322 BENGALI LITERATURE question of spiritual interpretation. There is no doubt the dictum of the author of Ujjvala-Nilamani * that what is true of Srikrsna is not true of the ordinary lover: but even Ripa Gosvami himself admits that Krsna is conceived as the ideal lover, natachidaimani * or rasitka-sekhara.® It is not our purpose here to enter into any discussion of the inner significance of Baisnab poetry or its metaphysical conceptions ; what is intended here to be stated is that from the layman’s standpoint of artistic criticism, the abiiman of Radha, as we often find it in the songs of the Kabiwalas, has got hardly any reality in it nor has the love of Krsna any deep-rooted strength of feeling which alone would have lifted it into the highest sphere of poetry. So long as the heroine realises that she possesses a strong hold upon her lover’ s love, the interruption of its smooth course through occasional sportiveness or incidental vagary adds a peculiar charm to the elements of «b/imau ; but when the offence is great and involves faithlessness and disgrace which strikes at the very root of the passion itself, the heroine dishonours herself when she takes it lightly or sits down to villifying, complaining or indulging in a sentimental process of elaborate a//iman. Such things hardly possess any appeal artistic or otherwise, and as such should hardly finda place in nobler types of poetry. One or two illustrations will make out the point we are trying to indicate. Here is a song of Ram 1 Ujjvala-Nilamani, i, 18-21 (Nirnaya Sagar Ed., pp. 11-24). 2. Ibid, *loe;~ cit.
- Krsnadés Kabiradj’s commentary of Srikrgsna Karnamria on
Sl. 1,3, 11 ete. This epithet is common enough in Baisnab works.
