Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute

SANSKRIT LITERATURE OF THE VAISNAVAS OF BENGAL

Author(s): Chintaharan Chakravarti
Source: Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Vol. 10, No. 1/2 (1929), pp.
114-126
Published by: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute
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SANSKRIT LITERATURE OF THE VAISNAVAS

OF BENGAL
BY

Chintaharan Chakravarti, M. A.
Vaisnavism, - the worship of Krsna Visnu - it cannot be

denied, has a long history behind it in Bengal. Excavations,

in Paharpur, Rajasahi, are reported to have brought to light
images of Rdh and Krsna, of the Gupta period testifying
to the prevalence of Vaisnavism in some form even in such an

early date. The Susunia Rock inscription1 also points to the

same conclusion. We meet with traces of Vaisnavism in the

epigraphic records of the Pala period as well. It seems to have

been almost in a flourishing condition during the Sena rule, as
is shown, among other things, by the celebrated work of
Jayadeva-the Gltagovinda.2
This Vaisnavism got a fresh impetus and took a new turn
from after the rise of Caitanya in the 15th century, so much so
that Vaisnavism is now popularly believed to be nothing but
what was preached by that great master. The new shape given
to Vaisnavism by Caitanya which may as well conveniently be
termed Caitanyism-had a good many important characteristics.
It is not the place to deal with them at any length here. What
1 Ep . 2nd, vol. XIII. p. 133.
2 It may be noted in passing that this produotion of a Bengali poet is one
of the most popular works in the whole field of Sanskrit literature. An
idea of the enviable popularity enjoyed by it may be formed not only from
the unusually large number of Mss. found of the work all over the country,

but also from the numerous commentaries of the work- more than forty
mentioned by Aufrecht in the Catalogus Cat alo gor um - composed by
scholars hailing from different parts of India. It had even acquired the
sanctity of a religious work by the end of the 15th century ( S. K. Chatter ji -

Origin and Development of Beng . Lang, p. 216.). In consequence of its

widespread popularity works came to be composed by poets of different

parts of India in imitation of this. And about a dozen of these woaks

are known.

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Sanskrit Literature of the Vaisnavas of engat 115

we require for our purposes to note is its proselytising spirit
which found expression, among other things, in the immense
literary activities of the followers of the great Vaisnava reformer.
A vast amount of literature both in Bengali and Sanskrit was

produced evidently with a view to popularise the teachings of

Caitanya and thus strengthen the new sect with fresh converts.
Quite an important place is occupied by the literature of the
Vaisnavas in the history of Bengali literature as a whole, and
it has already attracted the proper attention of scholars. But the
study of the Sanskrit literature of the Vaisnavas does not seem

to have spread to any appreciable extent beyond the members of

the sect. And scholars outside Bengal seem to have very little
idea of the vast extent or the nature of this literature, partly
owing to its sectarian character and partly on account of most
of the works, in Mss. or print, being in the Bengali script.

The importance of this extensive literature, however, in the

history of Indian literature as a whole cannot, of course,, ,be
denied. For even here we occasionally meet with works that
decidedly have a universal appeal and deserve to be carefully and
critically studied by scholars. Looked at from the standpoint

of cultural history, it represents a line of development which,

whatever be its merit, should not be left out of account. And as

it embodies the dogmas and rituals of a sect which had and still
has an immense hold on not a negligible section of the people
of Bengal a thorough study of it is expected to throw much
lurid light on the obscure and chequered religious history of
Bengal. And it seems to be owing to these facts that
Mm. H. P. Shastri felt in the nineties the want of a systematic
account of the vast Vaisnava literature of Bengal ( Notices if
Sanskrit Mss -Vol. XI, Preface p. xi ).

