Braj Bhasha literature

Braj Bhasha literature is literature in Braj Bhasha, a dialect of Hindi language or specifically Western Hindi. It is of mystical nature, related to the spiritual union of people with God, because almost all of the Braj Bhasha poets were considered God-realised saints and their words are thus considered as directly emanating from a divine source. Much of the traditional Northern Indian literature shares this trait. It literary tradition is a celebration of Lord Krishna.^[1][2] The Braj region has a rich legacy and the medium was mainly the literary vehicle for the poets viz. Surdas, Tulsidas, Acharya Ram Chandra Shukla, Raskhan, Amir Khusrau among others.^[3]

History

Braj Bhasha gained wider literary acceptance after Mughal emperor, Akbar, accepted it as one of the royal court's language and liked to use it to compose poems.

The form

Another peculiar feature of Northern Indian literature is that the literature is mostly written from a female point of view, even by male poets. This is because the saints were in a state of transcendental, spiritual love, where they were metaphorically women reuniting with their beloved. (In its inversion of the conventional genders of worshipper and worshippee, Maulana Da’ud's Chandayan departs from this tradition.)

Literary works in Braj Bhasha

Some major literary works in Braj Bhasha are:

• Yugala Shataka by Swami Sri Sribhatta Devacarya; known as the first 'Vani' book in Vraja Bhasha composed in the 14th Century AD as a part of Nimbarka Sampradaya tradition of Radha Krishna worship.
• Vinaya Patrika by Tulsidas
• Sur Sagar by Surdas^[4]
• Buddha Charit by Acharya Ram Chandra Shukla
• Sufi poetry by Amir Khusro
• Eulogies by Kavi Bhushan
• Vrind Satsai by Vrind (1643 - 1723), court poet of ruler of Kishangarh^[5]

References