৎপল, মত্ত করিবর, মৃগ-পতি, হরিনাঙ্ক, মনসিজ, যুগ্মনেত্র, and hundreds of such words which are never used in their current dialect, come pouring in upon their ears, and these they enjoy immensely. The Rāmāyaṇa of Krittivāsa, and the Mahābhārata of Kaçidās are read by peasants, and artizans, and in these works learned expressions like “নিষ্কলঙ্ক বিধুমুখী পীনঘনস্তনী” are so numerous that one would wonder how the illiterate men and women who hear them recited, could appreciate them. Yet there is not the least shadow of doubt that they do so. For in Bengal 100,000 copies of the Rāmāyaṇa published from Bartalā are sold every