II.]
BENGALI LANGUAGE & LITERATURE.
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The later Vāramasis, of which there is quite a legion in our old literature, are mainly devoted to tender feelings experienced by lovers in the different months of the year, especially when separated from one another.
The popularity of the sayings.The popularity of the two books is not approached by any other writings that we know of, in the country, as even illiterate men have got the aphorisms by heart, and yet they have been handed down to us from a remote past,—it may be the tenth century A. D. as we have already said and as appears from the language in which their older versions are couched and from the spirit of the age which is stamped upon them.
The question of authorship.Our next point will be to discuss the authorship of these aphorisms. Khanā is believed to be a historical personage,—the reputed wife of Varāhamihira and a prodigy in astronomy, in the days of Vikramāditya, the King of Ujjayinī. Even accepting all these traditions about her to be true,—it is absurd to suppose, that she—a native of Rajputana, would compose the aphorisms in Bengali or dwell upon subjects which peculiarly apply to Bengal. The Dāker Vachana has similarly been ascribed by popular belief to a milk-man named Dāk. In the vaṅitā (signature) of these sayings, we occasionaly come across the words "Dāk goālā" (Dāk—the milkman.) We have, however, found that they formed a part of the Buddhistic work—Dākārṅava Tantra, so their origin is easily explained. In some of the sayings we find the vaṅitā of Rāvaṅa. This exceedingly purile notion is no doubt due to the belief amongst the people of this country