{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_6817/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_6817","id":"gutenberg_6817","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6817","summary":null,"tags":["Category: History - Religious","Category: Poetry","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Chaitanya, 1486-1534","Vaishnava poetry, Bengali","Vaishnavism"],"text":"Produced by John B. Hare (sacred-texts.com), and Chetan\nJain (BharatLiterature).\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAITANYA AND THE VAISHNAVA POETS OF BENGAL\n\n\n\nTHE\nINDIAN ANTIQUARY,\n\n\nA JOURNAL OF ORIENTAL RESEARCH\n\nIN\n\nARCH\u00c6OLOGY, HISTORY, LITERATURE, LANGUAGES, PHILOSOPHY, RELIGION,\nFOLKLORE, &c., &c., &c.\n\n\nEDITED BY\n\nJAS. BURGESS, M.R.A.S., F.R.G.S.\n\n\nVOL. II.--1873\n[Bombay, Education Society's Press]\n{Scanned and edited by Christopher M. Weimer, May 2002}\n\n\n\nCHAITANYA AND THE VAISHNAVA POETS OF BENGAL.\n\nSTUDIES IN BENGALI POETRY OF THE FIFTEENTH AND SIXTEENTH CENTURIES.\n\nBY JOHN BEAMES, J.C.S., M.R.A.S. &c.\n\n\nTHE PADKALPATARU, or 'wish-granting tree of song,' may be considered as\nthe scriptures of the Vaish.nava sect in Bengal.  In form it is a\ncollection of songs written by various poets in various ages, so\narranged as to exhibit a complete series of poems on the topics and\ntenets which constitute the religious views of the sect.  The book has\nbeen put together in recent times, and takes the reader through the\npreliminary consecration, invocations and introductory ceremonies, the\nrise and progress of the mutual love of R\u00e2dh\u00e2 and K.rish.na, and winds\nup with the usual closing and valedictory hymns.\n\nBefore beginning an analysis of this collection so remarkable from many\npoints of view, it will probably be of some assistance even to those\nwho have studied the history of Vaish.navism, if I state briefly the\nleading points in the life of Chaitanya, and the principal features of\nthe religion which he developed, rather than actually founded.\n\nBisambhar (Vishvambhara) Mi\u0161r was the youngest son of Jagann\u00e2th Mi\u0161r, a\nBrahman, native of the district of Sylhet in Eastern Bengal, who had\nemigrated before the birth of his son to Nadiya (Nabadw\u00eepa), the\ncapital of Bengal.  [Footnote: The facts which here follow are taken\nfrom the \"Chaitanyacharit\u00e2mrita,\" a metrical life of Chaitanya, the\ngreater part of which was probably written by a contemporary of the\nteacher himself.  The style has unfortunately been much modernized, but\neven so, the book is one of the oldest extant works in Bengali.  My\nesteemed friend Babu Jagadishnath Ray has kindly gone through the book,\na task for which I had not leisure, and marked some of the salient\npoints for me.]  His mother was Sachi Debi, daughter of Nil\u00e1mbar\nChakravarti.  She bore to Jagann\u00e2th eight daughters who all died young;\nher first-born child, however, was a son named Biswar\u00fap, who afterwards\nunder the name of Nity\u00e2nand became the chief disciple of his more\nfamous brother.  Bisambhar was born at Nadiya in the evening of the\n_Purnima_ or day of the full moon of Ph\u00e2lgun 1407 Sak\u00e1bda,\ncorresponding to the latter part of February or beginning of March A.D.\n1486.  It is noted that there was an eclipse of the moon on that day.\nBy the aid of these indications those who care to do so can find out\nthe exact day.  [Footnote: There was an eclipse of the moon before\nmidnight Feb. 18, O.S. 1486.]  The passages in the original are:--\n\n\n  \u0160r\u00ee K.rish.na the Visible became incarnate in Nabadwip,\n  For forty-eight years visibly he sported;\n  The exact (date) of his birth (is) \u0160aka 1407,\n  In 1455 he returned to heaven.\n\n\nAnd again--\n\n\n  On the full moon of Ph\u00e2lgun at even was the lord's birth\n  At that time by divine provision there was an eclipse of the moon.\n    --_Ch._ I. xiii. 38.