Page:History of Bengali Language and Literature.djvu/543

 4 রত ষ্টার } 4 V.] BENGALI LANGUAGE & LITERATURE. 507 words which fell from his lips—his_ voice almost choked with devotional sentiment; they wept and saw through their tears the saintly man who seemed asa godtothem. Even Vira Hamvira, though a notorious dacoit in the guise of a Raja, could not resist the tender appeal, and every one present, including the Court Pandit himself, fell at Crinivasa’s feet and asked to be made his disciple. The Raja and his people were thus converted to the Vaisnava faith on the spot and Crinivasa was acknowledged their spiritual head. In the evening Crinivasa sought the Raja again, and told him, with voice choked with tears, that unless the Mss. looted within his territory, were recovered, he could not think of continuing to live; the works of the Gosvamis he held dearer than his own life; the blame of the great loss would be upon him, as he was in charge of the manuscripts, and this thought alone was sufficient to make his life miserable. The Raja was taken aback by this story. He fell at the feet of Crinivasa and with tears of remorse, craved a thousand par- dons, confessing that he had himself been at the root of this great crime. He now had the Mss. brought from his treasury, and Crinivasa was delighted to see them again. Alas for poor Krisna Das Kaviraj, he had died of a broken heart for a loss which was so soon to be repaired, in so strange a manner! Raja Vira Hamvira, filled with remorse for his act placed his whole property at the disposal of the Vaisnavas, and himself lived as a poor servant of the great masters. We have several beautiful songs in Bengali about Krishna and Radha which were composed by the Raja and quoted by Narahari Das in his Bhaktiratngkara.