This literature, sectarian though it was, did not consist

solely of purely religious works dealing merely with philosophy
and ritualism. We have got works almost in every branch of
Sanskrit literature, - Kvya, drama, grammar and even Poetics
written by the followers of Caitanya and all bearing the marks of
the new faith. And this fact justifies a separate treatment of those

works. It is also an interesting study to see how they

could utilise all these heterogenous branches of study for convey-

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116 Aiutala qf the Bhandarkar Orientai Research InatUute

ing the teaohingg of their master to the masses. This literature
is thus found to possess a peculiar ' communal ' interest too, as
it seems to indicate a desire on the part of the Vais nav a teachers

to be self-contained from a literary stand-point by creating an

independent literature for themselves, in the various branches,
which preserved the peculiarities of the faith so that Vaisnava
children might imbibe the spirit of the faith from their very
student life.

It is now proposed to give a brief account of the literary output of the followers of Caitanya in the different branches of
Sanskrit literature. The Vaisnava literature of Bengal of the
Fre-Caitanya period is small and has very little distinguishing
feature.

It will be noticed that this vast amount of literature covering

a variety of subjects was principally the work of about half a

dozen scholars. Decidedly the major portion of it belongs to the
two brothers Rpa and Santana who were the immediate
disoiples of Caitanya and their worthy nephew JIva. It was
primarily they that fixed the rituals and philosopby-the two most

important things of a religious system-of Caitanyaism. They

were all polymaths, having quite a huge number of works to
the credit of each. The position occupied by them in the
Vaisnava hierarchy is highly honourable. All subsequent writers
are found to aooord even as much respect to them as to the great

founder of the sect. Of other important writers we may refer

to the names of Krsnadsa Kavirja, Kavikarnapra and Vivantha Cakravartl. The founder of the school- Caitanya-does
not seem to have composed any work expounding his dootrines.
Two works of his-which would have been of immense value

had they sur' ived-viz. a commentary on the Bhgavata and a

commentary on some work on Nyya-are believed to have been
either destroyed or concealed by the Great Master so that the
fame of others may not suffer by their publication {Mnasl O
Marmawyi Vol. XIX Pt. IL p. 54 ff). There is room for legitimate doubt as regards the authorship of several minor works
generally attributed to him.

A. peculiarity of most of the Vaisnava writers that may be

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Sanskrit Literature of the Vaisnavas of Bengal 117

noted here, is their extreme modesty1 whroh does not permit
them to explicitly specify their Dames in many a work of their
authorship. It seems to be on account of this that a good deal
of controversy is found to have centred round the authorship . of

a number of work-specially those of Rpa, Santana and Jiva.

Several instances of this kind of confusion have already been
noted by Dr. S. K. De in his Studies in the Hist . of Sans . Poetics

( vol. I, p. 255. f. n. 3. ) We may here point out some more

instances. Hamsadta , generally known to be a work of Rpa
is found to have been attributed to Jiva (CS. vol. VI, No. 162) and
also to one Devadsa in a Ms. of the work and a commentary

on it in the Dacca University ( which I had occasion to see ).

The Vaisnavatosin, a commentary on the tenth Book of the
Bhgavata , believed to be a work of Santana, is also ascribed to
Jiva and Rpa ( Aufrecht I, p. 4026, IF, p. 917 ). The Ha nmmrta-Vykararia , supposed to be a work of Jiva is attributed to
Rpa ( .Descriptive catatogue of Sanskrit M ss -in the A . SsB. - Gram.

R. L. Mitra-p. 70 ). But the names of the real authors may be

gathered from an elaborate account of the literary activities of
Rpa, Santana and Jiva given by Jiva himself at the end of
his Laghutosini-o, commentary on the Vaisnava-tosini.