\n\n\nIn accordance with the usual Bengali superstition that if a man's real\nname be known he may be bewitched or subject to the influence of the\nevil eye, the real name given at birth is not made known at the time,\nbut another name is given by which the individual is usually called.\nNo one but the father and mother and priest know the real name.\nBisambhar's usual name in childhood was Nim\u00e2i, and by this he was\ngenerally known to his neighbours.\n\nIn person, if the description of him in the Chaitanyacharit\u00e2mrita (Bk.\nI. iii.) is to be considered as historical, he was handsome, tall (six\nfeet), with long arms, in colour a light brown, with expressive eyes, a\nsonorous voice, and very sweet and winning manners.  He is frequently\ncalled \"Gaurang\" or \"Gaurchandra,\" _i.e._, the pale, or the pale\nmoon, in contrast to the Krishna of the Bhagvat who is represented as\nvery black.\n\nThe name Chaitanya literally means 'soul, intellect,' but in the\nspecial and technical sense in which the teacher himself adopted it, it\nappears to mean perceptible, or appreciable by the senses.  He took the\nname \u0160r\u00ee K.rish.na Chaitanya to intimate that he was himself an\nincarnation of the god, in other words, K.rish.na made visible to the\nsenses of mankind.\n\nThe Charit\u00e2mrita being composed by one of his disciples, is written\nthroughout on this supposition.  Chaitanya is always spoken of as an\nincarnation of K.rish.na, and his brother Nity\u00e2nand as a re-appearance\nof Balar\u00e2m.  In order to keep up the resemblance to K.rish.na, the\nCharit\u00e2mrita treats us to a long series of stories about Chaitanya's\nchildish sports among the young Hindu women of the village.  They are\nnot worth relating, and are probably purely fictitious; the Bengalis of\nto-day must be very different from what their ancestors were, if such\npranks as are related in the Charit\u00e2mrita were quietly permitted to go\non.  Chaitanya, however, seems to have been eccentric even as a youth;\nwonderful stories are told of his powers of intellect and memory, how,\nfor instance, he defeated in argument the most learned Pandits.  A\ngreat deal is said about his hallucinations and trances throughout his\nlife, and we may perhaps conclude that he was more or less insane at\nall times, or rather he was one of those strange enthusiasts who wield\nsuch deep and irresistible influence over the masses by virtue of that\nvery condition of mind which borders on madness.\n\nWhen he was about eighteen his father died, and he soon afterwards\nmarried Lachhmi Debi, daughter of Balabhadra Ach\u00e2rjya, and entered on\nthe career of a _grihastha_ or householder, taking in pupils whom\nhe instructed in ordinary secular learning.  He does not appear,\nhowever, to have kept to this quiet life for long; he went off on a\nwandering tour all over Eastern Bengal, begging and singing, and is\nsaid to have collected a great deal of money and made a considerable\nname for himself.  On his return he found his first wife had died in\nhis absence, and he married again one Bishnupriy\u00e2, concerning whom\nnothing further is said.  Soon after he went to Gay\u00e2 to offer the usual\npi.n.da to the _manes_ of his ancestors.\n\nIt was on his return from Gay\u00e2, when he was about 23 years of age, that\nhe began seriously to start his new creed.  \"It was now,\" writes Babu\nJagadishnath, \"that he openly condemned the Hindu ritualistic system of\nceremonies as being a body without a soul, disowned the institution of\ncaste as being abhorrent to a loving god all whose creatures were one\nin his eyes, preached the efficacy of adoration and love and extolled\nthe excellence and sanctity of _the_ name, and the uttering and\nsinging of _the_ name of god as infinitely superior to barren\nsystem without faith.