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Early History of the Vaishnava Faith and Movement in Bengal, from Sanskrit and Bengali Sources c11: Chapter VII. The Literary Works of Bengal Vaiṣṇavism

Early History of the Vaiṣṇava Faith and Movement in Bengal, from Sanskrit and Bengali Sources c11

Language
English

Contents

Chapter VII. The Literary Works of Bengal Vaiṣṇavism

1. Their Extent and Importance

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One of the remarkable features of the Caitanya movement is its extraordinary literary activity, the power and vitality of its inspiration being evidenced by the vast literature which it produced both in the learned classical tongue and in the living language of the province. As, on the one hand, it enriched the field of Sanskrit scholarship by its more solid and laborious productions in theology, philosophy, ritualism and Rasa-śāstra, so, on the other, it poured itself out lavishly in song and story almost creating, as it did, a new literary epoch by its fruitful contributions of great diversity and charm.

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The movement, thus, permanently enshrined itself in the abundant and versatile literature it produced. In its earlier stages, with which we are directly concerned here, this literature expressed itself chiefly in Sanskrit, and took various forms. The only Bengali Caitanyaite productions of this period comprise a number of Bengali songs and lyrics (Padas) and the biographical and narrative works, of which we have already given a brief account¹. There can be no doubt that they constitute one of the most important and influential aspects of its literary energy : for both lyric and biography are distinctly new literary *genres*, which Caitanyaism created for the first time in Middle Bengali, and through which its passionate appeal spread widely and rapidly. But even allowing that the best mediaeval Bengali biographical records belong to this period, the really creative epoch of the resplendent Bengali song and lyric, inspired by Caitanyaism, comes a little later¹. At the same time, the purely literary efforts of Caitanyaism in Sanskrit are by no means negligible. While its attempts in biography and narrative are represented in Sanskrit by the works of Murāri-gupta and Paramānanda Kavikarṇapūra, the richer emotional and poetical sensibilities of this movement, which exalted emotion over reason and fancy over fact, are expressed in a series of mystically, but gorgeously, impassioned stories, poems, dramas, Campūs, lyrics, hymns, songs, and panegyrics composed by Kavikarṇapūra, Rāmānanda-rāya, Raghunātha-dāsa, Rūpa, Jīva, Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja and others, as well as by a host of minor poets, whose devotional verses are collected together in Rūpa's anthological survey of the Padyāvalī. It would seem, therefore, that the religious revival must have supplied an emotional inflatus which produced wonderful results in Bengali poetry for more than a century, but it also led to a fervent expression of devout feelings even through the more difficult, but perhaps more rich, medium of Sanskrit.

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¹ See above ch. ii.

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¹ We have therefore, omitted consideration of them in this chapter.

2. Biographical Works

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We have already given² a brief description of the early Sanskrit biographical works of Murāri-gupta and Paramānanda Kavikarṇapūra, which became the precursors of the voluminous and exuberant Bengali biographical narratives, and indicated their value as historical documents. Apart from the fact that they are all written from the excessively zealous devotional point of view, the credulity of which is amazing, it is well known that factual or even ideal accuracy was never a *sine qua non* of this type of composition in Sanskrit³. There never prevailed any tradition of meticulous chronicling or critical appreciation and interpretation of historical facts as such. These writings undoubtedly contain historical material, but the extent and value of such material are immensely variable. Meant more for literary edification than for sober knowledge, they could never divest themselves of their legendary and poetic associations; and this is seen in their complacent confusing of fact and fiction, in their general indifference to the realities of characterisation, in their intermingling of divine and human action, in their unhesitating belief in magic and miracle and in their deep faith in incalculable human destiny. Apart from an attractive philosophy or artistic setting, ordinary history or biography is, indeed, a rather prosaic idea. As a matter of research, it aims at knowledge of facts; as an idea, it professes to bring out larger principles governing human affairs; as a method, its leaning is towards objective accuracy. It is, thus, entirely out of harmony with the super-individual spirit of Sanskrit literature, and could not be disciplined by its formal conception of art. The writers, therefore, never felt uneasy; because the tradition never ordained any deep or objective interest in mere fact or incident, but it even authorised unrestrained fancy or overdressed fiction. Both theory and practice established that works, which dealt with facts of experience or had a biographical and historical content, did not require any specialised form or method, but should be considered only as types of the Kāvya and be embellished with all its characteristic graces, refinements and elaborate elegancies. The fact of having an historical or biographical theme seldom makes a difference; they are Kāvyas, poems or dramas in all essentials, and should be regarded as such. The authors, therefore, claim merit, not for historiography, but for poetry. As poets, they need not keep within the limits of ascertained or ascertainable verities, nor need they worry if the slender thread of actual history is buried under a mass of luxuriant poetry or poetical exaggeration. The incidents and characters are all lifted from the sphere of matter-of-fact knowledge to the region of fancy and fable; and we have here, in the normal tradition of the Kāvya, the same general scheme and method, the same descriptive digressions and the same ornate manner and diction. Even if an historical personage is taken as the central figure, the laudatory accounts poetically magnify and surround him with all the glory and glamour of a legendary hero.

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² See above pp. 35-45.

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³ See S. K. De, *History of Sanskrit Literature*, ch. vi. under Poems with Historical Themes, p. 345 ff.

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This attitude becomes naturally more prominent when the point of view is devotional and the hero is a saint or is regarded as the very incarnation of the divine being. All the resources of the poetic art and imagination strive to glorify the picture : the historical narrative becomes only the occasion, the elaborate fancy woven around it becomes alone essential. The limitations are natural and obvious, but they do not permit the poets much freedom to exercise their gift for historical narrative, which most of them undoubtedly possess, nor attain impartiality and precision with regard to incident or characterisation. The authors content themselves with the application of the traditional form and method of the Kāvya to an historical subject, in order to evolve an embellished poetical picture, rather than compile a faithful record of facts and incidents. The works produced under these conditions consequently become kinds of heightened fairy tale with just enough background of reality, and probably as such constitute gratifying homage or compliment.

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The Sanskrit biographies of Caitanya share most of these general characteristics of Sanskrit biographical or historical literature ; but since they record contemporary impressions felt, witnessed or believed with intense faith, they represent, to a greater extent, a proper step towards biographical writing. The picture is, no doubt, much exaggerated and obscured by credulous legends, and luxuriously poetical descriptions are freely inserted ; but the general outline is clear and vivid. The life which they deal with is rich in inward religious passion rather than in external acts and incidents, but it affords opportunities of really impassioned and poetical treatment. With great zest, therefore, they concentrate upon the inward life of Caitanya and elaborately describe its passionate expression in devotional ecstasies, trances, visions and frenzies.

