Page:History of Bengali Language and Literature.djvu/192

 162. BENGALI LANGUAGE & LITERATURE. [ Chap. Sita. woman in Bengal, however illiterate, was ignorant of the sufferings of the faultless Sita, her trial and ভন, her exile; of the wonderful devotion of Savitri, who followed her husband Satyavana even in death; ত্র of Damayanti and her wonderful resourcefulness in a the recovery of her husband, Nala; of Chinta, the Chinta. devoted wife of King Crivatsa ; of the calm courage of Queen Kaucalya who could say to her son Ram on the eve of his exile, ‘‘Go thou to the forest for Kaucalya, ; the cause of virtue; and may the virtue and truth, which thou hast so faithfully followed, preserve thee!’ Such were the stories and traditions by which the minds and characters of the masses were formed. When we read in the Chandi Kavya by Mukundarama, of Kalketu, the illiterate huntsman, referring to texts from the Bhagvata, in his soliloquy on the banks of the Ajoy; of his wife Phullarg ex- plaining to the Goddess Chandi the imprudence of visiting at strange houses, and illustrating her argu- ment by chapter and verse from the Ramayana; or of Khullana, the beautiful wife of Dhanapati, freely quoting from the Puranas, as she talks with her co-wife Lahang, one need not be surprised at this display of learning even by people who sprang from the lower classes of Hindu society. The Transla- translations of the Puranas had by this time reach- tions ; : reached ed the humblest cottage in Bengal. The way in the humbl- est Bengali cottage. women is interesting. The translated works were which they were made familiar to illiterate men and recited to them by those amongst themselves who were able to read, but a far greater popularising of Pauranik stories was carried out by the perfor- Profession- : ; alsingers. mances of the professional singers. These people, The Mangal | ী Gayaks, Mangal Gayaks, as they are called, give their