chitta ranjan's contributions to bengali literature.

long before chitta ranjan was able to take an active part in politics his genius was revealing itself in literature. in 1895 he published a volume of lyrics, "malancha", which introduced a new element of freedom and realism into the modern literature of bengal. some poems of malancha support atheism and this made chitta ranjan very unpopular in the brahmo samaj. many brahmos headed by the late pandit shivanath sastri did not even attend the marriage ceremony of chitta ranjan which took place in 1897 shortly after the publication of "malancha". after this he published four more volumes of lyrics__mala, antaryami, kishore-kishori and sagar sangit. the first three volumes contain poems inspired by the vaishnava cult which is the special heritage of bengal. chitta ranjan's lyrical talent is sufficiently prominent in these four volumes, some of the poems are in matter and form gems of perfect beauty, the charm is much enhanced by the pathos with which the poet describes his yearning for god whom he seeks with the enthusiasm of a lover.

but most popular of chitta ranjan's lyrical volumes is his sagar sangit (or songs of the sea). in this work the poet has woven in lyrics the high sentiments which stole into his heart as they came dancing on the waves of the sea. here he has touched a new chord of his musical lyre which sang out emotionally:—

straining my ear i listen to thy chanting o sea, in the midst of this [17]light—encircled dawn! what words, what tune! my heart is full even to over-flowing! yet do i not understand what is it that sounds amidst this morning so resonant with this music.

enchanted by the sublime beauty playing upon the waves the poet addresses the sea and sings:—

what hast thou made me to-day? my mind is like a harp of hundred strings! with the touch of thy finger it trembles and quivers it bursts out in music in pride and in glory!

the closing song of sagar sangit is indeed very charming, full of pathos and wrapt in high sentiment it leaves behind a serene harmony—

full of dumb weeping with no tears to ease to-day my heart is mad for thee, o soul; i have sought thee within thy million waves and wherever the sound of thy song resounds in the wonderous light and shades which to thee belong, i have sought thee every night and every day! o my friend eternal; unknown to me my friend! o pilot of my soul! take me away to-day, o take me thither where thou art shoreless indeed!

in order to spread the vaishnava culture and to give a healthy tone to modern bengali literature, chitta ranjan started a new bengali monthly the narayana which secured for its contributors some of the highest litterateurs of bengal. in recognition of his literary services the literary conference of bengal which had its annual session at bankipore in 1915 elected him to be the president of the[18] literary section where he read a paper on the lyrics of bengal. next year he was elected the chairman of the reception committee of the literary conference in its annual session at dacca. in the narayana he wrote many articles on the nature of bengali poetry which show his intimate acquaintance with the vaishnava literature. it is necessary to mention here that chitta ranjan's whole life is influenced by the ennobling ideal of the vaishnava poets; even his patriotism and love of country are to a great extent modelled on that ideal. to understand chitta ranjan one must know his poetry and to understand his poetry one must be acquainted with the vaishnava culture of bengal.