Page:History of Bengali Language and Literature.djvu/406

 Pauranik spirit prominent in the poems, Mayur Bhatta and other poets. 370 BENGALI LANGUAGE & LITERATURE. [ Chap. through various cities besides ; everywhere did I see Sasthi Devi worshipped with great pomp; and nowhere in the whole country did I find a city so flourishing as Satagaon, where people dwelt in dense array on the banks of the Ganges.” 5. Dharma Mangal-poems recast by the Brahmins. As I said before, these poems were originally written to glorify Dharma Thakur who represented Buddha in the days of the degenerecy of Buddhism in Bengal. A wave of Hindu thought came surging upon the story, however, inlater days, and the poems were transformed in such a manner that Buddhistic ideas fell into the lower stratum and the Pauranik spirit became prominent in them. The original conception is Buddhistic notwithstanding, and scho- _ lars are still able to trace it. The earliest poet who sang of Dharma Thakur | was Mayur Bhatta. To him encomiums and tributes of respect were paid by all subsequent writers on the subject. Next comes Ripa Ram who is often called Adi-Rapram. Khellgram wrote his poem in 1527 A.D. and Sitaram Das was probably his — contemporary. Sitaram refers to the poem of | Mayur Bhatta as having been partially lost or become obsolete during his time, which makes us century or earlier. A manuscript of Dharmamangal by Prabhu Ram secured by Babu Nagendra Nath ‘ না ; 3 একে একে ভ্রমণ করিলাম দেশ দেশ। দেশ। দেখিন্ু দেবীর পূজা অশেষ বিশেষ সপ্ধগ্রাম দেখিলাম নাহি তার তুল চালে চালে ঠেকে লোক ভাগিরথী কুল। suppose that Mayur Bhatta wrote in the 13th ‘