Page:History of Bengali Language and Literature.djvu/541

 wv. BENGALI LANGUAGE & LITERATURE. 9 595 3 Of the other great Vaisnava devotees Crinivasa Acharyya, who was only a boy when Chaitanya Deva passed away, deserves prominent notice. He was as on of Gangadhara Chakravarti, an inhabitant of the village of Chakhandion the Ganges. His mother Lakgmi Priya came from Jajigram. In the early part of his life Crinivasa was noted for his hand-some appearance, for his great devotion and for his scholarship. It is said that Chaitanya Deva prophesied his advent. One incident in his life interests us greatly. We have already stated that Crinivasa was placed in charge of the valuable Mss. written by the great Vaisnava devotees who lived at Vrindavan, and which were sent to Bengal for circulation. We have also stated how the works were looted en route by the robbers employed by Vira Hamvira, Raja of Vana Visnupur. The loss of the precious Mss. written through years of unremitting toil by the great Vaisnava worthies in Vrindavan, and of which no copy was left with the authors, filled Crinivasa’s mind with an overwhelming grief and well it might, for we have already related how the news of this loss proved fatal to old Krishna Dasa Kaviraj. A vigourous search was carried on throughout the whole night. But it gave him no clue whatsoever to trace the lost possessions. When the day dawned, pale and exhausted Crinivasa thought that before he left the place he should apply to Raja Vira Hamvira for help, since the robbery had been perpetrated in his dominions. This prince, as I have already said, had in his employment a set of robbers who carried on depredations secretly under his instructions and who had done to the Vaisnavas what seemed to be 64