76 
G. A. Grierson— Twenty-one Vaislinava Hymns. [Sp. 
Twenty-one Vaislinava Hymns.—Edited and translated by 
G. A. Geierson, 0. S. 
All the following hymns are in the Maithili dialect of the Bihari 
language. Mithila boasts of a long series of vernacular authors com¬ 
mencing with the famous Bidyapati who flourished at the end of the 
14th century, and ending with many living poets like Bhanunath and 
Harkhnath. 
I have endeavoured to make the present short selection as repre¬ 
sentative as possible, and have therefore given samples of the poetry of 
fourteen different writers. Of most of these poets little is known even 
by tradition. Jayadeb must be one of the oldest, for according to the 
hymn herein quoted, he sang before king Sib Singh, who was Bidya- 
pati’s patron. Concerning the patrons of the other poets, except those of 
Bhanunath and Harkhnath no information is available. Maheswara 
Singh, mentioned by the former was the father of the present Maharaj 
Bahadur of Darbhanga, and Harkhnath addresses the present Maharaj 
himself. 
On another occasion I may perhaps have time to arrange the mate¬ 
rials which I have accumulated regarding the ancient kings of Mithila. 
The present article can only be taken as showing that poems by several 
writers of very varying dates, who were natives of that country, are still 
extant. 
These poems partake of the usual character of Vaishnava hymns 
concerning which I have treated at some length in the Introduction to 
Bidyapati’s poems in my Maithil Chrestomathy.* Suffice it here to say 
that the relationship of God to the soul is always exhibited as that of a 
lover to his beloved. The lover is represented by Krishna, and the 
beloved by Badha or some other Gopi of Vraja. Krishna, it need hardly 
be mentioned, appears under various aliases, such as Murari, Hari or 
Yadupati. 
I. 
Umapati. 
In the following hymn, God is shown as entreating the soul to 
abandon itself to him. 
fsift, inra wjr i 
ii 
• J. A. S. B., Extra Number, Fart I for 1880. 
