Ramkotha in Pre-Krittibas Bengali Literature/কৃত্তিবাস পূর্ববর্তী বাংলা সাহিত্যে রামকথা

Abstract

To the Bengali populace, the Ramayana is synonymous with Krittibasi Ramayana. It is Krittibas’s rendition of the epic that is revered and read with devotion in Bengali households even today. Krittibas, believed to have lived in the fifteenth century, holds a unique position in literary history, as no evidence of a complete Ramayana composed in Bengali exists prior to his work. In essence, it was Krittibas who pioneered the tradition of retelling the Ramayana in the Bengali language. This raises a compelling question: what inspired Krittibas to undertake such a monumental task in the absence of a pre-existing Bengali model? Those familiar with Krittibas recognize him not only as a learned scholar but also as someone deeply attuned to the social and cultural ethos of his time. A man of such insight would not have embarked on this endeavor impulsively. Rather, he must have been acutely aware of the Bengali people’s emotional and spiritual connection to the Ram narrative, even if a complete textual tradition was absent. While a unified Bengali Ramayana may not have existed before him, fragments of the epic had long permeated everyday life—through folk tales, rhymes, oral traditions, and cultural practices. The Bengali psyche was already steeped in the essence of Rama’s story. In this article, I attempt to reconstruct how the tales of Rama permeated pre-Krittibas Bengal, exploring the forms and channels through which Ramkatha (the story of Rama) thrived in the cultural and social landscape of the Bengali people long before it found its definitive literary expression.