\"  Chaitanya, however, as the Babu points out, was\nnot the originator of this theory, but appears to have borrowed it from\nhis neighbour Adwaita Ach\u00e2rjya, whose custom it was, after performing\nhis daily ritual, to go to the banks of the Ganges and call aloud for\nthe coming of the god who should substitute love and faith for mere\nrites and ceremonies.  This custom is still adhered to by Vaish.navas.\nThe Charit\u00e2mrita veils the priority of Adwaita adroitly by stating that\nit was he who by his austerities hastened the coming of K.rish.na in\nthe avatar of Chaitanya.\n\n\n  I praise that revered teacher Adwaita of wonderful actions,\n  By whose favour even the ignorant may perceive the (divinity)\n    personified.\n    --Ch. I. vi.\n\n\nThus in Sanskrit verses at the head of that chapter which sings the\nvirtues of Adwaita: by in the Bengali portion of the same chapter it is\nasserted that Adwaita was himself an incarnation of a part of the\ndivinity, e.g.--\n\n\n  The teacher Adwaita is a special portion of god.\n\n\nAnd the author goes on to say that Adwaita was first the teacher then\nthe pupil of Chaitanya.  The probability is that Adwaita, like the\nmajority of his countrymen, was more addicted to meditation than to\naction.  The idea which in his mind gave rise to nothing more than\nindefinite longings when transfused into the earnest fiery nature of\nChaitanya, expanded into a faith which moved and led captive the souls\nof thousands.\n\nHis brother Nity\u00e2nand was now assumed to be an incarnation of Balar\u00e2m,\nand took his place as second-in-command in consequence.  The practice\nof meeting for worship and to celebrate \"Sank\u00eertans\" was now\ninstituted; the meetings took place in the house of a disciple Srib\u00e2s,\nand were quite private.  The new religionists met with some opposition,\nand a good deal of mockery.  One night on leaving their rendezvous,\nthey found on the door-step red flowers and goats' blood, emblems of\nthe worship of Durg\u00e2, and abominations in the eyes of a Vaish.nava.\nThese were put there by a Brahman named Gopal.  Chaitanya cursed him\nfor his practical joke, and we are told that he became a leper in\nconsequence.  The opposition was to a great extent, however, provoked\nby the Vaish.navas, who seem to have been very eccentric and\nextravagant in their conduct.  Every thing that K.rish.na had done\nChaitanya must do too, thus we read of his dancing on the shoulders of\nMurari Gupta, one of his adherents; and his followers, like himself,\nhad fits, foamed at the mouth, and went off into convulsions, much\nafter the fashion of some revivalists of modern times.  The young\nstudents at the Sanskrit schools in Nadiya naturally found all this\nvery amusing, and cracked jokes to their hearts' content on the crazy\nenthusiasts.\n\nIn January 1510, Chaitanya suddenly took it into his head to become a\nSanyasi or ascetic, and received initiation at the hands of Keshab\nBh\u00e2rati of Katwa.  Some say he did this to gain respect and credit as a\nreligious preacher, others say it was done in consequence of a curse\nlaid on him by a Brahman whom he had offended.  Be this as it may, his\ncraziness seems now to have reached its height.  He wandered off from\nhis home, in the first instance, to Pur\u00ee to see the shrine of\nJagann\u00e2th.  Thence for six years he roamed all over India preaching\nVaish.navism, and returned at last to Pur\u00ee, where he passed the\nremaining eighteen years of his life and where at length he died in the\n48th year of his age in 1534 A.D.  His Bengali followers visited him\nfor four months in every year and some of them always kept watch over\nhim, for he was now quite mad.  He had starved and preached and sung\nand raved himself quite out of his senses.  On one occasion he imagined\nthat a post in his veranda was R\u00e2dh\u00e2, and embraced it so hard as nearly\nto smash his nose, and to cover himself with blood from scraping all\nthe skin off his forehead; on another he walked into the sea in a fit\nof abstraction, and was fished up half dead in a net by a fisherman.