Page:Classical Poets Of Gujarat.pdf/81

 throughout the country, crushingly overwhelmed alt -castes and communities, threw the temples of Vishnu into minority, and, even in the regions of poetry, raised their heads during this period. About four Jain Jatis, tun Sadhus or ascetics of the Swami Narayan sect, six -devotees of Rama and four followers of Siva and Mata, tried their lots in the field of poetry with varied fortunes, and would have exceeded in quantity and excelled in ‘quality the poets of Vishnu, if it had not been that this latter class included the powerful Dayaram, the volumi- nous Girdhar, and a few others who, like the cloth-dyer Ratn6, composed sweet little songs and stirring love- ballads. Nor were the purer systems of philosophical and stoic religious unrepresented. For we have about fifteen poets who tried to sing the songs of Jnana Marga, which isacommon name for systems which, like the constructive part of Akho’s poetry, base themselves on ascetism and purity of heart and discuss the nature of the soul and her position in this world. These poets are erroneously and yet mostly known as Bhaktas; for in- ‘stance, the Dhiro Bhakta, the Bhojo Bhakta, and so on. ‘One of these, Nirdnta, got his philosophy even from a Mahomedan. These people represent the various shades of Akho, Kabir and the like; and their poems generally consist of detached and isolated songs. They have their charms and influence in the country; but there are so aany influences at work in the land, that since the age of