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22 Spring is the season that has reigned in this poem. According to antique oriental philosophers and artists, spring is the perfect time for falling in love. And Jayadeva has presented a hyper-romantic picture of a love-affair which is at the same time, physic and psychic. But this poem’s appeal is more than a mere love-story deserves. Here Krishna is God himself and Radha is his devotee. And according to the Vaishnava preachers, a mortal can have God’s blessings only when they are true lovers. Its highly appealing presentation, ornamentation, beauty and freshness have given it a truly high position in the entire world literature. Jayadeva deserves to have our love and respect as he still enthralls our crude and mechanized modern world. And he is in fact, a historic contributor to Bangla literature. Vidyapati Thakur (15 th Century) Vidyapati is one of the greatest medieval poets of Eastern India. Although he was Mithila’s poet-laureate, he is also a Bengali poet as his most Padas have been found in this province. His poems seem to be written in a hybrid language of Abahatta, Bangla and Maithili; and it is closer to Bangla than Mithila’s present language Hindi. Reasonably these songs are now a quintessential part of Bangla literature. Vidyapati’s works are a proof of his subtle cosmic imagination. A delicate sense of art is found in his Padas. Also his poems are lyrical and quixotic. They present picturesque beauty and have a touchy sensuousness. The Maithili poet’s greatness lies in such artistic delicacies – “From the hair Water falls down, Looking at the moon of her face Darkness cries.” (Translated by the author) His Radha tells her friend about Krishna – “That love, that charm becomes newer and newer with growth, Since birth I have seen his beauty, my eyes still not contended, Have heard his sweet talks in the ears, entered not the path of hearing, Have spent many honeyed nights with love, not fully understood, On his eyes have fixed mine for millions of ages, but eyes not gratified.” (Translated by the author) Another song tells of love’s frustration in a rainy day – “O my beloved friend, my sorrows know no ending, This full monsoon, this heavy rain Is my mind’s empty temple.” (Translated by the author) Then after a few lines – “The frogs get mad, the Dahuks call, and my heart breaks.” (Translated by the author) While Jayadeva made spring the ground of his Gitogobindam, monsoon is the season that has reigned in Vidyapati’s poems. Instead of depicting lovers’ happily union as is evident in Jayadeva’s poem, Vidyapati drew the pictures of deprived
23 lovers’ pains. According to his ideas, monsoon is a suitable time for love’s sighs and sorrows. Almost all other Vaishnava poets followed Jayadeva’s model. Their Padas can be divided into the sections as they are in Gitogobindam. In fact, a Gitogobindam can be compiled from every Vaishnava poet’s complete works. Vidyapati is no exception. Vidyapati’s Maithili verse gave birth to a typical Bangla diction called Brajabuli. Many later Vaishnava poets (e.g. Gobindadas Kabiraz and Shekhar Ray) followed this diction. Even modern day poet Tagore wrote his Bhanushinger Padabali in Brajabuli. This verse-diction nullifies the idea that medieval literatures were mainly intended for religious purposes. He wrote books on other topics. He composed poems surrounding Shiva and Parvati. He even wrote books on rhetorical subject in Sanskrit. But it is his Vaishnava Padavali that became popular in this region. Vidyapati is called the ‘sovereign poet’ of the middle ages. In poetic gorgeousness, he often looks as great as the modernist Jibanananda. Known as the ‘unique Jayadeva’ in his own time, Vidyapati will ever be remembered as a great designer of Radha-Krishna Padavali. Chandidas (15 th /16 th Century) Chandidas is the only medieval Bengali poet who claims a place in the entire world literature. In the world of poetry, his place is unique and everlasting. This great poet’s historicity is shrouded in mystery. A large number of poets of this same name lived in this province in the middle ages. They held different sobriquets like Baru, Dwiza, Dina, Taruniraman etc. As a result, a great poet of Bangla literature (whoever he is) is in historical sense, confined to a mere name. Chandidas’s life-story (probably fictitious) is associated with a washerwoman named Rami (or Tara). He wrote love poems to his beloved glorifying her as equal to Krishna’s consort Radha. Chandidas mainly wrote of the sorrows of love in his poems. However, Chandidas’s tears of love are not the outcome of a failed lover’s broken heart (as apparently seems), but in fact a crave for getting attached to a soul of higher order. His poems sometimes tell of Platonic love – his perception reaches at a love beyond any physical attraction. Sometimes his temporal love develops into divine or mystical love. When he tells us that love is like an inscription on stone and cannot be removed, he at the same time expresses love’s sorrows, eternity and greatness; it does not remain an ordinary feeling. And his love develops into a divine perception from a usual temporal idea. He says in a song – “I feel the joy of wearing the necklace of infamy Around my neck For you, my love.” (Translated by the author)
Page 1 and 2: Bangla Literature: A Critical Overv
Page 3 and 4: 3 By that time, Buddhism was in the
Page 5 and 6: 5 not flourish here. Krittibas’s
Page 7 and 8: 7 Chaitanya’s era as the mystic f
Page 9 and 10: 9 slowly merging. Even after the Ba
Page 11 and 12: 11 ’85) and Piarichand Mitra (181
Page 13 and 14: 13 were two late representatives of
Page 15 and 16: 15 Panju Shah (1851?-1914) and Haso
Page 17 and 18: 17 Panchagram (1943), Hashuli Banke
Page 19 and 20: 19 Also a new trend of historical n
Page 21: 21 3 Great Bengali Writers Jayadeva
Page 25 and 26: 25 This poem is a reflection of the
Page 27 and 28: 27 Michael’s epic has a prehistor
Page 29 and 30: 29 lovers. And at the end of the no
Page 31 and 32: 31 An intense ray is dispersed into
Page 33 and 34: 33 Shey.(S/he) is a novel out of th
Page 35 and 36: 35 Tasher Desh (The Play-Cards’ L
Page 37 and 38: 37 autobiographical novel. It is a
Page 39 and 40: 39 fighter and eventually a martyr
Page 41 and 42: 41 He died a premature death out of
Page 43 and 44: 43 the tiresome journey of Man is n
Page 45 and 46: 45 Giving the child a farewell kiss
Page 47 and 48: 47 Sunil’s poems are a unique pla
Page 49 and 50: 49 Akhtaruzzaman Elias (1943-’97)
Page 51 and 52: 51 He warns mankind of a possible f
Page 53 and 54: 53 • A writer who wrote in two li

BLiterature-Apratim

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