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The *Caitanya-caritāmṛta*¹ of Murāri-gupta, the earliest known systematic biographical work, is offered as an extensive Kāvya of four Prakramas, seventy-eight cantos and, according to its own computation (iv. 26. 21), nineteen hundred and twenty-seven stanzas; but its length is hardly commensurate with its literary merit or with the slenderness of its theme. The first Prakrama of sixteen cantos ends with Viśvambhara's journey to Gayā, and describes the occasion of the work, the necessity of Caitanya's descent along with his disciples; his birth, his parents (his father is described as belonging to the Vātsya-gotra); his elder brother Viśvarūpa who crossed the river and left home for Saṃnyāsa at the age of sixteen; his childhood, boyhood and youth; his studies; death of his father; his marriage to Lakṣmī (i. 9, 10); his journey to East Bengal; death of Lakṣmī; Śacī's lament in one whole canto (i. 12), couched in the Viyoginī metre in the approved Kāvya manner; his second marriage to Viṣṇupriyā (i. 13, 14); his journey to Gayā and meeting with Īśvara Purī (i. 15, 16). The second Prakrama of eighteen cantos continues the story up to Caitanya's Saṃnyāsa. The incidents narrated are not many, for the greater part of this section is taken up with the description of Caitanya's Bhāva or devotional passion and ecstatic acts consequent upon it after his return from Gayā. It describes his Varāha-Āveśa (ii. 2) and Balabhadra-Āveśa (ii. 14), his Mahāprakāśa and Mahābhiṣeka (Great Manifestation and Consecration) as the supreme deity at the house of Śrīvāsa (ii. 12), his passionate realisation of the sports of Kṛṣṇa and Rādhā, and his continuous rapture of dancing, singing and Kīrtana. He listens to Murāri's *Rāmāṣṭaka*, a panegyric of Rāma in eight stanzas (ii. 7. 10-18), but admonishes Murāri's leaning towards Advaita Vedānta, learnt from Advaita Ācārya, and makes him a devotee of Kṛṣṇa by deprecating the worship of all other deities. In Caitanya's first meeting with Nityānanda (ii. 8). who was at that time residing at the house of Nandana Ācārya at Navadvīpa, the theophanic forms of Caitanya as the six-armed, four-armed and two-armed Kṛṣṇa are successively revealed. A curious explanation is given of Caitanya's motive for Saṃnyāsa by the story of a curse pronounced by a Brahman (ii. 13. 18-22), who was refused admisssion into Caitanya's presence by the stupid door-keepers; but we are also told later on that Caitanya was inspired by a dream to take to Saṃnyāsa (ii. 18. 1-2). Keśava Bhāratī, who visits Navadvīpa, eulogises Caitanya as Śuka, Prahlāda and even as the Bhagavat himself (ii. 18. 12), the Saṃnyāsa occurring immediately afterwards at Kaṇṭaka-grāma (Katwa).

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¹ See above, p. 35f. The bibliographical references to editions of the works, surveyed in this chapter, will be found in their proper places in ch. ii and iii above.

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The third Prakrama, also of eighteen cantos, covers all incidents up to the end of Caitanya's return to Bengal on his way to Vṛndāvana. The first two cantos continue the story of Saṃnyāsa and the next two cantos his return to Advaita's house at Santipur, where after taking farewell from his mother and assembled admirers from Navadvīpa he declares his intention to proceed directly to Puri (iii. 4. 25). His mystic emotions after his return from Gayā are described (ii. 1. 19-28) vividly by Murāri at some length:

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kvacic chrutvā harer nāma gītam vā vihvalaḥ kṣitau/
patati śruti-mātreṇa daṇḍavat kampate kvacit/
kvacid gāyati govinda kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇeti sādaram/
sanna-kaṇṭhaḥ kvacit kampa-romāñcita-tanur bhṛśam/

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Similar description of his emotions is repeated after his Saṃnyāsa (iii 3. 16):

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hasati skhalati kvāpi kampate gāyati kvacit/
roditi vrajati kvāpi patati svapiti kṣitau//

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Such emotional state becomes from this period a constant feature of his daily life of devotion at Puri, as well as during his pilgrimages; and several cantos are devoted in this and the succeeding section to similar descriptions in a more detailed form. Caitanya's journey through Yajpur and Bhuvanesvar and arrival at Puri are then described in six cantos (iii. 5-10). At Puri he goes straight to Sārvabhauma's house; and accompanied by Sārvabhauma's younger brother, he visits the temple of Jagannātha where, his emotions overcoming him, he falls senseless and is carried back and revived. At Sārvabhauma's place the old scholar wants to teach Vedānta to the young ascetic, but Caitanya is described (iii. 12. 12-13) as expounding the true meaning of the Vedānta. No elaborate Śāstric disputation is mentioned, but Caitanya's exposition struck the great Vedāntist with so much wonder that he at once recognises Caitanya as the Bhagavat, falls at his feet, and recites two stanzas (iii. 12. 17-18), which are traditionally ascribed to Sārvabhauma¹ and which are incorporated by Murāri into his own text. The next four cantos (iii. 13-16) describe Caitanya's journey to the South up to Setubandha, his meeting with Rāmānanda Rāya, Trimalla Bhaṭṭa and his young boy Gopāla Bhaṭṭa, and others, and return to Puri. The remaining two cantos deal with Caitanya's return to Bengal on his intended but frustrated journey to Vṛndāvana (in which connexion we are told that his object was lupta-tīrthasya prākaṭyam), his meeting with Sanātana and Rūpa at Ramakeli and return to Puri. The chief features of the last Prakrama of twenty-six cantos consist of elaborate description in eleven cantos (iv. 2-12) of the various places at Vṛndāvana and Mathurā, which Caitanya visits and which recall scenes of Kṛṣṇa's sports and awaken extraordinary emotions in Caitanya, as well as of his last years of devotional acts and emotions spent at Puri. In the course of his northern pilgrimage are described his meeting with Tapana Miśra and his son Raghunātha Bhaṭṭa at Benares (iv. 1. 15-17), with Rūpa at Prayāga and Sanātana at Benares (iv. 13. 6-20),¹ with his mother (iv. 14. 4) on his way back to Bengal, with his wife Viṣṇupriyā (iv. 14. 8) who makes an image of Caitanya for worshipping,² and, lastly, the homage of Gajapati Pratāparudra on Caitanya's return to Puri. The last two cantos give, after the manner of Purāṇic works, a list or Anukramaṇikā of the topics dealt with and the total number of Prakramas, Sargas and Ślokas.

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¹ Said to be included in Sārvabhauma's Caitanyāṣṭaka. See S. K. De in Indian Culture, i. pp. 23-24 and above p. 424, footnote.

