538 Analysis of the Bengali Poem Raj Maid, [No. 7. 



sent a messenger to the Dandis or priests of the famous College of Ma- 

 hadeva in Sagar island* to state that Surjya would be present to listen 

 to their prayers when they worshipped the fourteen gods. These priests 

 refused at first to go to Tripura until they heard that Tripura, an enemy 

 to the Brahmans was dead, and that Trilochan his successor being a de- 

 votee proposed going to Sagar island to convey them to his king- 

 dom, attended by a large retinue. On their arrival they performed 

 the usual ceremonies to the fourteen gods, together with the offering of 

 buffaloes, ducks were sacrificed which were collected by the Kerats and 

 Kukis. On the great day of the festival all the gods assembled with 

 the exception of Vishnu, the Bandi went to invite him, he came, and 

 together with the other gods was so pleased that they promised always 

 to protect the Tripura Raja. Trilochan after conquering various 

 countries visited Yudhistir. He lived to an advanced age and was dili- 

 gent in performing the following ceremonies, Durgd-Pujd, Dol-Jdtrd, 

 Jal-Jdtrd, Surjya-Pujd, Padma-Pujd, Bisava San/crdnti,f 



* The temple of Kapil Muni stood in Sagar island since A. D. 430, but it was 

 washed away by the sea in 1842 ; the island itself was once densely populated, and 

 contained a population of 200,000, which was swept away by an inundation in 

 1689. I saw in the Bibliotheque Royale at Paris a Portuguese map of Bengal, 

 drawn three centuries ago, which gave the name of five cities to the East of Sagar 

 island on the borders of the sea, the ruins in the Sunderbunds confirm the truth of 

 this description. Mention is made of Sagar island in the Mahabharata 2600 years 

 ago at least, which shows the antiquity of the shrine there : at that period the 

 Ganges probably disembogued itself into the sea in that direction, flowing down near 

 where Calcutta now stands. The point of confluence with the Ocean would give a 

 sanctity to Kapil Muni's shrine which has been the resort of pilgrims probably 

 long before the Christian era. The Raj Mala states that the Dandis or Sannyasis 

 " resided in the College of Siva in seclusion for their spiritual benefit, they bathed 

 at day break, dried their clothes by exposure to the air, cooked their own food and 

 were acquainted with all the mantras." 



f Several of these pujds are not now in use, the Surjya-Pujd, like the Agni- 

 Hotra, or maintenance of a perpetual sacred fire, has become obsolete ; the last 

 man of eminence we have heard of who observed it was Raja Krishna Chandra Raya 

 of Nadiya, last century : it was one of the few remaining relics in the existing 

 form of the Hindu religion which kept up a remembrance of the link between the 

 ancient elementary worship of the Vedas and the Fire worship of the followers of 

 Zoroaster. Hinduism can adapt itself to changes of circumstances, thus of late 

 years we see the worship of Old-utd Delta or the goddess of Cholera. 



