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History of Bengali Language and Literature c7.s5: 3. The conception of Çiva in the Renaissance and Songs in honour of him

History of Bengali Language and Literature c7.s5

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3. The conception of Çiva in the Renaissance and Songs in honour of him

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The later form of Çaiva-literature contains the leading characteristics of the Renaissance period, though it lost a good deal of its importance as the songs of Çiva no longer formed the main theme of Bengali songs. We require to write in some detail how Çaivism was gradually pushed into a corner by the advancing Sākta cult.

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Other deities lavish favours upon their worshippers.

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The inertness of Çiva in old Bengali poems is very well-marked. Chandi in that literature is an extremely active deity; so is Manasā Devī, and all those other divinities in whose honour poems were composed in old Bengali. These Gods and Goddesses would not have borne to see a tear in the eyes of their worshippers; whenever they fall into danger they are sure to obtain succour. A Chandī, a Manasā Devī, even a Çitalā or a Satyanārāyaṇa is always devising plans as to how a devotee may be rescued from danger, how scoffers may be put down or how the earthly prosperity of believers may be increased. But Çiva the Great God is inert and immovable. In the poem of Chandī, Dhanapati Sadāgara is exposed to all imaginable dangers; he is thrown into a gloomy dungeon, where a stone, heavy enough to crush the strongest man is placed on his person. At the moment when his sufferings are the greatest, Chandī appears to him and calls upon him to have faith in her, promising him great rewards. Dhanapati replies—"Even though in this dungeon my life goes out, I will not worship any other deity than Çiva."* In Manasār Bhāsāna we find Chānd Sadāgara put through the most harrowing trials because he will not worship Manasā Devī. Yet he remains firm in his devotion to Çiva. "I will not defile the hand with which I worship Çiva by offering worship to Manasā Devī, that goddess who is blind

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"যদি বন্দীশালে মোর বাহিরায় প্রাণী। মহেশ ঠাকুর বিনে অন্য নাহি জানি॥" Kavi Kankan.

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of one eye."*—he said in great contempt when he was offered prosperity and happiness provided he agreed to worship Manasā Devī. King Chandra-Ketu in Çitalāmangal, inspite of his great troubles would not worship Çitalā Devī and remained true to Çiva. But what do the followers of Çiva gain as the reward for their heroic devotion to his cause! The great Çiva passive and inert, cares not for the sufferings of his followers. So it is no wonder that the followers of other deities who lavished favour upon the believers and undertook to destroy their enemies and confer wealth and prosperity without being asked, increased daily in number, till the poems in honour of Çiva, though forming a part of the earliest literature of Bengal, were gradually overshadowed by larger and more poetic compositions in honour of Manasā Devī, Chandī and Satyanārāyaṇa.

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The Muhammadans with their vigorous living faith, had by this time come to Bengal. Their Korān which they believed to be inspired, lays it down that the God of Islām helps believers and destroys unbelievers. The strong belief of Islām in a personal God had to be counteracted in this country by forms of religion in which the personal element of divinity predominated. So the Çākta and the Vaiṣṇava religions flourished and the Çaiva religion with its impersonal ideal and mysticism in which man rose to the level of his God in the Advaitabāda, was gradually thrown into the back-

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While Çiva is indifferent to his worshippers.

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Çaiva-literature goes to the background.

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The Struggle to counteract Islamite influence and the development of the Çākta and Vaiṣṇava cults.

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∗ “খে হস্তে পূজি আমি দেব শূলপাণি, সে হস্তে না পূজিব চেঙ্গ মুড়ি কাণি।” Ketakā Dās.

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ground, as the masses did not comprehend its speculative features.

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The enlightened Çaivas attempted to reach a stage where the human soul is said to become so elevated as to be identical with the divine spirit. শিবোহং শিবোহং, I am Çiva, I am Çiva, was uttered by the great propounder of the Çaiva cult Çri Çaṅkarācharyya in the 7th century, and his followers tried to imitate him.

