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III. ]} BENGALI LANGUAGE & LITERATURE. 135 trying to waylay the beloved maiden, attempting to entrap the soul, as it were, into a clandestine meeting. This, which is so inconceivable to a purely modern mind, presents no difficulty at all to the Vaisnava devotee. To him God is the lover himself ; the sweet flowers, the fresh grass, the gay sound heard in the woods, are direct messages and tokens of love to his soul, bringing to his mind at every instant that loving God, whom he pictures as ever anxious to win the human heart. 2. Vidyapati. Vidiyapati is not, strictly speaking, a Bengali Vidyapati poet. He belonged to Mithila (Dwarbhanga) nota Ben- and composed his songs in the Vernacular of নি: those districts. Yet we include his name in a history of Bengali literature. This will appear anomalous, but our people have — established their claims upon this Maithil poet in a manner that leaves no room for disputing our action. Vidyapati’s songs have found a prominent place in all the compilations of the Vaisnavas cur- rent in Bengal, and they are sung here by the Vaisnub singers on all occasions. In fact a quarter of a century ago, it was believed by Bengali readers that Vidiyapati was a Bengali poet. Recently, however, when a true account of his life was un- earthed by the researches of scholars like Babu Raj Krishna Mukherjee and Dr. Grierson, we began to question the propriety of our claim. Vidyapati’s songs, as known to Bengalis, are in many respects different from the versions found in the Maithil