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¹ But no instruction in the Śāstras is mentioned in this connexion.

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² This is perhaps the first image made of Caitanya for worship. See above p. 438, footnote.

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Although offered as Kāvya, there are many features which indicate that in its narration Murāri's work follows the method and manner of the Purāṇas. We are told at the outset that the work was undertaken at the direction of Śrīvāsa (i. 1. 9), but the general framework (which is not consistently kept up, but resumed at various points in the course of the narrative) consists of the device of a narrator (Murāri) and a listener (Dāmodara Paṇḍita) common enough in the Purāṇas. The Śloka metre predominates being used, for running narrative, exclusively in as many as thirty-seven cantos (i. 2. 4, 6. 9. 11. 13, 14 : ii. 1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 11-13, 17, 18; iii. 3. 7, 9. 13. 14. 18; iv. 3, 4, 8. 9. 11, 13, 17-19, 22-26) and partially in twenty-six cantos (i. 1, 3. 5, 7. 8; ii. 3, 4, 7; iii. 4-6, 11, 15, 17; iv. 1, 2, 5-7. 10, 12, 14-16, 20, 21). The other metres used in the remaining fifteen cantos, for the purpose of narration or description, are generally metres of eleven or twelve syllables of the Triṣṭubh-Jagati family, such as Sundari or Viyogini, Vamśathavila, Indravajrā, Upendravajrā or Upajāti, and Rathoddhatā. It is only sporadically that the fourteen-syllabled Vasantatilaka is employed, while longer metres like Sragdharā are found five times (i. 1. 9, 19, 20; ii. 7. 4; iv. 21. 5), Drutavilambita occurs only twice (ii. 7. 1-6; ii. 18. 33), and Śikhariṇī (i. 1. 25), Pṛthvī (iv. 10, 21-22) and Mandākrānta (iv. 10, 23, but the first Pāda is Śārdūlavikrīḍita!) are used only once each. No opportunity is missed for introducing the usual descriptive Kāvya-topics in the approved embellished manner, diction and metre (e. g. Lakṣmī's marriage in Vamśasthavila and Upajāti, i. 10; Śacī's lament on Lakṣmī's death in Viyoginī, i. 12; men and women thronging to have a sight of the young ascetic at Kaṇṭakapuri (Katwa) in Upajāti, iii. 1, etc.); but the work is ostensibly modelled on the Vaiṣṇava Purāṇas, and its poetic pretensions are hardly of a high order. Nevertheless, Murāri possesses considerable narrative skill and metrical facility, and his simple descriptions are often vivid and picturesque. His manner is very often direct and forcible, and wisely avoids the rhetorical elaboration of the later Kāvya.

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Although professing to draw its inspiration and material from Murāri's work¹, the *Caitanya-caritāmṛta*² of Paramānanda-sena Kavikarṇapūra is an elaborate and ambitious work, which conforms more deliberately to the full-fledged mode and diction of the Kāvya. It consists of twenty cantos, and (according to the computation of its editor) of nineteen hundred and eleven stanzas, being thus of nearly the same extent as Murāri's work. After a preliminary homage to Caitanya and description of the sorrow of his disciples at his passing away in the first canto, the poem proceeds in the second canto to describe Navadvīpa and incidentally Advaita and Śrīvāsa. The rest of the canto is occupied with Caitanya's parents, loss of their eight daughters, Viśvarūpa and birth of Viśvambhara, Viśvambhara's infancy and manifestation of divinity which filled his parents with wonder. Viśvarūpa's Saṃnyāsa and death of Jagannātha Miśra. The third canto is taken up with Viśvambhara's going to school to Viṣṇu Paṇḍita, Sudarśana³ and the grammarian Gaṅgādāsa, his marriage to Lakṣmī (iii. 6-81), journey to East Bengal and teaching pupils there, Lakṣmī's death, and his second marriage to Viṣṇupriyā (iii. 127-144). In the fourth canto, we have the story of Viśvambhara's visit to Gayā, his Mantra-dīkṣā by Īśvara Purī, his return, his manifestation of divine Āveśa, and Kīrtana from the beginning of the month of Māgha.

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The four cantos from the fifth to the eighth continue the description of Viśvambhara's ecstatic devotional acts and fits of singing and dancing for eight months from Jyaiṣṭha to Pauṣa; his Varāha-Āveśa at the house of Murāri (v. 16-21) and his own Abhiṣeka suggested by himself (vi 40-52); his meeting with Nityānanda (vi. 108-123), who is described as an Avadhūta and declared to be an incarnation of Balarāma (vii. 24), and to whom Caitanya reveals the theophanic Ṣaḍ-bhuja, Dvi-bhuja (vi. 122) and also Catur-bhuja (vii, 18) forms¹: his Nṛsiṃha-Āveśa (vii. 80-85) and parading the street as such; and lastly, his Balarāma-Āveśa (viii. 19-28). His Kṛṣṇa-bhāva now begins: it is strengthened by Śrīvāsa's elaborate description of Kṛṣṇa's Vṛndāvana-līlā in the next two cantos (ix-x), which gives the author an opportunity of indulging in a highly emotional poetical excursion. In canto xi, the thread of the story is resumed by the description of Caitanya's Saṃnyāsa at Katwa, his return to Advaita's house at Santipur, his resolve to leave for Puri (there is no allusion to his mother's request to that effect), his journey and the breaking of his staff on the way by Nityānanda. In canto xii, Caitanya reaches Sārvabhauma's house and explains Vedānta by refuting Advaita-vāda and establishing his own views about Bhakti (xii. 22-27)², in the course of which exposition he quotes and explains two verses from the *Bhāgavata*, each in nine different ways (xii.

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81), and ultimately reveals his theophanic Caturbhuja form to Sārvabhauma. Sārvabhauma's two eulogistic verses on Caitanya¹ are quoted (xii. 86. 87), but Caitanya is said have torn to pieces the paper on which they were written (so also in Karṇapūra's drama, vi. 43-44). His Southern pilgrimage now begins. He is requested by Sārvabhauma to see Rāmānanda Rāya on his way, but on his outward journey Caitanya avoids meeting Rāmānanda. The *Vilāpa-mālā* of a Brahman, named Kūrma at whose house at Kūrmakṣetra Caitanya stayed for a few days on his way, is mentioned and quoted (xii. 113, 114). In canto xiii, the narrative of South Indian pilgrimage is continued. At Srirangam Caitanya stays and performs Cāturmāsyā at the house of Trimalla Bhaṭṭa (xiii. 4, 5), but there is no mention of Gopāla Bhaṭṭa. Caitanya's only companion Kṛṣṇadāsa is lured away by unbelievers (xiii. 23), but Caitanya later on repudiates him (xiii. 54). On his way back Caitanya meets Rāmānanda (xiii. 34f) and stays with him for four months (xiii. 60). During Rāmānanda's exposition of Bhakti, Caitanya exclaims: *bāhyātibāhyam bata bāhyam etat*, until Rāmānanda comes to the essence of Bhakti. Rāmānanda's Sanskrit verse *nānopacāra-kṛta-pūjanam* (cited in the *Padyāvali* no. 13) and his Brajabuli song *pahilahi rāga* (cited in *Pada-kalpataru* no. 576) are quoted in full². After Caitanya's return to Puri, his favour to Gajapati Pratāparudra and meeting with various

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¹ *a-tallavam prabhu-caritra-vilāsa-vijñaiḥ* *kaścin murārir iti maṅgala-nāmadheyaḥ/* *yad yad vilāsa-lalitam samalekhi taj-jñais* *tad tad vilokya villlekha śiśuḥ sa eṣaḥ//* (xx. 42).

