Home > Indian History > Indian Literature > Influence of Vaishnavism on Bengali Literature
Influence of Vaishnavism on Bengali Literature
Influence of Vaishnavism on Bengali Literature was inevitable as the propagation of Chaitanya was deep rooted.

Share this Article:

Influence of Vaishnavism on Bengali LiteratureInfluence of Vaishnavism on Bengali Literature took place between the fifteenth and seventeenth century. Vaishnavism was the dominant religion after Buddhism. Vaishnavism spread with a dynamic force of a great revivalist movement. It provided an efficient organization for the masses who had been left without a refuge after the disappearance of Buddhism. Vaishnavism was one of the main influences that were responsible for the intellectual black-out and the emasculation of national life in pre-British Bengal. This was because of the over emotional nature as it paid more attention to the life of love and devotion. It craved for union with a personal god absorbed in the emotion of love. With its designed cult of love and its mass singing and dancing, it induced those states of mystical ecstasy and trance in which intellectuality play no role and the powers of action are paralysed.

Vaishnavism made the mistake of trying to raise the spiritual level of a people without trying to raise their material and intellectual level. It enticed its followers to an unreal world of its own fabrication. For two centuries the people of Bengal people sang, danced, and passed out in an ecstatic trance. The poetry inspired by Vaishnavism was exclusively dominated by eroticism and mysticism. It disowned the intellect altogether. It focussed mainly on legends of lord Krishna and Radha.

Rabindranath`s influence of Vaishnavism was limited. However on Chittaranjan its influence was all all-pervasive. Rabindranath Tagore under Vaishnava influence has written many Baul songs. The tradition of songs on the Radha-Krishna legend was popular with the works of Chandidas (late 14th century.) in Birbhum district. He was among the earliest poets in the emerging Bengali language. In the year 1474, Maladhar Basu translated the 10th and 11th cantos of the Sanskrit Srimad Bhagavat into Bengali which is known by the name of Srikrishnavijay. Chandidas and Maladhar Basu laid the foundation of Vaishnava poetry in Bengal.

Major poets who followed the Padavali tradition included Murari Gupta (srikrishnachaitanyacharitrAmrita), Narahari Sarkar, Basudev Ghosh, Lochandas, Jnanadas, Govindadas, Balaram Das, Syed Sultan and Dwija Chandidas. Seventeenth century witnessed the works of Kaviranjan, Kavishekhar, Radhaballabh Das, Ghanashyam Das and Ramgopal Das. In the eighteenth century the tradition wwas carried out by Vaisnavadas, Chandrashekhar, Radhamohan Thakur, Narahari Chakravarty (gitachandroday), Yadunandan and few others.

The re-emergence of Vaishnavism and Bhakti confirms how firmly they have entrenched themselves in the national tradition. In the 14th century Baru chandidas composed Shrikrishnakirtan in Bengali that was the first epic in Bengali language. Charitakavya Vaisnava biographies grew out of the life stories of Chaitanya. Monumental poetical works were composed that focussed about the lives of contemporary historical personalities.


Share this Article:

Related Articles

More Articles in Indian Literature


Mythological Themes in Indian Literature
Mythological themes in Indian literature have been integral to every ancient and contemporary writer and their path to f
Literature under Delhi Sultanate
Literature during the period of Delhi Sultanate was produced not only in Persian and Sanskrit but also in other regional languages.
Epics in Tamil Literature
Epics in Tamil Literature refer to the Five Great Epics namely Cilappatikaram, Manimekalai, Valayapathi, Civaka Cintamani and Kundalakesi. There are also the Five Lesser Epics in Tamil Literature.
Literature During Gupta Age
It is during the Gupta Age literature in the form of poetry, epos and drama gained a colossal importance.
Post-Sangam Age in Tamil literature
Post-Sangam age in Tamil literature basically saw the tremendous rise of Hindu saintly literary treatises in two sects.
Epics in Sanskrit Literature
Epics in Sanskrit Literature are the store house of historical knowledge and the providers of knowledge about Indian philosophies and thought.
Literature of Aravidu Dynasty
Sanskrit and Telugu were the popular literary medium of communication during Aravidu dynasty.
Indian Literature in archaic Indian Language
Indian Literature, accredited as one of the antique literature of the world is the confluence of different beiefs .
Renaissance in Bengali Literature
Renaissance in Bengali literature was the first structured gestation of the modern trends in Bengali literature.
Renaissance in Indian Literature
Renaissance in Indian Literature has brought and culminated towards several significant changes in the overall writing styles and patterns. With the renaissance in Indian literature, readership has enlarged with a literary and education explosion.
Renaissance in Hindi Literature
The renaissance in Hindi literature crafted a whole fresh diction to the Hindi literary works with its poise and rhythm.
Indian Literature in Modern Age
Indian Literature in Modern Age is the literary insurgency that is marked by several idealistic revolutions and the effect of globalization, and socio-economic as well as cultural changes.
Playwrights in Tamil Literature
Playwrights in Tamil Literature such as Cankaratas Cuvamikal, Ilatcumana Pillai and Pammal Campanta Mudaliar have written several works for the development Tamil plays and drama.
Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore, a renowned poet, was honoured the Nobel Prize for Literature for the famous ‘Gitanjali’ and wrote the national anthem.