\nHis friends took it in turns to watch by his side all night lest he\nshould do himself some injury.\n\nThe leading principle that underlies the whole of Chaitanya's system is\n_Bhakti_ or devotion; and the principle is exemplified and\nillustrated by the mutual loves of R\u00e2dh\u00e2 and K.rish.na.  In adopting\nthis illustration of his principle, Chaitanya followed the example of\nthe Bhagavad G\u00eet\u00e2 and the Bh\u00e2gavat Pur\u00e2.na, and he was probably also\ninfluenced in the sensual tone he gave to the whole by the poems of\nJayadeva.  The Bhakta or devotee passes through five successive stages,\n_S\u00e2nta_ or resigned contemplation of the deity is the first, and\nfrom it he passes into _D\u00e2sya_ or the practice of worship and\nservice, whence to _S\u00e1khya_ or friendship, which warms into\n_B\u00e2tsalya_, filial affection, and lastly rises to _M\u00e1dhurya_\nor earnest, all-engrossing love.\n\nVaish.navism is singularly like Sufiism, the resemblance has often been\nnoticed, and need here only be briefly traced.  [Footnote: Conf. Capt.\nJ. W. Graham's paper 'On Sufiism,' _Bombay Literary Soc. Trans._\nVol. I. pp. 89 et seqq.; R\u00e2jendral\u00e2la Mittra's valuable introduction to\nthe _Chaitanya Chandrodaya_ (Biblioth. Ind.), pp. ii-iv and xv;\nalso Jones' 'Mystical Poetry of the Persians and Hindus,' _Asiat.\nRes._ Vol. III. pp. 165-207; and Leyden, 'On the Rosheniah Sect,\n&c.,' _As. Res._ Vol. XI. pp. 363-428.--ED.]  With the latter the\nfirst degree is _n\u00e2s\u00fbt_ or 'humanity' in which man is subject to\nthe law _shara_, the second _tar\u00eekat_, 'the way' of\nspiritualism, the third _\u00b4ar\u00fbf_ or 'knowledge,' and the fourth\n_hak\u00eekat_ or 'the truth.' Some writers give a longer series of\ngrades, thus--_talab,_ 'seeking after god;' _\u00b4ishk_, 'love;'\n_m\u00b4arifat_, 'insight;' _istighn\u00e2h_, 'satisfaction;'\n_tauh\u00eed_, 'unity;' _hairat_, 'ecstacy;' and lastly\n_fan\u00e2_, 'absorption.'  Dealing as it does with God and Man as two\nfactors of a problem, Vaish.navism necessarily ignores the distinctions\nof caste, and Chaitanya was perfectly consistent in this respect,\nadmitting men of all castes, including Muhammadans, to his sect.  Since\nhis time, however, that strange love of caste-distinctions, which seems\nso ineradicable from the soil of India, has begun again to creep into\nVaish.navism, and will probably end by establishing its power as firmly\nin this sect as in any other.\n\nAlthough the institution of love towards the divine nature, and the\ndoctrine that this love was reciprocated, were certainly a great\nimprovement on the morbid gloom of \u0160iva-worship, the colourless\nnegativeness of Buddhism, and the childish intricacy of ceremonies\nwhich formed the religion of the mass of ordinary Hindus, still we\ncannot find much to admire in it.  There seems to be something almost\ncontradictory in representing the highest and purest emotions of the\nmind by images drawn from the lowest and most animal passions.\n\n\n  \"Ut matrona meretrici dispar erit atque discolor.\"\n\n\nSo must also Vaish.navism differ from true religion, the flesh from the\nspirit, the impure from the pure.  The singing of hymns about R\u00e2dh\u00e2 and\nK.rish.na is much older than Chaitanya's age.  Not to mention Jayadeva\nand his beautiful, though sensual, G\u00eetagovinda.  [Footnote: It is many\nyears now since I read Gitagovinda as a text-book at college, but the\nimpression I still retain is that it was in many parts far too warm for\nEuropean tastes.]  Bidyapati, the earliest of Bengali poets, and\nCha.n.di D\u00e2s both preceded Chaitanya, and he himself is stated to have\nbeen fond of singing their verses.  