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Çiva represents, in the eyes of the enlightened, a spiritual principle, which to use a philosophical expression, may be called the noumenon. The phenomenal world is attributed to Çakti—the goddess Chandī, of whom I have already spoken. Çakti is ever-active, creating the never-ceasing illusions of the visible universe. All that we see around, is produced by Çakti, who acts upon our senses and causes our sorrows and pleasures. But Çiva is inactive—passionless, feelingless, unknown and unknowable, *nirguna* or without qualities. Yet Çakti could not produce the visible, ever-changing forms of this universe without coming in touch with Çiva, the noumenon or the permanent principle. To the shifting phenomena of the world—to our everchanging visible environment, Çiva gives a permanence;—so that when one spring is over, its permanent principle, worked by Çakti, brings on a new spring in the place of the old,—the blooming flower in the place of the faded one. Çiva, then, is the great bridge that connects the lost with the found,—the universe that changes with the universe that is unchanging. The Purāṇas represent the figure of Çiva as lying like a corpse on which dances Çakti or Kālī in destructive ecstasy. One of her four hands holds the severed head of a demon, the other a sword, implying the punishment of sin, but the third is stretched out in the act of giving a boon and the fourth offers benediction. The last two indicate her protection of those who resign themselves to her care.

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This world, ever-moving towards destruction, is symbolised in Çakti; but she gives hope also that the virtuous will be saved. Beyond the sphere of virtue and vice, of pleasure and pain, is the permanent principle of the spiritual world—Çiva who is immovable representing Eternity in the midst of all that shifts. The Yogis who try to attain a stage where pleasure does not please and sorrow does not cause pain, aim at the spiritual condition of Çiva. Thus they arrive at the permanent and abiding principle, and are not subject to the joys and pains that flesh is heir to. At this stage one may say that he is one with the divine spirit or শিবোহং শিবোহং (I am Çiva, I am Çiva.)

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The noble qualities of Çiva to which we alluded in a previous chapter, acted on the multitude as a great attraction, but gradually as this religion took a subtle and mystic form, it grew unintelligible to the masses. Let us here deal with its popular aspects as they are found in our old literature.

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We referred, in a previous chapter, to the songs of Çiva—Çiva according to popular notions, divested of all glory, sunk into a peasant, a beggar and a Gānjā smoker. He drank Siddhi and ate the fruit of the Dhuturā. An agricultural character was attributed to him by those rustic bards who composed the pastoral songs. The Paurāṇik conception of Çiva as a Bhikṣu,—probably borrowed from the Buddhistic idea of renunciation,—degenerated amongst the masses, and the Great God was reduced to the level of a beggar. The mythology, that narrated the story of Çiva, swallowing poison to protect the universe from destruction, lent credulity to the story of his taking profuse doses of Siddhi and Dhuturā,—thus the peasants of Bengal gave a form to the Great God that mirrored the condition of their own life. But his edifying character was not altogether lost, in this humble delineation. Indifference to the world, and an ever contented disposition, not ruffled by circumstances, befitting a Yogī, could yet be discovered in the character given him by the rustic poets.

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But Bengali literature gradually grew more refined as it attracted the notice of scholars; and Çiva as represented in the popular compositions, could no longer satisfy the enlightened taste of the multitudes who listened to the Çaiva songs. These songs fell into popular disfavour as the elements of the personal God were found more or less wanting in Çiva, and only a few writers, latterly, took up the subject for poetry. The character that had been attributed to Çiva by the people in the days of Buddhistic degeneracy, was still retained in these songs, but a new element was introduced into them, which served as an attraction to the rising generations inspired by the superior ideals of the Paurāṇik Renaissance:

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The domestic element is prominent in the later songs on Çiva. In them he plays the role of the patriarch of a family, where Kārtika and Gaṇeça his sons, Lakṣmī and Saraswatī his daughters, Nandi and Bhringi his savage-servants, and above all Umā, his devoted wife, figure conspicuously. Umā was married to Çiva when she was merely a child. She was the daughter of Mount Himavata, who gave her to Çiva, in his old age owing to the pleading and intercession of Nārada. The poets who wrote on the subject of this marriage had before them the scenes of a Bengali home. In such homes girls of a very tender age, were occasionally given in marriage to old men and the situation created pathos too deep for expression. Umā, a girl of eight, was married to the old Çiva—who was a beggar, hopelessly addicted to intoxicating drugs and so poor, that he could not give a pair of shell-bracelets to his bride. There are innumerable songs in Bengali, describing the pathetic situation. In the month of Āçvina (October-November) the whole atmosphere of Bengal, rings with the Āgamani songs, sung by the Vairāgis which describe the meeting of Umā with her mother; and there is no Bengali to whom they do not appeal most tenderly. The domestic scenes of Bengal—the sorrows of Bengali parents—are really the themes of the songs, though they profess to deal with mythological subjects, which bear a realistic interest, full of deep pathos. There the queen of Himavata in the month of Āçvina, says to her lord—"Go thou and bring my Umā, I know not how she fares in Kailāsa without me. I heard from Nārada that she wept and cried 'o mother, o mother.' Çiva takes profuse quantity of Bhāng and Siddhi; he loses his senses under their influence, and rebukes Umā for no fault of hers. Çiva has sold all the clothes and valuable ornaments that you gave Umā

