বড়ু চণ্ডীদাস ও বিপ্র চণ্ডীদাস, কাঠমান্ডুতে সংরক্ষিত পাণ্ডুলিপিতে চণ্ডীদাসের ভণিতা প্রসঙ্গ| Boru Chandidasa and Vipra Chandidasa Bangla Verses Mentioning Chandidasa in Nepalese Manuscripts

Abstract

In a manuscript of a collection of Bangla and Maithili songs found in the National Archives of Nepal, there are some Bangla songs which are assumed to be written by Boru Chandidasa. On the other hand, some manuscripts of Bangla plays composed during the Malla Dynasty in Nepal contain songs by Boru Chandidasa and Vidyapati, noted in the margins of folios. Besides the songs which are obviously compositions by Boru Chandidasa and Vidyapati, these manuscripts (i.e. song collection and plays) also contain other Bangla-Maithili songs whose authors are not named in their bhaņitā verses. However, the character Bațai 'Grandma' is often mentioned in such songs. Kitada argues that Barai is the old lady who is a very significant character in the Shri Krishna Kirtana by Boru Chandidasa, in which Barai acts as the matchmaker between Radha and Krishna. But the later Vaishnava poets almost ignored Barai, probably because of her vulgar character which was contradictory to their sophisticated penchant, however it might have been popular to common people. In Kitada's opinion, the occurrences of the word Barai in the above-mentioned Bangla songs from Nepal might suggest that these songs are compositions by Boru Chandidas. Moreover, in the Bhanitā verses of three of these songs, Vipra Chandidasa, is mentioned as the author. In contrast to Boru Chandidasa, Dvija Chandidasa and Deena Chandidasa well-known in the academia of Bangla literature, the name of Vipra Chandidasa has never been seen so far. Who could this Vipra Chandidasa be? Thus, Kitada raises an investigative question about Baţãi and Vipra Chandidasa.