Every religion is found to have a philosophical system of

its own, on the basis of which the doctrines

Philosophy an(j tenets peculiar to it are sought to be

explained. And Neo-Vaisnavism of Bengal
was not an exception to this rule. It also evolved a full-fledged
philosophy of its own which, in course of time, came to be known

as the Gaudiya Vaisnava philosophy. This is properly a subschool of Vednta, based primarily on the Madhva system,
though it was influenced by the Nimbrka and Vallabha schools
as well. But it has its points of difference from the school of
Madhva. Thus, according to the latter, the object of adoration
is Visnu alone, no divinity being ascribed to his consort Laksmi.
But according to the Gaudiya school, Visnu together with his

consort should be worshipped. Devotion in conjunction with

1 A curious instance of this is supplied by the following colophon found at

the end of an anthological work, the Kaviratnkara ( S. S. P )

fif
S
<1
:
16

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118 Annata cf the Bhandarkar Orientai Research Institute

action, assert the Madhvas, lead to salvation. Devotion, pure

and unmixed, is the cause of salvation - this is the view of the
followers of Caitanya. According to the school of Madhva,

salvation can be attained by Brahman devotees alone, but the

Gaudlya school is more liberal and asserts the equal right of allirrespective of caste -to that supreme goal of life. The most
distinguishing features of the Bengal school of Vaisnavism are
( 1 ) the doctrine of acintya-bhedabheda ( incomprehensible
difference-non-difference ) ( 2 ) Prominence given to the
Vrndvana-lll of Krsna in contra-distinction to the attitude of
the different Vaisnava schools of the South.

The work which the followers of this school regard as the

most important and authoritative is the Bhgavata- Purva.
This Purna, they suppose, wa composed to elucidate the Vedanta
Stras and is regarded by them as the commentary on the said

Sutras. Thus not a negligible portion of the philosophical works

of this school is covered by direct commentaries on the Bhgavata

and also by independent works composed to elucidate and

systematically present the views of it. Of direct commentaries
on it, mention may be made of the works of Santana, Jva,
Visvantha and Baladeva Vidybhsana. Besides these, the
Brhad-bhgavatmrta of Santana and Laghu- Bhgavatrnrta of
Rpa, which is an abridgement of the former, deal with the
teachings of the Bhgavata.
The most important, popular and scholarly work that sets forth
in detail the philosophy of the Bhgavata is the Bhgavata9 or Sat -

Sandarbha of Jiva Gosvmin ( Ed. by Syamlal Gosvamin,

Calcutta ). It consists of six books dealing with six different
topics viz. Tattva-Sandarbha, Bhgavata % Paramtma0, Brhrsria3,
BhktC , and Prtt. The present work is stated to have been based

on a work of Gopla Bhatta, the famous disciple of Caitanya,

which appears to have been fragmentary and incomplete. An
abridgement of this voluminous work, presumably by Jiva himself, is the Sarasafhgraha ( CS. X. p. 96 ).

But works on the Bhgavata alone could secure no recognition

for the Bengal Vaisnavas among those of other provinces -, for a
Bchool was required to have commentaries of its own on the
Vednta-Stras,[the Bbagavad-git and Upaniads to entitle itself

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Sanskrit Literature of the Vaisnavas of Bengal 119

to that recognition, And, it is told, that it was to win that
recognition for this sohool that Balade va Vid ybheaa composed

a commentary on the Yed&nta- Sutras, called the Oovinda-bhsya

(Purna Krylaya, Calcutta 1301 B. S.).1 This embodies the
doctrines peculiar to the school. Baladeva flourished sometime in
the middle of the 18th century. Thus chronologically he was
about the last among the host of scholars who from time to time

wrote commentaries ( bhsaya ) on that highly popular work-the

V ednta-Str as. But this was not the only work composed by
Baladeva. Like Rpa and Jva he was a polymath, writing on a
variety of subjects. Other philosophical works composed by him
were : -

( 1 ) Commentary on the Bhagavad-glta ( published by the

Gaudlya Matha, Calcutta ) ( 2 ) Commentary on the ten

Upanisads - Isa,* Ken, Katha, Prana, Mundaka, Mindkya,

Aitareya, Taittirlya, Chndogya, and Brhadraryaka ( S )
Siddhntaralna or Bhsya-plthka - ( Sarasvati Bbavan Series )
( 4 ) Prameya-ralnaval ( S. S. P. Series ) an elementary treatise on
the Vaisnava philosophy of Bengal. This work follows the schcol
of Madhva in toto as is indicated by the author in the

introductory portions of his work. ( 5 ) Vednta-Syamantaka

which seems to deal with the elements of Vednta philosophy.

