History of Bengali Language and Literature c7.s2.22

c7.s2.22

Vidyāpati sang much in the strain of Chandīdās; as a Sanskrit poet of eminence, he was held in great admiration in the court of Rājāh Çiva Siṃha. His own heart, however, was in the songs which he composed in the Vernacular. In the brilliance of his metaphors and similes, in the choice of his expressions, and in the higher flights of his poetic fancy, he over-shadows all Vernacular poets; and Chandīdās, the child of nature, is no match for him. When one reads the songs of both the poets, the ordinary ear is charmed with the elegant expressions of the Maithil bard; but to those who dive deeper into the inner yearnings of the human soul, Chandīdās will seem a far greater apostle of love; his simple words will leave a more lasting impression, than all the literary embellishments and poetic flights of Vidyāpati. Yet Vidyāpati also sometimes scales the heights attained by Chandīdās. In the ‘Pūrvarāga,’ ‘Sambhoga Milana,’ ‘Abhisāra’ and ‘Māna’* Vidyāpati is more of a poet than a prophet. There is not much of spirituality, but a good deal of sensuality, in his earlier love songs. He ransacks the whole classical store to find an apt simile and is never weary of applying as much of these as is within his knowledge, like the sound scholar of rhetoric that he is. To give an example;