350 M. M. Cliakravarti — Language and literature of Orissa. [No. 4, 
Part IV. The later Oriya Poets. 
General Remarks. 
The works of the following authors will be dealt with in this 
article. They form the most important part of the Oriya literature. 
1. Dinakrsna Dasa ( ). 
2. Upendra Bhanja ( )• 
3. Bhupati Pandita ( ). 
4. Bhaktacarana Dasa ( ). 
5. Bisvanatha Khunti-a ( ). 
6. Lbkanatha Dasa ( ^ffai*rTW ). 
7. Sadananda Kavisuryabrahma ( ). 
8. Abhimanyu Samantasimhara ( )• 
In the treatment of the subject-matter, etc., the poets differ so little 
from one another, that a few preliminary remarks will suffice to point 
out the general characteristics of Oriya poetry, and enable me to 
dispense with the detailed discussion of each poem. The remarks may 
be noted under the following heads :— 
(а) The subject-matter. 
(б) The versification. 
(c) The sentiment. 
On examining the narrative parts of these poems, two general 
tendencies are perceptible, one religious , the other fictional. The 
religious tendency is exclusively Vaisnavite. By the time serious 
compositions had been begun in Oriya, yivaism in spite of its stronghold 
at Bhuvan^vara, and £aktism in spite of its prevalence at Jajapura, had 
ceased to influence the popular mind. Visnu-worship was in full swing 
and naturally Oriya poetry reflected this popular bent. 
Visnu was worshipped in various forms. One such form was 
Jagannatha, whose temple and worship at Purl still attract thousands 
of pilgrims. His rites were well-known to the above authors, who either 
resided at Pari or visited it on pilgrimage. Upendra Bhanja translated 
into Oriya verse the local Mahatmya, and Dinakrsna described the 
well-known Ratha festival in his Gundicabije. In spite, however, of 
the veneration for Jagannatha in Orissa, his worship failed to be a 
great religion because it had no great epic or Purana to fall back upon, 
and because it had no special organisation to propagate its doctrines. 
The priests and their agents busied themselves mainly in drawing 
pilgrims to the shrine and not in proselytising them into a sect; while 
no great scholar or preacher arose to elaborate the dogmas in any 
famous poem or religious work. 
