History of Bengali Language and Literature

Front matter

Chaitanya Deva listening to the Bhagabata. This picture was painted between 1512 and 1533 A. D. during the life-time of Chaitanya by order of Raja Pratapa Rudra of Puri. It is said to have been carried to Nadia by Crinivasa one of the disciples. From his descendants, it passed to the family of Raja Nanda Kumar of East India Company fame, and by them is preserved at their country-seat of Kunjaghata near Murshidabad. The figures are as follows:—(1) Chaitanya Deva (2) Nityananda on his right (3) Bhagabata Acharyya (4) the Raja Protapa Rudra patron of the artist, in the attitude of devotion. The peacock in line with the Raja is perhaps heraldic to show his rank.

HISTORY

OF

Chapter I

HISTORY of Bengali Language & Literature. CHAPTER I. Early Influences on the Bengali Language.

Bengal was a very ancient centre of Aryan settlement in India. The pre-historic kingdom of Pragjyotiṣ, which extended from modern Jalpaiguri to the back-woods of Assam, was one of the earliest Aryan colonies in this country. 'Vanga' is mentioned in the Aitereya Āraṅyaka and frequent references to this land are found in the great epics—the Rāmāyaṅa and the Mahābhārata. According to Manu, Bengal formed a part of the Aryyāvarta. The two great heroes of the Dwāpara yuga, who are said to have been the sworn enemies of Çri Kriṣṅa—the great upholder of Brahmanic power, were (1) Jarāsandha, the King of Magadha and (2) Pouṅdraka Vāsu Deva, the King of Pānduā in Bengal, and both of them led expeditions to Dwaraka to subvert the power of Kriṣṅa.

This land has, from very early times, been the cradle of popular movements in religion. The Buddhists and the Jains, at one time, converted nearly the whole population of Bengal to their new creeds, and the Brahmanic influence was for centuries at a very low ebb here. Some of the greatest Buddhist scholars and reformers of India were born in Bengal, among whom the names of Atiça Dīpankara (born, 980 A.D.) and Çīla-Bhadra are known throughout the Buddhistic world. Çanta Rakṣit, the renowned High Priest of the monastery of Nālandā—a native of Gauḍa, spent many years of his life in Tibet on a religious mission, and an illustrious band of Bengalis, within the first few centuries of the Christian era, travelled to China, Corea and Japan, carrying there the light of the Buddhist religion. The scriptures of the Japanese priests are still written in Bengali characters of the 11th century, which indicates the once-great ascendency of the enterprising Bengali priests in the Land of the Rising Sun. The marvellous sculptural design of the Boro Buddor temple of Java owed its execution, in no inconsiderable degree, to Bengali artists, who worked side by side with the people of Kalinga and Guzrat, to whom that island was indebted for its ancient civilization. In the vast panorama of bas-reliefs in that temple, we find numerous representations of ships which the people of lower Bengal built, and which carried them to Ceylon, Java, Sumatra, Japan and China,—countries visited by them for the purpose of promulgating the Buddhistic faith and conducting commercial transactions. The well-known story of how prince Vijay Siṁha, son of King Siṁhabāhu of Bengal, migrated to Ceylon with seven hundred followers and established his kingdom there in 543 B.C. is narrated in Mahāvaṁça and other Buddhist works. Buddhism flourished in Ceylon under the patronage of the kings of the Siṁha dynasty— and the island is called 'Siṁhal' after them. The Ceylonese era dates from the commencement of the reign of Vijay Siṁha. The citizens of Champā in Bengal had already, in a still earlier epoch of history, founded a colony in Cochin China and named it after that famous old town. About the middle of the ninth century, Dhīmān and his son Bit Pālo, inhabitants of Vārendra (North Bengal), founded new schools of painting, sculpture and works in cast metal, which stamped their influence on works of art in Nepal, from whence the art of the Bengali masters spread to China and other Buddhistic countries.

In Bengal new ideas in religion have ever found a fit soil to grow upon, and it is interesting to observe, that out of the twenty-four Tīrthankaras (divine men) of the Jains, twenty-three attained Mokṣa (salvation) in Bengal. The place of their religious activity was Samet-çekhara or the Pārçvanāth hills in the district of Hāzāribāgh and many of the Tīrthankaras, such for instance as Çreaṁgçunāth and Vāsupujya, were born in Bengal. The greatest of the Jaina Tīrthankaras—Mahavira spent eighteen years of his life preaching his faith in Rāḍa Deça (Western Bengal).

