94 
G. A. Grierson— The Song of Bijai Mai. 
[Sp. No. 
ties, and his countenance excelling the moon in beauty. Shining like a 
young cloud, his beauteous person (in fragrance) destroyed the pride of 
musk. 
7. And all the wise men in Nanda’s house, obtained wealth, in the 
shape of jewels, pearls, tiaras, and golden ornaments. 
8. The dancers, warriors, and astrologers, all at once obtained their 
desires in the shape of horses, elephants, chariots, gold, rubies, jewels, 
and pearls upon their heads. 
9. Indra with the gods appeared in the atmosphere with glorious 
pomp, and saw the loveliness of the house of Yadu. 
10. The gods, pleased at heart, and their limbs thrilling with joy, 
rained flowers, and in the sky played propitious melodies upon the 
drum. 
11. Great was the wealth given to the midwife who cut the navel 
cord : and the wives of the cowherds in their joy sang the Sohar. 
12. In their joy the fair ones of the city sang, and captivated the 
minds of gods and men ; when birds and beasts heard them they became 
motionless, and even saints desisted from their contemplation. 
13. Harkhnath saith with all his heart, May Hari be propitious, 
and bless king Lakshmisvar Singh with increase of wealth and subjects. 
14. May Krishna the refuge of the three worlds, satisfy Harkh- 
nath’s request, and fulfil the heart’s desires of the Lord of Mithila. 
The Song of Bijai Mai.—Bdited and translated hy G. A. Grierson, C. S. 
The accompanying poem is an excellent example of the pure Eas¬ 
tern Bhojpuri dialect spoken in the district of Shahabad. Its grammar 
is fully described in Part II of my Grammars of the Bihar dialects pub¬ 
lished by the Government of Bengal. It is also interesting as showing 
vividly the manners and customs of a district famous for its fighting 
men. It is not necessary to allude to them in detail here, as a literal 
translation is given of the poem, to which reference can be made. The 
whole structure is founded on the difficulty experienced by a Bajput 
father in marrying his daughter, and the large sums he has to pay to the 
father of a suitable bridegroom. 
The poem is sung, and the lines are arranged to suit the air, but are 
not in metre. It abounds in useful long and redundant forms of sub¬ 
stantives. 
I am unable to identify the names of persons and places mentioned 
in it. The poem itself contains all the traditions that are known on the 
subject. I may note, however, that in the famous Bundelkhand epic 