It was probably about the time of Baladeva that Anpanryana iromani who was apparently a follower of the school
of Caitanya, wrote a gloss entitled the SamajasU-vrth 8 on the
Vednta-Stra. At the end of his work he dedicates it to Caitanya

and refers to Rpa and Svarpa in respectful terms. But

probably owing to the fact that he was not one of the recognised
gesvmins ( teachers ) held in high respect by the Vaisnavas that
his work received scant appreciation and is now little known.
Similar fate seems to have attended several other works as

well which appear to have been composed from time to time.

Of these reference may be made to the Tattvadipika - a 'short
Vaisnava treatise of great interest by Vsudeva Sarvabhauma,
1 Introduction to Prameya-ratnvati ( S. S. P. Serie ).

2 A Ms. of this work i ip the Library of the Sanskrit Sahitya ParihM,

alcutt^.

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120 Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute

the well-known Naiyyika and teacher of Caitanya ( Saraevati
Bhavan Studies vol. IV. p. 68 ).
The most important ritualistic work of the V aisnavas is the
Haribhakti- Vilsa > or Bhagavad-bhakti-vilasa

Rituals ag sometimes called ( Baharampur,

Radharaman Press ). The work seems to

have been composed by Santana as is recorded at the end of the
Laghutosini of Jva as also in Caitanya- Caritmrta of Krsnadsa
( Bk. II, chapter 24 ). It is this work which still regulates the
religious rites of the Vaisnavas.1 If any proof of its popularity
was needed, it is supplied by an early metrical Bengali translation

of the work by one Kni Dsa, a Ms. of which work is reported

to have recently been acquired by the Dacca University (Ind. Ant .

1928, p. 2 ). It is a very big work consisting of 20 vilsas and is

composed in verses, small prose lines occurring only as introduction
to extracts quoted from other works. It lays down, among other

things, rules for the defferent festivals to be observed by the

Vaisnavas in honour of Krsna. It scarcely refers to any festival
connected with any god beyond the pale of Vaisnavism. It is
curious that of all other popular festivals belonging almost

exclusively to the Saivas or Sktas ( like Durgpj etc.) it is

found to prescribe ivaratri - a festival in honour of god Siva - for

the Vaisnavas. This may be owing to the immense popularity of

it which rendered it impossible to be neglected.
It should here be noted that the work does make no reference

to Satyanryaria or offerings ( strni ) made to him. The omission

does not seem to be accidental, but might in all probability have

been a significant one pointing to the fact that this god-who is
generally supposed to have been the result of an amalgamation of

Satyapira of the Moslems with Nryana of the Hindus-had not

yet found any important place in the Hindu pantheon. It does
not also refer to the well-known festival of rsa-ytr in honour
of Krsna.8
1 It does not, however, cover all rites, as no section is devoted to SaniBkara

( sacraments ) or Srddha ( funeral rites ) though a section is set apart

for difesa or initiation.

2 The festival ia not also found to have been referred to in the ytttr-tattv

pf Raghunandana,

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Sanskrit Literature of the Vaisnavas of Bengal 121

Of minor works reference may be made to the Sarasathgraha -

dipik by Rmaprasda Devasarm (HPS III, 343). It deals

with the worship of Krsna pointing out its excellence. It is stated

to have a section on Vaisnava raddha. Works like ri-Radha

Krsna-Pujpaddhoti-nibandha ( CS X. 102), Vaisnavhnikapaddhati

( CS X. 116 ). Samksepa-Bhakti-Sdhanapaddhati ( CS. X. 114 )

though anonymous seems to have originated in Bengal being
found only in Bengali characters. But they have got very little
deserving a critical analysis.

