Page:History of Bengali Language and Literature.djvu/777

 VI. ] BENGALI LANGUAGE & LITERATURE. 735 there were produced in succession the Bharata- milana, the Nimai Sannyasa, the Gostha and other works. The Bharatamilana describes that episode of the Ramayana in which Bharata meets Rama in the forest with prayers for his return to Ayodhya and acceptance of the kingdom. The Nimai Sannyasa describes Chaitanya’s entering into the holy order of ascetics. All other works relate to episodes of the life of Krisna. Histwo best works are the Rgi Unma- dini and the Svapnavilasa, and in both of them he describes in highly poetic language the woes of the inmates of Vrindavana and especially those of Radha caused by parting from Krishna. And we may observe that in these poems the author, while giving the noblest expression to the tender feel- ings of a woman’s love, takes the real cue from Chaitanya’s life. We have read many speeches in the poems attributed to Radha which in reality have been borrowed from Chaitanya-Charitamrita and other works on Chaitanya, only rendered into more refined forms, as the matter passed out of the hands of biographers into those of a poet. The Radha described by Krishna J<amala typifies and represents the frenzied condition of Chaitanya in divine communion and has been portrayed in a very exquisite form. Krisha never came back to the Vrinda groves, but the Bhavasammilana or union in spirit is described by all Vaisnava poets. The significance of this is that a material loss, though fraught with pain for the time being, is bound to prove a spiritual gain to the faithful in the long run. Our souls feel a craving for love, The con- ception of union in Spirit.