A Study on Candravamsam- An Unforgettable Sanskrit Poem Of A Forgotten Poet Of Bengal (An Old and Rare Book)

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Candravamśam, a mahākāvya, consisting of twenty- four cantos describing the celebrated kings of the lunar race was published only once in 1892 A.D. without any commentary or glossary. This work in spite of its high poetic value, somehow escaped the attention of Sanskritists for almost a century. The present author is justifiably awarded the Griffith Memorial Prize (C.U.) for bringing this work to the limelight of modern scholarship. The critical ana- lysis along with the list of the kings of the lunar race, the list of apothegms, the list of verses simi- lar to the verses of Raghuvamśam etc. may rouse interest about this almost-forgotten poet. Dr. Chatto- padhyay deserves congratulations for this uncommon and painstaking research work.

Dr. Rita Chattopadhyay joined as a lecturer (Deptt. of Sanskrit) in Women's College, Calcutta in 1980 after attaining her M.A. degree in Sanskrit (Kāvya) from C.U. She did her Ph.D. in 1983 (from C.U.) on Mm. Haridāsa Siddhāntavāgīśa. She has main- tained a brilliant track record all through her career starting from School Final onwards. All along her career she always maintained her position within the first few. She had been a national scholar and a U.G.C. Research fellow as well. She has to her credit a number of research papers accepted at dif- ferent sessions of AIOC, All India Sanskrit Confer- ence (Howrah), different journals e.g. Annals of BORI, Glory of India etc. A dedicated lover of Sanskrit literature she has been awarded with presti- gious Griffith Memorial Prize (for 1983) from C.U. In spite of the daily chores of her small family and a busy schedule at her college, Dr. Chattopadhyay is still engaged in constant pursuits of literary bril- liance. She is a devoted singer of Rabindrasangit too.

The inception of Sanskrit Mahäkävya is generally traced as far back as the two Great Epics, Rāmāyaņa and the Maha- bharata. These two National Epics together with the Puranas have all along been the perennial source of Sanskrit kāvya as a whole, not to speak of the Mahakavyas alone. This tradition of the Sanskrit Mahākāvya was firmly established through centuries of culture. As a continuous stream, the tradition has run through ages, now broad and deep, now tortuous and shallow and at times like an under-ground spring invisible to one who is in a hurry, as we are now-a-days. Many of the luminaries of this traditional firmament remained hidden, or lost for ever.

Bengal in the 19th century A.D. produced not only a number of patriots, reformers and scholars; but also gave birth to a number of Pandits who created a stir among the contemporary Bengal intelligentia by their scholarship. Mm. Candrakanta Tarkālańkära is one of those illustrious Bengali rather Indian Pandits and real devoted lovers of Sanskrit who by their dedicated and unrelenting efforts kept the cur- rent of Sanskrit literature still flowing even in her age of decay-when her honourable status was degraded her commendable position was almost lost. Pt. Tarkālańkāra was a great philosopher of uncommon distinction and a first rate poet as well.