The Vaisnava Kvyas and dramas the number of which is

almost a legion deal almost exclusively with

Kvyas ^ gj.ory 0f ^sna and his associates, while

there aie a few which seek to depict the
life story of Caitanya. Very few of them, it must be admitted,
have got any poetic excellence in them which can attract the

attention of non- Vaisnavas. They were composed either to

demonstrate the divinity of Krsna or the superiority of Caitanya

to the ordinary human beings, and though some of them aim at

displaying artificial beauty, they have got very little intrinsio
merit in general.

nandavrndvnacamp of Kavikarnapra is a campii^ or a

Kvya work in prose and poetry mixed, in 22 stavakas or chapters
dealing with the life story of Krsna (Pandit Baijnath Pustakalaya,

Mathura ). Muktcaritra of Raghunthadsa ( Brindavana

Caitanybda 422 ) describes the amours of Rdh and Krsna.
Raghunthadsa was earlier than Jiva Gosvmin, who mentions
him in the first verse of his Goplacamp. It is a campu Kvya

consisting both of prose and poetry. Govindalllmrta of

Krsnadsa Kavirja who is well-known as the author of the
Bengali work Caitanya- Caritamrta, which was composed in
1503 S. E. ( Baharampur, Radharaman Press, 1308 B. S. ). The

work is complete in 23 sargas . This seems to have been one of the

most popular Vaisnava kvyas It was translated into Bengali

verses by Yadunandana Dsa as early as the year 1610 A. D.

Numerous Mss., found in various places and noticed and described by various scholars, also testify to its popularity. But
curiously enough there has been a confusion with regard to its
authorship. It h fis bpen attribute either to Baghu&tha Bhatta

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122 Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute

or to Baghuntha Daga by various scholars though the name of
the author is definitely given as Krsnadsa in a verse of the work

( XXIII, 95 ) and in the Bengali translation of it just referred

to. And tradition current among the Vaisnavas confirms this
ascription.1 Ooplacamp of Jvagosvmin is another work,
depicting the life story of Krsna ( Ed. by Basa-Bihari Samkhya-

tirtha, Baharampur). It is a very big work complete in two parts-

pUrvacamp in 33 pur anas and uttaracamp in 37 puravas. The

first part was completed in 1510 S. E. and the second in 1514 S. E.

Vivantha CakravartI whose commentary on the Bhgavala was

completed in 1626 S. E. composed the Srkrsna-bhvanmrta in 20
cantos ( Ed. by Nit y a Svarpa Brahmacrin-Caitanybda 428 ).
There is, besides these, a huge nnmber of smaller and minor
works, too numerous to mention here. The Dvtakvyas not only
of Bengal but of other places also were in no small degree influenced by Vaisnavisin and were principally the productions of
Vaisnava poets.8
There are several dramatic compositions of the Vaisnavas. Of

these three at least belong to Bpa, namely, Lalitamdhava,

Vidagdhamdhava and Lnakeli-kaumudh They all describe the
story of the life of Krsna.

Historical kvyas or caritakvyas as they may more properly be

designated deal almost exclusively with the life-story of

Caitanya. Works of this type were produced in large numbers
both in Sanskrit and Bengali. Some of them are highly popular
even to this day. The most popular of them is the Caitanyacarit-

mrta by Krsnadfisa Kavirja composed in 1503 S. E., which,

though written in Bengali, is interspersed with Sanskrit verses
either of the poet's own composition or taken from various works

of other authors. The work had become so much popular that

even these were gathered together exactly in the order in which
they occur in the original and treated as a separate book under
the title lokasamgraha or Caitanya-caritmrta-lckasaihgraha. Mss.

of this latter work are met with occasionally. A manuscript of

1 This has been made clear in a note on the authorship of the GovindaHlmrta Ind . Ant . ( Nov. 1928).

2 See my article on the Origin and Development of DutakUvya Literatury

fy Sanskrit . ( Indian Historical" Quart erly, vol . JJJ, ppt 27 Sff ).

