° SMe IV.] BENGALI LANGUAGE & LITERATURE. 237 of one eye.’’*—he said in great contempt when he was offered prosperity and happiness provided he agreed to worship Manasa Devi. King Chandra- Ketu in Citalamangal, inspite of his great troubles would not worship Citala Devi and remained true to Giva. But what do the followers of Civa gain as the reward for their heroic devotion to his cause ! The great Civa passive and inert, cares not for the sufferings of his followers. So it is no wonder While Giva is indiffer- ent to his _ favour upon the believers and undertook to destroy Wworship- pers. that the followers of other deities who lavished their enemies and confer wealth and _ prosperity without being asked, increased daily in number, till the poems in honour of Civa, though forming a part of the earliest literature of Bengal, were gradually overshadowed by larger and more poetic Caiva-liter- compositions in honour of Manavsa Devi, Chandi নিব 2 ground, The Muhammadans with their vigorous living faith, had by this time come to Bengal. Their Koran which they believed to be inspired, lays it down that the God of Islam helps believers and destroys unbelievers. The strong belief of Islam in The Strug- gie to coun- a personal God had to be counteracted in this _ ter act
- উনি ছি করত ০2] Islamite in-
couutry by forms of religion in which the persona Macnee ee ae : ৬ ০742 and the element of 8১4 টি o the yak develop: and the Vaisnava religions flourished and the Calva ment of 07 : te : the Cakta religion with its impersonal ideal and mysticism 1n and Vais- - হু Ava ৯৪ which man rose to the level of his God in the 742 54165 Advaitabada, was gradually thrown into the back-
- “যে হস্তেঠে পুজি আমি দ্বেব শুলপাণি,
সে হস্তে না পুজিব চেঙ্গ মুড়ি কাণি 11? Ketaka Das.
