BENGAL'S CONTRIBUTION TOSANSKRIT LITERATURE (A chronological frame-work ) BY CHINTAHARAN CHAKRAVARTI, M. A. ate PREFACE An investigation into the history of Sanskrit literature ina particular province will be of help not only to build up a con- nected literary history of the land but also in supplying important materials for the study of its cultural history. This purpose is not however served by any study of the history of Sanskrit literature asa whole, for nocossarily in a general history of literature-works that haye only a local interest cannot receive detailed treatment howsoever important those works may be in the literary history of a particular province, ‘What is of little importance in Sanskrit literature taken as a whole may be of vital importance with respect to a particular province. But no comprehensive work dealing with the history of Sanskrit literature in any particular province has appeared as yet. Prof. K. R, Pisharoti delivered before the Madras University a course of lectures on the Kerala contribution to Sanskrit literature of which the first instalment only appeared in Shama'a ( October 1928 ). The study of the history of Sanskrit literature in Bengal and Bengal's contributions to it are specially interesting. Bengal has her peculiarities in her ways of life and thought which are reflected in her religious notions and ritualism. And she has her peculiarities in her literature too. Besides, the history of Sanskrit literature in Bengal does not seem to point to progressive degeneration but apparently thora are traces of growth slong with the process of time. Fresh developments are noticed as the centuries roll on, Bengal, as we shall see in the following pages, had become an important contro of Sanskrit learning almost from the beginning of the Christian era and continued to be so all along. And from about th» fifteenth century she came to be one of the most important- if not the most important-centres of Sanskrit culture, and produced a good many works of outstanding merit, It is to be noted that Bengal seems still to hold her position at least with regard to some particular branches of study.236 Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute A good many Sanskrit works of Bongal have nodoubt been published either in Nagari or in Bengoli cheractors. But many more still are to be found only in Mss which supply us with important materials in our investigations. So the various Notices, Reports and Catalogues of Sanskrit Mas are of immense help in this metter. An attempt has boon made to mako the best use of them, especially those of Bengal as also the Descriptive Catalouge of Sanskrit Mss in the India Office Library, London, Besides these, I had the opportunity of consulting two valuable manuscript collections, namely, (1) the collection of the Sanskrit Sahitya Parisbat, Caloutta (2) the private collection of Kumar Sarat Kumar Ray, M. A. of Dighapatia which is called Saviti Memorial collection in memory of the eldest son of the Kumira. No catalogue of any of those collections has as yot beon published. Some amount of useftl and valuable work on this subject has already been done. But all this is with reference to particular periods or partioular topios, Of these the papers of Mm. Dr. H.P. Shastri on Contributions of Bengal to Hindu Civilisation and Literay History of the Pala Period (J. B.O. B.S, 1919), and of the lateManomohsn Chekravarti on Sanskrit literature in Bengal during the Sena Period (J. A. 8. B.- 1906), History of Navya Nyaya in Bengal and Mithila (5. A. 8.B. 1915) desorve special mention. Much valuable and usoful information on the subject is also found scattered in the Prefaces to Mm, H. P. Shastri’s notices and oatalouges as also, among others, inthe History cf Indian Lome of Dr. 8. 0. Vidyabhusan, Studies in the History of Sanskrit Poetics of Dr. 8. K. Doand Systems of Sanskrit Grammar of Dr. 8,K. Belvalkar. No attempt to write a systematio and complete history of Sanskrit literature in Bengal seems to have as yet been mado by any scholar, Dr. Md. Shahidullah of theDacoa University, read a short paper on “ Bengal’s Contribution to Sanskrit learning’, before the Oriental Conference held in Madras in 1924." But he has not so far published it anywhere. But there are some difficulties which ono has to face in the study of the history of Senskrit literature in Bengal, nay, any particular province. One of these is regarding chronology. Works of Bengal, like those of other parts of India, seldom 18 of the Thied Oriental Conference, Madras, 1925— 1 Proved p- XIX,Bengal’s Contribution to Sanskrit Literature 237 mention dates or locslitios portaining to the authors. And hence tho difficulty of settling