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² See above, p. 43.

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³ But the text says: *viṣṇu-nāmnaḥ sudarśanāt* (iii. 2), although they are different persons.

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¹ Caitanya is made to declare: *tad dvaibhujam varam iti prati-kirtaya tvam* (vi. 38), while in Kavikarṇapūra's drama, Caitanya declares: *aicchikam bhagavatas caturbhujatvam, svābhāvikam hi dvibhujatvam eva*, and quotes the verse: *narākṛti param brahma* (Act i). The Nāma-māhātmya is said to be not mere Arthavāda (vi. 50). The Rāmāṣṭaka of Murāri is referred to in vi. 100.

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² *advaita-vādam vinirasya bhakti-saṃsthāpakam svīya-matam jagāda* | |

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¹ These verses are said to belong to Sārvabhauma's *Caitanyāṣṭaka*; see above pp. 562, and 86-87 footnote.

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² See above, pp. 92, 93 footnote.

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1 *vairāgya-vidyā-nija-bhakti-yoga-śiksārtham ekaḥ puruṣaḥ*
*purāṇaḥ / śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya-śarīradhārī kṛpāmbudhir yas tam ahaṃ*
*prapadye //.*
*kālān naṣṭam bhakti-yogam nijaṃ yaḥ prāduṣkartum kṛṣṇa-*
*caitanya-nāma / āvirbhūtas tasya pādāravinde gāḍham gāḍham līyatām citta-*
*bhṛṅgaḥ //.*
These verses are said to belong to Sārvabhauma's *Caitanyāṣṭaka*; see above pp. 562, and 86-87 footnote.

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Bhaktas, including Paramānanda Purī (a disciple of Mādhavendra Purī, who is mentioned as *viṣṇu-bhakti-rasa eva śarīrī*, xiii. 111) are described in the same way as in Karṇapūra's own drama.

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The remaining seven cantos, which deal with Caitanya's devotional life and ecstasies at Purī (xiv to xviii) and his visit to Vṛndāvana and return (xix-xx), possess little narrative interest, but are rich in impassioned poetical descriptions. We have vivid pictures of Snāna, Dola and Ratha festivals of Jagannātha, in which Caitanya and his followers took prominent part by their frenzied singing and dancing, as well as of Caitanya's cleaning and sweeping of the Guṇḍicā house and other devotional acts. We are told that Caitanya met the three brothers, Sanātana, Rūpa and Anupama (who are described as *rasa-sāra-sindhava iva*) at Purī (xvii. 7-24). For twenty years, on the annual visit of his followers, Caitanya is said to have danced, with Kīrtana, in front of the Car of Balarāma (xviii. 61):

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*iti vimśati-hāyanaiḥ prabhur| baladevasya rathāgrato muhuḥ|*
*naṭanāni vidhāya kīrtanair| idam etad vyakiraj jagat-tale||*.

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It is curious that the description of Caitanya's visit to Vṛndāvana in canto xix is utilised as an opportunity of displaying the author's skill in various kinds of verbal tricks of the so-called Citra-kāvya, which is a characteristic of Sanskrit poems since Bhāravi's time. He employs, for instance, Ekākṣara (employment of one letter, *n* in xix. 37), Dyakṣara (i.e. employment of two letters *v* and *bh* in xix. 17, *l* and *n* in xix. 41), Asaṃdhyakṣara (employing no diphthongs, in xix. 89), Nirauṣṭhya (no labials, in xix. 55), as well as Gomutrikā-bandha (xix. 21), Muraja-bandha (xix. 29), Pratilomānuloma (xix. 45, 53), Ślokāvṛtti (repetition of the same verse twice with different meanings, xix. 49-50), Padāvṛtti (two halves of the stanza having the same succession of letters, xix. 33), various kinds of Yamaka (Antya-yamaka also in xv. 109), Anuprāsa and other verbal figures.

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It will be seen at once from this brief summary of the contents of the poem that while ten cantos are devoted to the depiction of Caitanya's life before Saṃnyāsa, the remainder of his life takes up an equal number of cantos. The treatment of the two parts of the theme, therefore, is not disproportionate. Apart from the paucity of incidents which is inevitable in a life of pure religious rapture, the narrative interest is not entirely sacrificed to luxurious poetic descriptions; but Karṇapūra, in accordance with the established convention of the Kāvya, cannot resist the temptation of introducing long descriptive cantos; as, for instance, Śrīvāsa's description of Vṛndāvana-līlā in two cantos and the topic of Guṇḍicā-mārjana or of Caitanya's ecstacies, dancing and Kīrtana at various festivals at Puri in several cantos. These would seem to take up disproportionate space, but they are essential in any account of Caitanya's life of religious Bhāva, and they are not badly or prosaically depicted. For a boy in his teens, who calls himself a Śiśu, the work is indeed a notable literary achievement; but its immaturity is obvious, and cannot assign to it high poetic merit. Kavikarṇapūra possesses indeed a sufficient command of conventional poetic vocabulary, enough rhetorical and verbal skill and considerable metrical facility, and one must admit that his practice, comparatively speaking, is not altogether devoid of moderation: but of higher flights or rarer touches of poetry there is not much in his elaborate production. On the other hand, he succumbs very often, in his youthful enthusiasm, to the temptation of rhetorical display in general and of committing the verbal atrocities of Citra-bandha in particular, while his conscious employment of varied metres¹ is an aspect of the prevailing tendency of his time towards laboured artificiality. Nevertheless, the poem, in spite of its length and not inexcusable enthusiasm, is simple enough to be readable; the diction is conventional, but not heavily ornamented; and there is not much intrusion of theological or doctrinal matter to hamper its fairly smooth and pleasant progress.

