Page:History of Bengali Language and Literature.djvu/932

 888 RENGALI LANGUAGE & LITERATURE. [Chap. | master of the language.’ Mrityunjaya Tarkalankara wrote Rajavali in 1808. It traces the history of India from the earliest time down to Timur. Mr. Ward in his work on the Hindus bestows a high encomium upon this book. It contains some of the traditions about ancient Hindu kings which may be of much help to the students of Indian history in substantiating thereby some of the informations derived from copper-plate inscriptions and other historical sources. The book is written in a simple style, though some of the expressions used by the learned author appear quaint to us, owing to lapse of years. Mrityunjaya’sthird work Vatrica-siihasana | is a collection of tales illustrative of Vikramaditya’s romantic self-denial and liberality to a beggar, to a Brahmin, to a scholar, to the poor, to a pundit and to an enemy. Though the Pundit lived in close touch with his distinguished European students, and was high- | ly admired by them for his learning and character, he was an orthodox Hindu all his life. His pamphlet called ‘a defence of idolatry ’’ shows the sweep of his scholarly arguments and the sincerity of his con- viction in defending the creed of his forefathers. Mrityunjaya translated the Sanskrit work Hitopa- deca into Bengali. ‘The book appeared in 18ot. “Tt treats of friendship, discord, war and peace in 42 fables, in which after the manner of A&£sop, animals are introduced to teach Ethics. The original, like Telemachus, was written for the ethi- cal instruction of a king’s son at Palibothera.”’ Mrityunjaya also translated from Sanskrit a treatise on the Hindu law of inheritance,