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The Joys and sorrows of Bengali homes under a mythological garb. The Āgamani songs to purchase intoxicating drugs.’”* In another song the queen of Himavata says—“ O Lord of the mountains, my Umā came to me in a dream and when my heart swelled with joy at the meeting, she disappeared. Alas! how cruel is she to her mother! then I felt that it is no fault of hers, O mountain, she is a true daughter of thee to inherit that heart of stone.”† In another, when Uma grew older and gave birth to Kārtika and Gaṇeça the queen says, ‘O Himavata, all that you said about my Umā, has pierced my heart as with a sword. My poor Gaṇeça, you said, was crying and going from door to door in hunger, and Kārtika, my darling, when almost starved fell on the dusty earth

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* “যাও যাও গিরি আনিতে গৌরী,
উমা কেমনে রয়েছে।
আমি শুনেছি শ্রবণে নারদবচনে,
মা মা বলে উমা কেঁদেছে॥
ভাঙ্গতে ভাঙ্গড় পীরিতি বড়,
ত্রিভুবনের ভাঙ্গ করেছে জড়।
ভাঙ্গ খেয়ে ভোলা হয়ে দিগম্বর,
আমার উমারে কত কি বলেছে॥
উমার বসনভূষণ যত আভরণ,
তাও বেচে ভাঙ্গ খেয়েছে॥” Old song.

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† “গিরি গৌরী আমার এসেছিল, স্বপ্নে দেখা দিয়ে,
চৈতন্য করিয়ে, চৈতন্যরূপিনী কোথায় লুকাল।
দেখা দিয়ে কেন এত মায়া তার।
মায়ের প্রতি মায়া নাহি মহামায়ার॥
আবার ভাবি গিরি কি দোষ অভয়ার।
পিতৃদোষে মেয়ে পাষাণী হ’ল॥” Old song.

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and cried for food.”* Yet Umā was the daughter of a king. The household of Çiva—a scene of extreme indigence is painted in contrast with that of king Himavata and the sorrows of the queen who was in affluence herself, at the recollection of Umā’s sufferings and those of her sons, find expression in the old songs which at once appeal to the heart. Innumerable songs of this class are sung every year in Bengal by the professional singers who visit almost every house in the month of Āçvina; and where is the heart so hard that it can refrain from tears, while hearing them. The girls here, of too tender an age to play the wife, are often taken away from the custody of parents. With veils over their faces they have to stay in their husband’s home, speak in whispers and subject themselves to the painful discipline of the daughter-in-law. At an age when they should skip and bound like wild deer, these tender beings have to live in a home to which as yet they are strangers, subject to possible censure at every step, and cut off from their parents and playmates. When the Āgamanī songs, describing the sorrows of Menakā—the queen of Himabata and of Umā, her daughter are sung by professional singers, the eyes of many a child-wife glisten behind her veil, and the hearts of their mothers cry out for the daughters who have been taken away from them. The Çephālikā flower falls to the ground in showers

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* “তুমি যে কতদিন গিরিরাজ আমায় কয়েছ কত কথা,
সে কথা আছে শৈলসম আমার হৃদয়ে গাথা।
আমার লম্বোদর নার্ক উদরের জ্বালায় কেঁদে বেড়াত।
হয়ে অতি ক্ষুধার্ত্তিক সোণার কার্ত্তিক ধূলায় পড়ে লুটাত।”
Old song.

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under the clear autumnal sky of Bengal and the breeze blows softly in the season of these songs. The singers generally have an Ekatārā or one-stringed lute with them, which chimes in well with their plaintive voice in the modulation of grief. The month of Āçvina, in the eyes of every Hindu, is inseparably associated with these songs even as it is with the Çephālikā flower and the clear sky of autumn. During the Pujās which take place in this month, friends and relations meet in Bengali homes, the joyful tears of many a mother are mingled with her daughters' while they narrate to one another, how the bitter days of separation were passed. The pictures, drawn by our village-painters are pleasant to us on account of many delicate associations. In them the queen Menakā stands with arms out-stretched, and Umā comes to her with her sons and daughters—the scene suggesting the sufferings of the whole year. But old Çiva, it must be remembered, is the Great God. He can, at his will, assume a young and handsome appearance and Umā, inspite of her yearnings to meet her mother, is a devoted wife. Çiva, beggar and eater of intoxicating drugs though he is, is tenderly devoted to Umā. He cannot bear separation from her. When she goes to her father's house, there in the picture, the Great God follows her above, through the skies, with looks indicating immeasurable love and tenderness, and in the Āgamanī songs, reverence is not wanting for Çiva inspite of the humble characteristics attributed to him. Here is a song in which queen Menakā says:—