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Sanskrit Literature of the Vacavas of Bengal 123

a commentary on these verses by one Vrndvanacandra Tarklamkra has also come down in a fragmentary form ( CS. X, 41 ).
Of works written exclusively in Sanskrit almost all were
written by men who were contemporaries of Caitanya. Thus a
Caitanyacarita is said to have been composed by Gopntha Kavikanthbharana, son-in-law of Vsnudsa, maternal uncle of

Caitanya.1 Vsudeva Srvabhauma, originally teacher and then

a disciple of Caitanya is also stated to have composed a Caitanya -

Carita ( Bangya Shitya Parisat- Patrika, vol. IV, p. 201 ).

Krsna-Caitanya- Sarita was composed by Murari Gupta in 1425
S. E., as is expressly stated in the concluding verse of the
work ( Published by Mrinal Kanti Ghosh from the Partika Press,
Baghbazar-Caitanya era 426 ). This is one of the earliest available works on the life-story of the great Vaisnava teacher of
Bengal. The book is a fairly long one being complete in four
sections, each of which consists of several cantos. The first
section contains 14 cantos, the second 18, the third 18 and the

fourth 26. From the very beginning we get a deified picture of

the great master who is represented as an incarnation of Lord
Visnu and as such his birth was acclaimed by all the gods who
came to Sac, his mother, just after her conception to pay their
homage to her as she was to be the exalted mother of the Lord.
The book is full of the description of the supernatural powers of
the Master and his unparallelled devotion to Visnu. The work

is written in the epic style not improbably to give it an epic

appearance and earn for it the respect which is due to an epic. It
has a good many instances of the lapsus lingua which is a characteristic feature of the epic literature of Sanskrit.
The Caitanyacaritmrta Mahkvya is another work of this

type ( Baharampur-Radharaman-Press-1332 B. S. ). The author

of the work is believed to have been the well-known poet Kavikarnapra though nowhere in book his name is found to occur.
It was composed in 1464 S. E.
The sectarian character of even some of the more well-known

grammars is clearly betrayed by the illus-

Grammars trations given by the different grammatical functions. Thus the Vaisuavite Mugdha
1 An extract from this work giving the ancestry of Caitanya is quoted i u
V anger Jftya lit'Ssa-H. Basu- vol. III, p. 218ff.

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14 Annata of the hndcirfcar Oriental Research Inehture

bodha is always found to refer to Krsna and his associates in

all his examples. In the non-Brahmanic Kalapa not a single

reference to any of the mythological persons or stories is found.
But the spirit of sectarianism seems to have been carried to its
furthest extreme. And the best known example of this is the
Haririmmrta Vykarani . a grammar of some populiarity among

the more orthodox Vaisnavas of Bengal. It is generally attributed to Jvagosvmin, nephew of the celebrated Rpa. He
completed his Gopla-Camp in 1514 S. E. A manuscript in
the Asiatio Society of Bengal is however found to ascribe it to
Rpa ( Descriptive Catalogue of Sanskrit Mss. of the A . S. i?. -Gram.

R. L. Mitra. Gram-p. 70 and 163 ). The peculiarity of this work

lies not only in its reference to the acts of Krsna etc. in the
illustrations of grammatical functions but also in indicating the
various technical terms of grammar by the difft reiit names of
Krsna, Rdh and their associates, the mere utterance of which
is supposed to earn religious merit for the reader. Thus the
climax is reached here in the attempt to popularise the religious
tenets through various branches of literature.

We get mention of two other grammars of the Vaisnavas of

Bengal, namely Caitanymrta ( Colebrooke - Miscellaneous Essays ,

Ed, by Cowell - 1873, vol. II, p. 44 ) and Vykararia-kaumudi of

Baladeva Vidybhsana. The former of these seems to have
been a sectarian one as the name clearly shows. Sectarian

grammars also seem to have been known even when Jiva wrote,
as Vitthalcrya (1st half of the 16th century) in his commentary
on the PrakriydrKaumudl is said to have often referred to a Lama-

Vykarava ( Colebrooke - op. cit., p. 49 ), which from its name

seems to have been sectarian. A sectarian grammar of the
Saivas probably by a Bengalee is the Prabodha-praka ( I. O. II,
911, R. L. Mitra, op. cit., p. 70 ). The author of this work is
Balarma Pacanana. This work is also of the type of Hari nmmrta.

