Dutt, Romesh Chunder: The literature of Bengal: being an attempt to trace the progress of the national mind in its various aspects, as reflected in the nation’s literature from the earliest times to the present day ; with copious extracts from the best writers (Calcutta, 1877)

86 LITERATURE OF BENGAL,

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birth, but neither Chaitanya nor his followers recognized
caste inequalities. His ^Vilapakusumanjali Stotra is the
prayer of a devout Vaishnava perplexed with the troubles
of this world, and his Manosiksha treats of the training
of the mind to the love of Krishna.

Krishna Das Kaviraj and Brindavant Das, the bio-
graphers of Chaitanya, though not, strictly speaking, his
companions, may for want of a better place come in for
a notice here. They have both writteii.-iu' Bengali, and
their works( are very popular with Vaishnavas. Both
of them were thoroughly acquainted with fhe Sanskrit
language and have crowded their pages with quotations
from Sanskrit works to prove the purity and superiority *
of th,eir religion.

Brindavan Das was the son of Narayani who, from
f

her girlhood, was most devotedly attached to the faith
of Chaitanya. Pandit Ramgati has erroneously supposed,
her to be the daughter of Srivas a follower of Chaitanya.
The author informs us that his mother was the daughter
of a brother of Srivas.* .Anyhow it was in the house of
Srivas that the little girl then lour years old first saw
the Reformer, and ever after, loved him and bis religion.
It appears from this fact that Brindavan Das wrote his
book about the middle of the 16th century, and after
the death of Chaitauya.

We confess we cannot discover much beauty or poetic
excellence in his book Chaitanya Mangala or Chattanya
Bhagavat, and if it is a popular book with Vaishnavas

* Vide pp. 123 of Chaitanya Bhagavat.