Page:History of Bengali Language and Literature.djvu/515

. নও « V.] BENGALI LANGUAGE & LITERATURE. 479 Rup, Sanatan, Jiba, Gopal Bhatta and the two Raghunaths and their great learning, all combined to make lasting impressions on Krisna Das. He be- ‘came a ready and willing disciple of the six -Gosvamis and advanced rapidly in his studies. Within a few years, he had became a profound Sanskrit scholar and had written two works of great me rit in that language. His Govindalilg- mrita is a master-piece of poetry, and his annota- tions of Krisna Karnamrita attest his great erudition. He wrote some small books in Bengali, mamely— Advait Sutra Kadcha, Svarupvarnana and Ragmayi Kana and in all of these Bengali treatises occur oc- casional prose-passages which may be taken— with the exception of those inthe Cunya Puran of the gth century, assome of the earliest specimens of Bengali prose. It is worthwhile perhaps to point out that even the biographical notes of Govinda Das were written i composed in rhyme, prose ? n poetry. When even. arithmetic Was how could biography be A religious celibate and student all his life, practising the austerities of a Sannyasin,—he had reached the age of 79 when a change came over him. He had never cared for earthly fame or glory, —his aim had been only to acquire sound scholar- ship in the theological lore of the Vaisnavas, and as an unassuming soul to quit his mortal frame heaven of the Jumna. in due time and quietly pass of his Krisna from the sacred But a herculean task came into the banks upon him in his old age unsolicited and he could not avoid it. Under the Six Gosva- mis, Govinda Lilamrita Karna- mrita and other works, Chaitanya Charita- mrita 00171177511 7 ced when he was 79.