Page:History of Bengali Language and Literature.djvu/652

 612 BENGALI LANGUAGE & LITERATURE. [ Chap. not the highest ideal of Hindu society. The mer- chants, as has been already said, ranked low in the social scale inspite of their great riches, and the poor pious Brahmins were the true leaders of society. The people wanted to follow the Brah- mins in their utter disregard of all materialistic considerations and in their devotion to God. Vaisnavas were generally frugal in their living. The Mahotsava of the Vaisnavas was the only The Mahotsava ০6061001) in which they would sometimes spend all the money they had accumulated, by their life- long labour. It is a noble ceremony the like of which is not found outside the pale of India and which had its origin probably in the Buddhistic idea of all-embracing charity. As in other institutions of the Vaisnavas, so also in this they probably imitated the Buddhists. Sometimes fora whole month a man of ordinary means kept his gates open to the poor and hundreds of them came from all parts of the country,—poor, famished, half-starved people who had their fill sitting there in long rows without any distinction of caste or creed. It is never a rch din- ner, the fare being always exceedingly simple. But it is not for a limited number of invited peop!« ;—it is for all—all who are driven toit by hunger. It may be called a feast for the uninvited,—for thos: whom | no one calls and all wouldturn away, who ১৮৪ 100 | status in society and who in their torn rags are generally unwelcome visitors; the owner of the house who holds the Mahotsava ceremony himself serves as far as practicable the beggars, who flock daily to his house in thousands. No invi- tation is issued, but the tidings of the J/ahotsava ceremony spreads far and wide, and countless men