The country was for centuries in open revolt against Hindu orthodoxy. Buddhistic and Jain influences here were so great, that the codes of Manu, while including Bengal within the geographical boundary of Āryyāvarta, distinctly prohibit all contact of the Hindus with this land, for fear of contamination. Ānanda Tīrtha, the famous commentator of Aitereya Āraṅyaka, declares Bengal to be inhabited by Rākṣasas and Piçāchas. In fact it is probable, that Bengal was mostly peopled by the descendants of the early citizens of Magadah, hence Brahmanism could not thrive for many centuries amidst a people, who were the pioneers of Buddhism.

The Buddhist priests had already, in the latter part of the tenth century, begun to write books in Prākrita called the Gouḍa Prākrita. This Prākrita was called by the grammarian Kriṣṅa Pandit, who flourished in the twelfth century, as a form of Paiçāchī Prākrita or a Prākrita spoken by the evil spirits. The rules specified by him, in his celebrated grammar Prākrita-Chandrikā, as peculiar to our dialect, apply to it up to this day. According to him র and ণ change into ল and ন, and য় is pronounced as জ in this form of Prākrita, and of শ, ষ, স, one form only is found in current use. These are, generally speaking, the characteristic features of spoken Bengali up to this day and our old manuscripts are full of examples of them. The reasons which made Kriṣṅa Pandit give our language the contemptuous name of Paiçāchī Prākrita, are not far to seek. It is the same that made Manu condemn all touch with this land. The dialect of the Buddhist people, in which the Buddhist priests were writing books, could not be accepted by the Sanskritic school which arose with the revival of Hinduism.

Several works written in the tenth and the eleventh centuries of the Christian era in a very old form of Bengali, have lately been discovered by Mahāmahopādhyāya Hara Prasāda Çāstrī in Nepal. These are (1) Charyyācharyya Viniçchaya, (2) Bodhicharyyāvatāra and (3) Dākārṅava. The manuscript of Budhicharyyāvatār is incomplete. They appear to be but poor fragments of a literature which owed its origin chiefly to the earnestness of the Tāntrika Buddhists for popularizing their creed. Though these specimens have how been nearly all lost, we hope some portion of them may be yet recovered by careful research carried into the literary archives of Nepal and Chittagong,—the present resorts of Buddhism in Eastern India.

This effort on the part of the Buddhists to raise Bengali to the status of a written language, how ever, came suddenly to a standstill on the revival of Hinduism in Bengal. Buddhist works were carried by the vanquished exponents of that faith to Nepal and Burma; and all traces of the creed, which was once ascendant in the country, were obliterated there. Whatever may be urged in favour of the theory of "the gradual, almost insensible, assimilation of Buddhism to Hinduism" there can be no doubt that Buddhism was often suppressed in India by a storm of Brahmanic persecution. The following extract from Çankara-Vijaya regarding King Sudhanvā will show the ruthless manner in which the Buddhists were sometimes persecuted:—

"দুষ্টমতাবলম্বিনঃ বৌদ্ধান্ জৈনানসংখ্যাতান্ রাজমুখ্যাননেকবিদ্যাপ্রসঙ্গৈর্নির্জিত্য তেষাং শীর্ষাণি পরশুভিশ্ছিত্বা বহুষু উদুখলেষু নিক্ষিপ্য কটভ্রমর্ণৈশ্চূর্ণীকৃত্য চৈবং দুষ্টমতধ্বংসমাচরন্ নির্ভয়ো বর্ত্ততে।"

"Many of the chief princes, professing the wicked doctrines of the Buddhist and the Jain religions, were vanquished in various scholarly controversies. Their heads were then cut off with axes, thrown into mortars, and broken to pieces (reduced to powder) by means of pestles. So these wicked doctrines were thoroughly annihilated, and the country made free from danger."

