Vidyapati Thakur (1352? - 1448?), also known by the
sobriquet Maithil Kavi Kokil (the poet cuckoo of Maithili)
was a Maithili poet and a Sanskrit
writer. He was born in the village of Bishphi
in Madhubani district of Mithila
Region of Bihar
state, India. He
was son of Ganapati. The name Vidyapati is derived from two Sanskrit words,
Vidya (knowledge) and Pati (master), connoting thereby, a man
of knowledge.
Vidyapati's poetry was widely influential in centuries to come, in the Hindustani as well as Bengali
and other Eastern literary traditions. Indeed, the language at the time of
Vidyapati, the prakrit-derived
late abahatta,
had just began to transition into early versions of the Eastern languages, Maithili,
Bengali,
Oriya,
etc.
Vidyapati
is as much known for his love-lyrics as for his poetry dedicated to Lord Shiva.
His language is closest to Maithili,
the language spoken around Mithila (a region in the north Bihar and region
surrounding Janakpur in Nepal),
closely related to the abahattha form of early Bengali.
The
love songs of Vidyapati, which describe the sensuous love story of Radha and Krishna, follow a
long line of Vaishnav love poetry, popular in Eastern India, and
include much celebrated poetry such as Jayadeva's Gita
Govinda of the 12th century. This tradition which uses the language of
physical love to describe spiritual love, was a reflection of a key turn in Hinduism,
initiated by Ramanuja
in the 11th century which advocated an individual self realization through
direct love. Similar to the reformation in Christianity,
this movement empowered the common man to realize God directly, without the
intervention of learned priests. Part of the transformation was also a shift to local languages as
opposed to the formal Sanskrit of the religious texts.
The
songs he wrote as prayers to Lord Shiva are still sung in Mithila and form a rich tradition of
sweet and lovely folk songs.
Folklore says
that he was such a great devotee of Lord Shiva that the lord
was really pleased with him. And once He decided to come to live in his house
as a servant. As the servant He is said to have taken the name Ugna. At several places in the region,
Lord Shiva is
still worshipped by this name. It is said that the lord in form of servant had
imposed a condition on Vidyapati that he could not disclose his identity to
anyone else or else he would go away. When Vidyapati's wife was angry at her
servant and started to beat him Vidyapati could not tolerate the same and asked
his wife not to beat Lord Shiva himself and since then the lord disappeared and
never was he seen again.According to the local legend, Vidyapati was an ardent
devotee of Shiva. He composed several songs in the form of Nacharis and
Maheshbanis to please the Lord. Impressed with the devotion and poetic
creativity of the poet, Lord Shiva came to him in a disguised form of a cowherd
boy called Ugna.
Ugna
requested the poet that as he was an orphan boy he wanted to work in his house
as his servant. With a little hesitation, the poet assigned him the job of
looking after his cattle. Ugna became a very charming and affectionate servant
to the poet within a very short period.
One
day, Vidyapati received an invitation to participate in a royal function of the
king of Mithila, Shivasimha. He took Ugna with him and they left for the king’s
capital. On the way the poet became very thirsty but it was a huge barren land
where he saw no drops of water.
The
helpless poet finally requested Ugna to bring some water. Ugna too showed his
inability to bring the water and requested him to travel some more distance,
but Vidyapati refused to walk further and became unconscious. He fell on the
ground. Now, Ugna, who was none but Lord Shiva himself, took out a jug of water
from his matted hair (jata), revived him to consciousness and gave the poet water
to drink. The poet felt the taste of Ganga-water and immediately asked Ugna
wherefrom he had brought it.
Ugna
tried to make some false story but failed to do so. He wanted to keep it a
secret and that’s why he avoided deliberately the poet’s query, but as Ugna
wanted to avoid it, the poet’s curiosity increased. Finally, he appeared as
Shiva, in his original form, before the poet.
Vidyapati
touched his feet and took the dust of Ugna’s feet into his hands. Ugna now
warned him not to disclose the secret before anybody including the poet’s wife
Sushila. Vidyapati assured Ugna to keep this secret with him.
According
to the local legend, Vidyapati was an ardent devotee of Shiva. He composed
several songs in the form of Nacharis and Maheshbanis to please the Lord.
