375 
1898.] M. M. Chakravarti— Language and literature of Orissa. 
situated on the left bank of the Brahmini river, 20° 42' lat., and 86° 18' 
long. The Jajanagara referred to was the old name of modern Jajapura. 
The family quarters have now been removed to Bali-a, a few miles east. 
The family have lost the zemindari and now live upon 25 batis (500 
acres) lakhiraj land, with which Abhimanyu is said to have endowed 
the family idol Radhamohana. 
According to local traditions Abhimanyu was precocious in his de¬ 
velopment, and lisped in number from his very boyhood. In his ninth 
year he is credited with the composition of doggrels known as Hugita, and 
in his tenth year with other songs, as Jema Gita, Bagha Gita, Gobra- 
carei Gita. He then came under the influence of Sadananda Kavi- 
suryabrahma and in his twentieth year began his first large poem 
Premakala. 1 I have got a manuscript of this work. He then composed 
various poems as Sulaksana, Rasabati, Premacintamani and Prema- 
taraggini. I have got a manuscript copy of the last. His last work 
was Bidagdhacintamani. He intended to finish it in 108 Chandas 
with a description of the Rasalila, but when he had gone up to 96th 
Chanda, he felt a disgust for this life, turned an ascetic Vaisnava, and 
abandoning family and home proceeded to Brndabana. There he died 
in his 49th year. The Bidagdhacintamani has been printed, and in its 
Preface, his death is said to have taken place on Jyestha krsna saptami 
of sana 1213 ( = 8th June, 1806 A.D., Tuesday). Abhimanyu was well 
read in Sanskrit classics and rhetorics, and knew Hindi and Marathi, 
the speeches of the then governing races. Prom his boyhood, he loved 
to associate with Pandits and Sadhus and the accidental residence of 
Sadananda helped him materially in developing his poetical powers. 
He is said to have built a temple to Radhamohana Thakura. 
The manuscript Premakala is a moderate-sized volume occupying 
186 folios with four lines on each page. It is a romance in 64 Chandas 
modelled after Upendra Bhanja’s stories. Though begun in the author’s 
twentieth year, it displays considerable knowledge of Sanskrit rhetorics 
and indicated the future power of the poet. The manuscript Prema- 
taraggini is a small piece based on the Rasapancadhyayi, whose ^lokas 
are quoted and versified. Of the other poems two are love stories, 
herds of cattle. The ruler of this land is a Mitravarinp Ksatriya, by name 
Indrajita Samantasiihhara. His eldest son am I, by name Abhimanyu, by surname 
Sa rn ant as i m h ara. ” 
1 SRlt I 
t II U*. II 
Premakala MS., 1st Ch., Folio 4. 
“ I began this at the age of twenty, and by attending on the feet of good men 
dropped my timidity.” 
