Early History of the Vaishnava Faith and Movement in Bengal, from Sanskrit and Bengali Sources c11.s2.4

c11.s2.4

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.