Page:History of Bengali Language and Literature.djvu/74

44 convinced that sexual love leads to love Divine. He says “Hear me. friends, how salvation may be attained through love for a woman: Reduce your body to a dry log (make it such as to be quite unmoved by passions). He that pervades the universe, unseen by all, is approachable only by him who knows the secret of pure love."

So sang Chaṅdīdās—the great exponent of the Sahajiā cult in Bengal in the 14th century, more than 3 hundred years after Kāṅu Bhatta had composed his love songs. It goes without saying, that in their earnest efforts to attain salvation by worshipping young and beautiful damsels, many a youth turned moral wrecks in this country. Chaṅdīdās rightly