History of Bengali Language and Literature c7.s2.12

c7.s2.12

From the various evidences which we have come across, we can declare with certainty that Vidyāpati was born towards the end of the 14th century and lived to a good old age, probably covering the whole of the 15th century. He was a contemporary of Chandīdās and was attracted by his great rival's fame to undertake a journey to meet him. Many of the later Vaiṣṇava poets have described the interview between these two eminent men, which is said to have taken place on the banks of the Ganges in the spring season. The talk in which the poets are said to have indulged was appertaining to love and its higher flights. It is said that Chandīdās made an impression on the Maithil poet which is distinctly traceable in his later poems, chiefly about Bhāba Sammilana. In the biography of Adwaitāchāryya of Çantipur—the vetern saint of the Vaiṣṇava community, written by Içān Nāgara in 1560 A.D., it is related that the saint, while touring in Mithilā, saw Vidyāpati there.