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The golden age of the Mauṋgalkávya(1) came in Ráŕh. Though the main theme of the Mauṋgalkávya was to establish certain deities – non-scriptural deities, Buddhist deities, Jain deities and Paoráńika deities – in society, in doing so the poets have depicted the joys and sorrows of the common people. Kavikankan Mukundaram (from Damunya of Burdwan) sketched a picture of the life of the distressed Ráŕh of his time in his Phullarár Váramasyá [“Twelve Months in the Life of Phullará”]. In order to show how the deities of the Mauṋgalkávya wreaked havoc on those at whom they became angry, the poets have depicted in words the life of that distressed Ráŕh.
In the post-Buddhist era, under the rule of the Paoráńika cult, no poet dared to express the kinds of tortures that were meted out to followers of Buddhism and Jainism. But when Islam arose, the Buddhist poets, experiencing the joy of heaving a free sigh, sang a song of liberation through their Mauṋgalkávya; that is, they opened their hearts. In Shúnyapuráńa, by Ramai Pandit, in Niraiṋjaner Ruśmá, and in Dharmamauṋgal by Ghanaram Chakravorty (Burdwan), etc., a clear picture has been presented of all this.
The age of Vaishnavite literature [Vaeśńavkávya] ran almost parallel with – sometimes a little ahead of, sometimes a little behind – the age of the Mauṋgalkávya. I am not speaking of Baul here since it is more verbal than written; whereas Vaishnavite literature, through writing, portrayal and oral expression has made itself exquisitely charming. The main theme of Vaishnavite literature is to define the relationship between the limited and the limitless. So wherever Vaishnavite literature has delved a little bit into one’s inner feeling, it has become delicately sweet, unparalleled in its soothing beauty. Since long before the advent of Mahaprabhu Chaitanyadev, Vaeśńava literature had been surging across Ráŕh. Jaydev, Barhu Chandidas, Dwija Chandidas, Dina Chandidas, Lochandas Thakur, Brindavandas Thakur, Naraharidas Thakur, Govindadas Thakur, Gyanadas Thakur – all were sons of Ráŕh, representatives of the aesthetic flow of Ráŕh. The deepest melody of Ráŕh reverberates on the ektárá [single-stringed instrument] of Baul. It was in this way that Vaishnavite padávalii [verses] and mahájaniiya kiirtanas originated. (Those who are great sádhakas and composers of Vaeśńava literature are called mahájanas [great souls].) This kind of Vaeśńava mystic literature is unparalleled in this world. This literature has added heretofore-unseen verdure to the almost treeless Ráŕh. Much later, Rabindranath too, sitting on the soil of Ráŕh, created unique cadence on the ektárá of Baul. Now the question is, from where did Ráŕh get this unprecedented literary wealth and incomparable treasury of art?
Footnotes
(1) See Chapter 2. –Trans.