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"O Himavata, I have this desire in my heart. Let me bring my daughter with my son-in-law and give them a home in this mountainous region. He will be here my adopted son, and this mountain,—capital of ours will be a second Kailāsa (the abode of Çiva). I shall see my Umā and Çiva for all the twelve months of the year and the pain of my heart will be assuaged. My son-in-law is ever contented. It is so easy to please him! If I offer him the flower Kunda and leaves of Bel, he will make this place his home and will not wish to go away.”*

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Yet every one knows, while hearing or singing such songs, that Çiva cannot be bound to any earthly object. He is addicted to nothing; it is his compassion, that people mistake for love. He cares not for either raiment or food,—his contentment springs from within. He is absorbed in contemplation, he is immaculate and above all desire. Umā tries to bind him by a thousand ties of affection. But home and the funeral ground to him are alike—he aims at the superior delight which is derived from Yoga.

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* “গিরি আমার মনে এই বাসনা।
আমি জামাতা সহিতে, আনিব দুহিতে
গিরিপুরে করব শিবস্থাপনা।
ঘরজামাই করি রাখব কৃত্তিবাস,
গিরিপুরী করব দ্বিতীয় কৈলাশ।
হরগৌরীরূপ হেরব বারমাস ॥
ঘুচে যাবে আমার মনের যাতনা,
জামাই আশুতোষ,—অল্পতে সন্তোষ,
কুন্দ বিল্বদলে পরম সন্তোষ।
ভুলে রবে ভোলা খেতে চাবে না ॥” Old song.

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Umā the house-wife.

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The domestic element in the descriptions of Çiva, lends a charm to Çiva-songs in Bengali. Umā in Kailāsa plays the housewife, the perfect prototype of the Hindu wife, ever accustomed to patient and strenuous self-denial and labour, cheerfully borne for the sake of others. Her highest delight lies in distributing food to her husband, children and servants. She herself eats nothing till everyone in the house, nay every guest has been satisfied; but this pleasure of serving others while fasting herself invests her with a heavenly charm,—which is indicated in the following passage quoted from Çivāyana by Rāmeçvara :—*

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A passage from Rāmeçvara’s Çivāyana.

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* “তিন ব্যক্তি ভোক্তা একা অন্ন দেন সতী।
এই দিতে এই নাই, হাঁড়ি পানে চায় ॥
শুক্তা খেয়ে ভোক্তা চায় হস্ত দিয়া নাকে।
অন্নপূর্ণা অন্ন আন রুদ্রমূর্ত্তি ডাকে ॥
গুহগণপতি ডাকে অন্ন আন মা।
হৈমবতী বলে বাছা ধৈর্য্য হয়ে থা ॥
মুষকী মায়ের বাক্যে মৌনী হয়ে রয়।
শঙ্কর শিখায়ে দেন শিখিধ্বজ কয় ॥
রাক্ষস জনক, জন্ম রাক্ষসীর পেটে।
যত পাব তত খাব ধৈর্য্য হবে বটে ॥
হাসিয়া অভয়া অন্ন বিতরণ করে।
ঈষদুষ্ণ সুপ দিল বেসারীর পরে ॥
লম্বোদর বলে শুন নগেন্দ্রের ঝী।
সুপ হল সাঙ্গ আন আর আছে কি ॥
দড়বড়ি দেবী এনে দিলা ভাজা দশ।
খেতে খেতে গিরীশ গৌরীর গান যশ ॥

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"With his two sons Çiva sits down to dine. Three sit to eat and Umā serves food to them. As soon as she has served food, the plates are emptied and they look into the cooking pot. Padmāvati (the maid of Umā) observes how eagerly Çiva eats and smiles. Sukta (the first curry) is finished and they fall upon broth. Meantime the plates are all emptied of rice and they all want more "Mother!" says Kārtika, "Give us rice" and Gaṇeça also repeats the request, while the Lord of Destruction (Çiva) says—"Oh Umā bring more rice." Umā says to her sons, "My darlings, be patient: Gaṇeça becomes silent at these words of his mother but Çiva suggests a joke to Kārtika who says—'Our father and mother are Rakṣasas. We know only how to eat and know not how to be patient.' Umā smiles and distributes rice. Gaṇeça says 'I have finished my curry, what more have you in store?' Hastily she comes and serves ten different kinds of fried food. Çiva is much pleased and praises her for her good cooking. The fried Dhutarā fruit and cups of Siddhi are given to the Great God and he nods his head in approval as he sips. When all the curries are finished, they all call at the same time for more; Umā comes hastily to fill their plates and the wind play-fully catches her