With the decadence of the power of the Buddhist priests, who in their zeal to popularize their creed, had not considered the Vernacular of Bengal as an unworthy medium for propagating their religious views, Bengali lost the patronage which it had secured of the lettered men of the country; and its future seemed dismal and uncheerful. We have shown that the form of Prākrita prevalent in Bengal was in disfavour with the Sanskritic school which gave it a contemptuous epithet. Sanskrit scholars, who brought about a revival of Hinduism in Bengal, were imbued with a taste for the hard and fast rules of classical grammar, and had an unmixed abhorrence for the laxities of Prākrita adopted by the Buddhists. Bengali seemed to have no prospects with such scholars:—nay they zealously opposed the efforts of those who offered to help the Vernacular of the country to assert its claim as a written language. The following well-known Sanskrit couplet bears testimony to their ill-will.

"অষ্টাদশ পুরাণানি রামস্য চরিতানি চ। ভাষায়াং মানবঃ শ্রুত্বা রৌরবং নরকং ব্রজেৎ॥"

"If a person hears the stories of the eighteen Purānas or of the Rāmāyaṅa recited in Bengali, he will be thrown into the hell called the Rourava."

There is a corresponding Bengali couplet which is also well-known:—

"কৃত্তিবেসে, কাশীদেসে, আর বামুনঘেঁষে এই তিন সর্ব্বনেশে।"

"Krittivāsa (Bengali translator of the Rāmāyaṅa), Kāçīdāsa (Bengali translator of the Mahābhārata) and those who aspire to mix with the Brahmins too closely, are the greatest of evil-doers."

In the famous controversy, which Rājā Rāmmohan Ray held with the orthodox Pandits, he had frequently to explain his conduct in regard to his publication of vernacular translations of the Sanskrit scriptures, which according to those Brahmins, were sacrilegious. This shows that even as late as the early part of the 19th century, when Bengali had reached a high stage of development, it was looked down upon by the orthodox Brahmins.

Our readers are likely to conclude from the above, that the Brahmins were jealous of the gradual development of Bengali and its recognition as a written language. They wanted all truths of their religion to be locked up in the Sanskrit texts; any attempt to promulgate them through the vehicle of a popular dialect, meant a loss of the great power which they had monopolized; and they thus looked upon all such movements to enrich the vernacular language, with jealousy and distrust. But it admits of another explanation also, which is perhaps the right one. The Brahmanic school probably suspected, that the hunters after cheap popularity who adopted Bengali for conveying the truths of the Brahmanic religion, would not keep intact the purity of their spiritual ideal, and that the truths, so dearly prized by them, would be sullied in the provincial versions of the great Sanskrit works. They therefore decried all efforts to popularize the Çāstras by compiling Bengali translations. Add to this their contempt for Bengali which was one of the most lax forms of the Ardha-māgadhi Prāikrita. Not only did the Sanskrit-knowing people hold the Vernacular of the country in disfavour, but even the writers of Bengali themselves had no high opinion of the resources of this language. We frequently come across such lines in old Bengali works, as—"Naturally Bengali poems are faulty" (Vijay gupta) "Not fit to he discussed in a vernacular poem" (Kavīndra)—implying, that Bengali was quite an unfit medium for conveying any serious or high thought.

The question is: how could the poor Vernacular of Bengal find recognition in the courts of the kings, inspite of this opposition of the Brahmins? Every Hindu Court gloried in keeping a number of Sanskrit scholars attached to it. From the time of Vikramāditya it grew to be a fashion with Hindu kings to keep learned companions, and they were generally picked men—finished masters in Sanskrit Poetry, Grammar and Logic, who revelled in the high flown style and in the niceties of rhetoric which abound in the latter-day Sanskrit works, such as Kādamvarī, Daçakumār Charita and Çri Harṣa Charita. The copperplate-inscriptions of the Pāl and Sen Kings of Bengal bear abundant proofs of the learning and poetical powers of some of these gifted men, whose contempt for Bengali was as great as was their scholarship in Sanskrit. How can we account for the fact, that the court of Kriṣṅa Chandra of Navadwipa,—a glorious seat of Sanskrit learning—where Hari Rām Tarkasiddhānta, Krisnānanda Vāchaspati and Rāmgopāl Sārbabhouma were the professors of Logic—where Vāneçwar Vidyālankāra won his laurels in Sanskrit poetry and Çiva Rām Vācaspati, Rām Ballabha Vidyāvāgiça and Vīreçwar Nyāya-Panchānana discoursed on philosophy,—such a distinguished seat of classical learning as Kriṣṅa Chandra's court could bestow its favours and titles on Bhārat Chandra and Rāmprasād—the Bengali poets of the eighteenth century? Not only Kriṣṅa Chandra, but many other Kings and Chiefs of Bengal, who preceded him, are described as having extended their patronage and favour to the early Bengali poets. Their courts were guided by Sanskrit-knowing Pandits, and how are we to reconcile the fact, that these Brāhmins welcomed the poor patois—the despicable Paiçāchī Prākrita of Bengal, for which they had hitherto only a feeling of unmixed contempt.