There was therefore a considerable\nmass of hymns ready to his hand, and his contemporaries and followers\nadded largely to the number; the poems of the _Padakalpataru_ in\nconsequence are of all ages from the fifteenth century downwards;\nmoreover, as Vaish.navism aspires to be a religion for the masses, the\naim of its supporters has always been to write in the vulgar tongue, a\nfortunate circumstance which renders this vast body of literature\nextremely valuable to the philologist, since it can be relied on as\nrepresenting the spoken language of its day more accurately than those\npretentious works whose authors despised everything but Sanskrit.\n\nThe _Padakalpataru_, to keep up the metaphor of its name\nthroughout, is divided into 4 _\u0161akhas_ or 'branches,' and each of\nthese into 8 or 10 _pallabas_ or smaller branches, 'boughs.'  It\nshould be explained that the k\u00eertans are celebrated with considerable\nceremony.  There is first a consecration both of the performers and\ninstruments with flowers, incense, and sweetmeats.  This is called the\n_adhib\u00e1s_.  The principal performer then sings one song after\nanother, the others playing the drum and cymbals in time, and joining\nin the chorus; as the performance goes on many of them get excited and\nwildly frantic, and roll about on the ground.  When the performance is\nover the drum is respectfully sprinkled with _chandana_ or\nsandalwood paste, and hung up.  Several performances go on for days\ntill a whole \u0160akh\u00e2 has been sung through, and I believe it is always\ncustomary to go through at least one Pallab at a sitting, however long\nit may be.  The Bengali K\u00eertan in fact resembles very much the Bhajans\nand Kath\u00e2s common in the Mar\u00e2.tha country, and each poem in length, and\noften in subject, is similar to the Abhangas of Tukar\u00e2m and others in\nthat province.\n\nThe first Pallab contains 27 hymns, of these 8 are by Gobind D\u00e2s, 8 by\nBaishnab D\u00e2s, 3 by Brind\u00e2ban D\u00e2s, the rest by minor masters.  Brind\u00e2ban\nD\u00e2s and Parameshwar D\u00e2s were contemporaries of Chaitanya, the others--\nincluding Gobind D\u00e2s, who is perhaps the most voluminous writer of all-\n-are subsequent to him.  Of the hymns themselves the first five are\ninvocations of Chaitanya and Nity\u00e2nand, and one is in praise of the\nceremony of K\u00eertan.  There is nothing very remarkable in any of them.\nNumber 5 may be taken as a specimen, as it is perhaps the best of the\nbatch.\n\n\n  \"Nand's son, lover of the Gop\u00ees, lord of R\u00e2dh\u00e2, the playful Sy\u00e2m:\n\n\n_Is_ he, Sachi's son, the Indra of Nadiya, the heart-charming\ndwelling of gods and saints; victory to him who is love embodied to his\nown beloved, hail! hail to him who is the joy of the existence of his\nwell-beloved! hail to the delight of the eyes of his comrades in Braj!\nhail to the charm of the sight of the women of Nadiya! hail! hail to\nSridam, Sudam, Subal, and Arjun, [Footnote: Names of Chaitanya's\ndisciples.] bound by love to him whose form is as a new cloud! hail to\nR\u00e2m and the rest, beautiful and dear companions! hail to the charmer,\nthe incomparable Gora (Chaitanya)! hail to the mighty younger brother\nof Balar\u00e2m! hail! hail to Nity\u00e2nand (who is) joy (personified)! Hail to\nhim who destroys the fear of good men, the object of the hope of Gobind\nD\u00e2s!\"\n\nI would call attention here, once for all, to what is one of the\nprincipal charms of Vaish.nava hymns, the exquisitely musical rhythm\nand cadence.  They seem made to be sung, and trip off the tongue with a\nlilt and grace which are irresistible.\n\nThis hymn is interesting as shewing how completely Chaitanya is by his\nfollowers invested with the attributes of, and identified with,\nK.r\u00eesh.na; it has no other special merits; nor anything specially\ninteresting from a philological point of view as it is nearly all\nSansk.rit.\n\nThe next six are in praise of the sect itself, of Adwaita, and the\nprincipal disciples.  