74 M. V. Pandia— The Antiquity of the poet Nagari Das. [No. I, 
tiou of Radha and Krsna. There are only two of his works, 
named the Pada-prasagga-mala and Tlrth-ananda, from which we can 
extract a few threads of historical value. In the former he gives the 
legends of the previous Yaisnava saints in connection with their metrical 
compositions, and in the latter an account of his own pious ramblings in 
and beyond Braj is related. 
It is still wrongly believed by the vernacular poets of our country 
that the verses, bearing the poetic name Rasik Bihari, which are found 
here and there in the works of this poet, are either of his own composi¬ 
tion, or of some other male poet. During the long period of my ser¬ 
vices in Rajputana, I have been able to make out that there was a 
concubine of this poet, named Ban! Thanl ( i . e., elaborately adorned or 
decked out). She was a poetess and signed her composition by the 
aforesaid poetic name. In support of this my discovery, I think it 
necessary to quote here the following text of a passage of the Hindi 
memorandum received by me from the Krsnagarh State :— 
5!=ft KfaW-faVrft % safari cTJfT TR ^sr *nf?faf % 
ttisjf if BT ^5T *nf?%T THJcfT'T «rfat Vt I 
5TW =?f 'JJT I W it 3ifacTT 3HT7T % I Tfaraf-faflCt 
35T vftJT V I sf?T JTsRT 5 ! tja? if 
5«f % tf? «tt 3\fa?r fait# 3 # ^fa tfan fait# V n 
i.e ., ‘The Kavittas and Padas, bearing the poetic name Rasik 
Bihari, which are found in the works of this gentleman (Nagari Das), 
are (the compositions) of his Khavasa or Pasavana (i.e., concubine). 
Her name was Bani Than!. She also wrote very beautiful poetry 
and used to sign her verses with the poetic name of Rasik Bihari. Where 
Maharaja £rl Nagari Das-jl has introduced her padas or kavittas in 
his works, he has mentioned her name emblematically as An Kavi 
(or ‘ another poet ’).’ 
I am still trying my best to find out the real name of this woman, 
because I do not believe ‘ Bani Than! ’ to be her true name. I think it 
to be what they call in English a sobriquet. It is said that this 
woman remained faithful and devoted to her lover even in the days of 
• his adversity. It is evident from the following verses of the poet 
which occur in the Tirthanand, that she was with him, when he visited 
the shrine of Barjke Biliarl-jl at Brindaban in his pilgrimage through 
the Braj :— 
* 
WfT ii ffa?Ttfa faras fa? Kt-wns i 
kh faf*rt kh ftjw || 