This elevation of Bengali to a literary status was brought about by several influences, of which the Mahammadan conquest was undoubtedly one of the foremost. If the Hindu Kings had continued to enjoy independence, Bengali would scarcely have got an opportunity to find its way to the courts of Kings.

The Pāthāns occupied Bengal early in the thirteenth century. They came from a far distance—from Bulkh, Oxus or Transoxina, but they settled in the plains of Bengal and had no mind to return to their mountainous home. The Pāthān Emperors learned Bengali and lived in close touch with the teeming Hindu population whom they were called upon to rule. The minarets and cupolas of their Mosques rose to the sky, adjoining the spires and tridents of the Hindu temples. The sounds of the conch-shells and bells emanating from the latter, were heard while the new-comers assembled in the Mosques to say their evening prayers. The pompous processions and the religious rites of the Hindus—their Durgāpujā, Rāsa and Dolotsava—displayed a religious enthusiasm which equalled their own, while celebrating the Maharam, Id. Sabebarāt and other festivals. The Emperors heard of the far-reaching fame of the Sanskrit epics, the Rāmāyaṅa and the Mahābhārata, and observed the wonderful influence which they exercised in moulding the religious and domestic life of the Hindus, and they naturally felt a desire to be acquainted with the contents of those poems. The Pāthān Emperors and Chiefs could not have the great patience of the Hindu Kings who were inspired by a religious zeal to hear the Brahmin scholars recite Sanskrit texts and their learned annotations, step by step, requiring the listeners many long years to complete a course of lectures on the Rāmāyaṅa or the Mahābhārata. They appointed scholars to translate the works into Bengali which they now spoke and understood. The first Bengali translation of the Mahābhārata of which we hear, was undertaken at the order of Nasirā Sāhā, the Emperor of Gauḍa who ruled for 40 years till 1325 A.D. This translation has not yet been recovered, but we find mention of it, in another translation of the epic made by Kavīndra Parameçwara, at the command of Parāgal Khān, the governor of Chittagong. Nasira Shāh was a great patron of the Vernacular of this country. The poet Vidyāpati dedicates one of his songs to this monarch and in another, speaks with high respect of Sultan Guisuddin.

