Page:History of Bengali Language and Literature.djvu/223

 _IV.] BENGALI LANGUAGE & LITERATURE. 103 heart of the earth, as the weary and the heavy laden are soothed by Ram’s name.” In spite of its ingenuity, which might have made it artificial, this poem is full of simple faith. But, however this be, there is nothing to be found in the original Sanskrit poem of Valmiki which would give any opportunity to the poet for indulging in such fancies. Che: all which followed Krittivasa’s work, that by Raghu- the translations of the Ramayana Raghunan. dan Gos- wam}, nandan Goswami is decidedly the best. This has been published by the Battala publishing firms in Calcutta. It commands a good sale. The author was a learned man, and his writings display fault- less rhyme, and a great command over language. It is a work which attracts more by the richness of its rythmical expression, its finished style of composition, and its variety of metre than by pathos or power of delineating character and feel- ings. Itis based not only on the Ramayana of ‘almiki but also on the Hindi recension by Tulasi Das, and on some of the Puranas in which the story of Ram Chandra is re-told. The author was born in the village, Mar, in the district of Burdwan and completed the Rama- rasayana, as his poem is called, in the middle of the 18th century. He belonged to the illustrious family of Nityananda; and his father’s name was Kigorl- mohan Goswami. He dedicated the book to Radha Madhava, the tutelary deity of his family. It is difficult to shew in translation the rythm and the elegance of metre of a particular language, =