That on Adwaita by his contemporary Brindaban D\u00e2s\ngives a lively picture of the old Brahman, then follow seven in praise\nof the K\u00eertanias or the old master-singers--Bidyapati, Jayadeva,\nCha.n.di D\u00e2s; then four on K.rish.na and R\u00e2dh\u00e2, containing only a\nsuccession of epithets linked together by jay! jay!\n\nThe twenty-third begins the adhib\u00e2s or consecration, and is curious\nless for its language than for the description it gives of the\nceremonies practised.  It is by the old masters Parameshwar and\nBrindaban, with the concluding portion by a younger master Bansi.  The\npoem is in four parts and takes the form of a story how Chaitanya held\nhis feast.  It runs thus:--\n\n\n  23. Atha sankirtanasya adhib\u00e2sa.\n\n\n\"One day coming and smiling, sitting in Adwaita's house, spake the son\nof Sach\u00ee, having Nity\u00e2nand with him and Adwaita, sitting in enjoyment,\nhe planned a great festivity.  Hearing this, smiling with joy, S\u00eet\u00e2\nTh\u00e2kur\u00e2n\u00ee coming spoke a sweet word: hearing that with joyful mind the\nson of Sach\u00ee spoke somewhat in regard to arranging the festival.\n'Listen, Th\u00e2kur\u00e2n\u00ee S\u00eet\u00e2,[Footnote: S\u00eeta was the wife of Adwaita.] bring\nthe Baishnabs here; making pressing invitation to them: whoso can sing,\nwhoso can play, invite them separately, man by man.'  Thus Gora Rai\nspeaking gave orders for an assembly: ' Invite the Baishnabs!  Bring\nout the cymbal and drum, set out full pots painted with aloes and\nsandal-paste: plant plantains, hang on them garlands of flowers, for\nthe K\u00eertan place joyfully.  With garlands, sandal, and betelnut, ghee,\nhoney, and curds consecrate the drum at evening-tide.'  Hearing the\nlord's word, in loving manner she made accordingly various offerings\nwith fragrant perfumes: all cried 'Hari, Hari!' thus they consecrate\nthe drum; Parameshwar D\u00e2s floats in enjoyment.\"\n\nOf the remainder of the adhib\u00e2s I give merely a paraphrase ommiting the\nnumerous repetitions.\n\n2. Having prepared the entertainment she invites them, \"kindly visit\nus, to you and Vaish.navas, this is my petition, come and see and\ncomplete the feast;\" thus entreating she brought the honoured guests,\nthey consecrate the feast.  Joyfully the Vaish.navas came to the feast:\n\"to-morrow will be the joy of the great festivity, there will be the\nenjoyment of the singing \u0160r\u00ee K.rish.na's sports, all will be filled\nwith delight.\"  The merits of the assembly of the devotees of \u0160r\u00ee\nK.rish.na Chaitanya singeth Brindaban D\u00e2s.\n\n3. First set up the plantains, array the full pots, adorned with twigs\nof the mango; the Brahman chants the Vedas, the women shout jay! jay!\nand all cry Hari! Hari!  Making the consecration with curds and\n_ghi_, all display their joy; bringing in the Vaish.navas, giving\nthem garlands and sandal-paste, for the celebration of the K\u00eertan; joy\nis in the hearts of all, hither come the Vaish.navas, to-morrow will be\nChaitanya's k\u00eertan; the virtue of \u0160r\u00ee K.rish.na Chaitanya's name, and\nthe indwelling of \u0160r\u00ee Nity\u00e2nand singeth D\u00e2s Brindaban.  [Footnote: The\npoet's name is inverted to make a rhyme for K\u00eertan in the preceding\nline.]\n\n4. Jay! jay! in Nawadwip; by Gorang's order Adwaita goes to prepare the\nconsecration of the drum.  Bringing all the Vaish.navas with sound of\n\"Hari bol,\" he initiates the great feast.  He himself giving garlands\nand sandal-paste, converses with his beloved Vaish.navas, Gobind taking\nthe drum plays ta-ta-tum tum, Adwaita lightly clashes the cymbals.\nHari D\u00e2s begins the song, Srib\u00e2s keeps time, Gorang dances at the\nk\u00eertan celebration.  On all sides the Vaish.navas crowding echo \"Hari\nbol,\" to-morrow will be the great feast.  To-day consecrate the drum\nand hang it up, joyfully saith Bansi sound victory! victory!!\n\nHaving thus concluded the initiatory ceremonies in the lst Pallab, the\n2nd Pallab begins the real \"K\u00eertan.