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¹ With the exception of cantos xiii, xvi, xvii, which are deliberately meant to illustrate the poet's skill in a large variety of metres, each of the remaining cantos employ only one metre, although at the close of the canto the poet follows the usual convention of a break and change into other metres. The metres in each canto are analysed

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below (with the serial numbering of verses in figures), and the metre of the concluding verses are given in enclosing brackets (with number in figures): Canto I Mandākrāntā 1-24 (Śikhariṇī 5). II Vamśasthavila 1-119 (Viyoginī or Sundarī 3). III Indravajrā, Upendravajrā and Upajāti 1-142 (Praharṣiṇī 2). IV Drutavilambita 1-75 (Śikhariṇī 1, Vamśasthavila 1). V Paharṣiṇī 1-125 (Śikhariṇī 1, Śārdūlavikrīḍita 1, Drutavilambita 2). VI Vasantatilaka 1-121 (Śikharaṇī 2). VII Pramitākṣarā 1-97 (Śārdūlavikrīḍita 1, Upajāti 1, Praharṣiṇī 1, Vasantatilaka 1, Upajāti 1, Śālinī 4 and Sragdharā 1). VIII Śloka 1-60 (Śikhariṇī 1, Vasantatilaka 2). IX Svāgatā 1-93 (Praharṣiṇī 1, Mandākrāntā 1). X Svāgatā 1-73 (Mālini 7), XI Śikhariṇī 1-86 (Mandākrāntā 3). XII Upajāti 1-132, (Mālini 2). XIII Variety of metres: Upajāti no. 1-41, Vasantatilaka no. 42, Upajāti nos. 43-63, Svāgatā nos. 64-77, Rathoddhatā nos, 78-81, Svāgatā and Rathoddhatā nos. 82-114, Viyoginī or Sundarī nos. 115-125, Upajāti nos. 126-127, Viyoginī nos. 128-134, Upajāti no. 135-137, Viyoginī no. 138-144, Śārdūlavikrīḍita no. 145, Vasantatilaka no 146, Upajāti no. 147 and Śārdūlavikrīḍita no. 148: XIV Śloka 1-129 (Śārdūlavikrīḍita 3, Upajāti 1 and Śārdūlavikrīḍita 2). XV Puṣpitāgrā 1-104 (Sragdharā 1, Śārdūlavikrīḍita 2, Pṛthvī 1 Hariṇī 1, Mālini 1). XVI Variety of metres: Mālini nos. 1-3, Mandākrāntā no. 4, Mālini no. 5, Vasantatilaka nos. 6-8, Śārdūlavikrīḍita nos. 9-11, Sragdharā nos. 12-16, Pṛthvī nos. 17-18, Hariṇī nos. 19-21, Śārdūlavikrīḍita nos. 22-23, Sragdharā no. 24, Praharṣiṇī no. 25, Śārdūlavikrīḍita nos. 26-27, Sragdharā nos. 28-30, Pṛthvī no. 31, Śārdūlavikrīḍita no. 32, Vasantatilaka nos. 33-36, Bhujangaprayāta no. 37-47, Mandākrāntā no. 48, Śārdūlavikrīḍita no. 49. XVII Variety of metres: Mañjubhāṣiṇī nos. 1-14, Śloka no. 15, Mañjubhāṣiṇī nos. 16-24, Mandākinī or Prabhā nos. 25-29, Candravartman nos. 30-42, Mattamayūra nos. 43-44, Kalahaṃsa no. 45, Bhramaravilasita no. 46, Dodhaka no. 47, Śālinī nos. 48-49, Upajāti no. 50, Rathoddhatā no. 51-52, Vasantatilaka no. 53, Saśikalā no. 54, Unidentified metre no. 55, Lilākhela no. 56, Lolā no. 57-62, Śārdūlavikrīḍita nos. 63-66. XVIII Viyoginī or Sundarī 1-62 (Śārdūlavikrīḍita 1). XIX Śloka 1-99 (Mandākrāntā 1). XX Śālinī 1-36 (Śārdūlavikrīḍita 1, Mandākrāntā 2, Śikhariṇī 1, Śālinī 1, Vasantatilaka 4, Mālini 1, Śārdūlavikrīḍita 1, Mandākrāntā 1, Vasantatilaka 1).

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With regard to Kavikarṇapūra's much better known and much better composed drama in ten acts, entitled *Caitanya-candrodaya*,¹ one need not be wholly apologetic. It is a regular dramatised account of the chief incidents of Caitanya's life which are set forth more elaborately in his poem, the first five acts (like the first eleven cantos of the poem) bringing the story down to Caitanya's Saṃnyāsa and departure for Puri, and the last five acts dealing with the latter part of Caitanya's life spent chiefly there. In the Prologue the Sūtradhāra informs us that the *Caitanya-candrodaya* was composed by Paramānanda-dāsa, son of Śivānanda-sena and pupil of Śrīnātha² and staged at the command of Gajapati Pratāparudra of Orissa at the Car festival (*guṇḍicā-yātrāyām*) of Jagannātha at Puri. In the first Act, Kali and Adharma appear and gloat over the triumph of unrighteousness in the world; but Kali speaks of the advent and activity of Caitanya which imperil their power. From their conversation we learn of his birth, his elder brother Viśvarūpa, his marriages to Lakṣmī and Viṣṇupriyā, his Dīkṣā by Īśvara Purī at Gayā, his chief associates at Navadvīpa and the festival of his grand consecration (*Mahābhiṣeka-mahotsava*), which is being celebrated. Viśvambhara enters with Advaita, Śrīvāsu, Śacī and others, and a theological discourse ensues on Bhakti-rasa and the superiority of the humanised Dvi-bhuja form of Kṛṣṇa³. All those who are present, including Śacī, recognise the divinity of Caitanya, which he himself graciously relishes and acknowledges; and, addressing Advaita, he speaks of his descent from Goloka by the force of Advaita's prayer and appeal (*golokād avatārito'smi bhavatā*). The Act is appropriately entitled Svānandāveśa. In the second Act, which is called Sarvāvatāra-darśana, we have a long conversation between Virāga and Bhakti, in which Virāga laments over the desperate condition of the country infested by Bauddhas, Tāntrikas, Māyāvādins, Jainas, Kāpālikas and Pāsupatas, as well as by the followers of Kanāda, Kapila, Patañjali and Jaimini: but personified Bhakti, who has recently descended at Navadvīpa, enters and brings the good tidings of the advent of Caitanya as the Bhaktāvatāra (*bhaavadā avadāro kido bhatta-vesena*)¹. This is followed by a description by Bhakti of Caitanya's ecstatic emotions, his Saṃkaraṣaṇa-Āveśa at Murāri's courtyard, Dvi-bhuja, Ṣaḍ-bhuja and Catur-bhuja appearance to Nityānanda, and other acts of devotion and miracle. Caitanya himself, who now enters with Advaita and other followers, gracefully deprecates all this, and modestly describes his own condition as Unmāda-daśā, but Śrīvāsa replies that madness of other people is a disease, while Caitanya's madness, for the listener and spectator, eradicates all disease (*anyonmādas tu vyādhir eva, ayaṃ tu tavonmādo draṣṭr-śroṛṇām api vyādhi-nirmūlakaḥ*)!

