Page:History of Bengali Language and Literature.djvu/288

The fear of snakes. 252 BENGALI LANGUAGE & LITERATURE. [ Chap. whom the worshippers of Civa called witches and regarded as quite unworthy of worship. At a later time the Caiva creed was blended with the Cakti- cult even in its crude local forms, but this could not happen before a hard contested fight on either side. This chapter will concern itself with the history of such struggle and the gradual elaboration of these local cults under the shadow of a clearly organised doctrine of the relation between Civa and Cakti, (2) Poems in honour of Manasa Devi. In Chaitanya Bhagavata, a work written in 1536, we find it mentioned that many people at the time took pride in worshipping Manasa Devi, the snake- goddess. The songs in honour of this deity may be traced back, as I have said, to a very early period and they have a wide circulation all over Bengal, especially in the East where the earliest writer of these songs, Hari Datta lived. The great respect, commanded by this deity in the lower Gangetic valley, is not difficult to explain. The piains of Bengal, especially the portions adjoining the sea, are infested with snakes, and deaths from snake-bite during the rainy season become so com- mon as to cause considerable alarm to the people. The cottages of the poor villagers, offer no protection to them from the venomous enemy and when the floods come upon the mud-hovels and thatched roofs, snakes and other venomous reptiles take shelter there, and are not infrequently discovered hidden in beds or coiled up in pitchers and_ other household utensils. The poor people have no