The name of the Emperor of Gauḍa who appointed Krittivāsa to translate the Rāmāyaṅa, is not known with certainty. He might be Raja-Kaṁsanārāyaṅa or a Moslem Emperor, but even if he was a Hindu King, there are abundant proofs to show, that his court was stamped with Moslem influence. The Emperor Husen Sāhā was a great patron of Bengali. Mālādhar Vasu, a native of Kulingrāma, and one of his courtiers was employed by him to translate the Bhāgavata into Bengali, and after two chapters of this work had been translated by him, in 1480 A.D., the Emperor was pleased to confer on him the title of Gunarāj Khān. We have already referred to a translation of the Mahābhārata made by Kavīndra Parameçwar at the behest of Parāgal Khān. This Parāgal Khān was a general of Husen Sāhā, deputed by him to conquer Chittagong. Frequent references are found in old Bengali literature, indicating the esteem and trust in which Emperor Husen Sāhā was held by the Hindus. Kavindra Parameçwar had translated the Mahābhārata upto the Striparva, and Chhuti Khān son of Parāgal Khān, who had succeeded his father in the governorship of Chittagong, employed another poet named Çrīkaraṅa Nandī for translating the Açvamedh Parva of that epic. Çrīkaraṅ Nandī's translation has lately been published by the Sāhitya Parisada of Calcutta. The poet Ālāol, who lived about the middle of the seventeenth century, translated a Hindi work entitled Padmāvat by Mīr Mahammad in a highly sanskritised Bengali at the command of Māgan Thākur, a Mahammadan minister of the court of the Chief of Aracan. It should be noted here, that there are many instances where Mahammadans adopted Hindu names and the name Māgan Thākur should not lead us to mistake him for a Mahamaden. Ālāol was also employed by the Moslem chief—Solaman, to translate a Persian work into Bengali. Instances of like nature, where Mahammadan Emperors and Chiefs initiated and patronised translations of Sanskrit and Persian works into Bengali, are numerous, and we are led to believe, that when the powerful Moslem Sovereigns of Bengal granted this recognition to the Vernacular language in their courts, Hindu Rājās naturally followed suit. The Brahmins could not resist the influence of this high patronage; they were therefore compelled to favour the language they had hated so much, and latterly they themselves came forward to write poems and compile works of translation in Bengali. From the account we have found in some of the early Bengali works of translation, we can have a glimpse of the manner in which court patronage was accorded to the Bengali poets. When the shades of twilight settled on the dark green clumps of shrubby trees on the far Sonāmurā ranges, Parāgal Khān the Governor used to call his ministers, attendants and courtiers every evening to his palace at Parāgalpur in Feni, and before this illustrious audience, the translator of the Mahābhārata had to recite portions from his poems—the governor himself giving cheers in admiration of beautiful and interesting passages. The poet flattered his noble patron by calling him an incarnation of Hari in Kaliyuga and it is curious to note, that the Pāthān chief, who was a devout Mahammadan, enjoyed this compliment of the Hindu poet and did not take it as an affront.

Thus the appointment of Bengali poets to the courts of Hindu Rājās, grew to be a fashion after the example of the Moslem chiefs, and we find most of the works of our best poets dedicated to the kings and noble men who patronised them. Thus the works of Vidyāpati, the Maithil poet, are inseparably associated with Çiva Siṁha and other sovereigns of Mithilā. Mukundarām, the immortal author of Chandī, had for his patron Bānkurā Rāi, the Rājā of Ārah-Brāhmanbhumi. Rāmeçvara who wrote the "Çivāyana" enjoyed the patronage of Yaçovanta Siṁha, Raja of Karnagaḍa. Ghanarām, the author of "Dharmamangal" was the recipient of many favours from Kirttī Chandra, the Raja of Burdwan, and who can think of the great poet Bhārat Chandra without remembering his great friend and patron Kriṣṅa Chandra of Navadwipa? Raja Jay Chandra employed the poet Bhabānī Dās for compiling a translation of the Rāmāyaṅa; and many other valuable Sanskrit works were translated into Bengali under the auspices of the Kings of Tippera. We shall dwell upon all these works in their proper places hereafter.

We now confidently presume that the above proofs will he held sufficient to support the view, that the patronage and favour of the Mahammadan Emperors and chiefs gave the first start towards recognition of Bengali in the courts of the Hindu Rājās and to establish its claims on the attention of scholars. It is curious to observe that, more than once in history, we have owed the development of our language to the influence of foreign people from whom such help was the least expected. Mr. Nathanial Prassy Halhed, a European member of the Indian Civil Service, wrote the earliest Bengali grammar for us in the eighteenth century; and Bengali prose, in our own days, owes a good deal to the impetus given to it by the European missionaries.

The other causes, which contributed to a rapid development of Bengali during the Mahomedan period, may be briefly summed up as follows:—

(2) The revival of Hinduism, which we have called in this book as the Paurānik Renaissance.

(3) The great Vaiṣṅava movement in Bengal in the sixteenth century.

Chapter 2

CHAPTER II. Pre-Mahomedan Literature.

1. Aphorisms and wise-sayings,—Dāk and Khanā. 2. Dharma-cult—a form of Buddhism. 3. Ramāi Pandit and his Çuṅya Purāna. 4. Sahajiā-cult and its exponents. 5. Dharma-mañgal poems and the story related in them. 6. The ballads of the Pāl Kings. 7. The Çaiva-cult, how it faced Buddhism. 8. Genealogical records.

