Page:History of Bengali Literature in the Nineteenth Century.djvu/428

 404 BENGALI LITERATURE বিচ্ছেদেতে বায় প্রাণ না পারি রাখিতে কাতর নয়ন মনে লাগিল কহিতে। শুনি মন করে ধ্যান প্রাণেরে বাচাতে চাক্ষুষ বিহীনে নাহি উপায় ইহাতে ॥ are fine instances of what he was capable of achieving at his best ; and his best is not something to be lightly spoken of. Nidhu Babu in the preface to his G7taratna states that his book is not the first of its kind in Bengali ; to what other works of the same nature he refers cannot be determined but we know for certain the existence of a collection of songs by Radhamohan Sen, a Kayastha musician who lived at Kansaripada, Caleutta, and who published his Savigit taraiga? in 1818 (1275 B. 8.) This work, however, is an elaborate treatise on music with the description of various Ragas and Raginis and is aac and in no way directly concerned with our enquiry. It however contains about 123 songs subsequently collected together and published with some additional pieces in the author’s later work Rasa-sara-saiigit (1839). These songs, though very popular at one time, are not all fappas nor do they ‘ Gitaratna, p. 21. 2 There is a copy of the first edition in the Sahitya Parisat Library bearing this (161০-১98৩ সঙ্গীত তরঙ্গ | ভাষাগ্র্থ। শ্রীরাধামোহন সেন দাস। কৃত। কলিকাতায় বাঙ্গালি। প্রেসে। বাঙ্গালা বন্নযন্ত্ে । ছাপা হইল সন ১২২৫। ১৭৪৯ “| pp. contents and 1-267. Another edition in 1256 B.S. by his grandson Adinath Sen Das, An excellent edition of this work has been published by the 13911897857 Office and edited by Harimohan Mukhopadhyay in 1310 B. 8. (1903 A.D.), which also includes additional songs from Rasa-sdra-sangit.