tho chronology is very great and this is quite well-known, But even more than this is the difficulty of determining the place of origin of most of the authors. In very many cases one has nootherway left for ascertain ing the Bengal origin of a work than one or more of the following: { 1) poculiaritios of personal names, surnames or titles ( 2 ) provenance of tha mss of the work ( 3 ) tradition. But it is seon that none of these can be taken tobe decisive. It is, no doubt, true that the personal names, surnames and titles of Bengal, like those of other provinoes developed some peculisri- ties from the mediseval period. It is not, however, always, safe to rely on these peculiarities alono as they are not infrequently found to load to wrong conclusions, And in earlier periods it is hard to find out these peculiarities if there were any. It is for this reason that we can definitely assign very few works of these periods to Bengal though there is no dearth of evidence testifying to the flourishing condition of Sanskrit literature at that time. The provenance snd find-spots of manuscripts of » work cannot also, in every aso, be supposed to be a sure guide for determining its place of origin. Not a single manusoript of the commentary on tho Amarokoga by Sarvanands, undoubtedly a Bengalee, has so far been found anywhere in Bengal’ though several manusoripts of itare known to exist in South India and South Indian soripts, And it would not be right to regard this as only an exception. As regards tradition we can accept it only with some caution if it is not fairly old and is not supported by any other evidence. And I shall not be surprised if owing to those difficulties I have somewhere omitted some important vamos - nd added some wrong ones. In many a branch of Sanskrit litorature Bengal produced quite an unwieldy number of works, any treatment of each ono of which would go to mako up a feirly big volume, have had thorefore to remain satisfied with a reference only to the most important snd ropresentative of them; and bave tried to point out the literary tendency of Bengal in every of & manuscript from the district of Paridpor of this work in Bengali caractors (Ind. Ant. 1926 y. 122.) but, [had it from Dr. 8. K. De, that on closer examination it was found to bo the maxuseript of « different work.238 Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute direction, On the whole I have, in the following pages, made an attempt to touch merely the outlines of the subject. PRE-PALA PERIOD Sanskrit language, the language of the Aryans, must have eon first introduced into Bengal at the time of the Aryan conquest of the land, though it is now gonerally admitted that Bengal had a civilisation aven before that time, We do not know, of course, the time when exactly that event took place. Noithor is this the place to go into the conflicting views with rogard to this vered question and éry to determine it with as much eractitude as it is possible for us to attain, It is how- ever, fairly certain that Bengal was alresdy Aryanised by the Mauryan period if not earlier, But we have no definite record of the literary activities of Bengal during the first fow centuries of its Aryanisation. Asa matter of fact wo know Titilo of her Sansirit culture beforo as lato as tho time of tho Imperial Guptas, though the evidence so far available woald naturally lead one to suppose that Bengel had made her mark in Sanskrit literature muoh earlier. Jacobi contends that the Vaiderbht style of composition Pre-Gupte. was a reaction against the older and aoe more ornate style of Gauda (Bengal and he is of opinion that the Vaidarbbi style camo into existence as early as the third century A.D, (8, K.De- Studies in the Hist, of Sans, Poetics -1920-II 114, n.20). Thus the line of argument as followed by Jacobi would point to the beginning of the Christian era when Bengal hed as much literary progress as to be able to evolve o style of her own. But it must be admitted that the view of Jacobi has been questioned (oo. cit. ). ‘And wo cannot dofinitely assign any known Sanskrit work toe vory early date. Palaképys, the author of the Hastydyurveda a work on the treatment of elephants seems to havo lived in Bongsl-in the easternmost part of it-more properly, in Assam-where flows the Brahma-putra snd the Himalaya is in the North (Hastyayurveda 1, 99, 101), Nothing definite is, of course, Known of his date but it must bo a vary old work. And from tho style of the work Mm. H.P. Shastri is inclined to assign it to a period even preceding the Christian Era ( J.B. 0. R, 8.-1919-300 ) ‘We mag also refer to one more work here. This is the well-known philosophical work the Gau(apida-karika the