Before dealing with the literature of Bengal that grew up after the Mahomedan conquest, we propose to dwell here upon the fragments of literary works which have come down to us,—from a much earlier period. They consist of (1) Aphorisms and pithy sayings which served as a guide for domestic and agricultural purposes to the rural folk of Bengal. (2) Hand-books of mystic doctrines, based on Tāntrik forms of Buddhism. (3) Ballads and songs in honour of some of the Pāl Kings of Bengal. (4) Hymns, odes and songs describing the prowess of Dharma Thākur and other household deities. (5) Genealogical accounts of the Kulin families of Bengal.

1 Aphorisms and wise-sayings, Dāk and Khanā.

Referring to the earliest literature of Bengal, which bears the stamp of Buddhistic influence, we light upon Dakārṅava,—a Tāntrik work of the Buddhists, containing aphorisms and wise-sayings in old Bengali regarding agriculture, astrology, medicine and other nmtters of interest to domestic life. Mahāmahopādhyāya Haraprasāda Çastri found a copy of Dakārṅava in the custody of the Buddhists of Nepal. Dakārṅava gives specimens of a very old form of Bengali which may be traced to the tenth century of the Christian era. Dāk-Tantra is also a book of authority with the rural folk of Bengal, but it is popularly known here as "Dāker-Vachana." The latter work gives a smoothed down version of its precursor and prototype preserved in Nepal; but there are numerous lines to be found in the editions of the book published by the Baṭtalā Presses of Calcutta which retain their old and antiquated forms. It is impossible to get any clear sense out of such lines as:—

"আদি অন্ত ভুজসি৷ ইষ্টদেবে যেহ পুজসি॥ বুন্দা বুঝিয়া এড়িব লুণ্ড৷ আগল হৈলে নিবারিব তুণ্ড॥ আনহি বসতি আনহি গোয়ালি৷ হেন বসতের কি বাউলি॥ ভাষা বোল পাতে লিখি৷ বাটাহুব বোল পাড়ি সাখি॥ মধ্যস্থে যবে সমাধে ন্যায়৷ বলে ডাক বড় দুখ পায়॥ মধ্যস্থে যবে হেমাতি বুঝে৷ বলে ডাক নরকে পচে॥"

Probably the last portion refers to the rules for settling disputes by arbitration—a practice generally adopted in the old order of society. There are evident traces of Buddhistic views in these sayings. Buddhism, in its days of decline in India, became identical with scepticism. In Dāker-Bachana, we come across such views as these:—

"When we get a good palatable thing to eat, it is not wise to keep it for to-morrow. Enjoy curds and milk; if they bring on disease, get it cured by medicine. For, says Dāk, when one dies, there is an end of his connection with the world." This is quite an un-Hindu idea. The pleasures of the present moment are condemned by the Hindu Çāstras and the views quoted above remind us of Chārvāka and other free-thinkers, and we have said that the Buddhists of the latter-day school had turned into free-thinkers like Chārvāka. The Buddhistic Dharma Çāstra lays special stress on charitable works. In the short epigrammatic sayings of Dāk, there are many passages calling on a house-holder to perform works of charity and public good.

"One who is anxious to do a virtuous act, should dig tanks and plant trees (for the benefit of the people). One who founds institutions for the distribution of rice and water, never goes to Hell."

We miss in these sayings, the familiar injunctions for prayer and worship, indispensable in a book of rules for the guidance of a Hindu house-holder; and and here we can draw a clear line of demarcation between the state of society before and after the revival of Hinduism in Bengal. All rules and codes framed for the guidance of men and women in our society, after the downfall of Buddhism have a distinct and unmistakable reference to the metaphysical side of religion. In them a far greater stress is laid on devotion to gods than on principles of morality. The Hindu priests even go so far as to declare, that a man committing the worst of sins, may secure a place in Heaven by uttering the name of God, a single time. The Dāker Vachana evidently belongs to a period anterior to the acceptance of this ideal in society.

