Obscure Religious Cults as Background of Bengali Literature c4.4

c4.4

The Buddhist Sahajiyā cult has been the main source of inspiration of Bengali literature in the earliest period. By the discovery and publication of the songs and Dohās of the Buddhist Sahajiyās, MM. H. P. Śāstri had, no doubt, done a memorable service not only to Bengali literature but to modern Indo-Aryan vernacular literatures as a whole; but the task of making a thorough study of the songs and Dohās in the light of the cults inspiring them has been left out by him. Dr. M. Shahidullah's *Les Chants Mystiques de Kānha et de Saraha* and Dr. N. C. Chaudhuri's *Ḍākārṇava* dwell more upon the linguistic than the literary and philosophical aspects of the Dohās. Dr. P. C. Bagchi, M.A., Dr. ès Lettres (Paris), in his occasional papers and articles, no doubt emphasises the doctrinal aspect of the Sahajiyās; but no comprehensive and critical study of the cult offering a consistent and connected interpretation of the songs and Dohās has yet been undertaken.