It is curious that though Bengal had evolved a style of her

own from a very early period her contributions to the theories of poetic composition
cannot be said to be much. In fact, we
scarcely meet with any works on poetics in Bengal before the

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Sanskrit Literature of the Vaisnavas of Bengal 125

15th century. From after the 15th century Bengal produced
several original works on poetics. Most of these are the works
of Vaisnava teachers arid are sectarian in character. They have
nt therefore attained much popularity among the people in
general, and their studies are confined within the Vaisnavas alone.

Thus the works of Bengal could not supersede well-known

standard works like the Kvyapraka of Mammata which

continued to be studied here as elsewhere and this is proved by

the commentaries by Bengalees on these works. But in spite of
their sectarian character the rhetorical works of the Vaisnavas

of Bengal are found fo have made important contributions on the

topic of rasa ( sentiment ). They count bhakti ( devotion ) as a

separate rasa and deal with it in full detail. The illustrative
verses of these works, again, mostly deal with the life-story of
Krsna and his associates.

The earliest work of Bengal on poetics seems to have been the

Vaisnavite Ujjavalanilamayi ( Kvyaml and Baharampur ) of

Rpagosvmin, an immediate disciple of Caitanya and a
Vaisnava writer of much renown. In his work Rpa describes
Bhakti ( devotion ) as a separate rasa. The work has got several
commentaries of which those of his nephew Jva (Baharampur
1889 ) and Vis vantha CakravartI (Kvyaml, 1913) are well
known. An independent work was also composed by
Bpa with the sole object of fuller exposition of the
sentiment of Bhakti . This is his Bhaktirasmrtasindhu (Baharam-

pur ). Rpa had also a work on dramaturgy called Ntakacandrik ( Cassimbazar - 1313 B. S. ). The work is definitely
stated to have been based, on the Sastra of Bharata and also on a
work called Basa-sudhakara. Just at the beginning the author

utters a fling against the celebrated work the ShHya-Barpana

which, he says, is full of inacurracy and gees against the view
of Bharata. The work deals with only one form of Drama,
namely, Ntaka. The examples given in the work are from
various Vaisnava books of which some are of his own composition. As a matter of fact most of these are taken from the

Lalita-Mdhava so much so that it might as well be supposed to

have been composed to elucidate the dramatic technique of
the latter.
17

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126 Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute

One more important work on Poetics by a Vaisnava writer is
Alatiikra-kaustubha of Kavikaryapura , another famous writer

(Baharampur 1899; also V. R. S. series' The use of the study and

composition of a kvya according to this author, is not fame etc.
alone, as other rhetoricians have it, tut the enjoyment of that
bliss which results from the absorption of the heart in the story of
the amours of Krspa ( I. 8 ). He counts bhakti, vtsalya and prema

under rasa ( V. R. S. ed. p. 148 ). He finds fault with his predecessors without mentioning their names as regards the definition
of kavya which he defines as 1 the composition of a poet ' ( Kavi
w-nirmitih kavyam ).

List of Abbreviations used in the above article

Ep. Ind. - Epigraphia Indica.

CS - Descriptive Catalogue of Sanskrit

Manuscripts in the Library of the
Government Sanskrit College,
Calcutta.

Ind. Ant. - Indian Antiquary.

I. O. - Descriptive Catalogue of Sanskrit
Manuscripts in the India Office
Library, London.

S. S. P. - Sanskrit Sahitya Pariphat, Calcutta.

V. R. S. - Varendra -Research Society, Rajshahi, Bengal.

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