Ugna
remained with Vidyapati for many years and helped him miraculously in many
critical situations. For instance, when Shivasimha was arrested by Emperor
Allaudin Khilji of Delhi, Vidyapati accompanied
by Ugna, came to Delhi
to get him released. Knowing that Vidyapati was a poet, Allaudin arranged a
scholarly debate between Vidyapati and his own court-poet.
Vidyapati
was told to respond either in Persian or a mixed language alone. The poet with
the heavenly blessings of Ugna defeated the Sultan’s poet and responded in
poetry he had composed in the prescribed languages. Not only that, with the
blessings of Ugna he got rid of many obstacles created by the Sultan and his
men at Delhi
and finally succeeded in getting his king released from the prison of Sultan.
Now
the story takes a very sad turn. Once, the wife of Vidyapati assigned some
domestic responsibility to Ugna, which he failed to deliver according to her
given instructions. She became angry with him and started beating him with a
broom. This erratic behaviour of Sushila made Vidyapati frustrated that Shiva,
of whom he was a great devotee, should be abused and humiliated. He could not
control himself and shouted, “Stop! What the hell are you doing? Ugna is none
else but Lord Shiva.” It is said, that very moment Ugna disappeared from there.
Now
Vidyapati realised his mistake. He left his house and wandered through many
temples, rivers and jungles in search of Ugna. Finally, Vidyapati found Ugna in
Nandanvana. Shiva told him that he would not go back to his house but would
help him whenever required. The place where Ugna appeared before the poet as
God is known as Ugnaasthan. A small lingam was enshrined by the local devotees.
Recently a temple has been made for that lingam.
This story is known to each and every person of this region. For them it
is history. Even today they worship Lord Shiva while singing the devotional
songs of Vidyapati to please him.Works
Vidyapati,
mainly known for his love songs and prayers for Lord Shiva, also wrote on other
topics including ethics, history, geography, and law. His works include:
- Puruṣa Parīkṣā deals with moral teachings.Recently Publications Division of Government of India has brought out the Hindi Translation of Purusha Pariksha by Akhilesh Jha. There are 25 stories in the book selected from 44 stories in the original work. Besides, there are scholarly introductions to both Vidyapati and Purusha Pariksha in the book.
- Likhanabali is about writing
- Bhu-Parikrama, literal meaning, around the world, is about local geography
- Vibhāgasāra is autobiographical in nature
- Dānavākyāvalī is about charity
- Gangāvākyāvalī
- Varṣakṛtya
- Durgābhaktitaraṅgiṇī
- Śaivasarvasvahāra
- Kīrttipatākā
- Kīrttilatā
Vidyapati and Bengali literature
The
influence of the lyrics of Vidyapati on the love of Radha and Krishna on the Bengali
poets of the medieval period was so overwhelming that they largely imitated it.
As a result, an artificial literary language, known as Brajabuli was
developed in the sixteenth century. Brajabuli is basically Maithili (as
prevalent during the medieval period) but its forms are modified to look like
Bengali.
The medieval Bengali poets, Gobindadas Kabiraj, Jnandas, Balaramdas and
Narottamdas composed their padas (poems) in this language. Rabindranath Tagore composed his Bhanusingha
Thakurer Padabali (1884) in a mix of Western Hindi (Braj Bhasha) and
archaic Bengali and named the language Brajabuli as an imitation of Vidyapati
(he initially promoted these lyrics as those of a newly discovered poet, Bhanusingha).
Other 19th century figures in the Bengal Renaissance like Bankim Chandra Chatterjee have also
written in the Brajabuli.
Vidyapati and Oriya literature
Vidyapati's influence reached Orissa through Bengal. The earliest composition in Brajabuli is ascribed to Ramananda Raya, the governor of Godavari province of the King of Orissa, Gajapati Prataprudra Dev. He was a disciple of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. He recited his Brajabuli poems to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, when he first met him on the bank of river Godavari at Rajahmundry, southern provincial capital of Kingdom of Orissa in 1511-12. Other notable Oriya poets influenced by Vidyapati's poems were Champati Ray and king Pratap Malla Dev (1504–32).
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