\"  It contains 26 hymns by masters\nwho are mostly of comparatively recent date.  Of the old masters Gobind\nD\u00e2s and Cha.n.di D\u00e2s alone appear in this Pallab.  We now commence the\nlong and minutely described series of emotions and flirtations (if so\nlowly a word may be used) between R\u00e2dh\u00e2 and K.rish.na, and this Pallab\nand in fact the whole of the first S\u00e2kh\u00e2 is on that phase called\n\"p\u00fbrbar\u00e2ga\" or first symptoms of love.  In No. 2, Cha.n.di D\u00e2s\nrepresents two of R\u00e2dh\u00e2's Sakhis, or girl-friends, whispering together\nas they watch her from a distance (the punctuation {i.e. colon (:)}\nrefers to the c\u00e6sura, not to the sense):\n\n\"She stands outside the house, a hundred times restlessly she comes and\ngoes: depressed in mind, _with_ frequent sighs, she looks towards\nthe kadamba jungle.  Why has Rai (Radhik\u00e2) become thus? serious is her\nerror, she has no fear of men, where are her senses, or what god has\npossessed her?  Constantly restless, she does not cover herself with\nthe corner of her robe: she sits still for a while, then rises with a\nstart, her ornaments fall with a clang.  Youthful in age, of royal\ndescent, and a chaste maiden to boot: what does she desire, (why) does\nher longing increase?  I cannot understand her motives: from her\nconduct, this I conceive, she has raised her hand to the moon:\n[Footnote: She has formed some extravagant desire.]  Cha.n.di D\u00e2s says\nwith respect she has fallen into the snare of the black one\n(K.rish.na).\"\n\nThis poem vividly expresses the first symptoms of love dawning in the\ngirl's heart, and from a religious point of view the first awakenings\nof consciousness of divine love in the soul.  It is difficult for the\nEuropean mind, trained to draw a broad distinction between the love of\nGod and love for another human being, to enter into a state of feeling\nin which the earthly and sensual is made a type of the heavenly and\nspiritual, but a large-souled charity may be perhaps able to admit that\nby this process, strange though it be to its own habits and\nexperiences, there may have been some improvement wrought in the inner\nlife of men brought up in other schools of thought; and my own\nexperience, now of fourteen years standing, enables me to say that\nVaish.navism does, in spite of, or perhaps in virtue of, its peculiar\n_modus operandi_, work a change for the better on those who come\nunder its influence.\n\nTwo more hymns on the same subject follow, and in No. 5 R\u00e2dh\u00e2 herself\nbreaks silence.\n\n\"In the kadamba grove what man is (that) standing?  What sort of word\ncoming is this: the plough of whose meaning has penetrated startlingly\nthe path of hearing?  With a hint of union, with its manner of\npenetrating making one well-nigh mad:  My mind is agitated, it cannot\nbe still, streams flow from my eyes:  I know not what manner of man it\nis who utters such words:  I see him not, my heart is perturbed, I\ncannot stay in the house:  My soul rests not, it flutters to and fro in\nhope of seeing him:  When she sees him, she will find her soul, quoth\nUrdbab D\u00e2s.\"\n\nI have left myself no space to finish this Pallab, or to make remarks\non the peculiarities of the language, which in the older masters would\nmore properly be called old Maithila than Bengali.  It is nearly\nidentical with the language still spoken in Tirhut, the ancient\nMithili, and in Munger and Bh\u00e2galpur, the ancient Magadha, than modern\nBengali.  As the Aryan race grew and multiplied it naturally poured out\nits surplus population in Bengal, and it is not only philologically\nobvious that Bengali is nothing more than a further, and very modern\ndevelopment of the extreme eastern dialect of Hindi.  All these\nconsiderations, however, I hope still further to develop at some future\ntime.","title":"Chaitanya and the Vaishnava Poets of Bengal","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":4366}