Dāker Vachana is not the only book of its kind in old Bengali. Khanār Vachana furnishes an equally old specimen of our vernacular. The latter is more popular with the masses and has, therefore undergone far greater changes than Dāker-Vachana. We, however often light upon old and antiquated forms of expressions in it, which remind us, that though simplified and altered, the sayings must also be traced to an early age. Though the subjects treated of, in the two books, cover a varied field, by far the greater portion of them is devoted to agricultural subjects. In Bengal, where the people are chiefly of the peasant class, these sayings are accepted as a guide by millions;—the wisdom they display is the result of acute observation of nature and has a special significance in regard to the soil and climate of Bengal. We quote some of them below:—

"If it rains in the month of Agrahāyaṅa, the king goes a-begging.

"If it rains in the month of Pouṣa, money may be had even by selling the chaff.

"If it rains at the end of the month of Māgha, the king and his country become blessed.

"If it rains in Fālgun, the millet Chīnākāon (Peanicum miliaceum) grows abundantly."

"Khanā says, the paddy thrives in the sun and the betel in the shade."

"If the paddy gets profuse sunshine by day, and showers by night, it rapidly develops. Khanā says, the drizzling rain in the month of Kārtic, does immense good to the paddy."

"Hear, O son of ploughman, in the bamboo-bush put some smut of paddy, if you do so near the root of the shrubs, they will soon cover two Kuḍas of land (about 174 cubits square)."

"O son of ploughman, plant patol (Trichosanthes diœca) in a sandy soil, your expectations will be fulfilled."

"Sow the seeds of mustard close, but those of rye (Sinapis ramose) at some distance from one another. Cotton plants should be put at the distance of a leap from one another and jute should, by no means, be planted near them, for cotton plants will perish if they come in contact with the water from the jute-field.""

There are numerous rules of this nature laid down on agricultural matters, with special application to the products of the soil of Bengal. The books serve to this day as infallible agricultural manuals to the ploughmen of Bengal. The short sentences rhyming with one another are soon committed to memory; so every child and every woman knows them in rural Bengal.

The following rule is enjoined for building a residential house:—

"On the east, let there be the ducks (i.e. there should be a tank); on the west, an avenue of bamboos; on the north, a garden of fruit-trees; and the south should be left open"

The chapter on medicine is not taken from any learned Sanskrit medical work. The indigenous plants and herbs of rural Bengal are prescribed as remedies, the effects of which seem to be infallible on the human system and were known by direct experiment. The discourse on the culinary art of Bengal in Dãker vachan has a particular interest to us, as it describes the simple but exceedingly delicious fare, cooked by our village women. In plainness and in delicacy of taste, these dishes bear a striking contrast with the rich preparations of meat, introduced in the later times by the Mahammadans.

In Dāker-vachan we find an interesting study of female character which, I am afraid, will not be fully appreciated by people unacquainted with the life in our zenana. We give some extracts below:—

"The husband is inside the house, the wife sits out-doors, and turns her head on all sides and smiles. With such a wife, says Dāk, the husband's life is not secure."

"The hearth is in the kitchen, but the wife cooks meals outside, she swells her small tresses and ties them into a large knot, and frequently turns back her head (as if to see somebody). She empties the pitcher, and goes to the pond for re-filling it, casts side-glances on the passers-by, and covertly glances at some stranger while talking with neighbours on the road, hums a tune while lighting the evening lamp. Such a woman should not be kept in the house."

The sky of Bengal, clear and transparent in the early spring, foggy in winter, and full of frowning clouds and angry flashes of lightnings in the rainy months, ever changing its aspects from month to month, cannot fail to strike a keen observer of nature with the clearly defined lines of its varied weather. The various seasons produce different results on the human system, on the paddy-fields, and on the variegated flowers and leaves of trees with which the villages abound. Life here changes, as it were, from month to month and Nature picturesquely disports herself on the stage of this beautiful country through the twelve sub-divisions of the year. The "Vāramāsī" or a description of twelve months is a favourite subject with our old poets, who seem to be never weary of describing the peculiar pleasures and sorrows of each of the twelve months. Here, in these two manuals, there are frequent references to the conditions of weather foretelling the prospects of paddy during each month of the year. Food, peculiarly congenial to the human system in each season and month, is detailed in Dāker Vachana in strict accordance with the principles of health. I quote a portion below:—