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¹ See above, p. 44-45.

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² The name of the poet's Guru occurs also in his *Ānanda-vṛndāvana Campū*, as well as in the *Gaura-gaṇoddeśa* ascribed to him.

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³ There is an incidental reference to Murāri's belief in Advaita-vāda and Yoga-vāsiṣṭha, which Caitanya is made to deprecate. Cf. Murāri ii. 4. 22 f.

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¹ In Act iii. Prema-bhakti says: *ayam kreṇa evāvatīrṇaḥ*.

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The third Act, entitled Dāna-vinoda from the theme of the inset play, is characterised by the interesting device of a play within a play (Garbhāṅka). Maitrī and Prema-bhakti enter and indicate that a short play² is going to be enacted, at the suggestion of Nārada, on the Dāna-lilā (iii. 23) of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, in which Haridāsa will act as Sūtradhāra, Mukunda as Pāripārśvaka, Śrīvāsa as Nārada, Nityānanda in feminine rôle as Yogamāyā, and so forth. With some variation the theme is the same as the *Dāna-keli-kaumudī*³ and *Dāna-keli-cintāmaṇi* of Rūpa and Raghunātha-dāsa respectively. Rādhā, with her companions and an old woman, comes to pluck flowers to worship Gopīśvara Śiva, but Kṛṣṇa and his companions demand a price for the flowers plucked from their forest. A playful dispute, with erotic repartee, ensues; but as Kṛṣṇa boldly goes up to exact his dues forcibly from Rādhā, the play abruptly ends¹ by the old woman, who is none other than Yogamāyā, concealing Rādhā and revealing herself, to the surprise of all, bodily as Nityānanda himself! In Kavikarṇapūra's Kāvya, we have a long description, extending over nearly two cantos, of the Vṛndāvana-līlā of Kṛṣṇa, given by Śrīvāsa; the present brief episode in the drama is apparently meant to be a counterpart suggested also by Śrīvāsa, who takes up the rôle of Nārada. The fourth Act is named Saṃnyāsa-parigraha. We learn from the sorrowing devotees that Viśvambhara has gone to Keśava Bhāratī at Katwa (kāṭoyā-nāmānaṃ grāmam āsādya keśava-bhāratīm upasedivān) for being initiated into Saṃnyāsa, an account of which is given by Candraśekhara Ācāryaratna, who returns from the journey and invites them all to Advaita's house at Santipur, where Caitanya has gone with Nityānanda. The next Act, called Advaitapura-vilāsa, describes how Caitanya wanted to go straight to Vṛndāvana but was directed by Nityānanda to Advaita's house at Santipur, where Caitanya meets his followers, stays for three days and takes a pathetic farewell from his mother.

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² It is described as a Bhāṇa or Vyāyoga, but techically it is not so. Possibly Rūpa's work on a similar theme, which is a Bhāṇikā, suggested the description that it was a Bhāṇa!

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³ The expression Dāna-kaumudī is used in iii. 20 (prose); probably Kavikarṇapūra knew this work of Rūpa.

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¹ The contrivance of a play within a play is not new, having been already employed by Bhavabhūti, Harṣa and Rājaśekhara. The sudden interruption, as in Hamlet, is a part of the device, and is represented as being brought on by its vivid realism.

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The sixth Act (Sārvabhaumānugraha) begins with a narration, by Ratnākara (the ocean) and his spouse, the river Gaṅgā, of Caitanya's journey to Puri,² and proceeds with the theme of Caitanya's meeting with the Vedāntist Sārvabhauma, who recognises his divinity and accepts his views about Bhakti and worship of Kṛṣṇa. In the seventh Act (called Tīrthāṭana), Caitanya is represented as having already set out on his South Indian pilgrimage. He meets Rāmānanda, and the entire Bhakti-catechism, of which Rāmānanda gives an exposition in the course of their conversation, is given thus in two dialogue verses (vii. 8. 10):

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² We are told that the journey, on account of war between king Gajapati of Orissa and the Muslim ruler of Gauda was not safe (idānīm gaudādhipater yavana-bhūpālasya gajapatinā saha virodhe gamanā-gamanam eva na vartate).

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kā vidyā hari-bhaktir eva, na punar vedādi-niṣṇātatā.
kirtiḥ kā bhagavat-paro'yam iti yā, khyātir na dānādijā|
kā śrīs tat-priyatā, na vā dhana-jana-grāmādi-bhūyiṣṭhatā.
kim duḥkham bhagavat-priyasya viraho, no hṛd-vraṇādi-vyathā||
kim geyam vraja keli-karma, kim iha śreyaḥ satām saṃgatiḥ.
kim smartavyam aghāri-nāma, kim anudhyem murāreḥ padam|
kva stheyam vraja eva, kim śravaṇayor ānandi vṛndāvana-krīḍaikā, kim upāsyam atra mahasi śrī-kṛṣṇa-rādhābhidhe||¹

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¹ These verses are quoted in Karṇapūra's own rhetorical work, *Alaṃkāra-kaustubha*.

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Caitanya on his return, in the eighth Act, recounts in a few words his impression of devotion in Southern India by saying that the few Vaiṣṇavas that he found were devotees of Nārāyaṇa; the rest were Tattva-vādins, whose views were not above reproach; but there were also Śaivas and a large number of very powerful Pāṣaṇḍas (atheists); the only views he liked those of Rāmānanda.² Caitanya meets at Puri his friends and followers and some devotees; but the main theme of this Act (which is entitled Pratāparudrānugraha) is his grace towards Pratāparudra, who falls at his feet during the Ratha-yātrā festival. In the ninth Act (Mathurā-gamana), we hear of Caitanya's visit to Mathurā, first from a Kimnara couple and then from Gajapati and Sārvabhauma, to whom a messenger brings news. The poet takes care to inform us that Caitanya visited the house of the poet's own father Śivānanda on his way. At Prayāga Caitanya met Rūpa¹ and Anupama, while at Benares Sanātana came to him, but no instruction in the Śāstras is mentioned. At Benares, we are told that some of the great Saṃnyāsins did not, out of jealousy, see Caitanya or come to him.² The tenth and last Act, called Mahāmahotsava, describes Caitanya's devotional acts and ecstasies, in company with his followers, during his remaining years at Puri at the Snāna, Dola, Ratha and Guṇḍicā-mārjana ceremonies, which are depicted in greater detail in Kavikarṇapūra's Kāvya. There is one interesting passage in which Śivānanda is represented as bringing his own son, apparently the poet himself, before Caitanya (x. 7) and exclaiming in adoration in a Mandākrāntā stanza:

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² Elsewhere (vii, *ad* 2, p. 125) we learn from Sārvabhauma that Rāmānanda was a Sahaja Vaiṣṇava. If a reference is meant to the Sahaja or Sahajiyā cult, it is unfortunate that we possess little information regarding its prevalence before or during Caitanya's time. But it is probable that other, but similar, erotico-religious tendencies must have existed before the Śrīmad-bhāgavata emotionalism was firmly established by Caitanya; and poets like Jayadeva and Vidyāpati, with

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¹ Of Rūpa we are told in high terms: priya-svarūpe dayita-svarūpe/prema-svarūpe sahajābhirūpe/ nijānurūpe prabhur ekarūpe/taṭāna rūpe sva-vilāsa-rūpe//

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² matsaraḥ katipayair yati-mukhyair/ eva tatra na gataṃ na sa dṛṣṭaḥ, ix. 32.

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paśya paśya, ayam ayam
vidyud-dāma-dyutir atiśayotkaṇṭha-kaṇṭhī-ravendra-
krīḍā-gāmī kanaka-parigha-drāghimoddāma-bāhuḥ|
siṃha-grīvo nava-dinakara-dyota-vidyoti-vāsāḥ
śrī-gaurāṅgaḥ sphurati purato vandyatāṃ vandyatām
bhoḥ||

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whose works Rāmānanda was undoubtedly familiar, derive their inspiration from such traditions (see above pp. 9-12). It is noteworthy that the Post-Caitanya Sahajiyā sect of Bengal regards Jayadeva as its Ādi-guru and one of its nine Rasikas.

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It is said that a child as he was at that time, the poet himself was inspired to utter this verse, but there is no indication here of the legend of infant precociousness.¹

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¹ See above, p. 42.

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Although it calls itself a drama, it will be seen that the *Caitanya-candrodaya* merely presents the chief incidents and episodes of Caitanya’s religious life and experience in the dramatic form without an attempt to convert the whole into a real drama. There is incredibly little action, and not much convincing characterisation, in a work which presents itself as a drama; and most of the incidents are reported instead of being represented. The treatment does not indeed lack vividness and coherence, inasmuch as much of what is described was actually felt and was still within living memory; but its dramatic inadequacy is obvious. The work, no doubt, constitutes a departure in not selecting the time-worn legendary themes, but the theme it selects, being devoid of action, presents few dramatic possibilities. There were perhaps more possibilities on the poetic side, but it cannot be said that Kavikarṇapūra was more than a mediocre poet. In fairness it must be said that in everything he writes he is facile and never ungraceful; he possesses considerable literary skill and a decided ability to handle sonorous metres; but here the praise should end. Kavikarṇapūra writes for purely literary effect with a consciously affected, but conventional, diction, and is often indifferent to the realities of life or drama; while his religious ardour is not passionate enough nor his poetic fancy enchanting enough to invest his drama with a higher poetic naturalness. The religious sentiment is real, but the usual paraphernalia of theology makes its presentation often too stagey. Obviously composed in the interest of a sect, the dogmas and doctrines often intrude, and we have long theological discourses, for instance, between Caitanya and his followers in Act i and ii, between Prema-bhakti and Maitri in Act iii and Sārvabhauma’s elaborate exposition of dualistic Vedānta, fortified by the citation of sectarian texts, in Act vi. While these do not adequately bring out the deeper spiritual significance of Caitanya’s life, they are not a gain from the literary or dramatic point of view; they certainly interrupt and impede the smooth progress of the narrative. The device of a play within a play is an interesting feature, but the inset play is not presented as an integral part of the action, while its sudden interruption is not conceived as dramatically as it is, in a different situation, in Harṣa’s Priyadarśikā or Rājaśekhara’s Bāla rāmāyaṇa. Even if Kavikarṇapūra introduces allegorical and mythical characters, and names his drama after Kṛṣṇamiśra’s Prabodha-candrodaya, it would not be correct to regard it as an allegorical play; for the action does not hinge upon the allegorical element. The allegorical figures are rather doctrinal formulas than living entities, rather abstract ideas with neat labels than actual beings of flesh and blood. They do not affect the character of the drama, but they merely furnish the concrete historical figures with a surrounding of abstract personifications. The dramatic or poetical merit of Kavikarṇapūra’s work, therefore, need not be unduly magnified; and even if it is more mature and better composed than his Kāvya, it is not a real drama but a narrative in the dramatic form, giving us merely a string of insufficiently motivated incidents and episodes, which do not grow out of one another nor create any dramatic situation. Nevertheless, Kavikarṇapūra can write elegant verse and clear prose, and his presentation of the life of Caitanya is vivid and eminently readable. Notwithstanding its deficiencies, the Caitanya-candrodaya is by no means an insignificant work, but it is difficult to agree with the appreciation of Sylvain Lévi that it is an “original and powerful drama.”[1]

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¹ Foreword to Dinesh Chandra Sen’s Chaitanya and his Age (Calcutta University, 1922), p. xii.

3. Dramatic Writings

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The *Caitanya-candrodaya* of Kavikarṇapūra makes our transition easy to the dramatic writings of Rāmānanda Rāya and Rūpa, which, however, deal exclusively with Kṛṣṇa-līlā, and not with Caitanya-līlā, with legendary and not with historical themes. With the exception of Rāmānanda's small operatic sketch, the other works are elaborate compositions, meant deliberately to convey religious edification or to glorify sectarian theology. They do not fail entirely on the literary side but as specimens of dramatic writing they reveal little sense of what a drama really is.

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The *Jagannātha-vallabha*¹ of Rāmānanda begins with Namaskriyā to Kṛṣṇa but contains no reference to Caitanya or to the peculiar tenets of Caitanyaism. It is not known whether it was composed before or after Rāmānanda met Caitanya, and it is difficult to say if it really belongs to the body of works composed for the Caitanya sect. The play is not quoted in the *Padyāvalī*, but two quotations are given in the *Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi* of Rūpa, and Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja distinctly refers to it as the Nāṭaka-gīti of Rāmānanda Rāya, which Caitanya relished greatly, as he relished also the *Kṛṣṇa-karṇāmṛta* and the *Gita-govinda*, as a means of his ecstatic devotional emotions. The Prologue to the work calls it *Jagannātha-vallabha*, and describes it as a Saṃgīta-nāṭaka of Rāmānanda-rāya, son of Pṛthvīśvara Bhavānanda-rāya, composed and staged at the direction of Gajapati Pratāparudra, who is eulogised in one stanza (I. 10) as the conqueror of Sekandhara, of the Kalavarga chiefs and of the kings of Gurjara and Gauḍa.