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সিদ্ধিফল কোমল ধুতরা ফল ভাজা।
মুখে ফেলে মাথা নাড়ে দেবতার রাজা ॥
দিতে নিতে গতায়াতে নাহি অবসর।
শ্রমে হল সজল কোমল কলেবর ॥
ইন্দুমুখে বিন্দু বিন্দু ঘর্ম বিন্দু সাজে।
মৌক্তিকের শ্রেণী যেন বিদ্যুতের মাঝে ॥

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draperies. The musical Nupura tinkles sweetly on her feet as she goes rapidly to and fro and her bracelets sound in harmony with them. She finds it hard to serve so many. The drops of sweat look like pearls on her beautiful face. As a skilful dancing girl moves gracefully to the sound of the musical instruments, so does Umā move briskly about while serving food to her lord and children. She next serves Pāyasa (pudding) of pleasant flavour, and then a sauce both sweet and sour. Her hair becomes dishevelled, and her dress grows loose. With sweetmeats of milk and rice, the dinner ends.

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A prayer for shell-bracelets and the Sequel.

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The domestic element again becomes pathetic in the description of Umā's wanting a pair of shell-bracelets from her husband. Her lord says that he is too poor to give them and a quarrel ensues, the sequel of which is that Umā sets out in anger for her father's home. Çiva then disguises himself as a bracelet-maker and goes to his father-in-law's house. There, with tears and begging of forgiveness on both sides, the devoted pair are reconciled and once more brought together.

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A considerable part of the Çunya Purāṇa, to which we have already referred, consists of songs about Çiva and these dating from the ninth century or thereabout form the oldest specimens of Çaiva-literature that we possess. Of other poems in honour of this god, which have come down to us, we notice some below:—

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Poems in honour of Çiva.

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“ খরবাদ্যে সুপদ্য নর্ত্তকী যেন ফিরে। সুরস পায়স দিল পিষ্টকের পরে ॥ খসিল কাঁচলি এলায়ে গেল কেশ। গব্য বিতরণ কৈল দ্রব্য হৈল শেষ ॥”

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(2) Çivāyana by Rām Kṛṣṇa, a voluminous poem.

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(3) Mriga Byādha Saṁvāda by Rām Rāj.

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(4) Do. by Çyāma Roy.

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(5) Mrigalubdha by Ratirām. (This poet was a Brāhmin and a native of Sumha Daṇḍi in Chittāgong. He composed the poem in 1674 A. D.)

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(6) Çiva Chaturdaçī by Raghu Rāma.

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(7) Vaidyanāth Mangala by Çāṅkara Kavi Chandra, composed in the 17th century.

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(8) Çivāyana by Rāmeçvara. This is a voluminous work and was written about 1750 A. D. Rāmeçvara was appointed by Rājā Yaçovanta Siṁha of Karṇagaḍa to write his Çivāyana. It enjoys great popularity. The poet was a native of Yadupur near the police station of Ghāṭāl in the district of Midnāpur where a zemindar named Hemāyata Siṁha oppressed him so greatly that he was obliged to leave his ancestral home and settle at Karṇagaḍa in the same district. Rāmeçvara belonged to the Rāḍhīya Brahmin class. His father was one Lakṣmaṇa Chakravarty and his mother's name was Rūpavatī.

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Of all the poems in honour of Çiva—this Çivāyana by Rāmeçvara enjoys the greatest popularity. It was published by the Vangavāshi Press of Calcutta some years ago, and a portion of it, called Vāgdinir Pālā, is re-issued from the Battalā presses every year, a large number of copies being bought by the common people.

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Though the number of poems dealing with Çiva exclusively is comparatively small, yet there are many others which treat of his marriage Incidental descriptions of Çiva and Umā in other poems. with Umā and their domestic life in detail. Such incidental descriptions of Çiva and Umā are found in all the Chandī Mangalas, in the Rāmāyaṇa by Krittivāsa, in the Manaṣa Mangala by Vijay Gupta, and in many other old Bengali poems in which they might be least expected. This of course shows that they are relatively older.

Cites (6)