Page:A History of Hindi Literature.djvu/99

BARDIC AND OTHER LITERATURE 85 When Jahangir heard of this he pardoned him. The poem is in the form of a story. Damodar Das (fl. circ. 1660) belonged to the sect of the Dadupanthis. He translated the Markandeya Purana into Rajasthani. This work is of interest as being in prose instead of verse. Chhatra (fl. 1700), a Kayasth of Anter village in Gwalior, was the author of the Vijai Muktavall. This is an abstract of the Mahabharata in Hindi verse. Sabal Singh (b. 1670) belonged to a ruling family. He also was the author of a condensed metrical translation of 24,000 verses of the Mahabharata. Baital (b. 1677) attended the court of Vikram Sahi. He wrote moral and occasional verses and, though no complete work of his is extant, his verses are much admired. Devi Das (fl. 1685) belonged to Bundelkhand. Under the patronage of Raja Ratan Pal Singh, of Karauli, he wrote a much admired work on morals called P7'em Ratnakar. He was also the author of numerous other works. Moti Ram (b. 1683) was the author of the Braj Bhasha version of a story called Mddho?ial, which was afterwards translated into Urdu by Lallu Ji Lai. Bhu Dhar Das (fl. 1724) was a Jain who wrote works connected with the Jain religion, including the Jai7i Satak and the Pdrsva Purdn. He is considered to possess considerable power as a poet. Ghdgh (b. 1696), of Kanauj, wrote on the subject of agriculture. His aphorisms have a wide currency in North India. Gahgd Pail (fl. 1719) was the author of a poem dealing with the different philosophical doctrines of the Hindus. It is called Vigyd?i Bilds, and is written in the form of a dialogue between a g7ir7i (teacher) and his chela (disciple). A mystic life based on the Vedanta philosophy is advocated. Kripd Rd77i (fl. 1720) was an astronomer at the court of Raja Jai Singh Sawai, of Jaipur, and wrote a work in Hindi on astronomy.