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¹ See above, p. 92-93.

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The *Jagannātha-vallabha* deals, in five Acts, with an episode of Kṛṣṇa-līlā, in which are described the first love and union of Kṛṣṇa and Rādhā in the groves of Vṛndāvana. The theme is simple, and the Acts are short. The first Acts (Pūrva-rāga) depicts the first meeting of Kṛṣṇa, accompanied by his jester friend Ratikandala¹, and Rādhā entering with her companion Madanikā. They fall in love at first sight, and in Act II (Bhāva-parīkṣā) Rādhā's companion Śaśimukhī approaches Kṛṣṇa with a billet-doux (Anaṅga-lekha) from Rādhā, containing only one Prakrit verse on her lovelorn condition:

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¹ And not Madhumaṅgala of Rūpa's dramas and Jīva's Campū.

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suiraṃ vijjhasi hiaaṃ lambhai maaṇo kkhu dujjasam
baliaṃ/.
ḍisasi saala-disāsu tumaṃ disai maaṇo ṇa kuttāvi||

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But Kṛṣṇa, to test her love, playfully pretends to be shocked and indifferent to the solicitation, and rudely advises Śaśimukhī to dissuade Rādhā from such improper sentiment. In Act III we find Rādhā in Viraha, filled with love and longing; and when Śaśimukhī delivers her message Rādhā, distracted by feelings of love, shame, self-pity and despair, resolves to die. But another companion Mādhavī enters with a tablet for painting (Citra-phalaka), on which is inscribed a Sanskrit verse containing Kṛṣṇa's apology and declaration of love. The Act IV (Rādhābhisāra), in its turn, describes Kṛṣṇa in Viraha love-sick and penitent in the Bakula-bower, where Madanikā comes and, on his confession of love, goes to fetch Rādhā; and they unite in the bower during the night. Next morning, in Act V (Rādhā-saṃgama), Madanikā and Śaśimukhī approach the bower and talk among themselves of what they have seen of the sports of the young couple at night! Kṛṣṇa enters with the shame-faced Rādhā, but the advent of the bull-demon Ariṣṭa breaks up the party. Kṛṣṇa rushes forward, kills the demon with much bravado behind the scene and comes back in triumph. The Act ends with the reunion of the lovers.

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In the Prologue, the author claims that his play is entirely novel (abhinava-kṛti) and original (anya-cchāyayā no nibaddham), but it is clear that neither the theme nor its treatment displays much variety or originality. It is a pretty little amourette, modelled obviously on the Nāṭikā type of Sanskrit plays. But perhaps in these idyllic and romantic little plays, which aim at nothing more than picturing the pretty sentiment in a pretty environment, elegance was more expected than originality, and poverty of invention need hardly be regarded as a defect. The work employs the familiar motifs and devices common to such erotic playlet (the romantic commonplaces, for instance, of love at first sight, pangs and sentimental longings of separated lovers, love-letter, dream-vision, painting-tablet, minute portraiture of the personal beauty of the lovers, and their ultimate union effected by the effort of their companions), and makes use of conventional words and imageries to depict them. Here is, for instance, pure rhetoric in Kṛṣṇa's description of Rādhā's lovely face:

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*yad api na kamalaṃ niśākaro vā*
*bhavati mukha-pratimo mṛgekṣaṇāyāḥ|*
*racayati na tathāpi-jātu tābhyāṃ*
*upamitir anya-pade padaṃ yad asya||*

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Similarly conventional but elegant is the description of Rādhā's Viraha:

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*yadā nāsau doṣaṃ gaṇayati gurūṇāṃ ku-vacane*
*na vā toṣaṃ dhatte sarasa-vacane narma-suhṛdām|*
*viṣābhaṃ śrikhaṇḍaṃ kalayati vidhuṃ pāvaka-samaṃ*
*tad asyās tad-vṛttaṃ tvayi gaditaṃ atrāham agamam||*

c11.s3.12

Kṛṣṇa's Viraha and his lamentations are also in the same approved manner and style of the conventional hero of the sentimental type. But, at the same time, it cannot be said that the little play is not fluent and graceful. The situations are trite and stale, but they are not over-embellished; and in the emotional or descriptive comments, their poetical stanzas are neither tediously profuse nor inappropriate. Perhaps the play was meant as a musical and spectacular entertainment, its characteristic feature being the introduction of Padāvalis or songs, set to different tunes, after the manner of Jayadeva's *Gita-govinda*. It invests the play with a delightful operatic atmosphere, and justifies the description that it is essentially a small *Samgita-nataka*. The number of such songs is twenty-one, there being four in each Act, excepting five in Act IV; and each song contains the author's *bhanita* and the name of his patron Gajapati Prataparudra. We give here one of the songs, which describes the youthful Krsna, as a specimen (Act I):

c11.s3.13

(Kedara-ragena)

c11.s3.14

mrdutara-maruta-vellita-pallava-valli-valita-sikhandam/
tilaka-vidambita-marakata-mani-tala-bimbita-sasadhara-khandam||
yuvati-manohara-vesam/
kalaya kala-nidhim iva dharanim anu parinata-rupa-visesam||
(Dhruva)
khela-dolayita-mani-kundala-ruci-ruciranana-sobham/
hela-taralita-madhura-vilocana-janita-vadhujana-lobham||
gajapatirudra-naradhipa-cetasi janayatu mudam anuvaram/
ramananda-raya-kavi-bhanitam madhuripu-rupam udaram||.

c11.s3.15

One should recognise that this is not a mean imitation of Jayadeva's music and manner.

c11.s3.16

The dramatic works of Rupa Gosvamin are more serious compositions of an entirely different character, although all of them deal with certain aspects of Krsna-lila and its mystic-erotic possibilities. The old Krsna legend is daringly modified in details, in the light of the peculiar dogmas of Bengal school; and the works are deliberately composed in conformity with its Rasa-sastra, in order that they may illustrate the hundred niceties of its elaborate scheme of devotional sentiments. It is natural, therefore, that profuse quotations are given from these works in the two Rasa-treatises of Rupa himself by way of illustration. The works are rightly held in high esteem by the devotees of the faith, and are marked by considerable and careful literary effort; but there is no high merit in them as dramatic pieces, nor are they remarkably brilliant on the poetic side. Nominally dramas, they are a peculiar type of composition in which the Vidagdha and the Vidvat combine with the Rasika and the Bhakta.

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