প্রেমের চোর: শ্রীধর বিরচিত বিদ্যাসুন্দর, চট্টগ্রাম থেকে কাঠমান্ডু পর্যন্ত | Thief of Love: Vidyasundara written by Sridhar, from Chattogram to Kathmandu

Abstract

Vidyasundara is a romantic poem of Medieval Bangla literature. It is based on the love affair between princess Vidya and scholar poet and teacher Sundara. The origin of this literary legend is Chaurapanchashika composed in Sanskrit by 11th century Kashmiri poet Bilhana. It is in fact the self-interpretation of the poet's own love affair with princess Vidya whom Bilhana taught scholarly disciplines including Kamasutra. Bharatchandra Ray Gunakar, 18th century Bengali poet, wrote the most noted Bangla poetry on the love story of Vidya and Sundars and it was included in his Annadamangala. However, the catena of Vidyasundare continues long eras in the traditional course of Bangla literature.

Dwija Sridhar and Shah Birid Khan are two notable 16 century poets (probably the earliest) of this catena. They were patronized by the Muslim rulers of the then Gaura and Arakan kingdoms respectively. Their defective manuscripts were found in Chattogram, and there is a study written by Ahmad Sharif in 1957. Japanese researcher Makoto Kitada compared the texts of Sridhar and Shahbirid, found in Chattogram, with two Vidyasundar manuscripts found in Nepal. One is written in a mixture of Newari, Bengali and Devanagari scripts, while the other in Newari script. As the result of the comparative study, both turned out to be the work by Sridhar. This fact indicates that Bengali language once played an important role of lingua franca in a wide zone from Kathmandu to Arakan, under the cultural influence of Gaura. In his article, Makoto Kitada also includes his observation of the theater tradition in the village of Pharping located to the south end of the Kathmandu Valley, and points out a few interesting features common to the medieval Vidyasundar play.

Reading of the following article of Makoto will be inspiring for the researchers, scholars and students of Bangla literature and culture to explore more and more unveiled middle Bangla literary manuscripts still preserved with care in Nepal.