Page:History of Bengali Language and Literature.djvu/104

74 The great compiler of these rules in the 16th century in Bengal was Raghunandan Bhattāchāryya and he is up to the present the greatest authority in the country with the orthodox community. To a superficial observer, the Herculean efforts made by Raghunandan in collating a vast body of ancient Sanskrit works, in order to settle very minor points in the every-day life of a Hindu, will appear like lost labour; but diving deeper into the subject, and applying the principles of historical evolution to it, the reader will find a rational explanation for the popularity of Aṣtāviṁsaṭi Ṭaṭṭva—the great work of Raghunandan, and have to admit that the age was in eminent need of such a scholar. If the country had not wanted him, why should his book have been accepted by the people of Bengal? He did not possess any arbitrary power to enforce his code upon the multitude. They submitted to his yoke willingly.

On particular lunar days, particular foods prove uncongenial to the human system. This is the current belief of Indians. Raghunandan devotes an important chapter of his work to a consideration of this point. The details of methods for performing Çrāddha and other religious ceremonies, for observing fasts and vigils, the restrictions against marriage between the people of the same caste, and against long journeys by sea or land,—such are the subjects which have been treated with patient scholarship in